World and national briefs
By JTA
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Bolton back at JINSA
WASHINGTON (JTA)—John Bolton re-joined the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs. Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, returned as a member of JINSA’s board of advisers.
JINSA joined in efforts to nominate Bolton for a Nobel Peace Prize last year for his work uncovering Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons program. JINSA, which promotes security ties between Israel and the United States and other U.S. allies, shares Bolton’s outspoken criticism of Bush administration overtures to North Korea and what he says is the slow pace of U.S. efforts to confront Iran. Bolton left the U.N. post a year ago, after it became clear that the U.S. Senate would not confirm his recess appointment by President George W. Bush.
Police criticized in Gibson arrest
NEW YORK (JTA)—Mel Gibson received special treatment after his arrest last year on drunk-driving charges. A report by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department found that a supervisor sought to censor Gibson’s arrest report, which contained an anti-Semitic rant by the actor, The Associated Press reported. Gibson’s arrest was described initially as occurring “without incident.” But the celebrity news Web site tmz.com subsequently released a copy of the original arrest report in which Gibson was said to have unleashed a “barrage of anti-Semitic remarks,” including the claim that “Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.” Gibson also reportedly asked the arresting officer, who is Jewish, “Are you a Jew?” Gibson subsequently issued several apologies and in an interview with ABC News said he was ashamed of his remarks. Gibson pleaded no contest to a drunk driving charge.
Rabbis call for Iran talks
WASHINGTON (JTA)—A number of rabbis have joined Christian and Muslim clerics in signing a plea for direct U.S.-Iran talks.
”Now that we know that Iran is not making nuclear weapons, the God of peace and justice calls on Americans to choose a full peace with each other, not dither any longer between peace and war,” says the advertisement appearing in newspapers in early election states. The ad, which appeared the week of December 24 in the Des Moines Register, refers to an assessment published earlier this month by the U.S. intelligence community that Iran ended a weapons program in 2003 but continues to enrich uranium, with the likelihood of reviving the program. Of the 60 signatories, about half are Jewish, including rabbis from the Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist streams. The Interfaith Peace Committee, which is behind the ad, plans to place it in New Hampshire papers and eventually in the New York Times.
PresCon retaps Walker
WASHINGTON (JTA)—The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations re-elected June Walker as chairwoman. This will be Walker’s second year in the job. She was previously president of Hadassah. The Conference is the foreign policy umbrella group for more than 50 U.S. Jewish organizations.
Brandeis gets $22 million
NEW YORK (JTA)—The Mandel Foundation is giving $22.5 million to Brandeis University to build a center for humanities. In a statement, Brandeis said the gift would counteract the recent neglect of humanities in the face of focus on more “practical” disciplines, such as health sciences, business and technology. Funding for humanities “has lagged in the face of skyrocketing college costs, an uncertain economy, job placement concerns and a mushrooming consumerism in today’s culture,” the statement said. The Mandel Center for the Humanities will stress the cultural and intellectual importance of studying literature, language and philosophy. Brandeis President Jehuda Reinharz called the gift “transformative.”
Baron Cohen kills Borat
NEW YORK (JTA)—Borat is dead and so is Ali G, according to the man who created and played the two fictional characters. Sacha Baron Cohen told the Daily Telegraph Dec. 21 that he will no longer play the characters that made him famous. Borat was an outrageously anti-Semitic, horribly sexist news reporter from Kazakhstan who starred in the mocumentary “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.” The movie grossed more than $260 million. Ali G was an outlandish white wannabe gangster rapper who was the star of the “Ali G Show,” which brought Cohen into the international spotlight.
Attack in Melbourne
SYDNEY (JTA)—A Jewish woman and her Orthodox son were the victims of an anti-Semitic attack in Melbourne. Ester Weiss, 54, and her son, Sharon, were punched in the head Dec. 15 by two youths who hurled anti-Semitic abuse at them. Weiss said the assailants also threw her son’s yarmulke away. Police are seeking the two youths, who left their bicycles at the scene. Weiss urged authorities to install security cameras on the street. She told the Herald Sun newspaper, “I’m going to make people see that this is happening.”
