Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Some headlines and summaries from JTA
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N.Y. suburb: Holiday decorations look too Jewish
Residents of a wealthy New York City suburb complained that a local vendor’s holiday decorations were too Jewish-looking.
Chappaqua jewelry-store owner Tara Caverzasi paid $3,000 for 50 banners for the town’s downtown business district, with Town Hall approval.
She said Tuesday that her goal was to be neutral, and chose blue banners with white snowflakes and the word “welcome.”
But dozens of residents called Town Hall to complain, saying the colors were those of the Israeli flag and that at least one of the snowflakes looks like a Star of David. Caverzasi, who is not Jewish, also has been receiving angry phone calls from residents.
“There has to be some tolerance,” she said, according to the New York Daily News.
“It was just a snowflake. I really don’t see what the big deal is.”
However, she said that others came to her store, Desires by Mikolay, in a show of support.
Rabbis denounce house demolitions
Members of Rabbis for Human Rights sent a letter protesting Israel’s demolition of an Arab house in eastern Jerusalem.
The letter, sent Monday to the Israeli Consulate in New York, was signed by 143 rabbis attending the first-ever North American Rabbinic Conference on Judaism and Human Rights in New York.
“We are sorrowed and outraged by the demolition of their home in Issawiyah today,” said Rabbi Arik Ascherman, executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights-Israel.
Ascherman was arrested in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the demolition of the same home in 2002, which was rebuilt in November 2005 with help from members of RHR.
Israeli officials cited zoning issues in the house’s demolition.
China to host peace parley
China will host a meeting between Israeli and Palestinian politicians.
The Foreign Ministry in Beijing announced the planned meeting this week between Knesset member Yossi Beilin and an unnamed former Palestinian Authority Cabinet minister Tuesday.
The meeting, which is to begin Thursday, marks efforts by China to boost its Middle East influence.
While he has long served in the Israeli political opposition, Beilin, a member of the left-wing Meretz Party, has continued to pursue private peace initiatives.
http://www.jta.org/
posted by Somebody @ 11:03 PM Permanent Link
 
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