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Friday, May 12, 2006
Some headlines and summaries from JTA
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Lawmaker cites AIPAC case critiques
A congressman entered into the Congressional Record two articles slamming the Bush administration for prosecuting two former AIPAC staffers.
Addressing the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) cited the opinion articles, by Nat Hentoff of the Washington Times and David Wise of the Los Angeles Times, to underscore his criticism of what he said was the Bush administration’s effort to censor journalists. Wise and Hentoff say the case against Steve Rosen, former foreign policy director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and Keith Weissman, AIPAC’s former Iran analyst, are indicative of an attempt to create an Official Secrets Act through backdoor channels.
The case against Rosen and Weissman is based on the unprecedented use of a 1917 statute that criminalizes the receipt of classified information. Critics say the statute does not withstand constitutional scrutiny.
U.S. blocking $100 million to Hamas
The United States successfully blocked $100 million from getting to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.
“Hamas is a terrorist group and we are doing all we can to achieve a financial blockade against Hamas, and every other terrorist group,” Elliott Abrams, the deputy national security adviser, told leaders of the Orthodox Union in a meeting Thursday.
The money is in bank accounts Hamas is unable to access because of U.S. laws that ban dealings with designated terrorist groups.
The United States is leading the effort to isolate the Palestinian Authority until its Hamas rulers recognize Israel and renounce terrorism.
Israeli envoy supports bills
Israel’s ambassador to Washington expressed support for congressional bills targeting the Palestinian Authority.
“It is the consistent position of the State of Israel that all assistance to the Hamas-led Palestinian government be cut off, with the exception of necessary humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people,” Daniel Ayalon said in a statement, responding to assertions that Israeli Cabinet ministers opposed legislation to cut off the Palestinian Authority. “Any assertion that Israel’s position on aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people is in conflict with the efforts of the administration and Congress in this regard is entirely inaccurate.”
Reports have suggested that Israel opposes some aspects of the legislation, which would cut off all aid to the Palestinian Authority and severely restrict aid to the Palestinians through non-governmental organizations.
The Bush administration says the bills are unnecessary, and the embassy would not explain how it supports the administration and Congress at the same time.
AJC launches anti-boycott campaign
The American Jewish Committee is renewing a campaign to combat anti-Israel boycotts.
The campaign comes weeks before a British teachers association is set to consider a motion to boycott Israeli academics and institutions. The AJC has allocated $10,000 for the effort, on top of $10,000 it allocated last year, and is seeking additional contributions.
The fund was started last year when another British teacher’s union voted to boycott two Israeli universities. The union eventually rescinded that decision under international pressure.
U.C.-Irvine hosts offensive events
Jewish students at University of California-Irvine are protesting anti-Israel events.
The school’s Muslim Students Union is planning events entitled “Holocaust in the Holy Land” and “Israel: The Fourth Reich” for its annual “Anti-Zionist Week” next week. Other Muslim campus groups have distanced themselves from the events.
Jewish students want university officials to condemn the names of the events; so far, any condemnation has been oblique, with university officials citing free-speech protections.
Rabbi, Hamas minister in ‘joint coalition’
An anti-Zionist rabbi met with a Hamas minister and announced a “joint coalition” between their groups.
Rabbi Moishe Arye Friedman, a leading rabbi among hundreds of ani-Zionist Orthodox Jews in Vienna, met in Stockholm on Thursday with Atef Adwan, a member of the Palestinian Authority government from the terrorist group Hamas, The Associated Press reported.
Friedman pledged to “do everything in practical terms to help the Palestinian people.” “We will support them in ways that others have failed to do,” he said.
According to the A.P., Friedman rejects Israel’s right to exist and has described the Holocaust as punishment for Zionist Jews who strayed from God’s path. A relatively small number of fervently religious Jews have made common cause with Israel’s enemies because they believe that Jews should not have political sovereignty until the Messiah comes.
http://www.jta.org/
posted by Somebody @ 11:20 PM Permanent Link
 
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