Van crash kills Sydney emissaries
SYDNEY (JTA)—A van accident that killed two Lubavitch community leaders has stunned Sydney’s Orthodox community. Zev Simons, 51, and Rochel Simons, 48, were killed Dec. 20 when their van veered across the median strip on a major highway and plowed into a truck. The couple, who have 10 children, were traveling to Melbourne for a wedding. None of the children was with them. The 39-year-old driver of the truck was thrown from his vehicle and died at the scene. Zev Simons was a former director of Jewish studies at the Yeshiva Primary School. Rochel Simons was a teacher at Kesser Torah College and also worked at the local mikvah. The couple’s son-in-law, Rabbi Yossi Cunin, the co-director of Chabad of the Hills in Beverly Hills, Calif., told the Chabad.org Web site, “They gave their lives to the community.”
Lazar praises Russian security services
MOSCOW (JTA)—A chief rabbi of Russia thanked the state security services for fighting xenophobia and anti-Semitism. Rabbi Berel Lazar, of the Chabad-led Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, made the remarks in a letter to Nikolay Patrushev, the head of the Federal Security Service, on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of Russian internal security services. “As a representative of one of the traditional religions in Russia, I cannot fail to notice the contribution of the Russian Federal Security Service to the prevention of crimes committed under pseudo-religious and nationalistic slogans,” Lazar wrote.
Jewish Ukrainian is top philanthropist
KIEV (JTA)—Aleksandr Feldman, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, made the Russian-language Kiev weekly magazine Focus list of the 200 most influential Ukrainians. He was also named the national Philanthropist of the Year and his Aleksandr Feldman Charitable Foundation was recognized as the national Foundation of the Year. More than 10 of those who made it to this year’s Focus list are prominent Jews. Along with the foundation, Feldman, 47, heads the Jewish Foundation of Ukraine and the International Center for Tolerance. He is a well-known politician, an advocate of Jewish interests in the Ukrainian parliament and a member of the political Bloc of Julia Timoshenko, the prime minister of Ukraine.
Watchdog: Europe failing on hate crimes
WASHINGTON (JTA)—A human rights watchdog group said most European countries are not enforcing hate crimes laws. Just 15 of the 56 countries comprising the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe are meeting their commitment, made through the umbrella group, to combat hate crimes, Human Rights First said in December in its first “Hate Crimes Report Card.” This is despite the fact that more than 30 nations have passed hate crimes legislation in addition to making the OSCE commitment, Human Rights First reported.
Germany expands payments to ghetto laborers
NEW YORK (JTA)—Germany expanded its compensation of Nazi victims who performed unforced labor in the ghettos. Those who qualify will be able to receive a one-time payment of 2,000 Euros, or about $2,870. Since 1997, the government has counted voluntary work done by Jews in the ghettos toward its national pension plan and has compensated them through its social security program. But the law has been applied inconstantly and has been “overly restrictive,” according to a spokeswoman for the Claims Conference. The new compensation program changes that. To qualify for the onetime payment, the victim must have been held in an open or closed ghetto, worked “without force” during this period, and the work must not already have been taken into account for the ZRBG pension. Those who qualify for the ZRBG pension cannot receive the one-time payment.
Police detain Izhevsk vandal
MOSCOW (JTA)—Police have detained a suspect in the desecration of a Jewish center in Izhevsk, Russia. On the evening of Nov. 9, the suspect allegedly spray painted “Death to the Kikes” on the walls of the city’s community center. According to a report on the Web site Jewish.ru, the 19-year-old suspect confessed to the crime after being shown video surveillance footage taken of him at the scene. Izhevsk is a major manufacturing city in the western Urals region, perhaps most famous as the birthplace of the Kalashnikov assault rifle.
Russia: One year until Bushehr active
MOSCOW (JTA)—The Iranian nuclear power plant at Bushehr will not be fully operational before the end of 2008, say Russian builders. Sergei Shmatko, president of the state-run firm Atomstroyexport, which is in charge of building the plant, made the comments while on a tour in China, according to a report by Reuters. “I have promised to clear up the date when the construction of the Bushehr power plant will be completed but can say for sure that the station will not be launched before the end of 2008,” Shmatko said. There had been significant delays in the construction of the plant, but the disagreements that led to the delays have recently been resolved. On Dec. 16 Russia sent its first delivery of uranium fuel rods to the plant. Shmatko said that a timeline had been established with Iran for the completion of the plant, but not a firm date.