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Monday, November 13, 2006
Some headlines and summaries from JTA
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Livni promises branding campaign
Israel will “invest a lot of time and money” in an image-branding campaign, its foreign minister told the United Jewish Communities’ General Assembly.
Addressing the opening day of the four-day gathering Sunday in Los Angeles, Tzipi Livni said one of her priorities is to close the gap between Israel’s militant image abroad and the reality of a vibrant, multifaceted nation.
Sunday afternoon’s opening session also featured a welcome by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and an appeal by Karnit Goldwasser, whose soldier husband Ehud was kidnapped by Hezbollah terrorists in July, sparking a monthlong war.
During a news conference for the North American Jewish press, Livni acknowledged a sense of frustration among Israelis that the initial expectations of a quick military campaign to wipe out Hezbollah had not been fulfilled, but noted that a framework had been established for peace on the border.
Pelosi backs challenge to Hoyer
The incoming speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives backed a challenge to one of Congress’ most pro-Israel lawmakers.
Now that Democrats have won the House in last week’s elections and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is set to ascend to the speaker’s chair, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), currently the minority whip, is running for majority leader.
Challenging Hoyer is Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), who has led anti-Iraq war initiatives in Congress.
In an unusual endorsement, Pelosi lent her support over the weekend to Murtha, who has been loyal in her past internal races against Hoyer.
Pelosi also favors Murtha because she wants to make Iraq war reforms a centerpiece of the next congressional session.
Hoyer is considered one of Israel’s best friends in Congress, isolating Democrats within his party who have been critical of the Jewish state and leading numerous congressional missions to the region.
Murtha also is a social conservative, and Hoyer has the backing of many liberals in the party.
Iran calls for Argentine arrests
Iran’s attorney general called for the arrest of Argentinian officials in response to arrest warrants issued in the AMIA bombing case.
The French Press Agency reported that Tehran’s chief prosecutor was asked to issue arrest warrants against Juan Jose Galeano, the former Argentine prosecutor in the AMIA case, “and his accomplices.”
The request came in response to Argentina’s decision to seek the arrest of former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, six other former Iranian government officials and one Hezbollah operative as accomplices in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people and wounded some 300.
Galeano was dismissed from the case after an investigative panel found he had paid a $400,000 bribe to a defendant to change his testimony.
Miller testifies in ‘torture’ case
Former New York Times reporter Judith Miller testified that she did not believe Israel tortured an accused Hamas fundraiser.
Miller, an expert on Islamic fundamentalism, testified Monday in the U.S. government’s case against Muhammad Salah, a Palestinian American from Chicago.
Prosecutors base their case in part on Salah’s confession to Israeli authorities in 1993, which led to his jailing in Israel for more than four years.
Salah’s lawyers now say the confession was extracted through torture. Israeli officials allowed Miller to witness the interrogation because the government wanted to publicize Hamas’ fundraising network in the United States.
In her testimony, reported by Editor & Publisher, Miller said she went into the interrogation concerned that Salah might have been tortured but emerged feeling there was “no reason for me to believe” that was the case.
Salah’s defense raised allegations that Miller left the New York Times because she was found to have perpetuated faulty evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, but the judge in the case upheld a prosecution objection against such characterizations.
http://www.jta.org/
posted by Somebody @ 10:54 PM Permanent Link
 
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