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Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Some headlines and summaries from JTA
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Thousands protest U.N., Iran
Some 35,000 supporters of Israel protested outside the United Nations building.
Wednesday’s protest in New York, organized by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, was held to show solidarity with Israel; ask the United Nations to enforce Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for the unconditional release of three Israeli soldiers kidnaped by Hamas and Hezbollah this summer; and denounce Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s presence at the 61st convening of the U.N. General Assembly.
“We will defeat any enemy and overcome any challenge,” Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told the crowd, which spanned two city blocks. “We say terror will not defeat us.”
Other speakers included the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel.
Envoy upset at Ahmadinejad’s U.N. visit
Israel’s U.N. envoy criticized the United States for allowing Iran’s president to attend the U.N. General Assembly summit.
“It is hard to accept that the administration would allow someone who calls for Israel’s destruction, and whose actions led to the deaths of Americans, to enter the United States,” Ambassador Dan Gillerman told Israel Radio by telephone Wednesday.
Gillerman appeared to be referring to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent calls for the Jewish state to be “wiped off the map” and his reputed role in the 1979 storming of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The United Nations, while headquartered in New York, is a sovereign entity.
Addressing the General Assembly on Tuesday, Ahmadinejad accused Israel of being a “constant source of threat and insecurity” in the Middle East and lamented the Palestinian “tragedy.”
He also lambasted the United States and Britain for pushing the U.N. Security Council to curb Iran´s nuclear program.
'Quartet' presses Israel on revenue
The “Quartet” working for Middle East peace called for Israel to release tax and customs revenue it has collected for the Palestinians.
In addition to calling for the release of the more than $500 million in revenue, which Israel stopped turning over to the Palestinians after Hamas took over the Palestinian Authority, the Quartet welcomed Palestinian efforts to form a national unity government, and agreed to extend and expand funding to the Palestinians while continuing to bypass the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.
The Quartet is made up of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia.
Displaced Jews urged to register
A group that seeks rights for Jews displaced from Arab lands set up an online registry.
People who want to register should go to the Web site of Justice for Jews From Arab Countries, www.justiceforjews.com.
The registry is part of a larger campaign to bring international attention to the issue of Jews who fled or were forced out of the Muslim world around the creation of the State of Israel.
According to the organization, the number of Jewish refugees from Arab countries far surpasses the number of Palestinians who became refugees in 1948.
http://www.jta.org/
posted by Somebody @ 11:10 PM Permanent Link
 
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