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Saturday, December 09, 2006
Some headlines and summaries from JTA
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Carter: Universities blocked book promo
Jimmy Carter said universities with substantial Jewish enrollment have blocked him from discussing his book “Palestine: Peace not Apartheid.”
“My most troubling experience has been the rejection of my offers to speak, for free, about the book on university campuses with high Jewish enrollment and to answer questions from students and professors,” Carter said in an Op-Ed published Friday in the Los Angeles Times. The former U.S. president made a similar charge in a C-Span interview earlier this week; asked to elaborate, he would not name the universities, except to say he was invited by individual professors, but turned down by the universities’ leadership.
Carter’s book, which blames most of the impasse in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks on Israel’s settlement policy, is a New York Times No. 1 bestseller, and he has promoted it in multiple media appearances.
London mayor finally apologizes
London’s mayor apologized to the city’s Jewish community for offensive comments.
In a surprise step Thursday night, Ken Livingstone apologized at the launch of the London Jewish Forum, a group intended to serve as a platform for the Jewish community to engage with municipal bodies. Livingstone’s relationship with the Jewish community long has been strained because of his vehement criticism of Israel, and worsened after he refused to apologize for a Nazi jibe he made earlier this year. Livingstone was exonerated last month of charges that he brought the Mayor’s Office into disrepute by comparing a Jewish journalist to a concentration camp guard.
In his keynote speech Thursday, Livingstone recognized Jews’ contributions to making London a cosmopolitan city. He then apologized for any offense he caused London Jews during his tenure, describing himself as “an equal-opportunity rude person” and adding, “it was never a calculated intention to cause offense.” “The Jewish community and the mayor can now begin to move toward a more positive relationship,” said Adrian Cohen, chairman of the forum.
APN urges Bush to veto Hamas bill
Americans for Peace Now urged President Bush to effectively veto a bill that would isolate the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.
The U.S. House of Representatives abandoned its own, more stringent, version of the bill on Thursday and passed by voice vote the more moderate Senate version. Six months ago, when the bills were debated in both houses, APN backed the Senate version, noting that it took care not to penalize Palestinian moderates for the extremism of the Hamas government.
APN reversed that position Thursday, saying that any punitive legislation would now be counterproductive, and urged Bush not to sign it, which would effectively veto the bill — an option presidents have only when Congresses are about to expire, as this one is.
“Six months ago it might have been possible to argue that additional sanctions were necessary. Today it is clear that they are not. Existing U.S. law has already prevented any U.S. taxpayer funds from supporting Hamas and the P.A.,” the dovish group said in a statement. “The Palestinian population is under extreme pressure, and a serious humanitarian crisis is growing in the Gaza Strip.”
http://www.jta.org/
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