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Vol. 1, No. 125

Monday Evening , September 3, 2007

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(click on headline below to jump to the story)

Israel and Middle East

IDF salutes heroes of 2nd Lebanon War in Civic Center ceremony

Israeli company develops 'mini-nose' to sniff out explosives

Livni confers with Turkish president

Peres tells why he decided Danny’s killers should be eligible for parole

Peres congratulates delighted Gul on election as Turkey’s president

Iran builds a new Jewish community center in move fraught with symbolism

Europe

People's party makes racist appeal in Switzerland's election campaign

Australia

Anti-Semitic cricketers expelled

United States of America

Bush makes surprise Labor Day visit to Al-Anbar province, Iraq

AJC's Harris says all in all, there have been many better weeks for the Jews

Jewish Humor

A nice Jewish name for the baby

Features

Jewish Grapevine

HANDSHAKES FOR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF—Marines at base Iraq's al-Anbar province surround President Bush in hope of shaking his hand.
U.S. Defense Department photo

Bush makes surprise Labor Day visit to Al-Anbar province, Iraq

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq (Press Release) – The military surge into Iraq is working, President Bush told troops today during a surprise visit here. The president said he came to Anbar province so he could see the success in the war on terror and thank the men and women who are making sacrifices for that success.

Bush, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace, and U.S. Central Command chief Navy Adm. William Fallon flew in to meet with Army Gen. David Petraeus, Multinational Force Iraq commander, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker.

The president also met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki and Iraqi President Jalal Talibani. (Jump to continuation)

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Israel and the Middle East

IDF salutes heroes of 2nd Lebanon War in Civic Center ceremony

TEL AVIV (Press Release)--During an emotional ceremony held this weekend, 38 Gallantry Medals, Distinguished Service Medals and Chief of Staff Citations were awarded to combat soldiers and units of the IDF.   One after another the deserving soldiers and the families of those who had fallen walked up onto the stage set up in the Cultural Center in Tel Aviv, to accept the medals from the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Gabi Ashkenazi and the General Staff Chief of Citations and Medal Allocation, Major General Yishai Bar.

The Sept. 1 ceremony was attended by the Minister of Defense, Mr. Ehud Barak, the Chief of Staff and members of the General Staff Forum. “These medals and citations, given out tonight, exhibit the appreciation and recognition of the Israel Defense Forces for the soldiers and commanders who show devotion to their homeland and an extraordinary love for their fellow man,” said the Chief of Staff, speaking at the ceremony. “The nation of Israel can be proud of its sons and daughter, can be proud of its army, and can depend on the spirit of the IDF, a strong steadfast and capable army, dependant on the good done by its soldiers and commanders.”

During the official ceremony, medals and citations were awarded to 35 combat soldiers and three units. Six IDF soldiers, who displayed immense courage during the war, received medals of gallantry. 12 soldiers received the Distinguished Service Medal and 20 Chief of Staff Citations were allocated to 17 soldiers and three units. An additional 104 IDF soldiers are slated to receive command, division and brigade citations. (Jump to continuation)

Israeli company develops 'mini-nose' to sniff out explosives

By David Brinn   Israel 21C

HERZLIYA, Israel (Special) -- Sniffing out explosive material is priority number one at airports around the world. So what better way to go about implementing that task than by utilizing a device that mimics the human nose to literally 'sniff out' would-be terrorists with homemade explosive devices.

The Israeli-developed Mini-Nose is a portable, hand-held, highly-sensitive device which digitally recreates the mammalian olfactory processes for trace and particle detection.

Developed by Herzliya-based Scent Detection Technologies Ltd. (SDT), the Mini-Nose is a two-piece hand-held explosives detector consisting of a sampling unit and an analyzer, and was designed based on specifications provided by security organizations both in Israel and the US, including the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon.

"Our novel non-radioactive green technology comprises cutting-edge solutions for transportation security officials who are tasked with daily screening activities in identifying potential threats," said the company's CEO Ofer Bengal.

According to the company's literature, SDT's "sniffer" technology is multi-disciplinary, which digitally recreate the mammalian olfactory process that is used to detect a wide range of substances with great accuracy and speed. It's based on a technology called High-Frequency Quartz Crystal Microbalance (HF-QCM), that according to the company's Vice President of Business Development Doron Shalom, can sniff out trace levels of explosive chemicals at a lower cost and greater accuracy in comparison to existing explosive trace detection technologies. (Jump to continuation)

Livni confers with Turkish president

JERUSALEM (Press Release)--Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni spoke this evening (Monday, 3 September) with Abdullah Gul, newly elected President of Turkey.

FM Livni congratulated Mr. Gul on winning the elections, and expressed her appreciation of the role Turkey fulfills in the region. The two mentioned the favorable personal relationship they have built over the years and its contribution to the strengthening of the connection between Israel and Turkey.

The two leaders agreed to continue to fortify the relationship in light of the tasks and challenges facing the region.

The preceding story was provided by Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Peres Diary

Peres tells why he decided Danny’s
killers should be eligible for parole

Editor’s Note: Danny Katz, 15, of Haifa, was found dead in a cave in 1983. His skull had been crushed by stoning. Subsequently five Arabs were convicted of his murder and sentenced to live imprisonment. The issue 24 years later that came to President Peres was whether they should be eligible for parole. Following is the announcement by the Israeli president.

JERUSALEM (Press Release)— The President of Israel, Mr. Shimon Peres, understands the pain and outcry of the Katz family, whose son Danny was murdered by evildoers.

In accordance with the procedure since the establishment of the State of Israel, the President must determine the duration of life sentences, after a committee for the commutation of life sentences, headed by a judge, submits detailed recommendations to the Ministry of Justice.

Only after the Justice Minister approved the committee’s recommendations in the case in question did the President decided to accept the recommendations of the Justice Minister and the professional committee. In accordance with these recommendations the President determined that two of the murderers would serve a 45 year sentence (one prisoner will be released in 2030 and the other in 2029) and another three would serve a 30 year sentence.

It should be noted that the penalty of life imprisonment that was in force at the time of the prisoners’ trial stood at 24 years, and due to the gravity of their actions the professional committee, the Justice Minister and the President imposed a more severe penalty than was customary at that time.

The preceding story was provided by the office of Israel's President Shimon Peres

Peres congratulates delighted Gul on election as Turkey’s president

JERUSALEM (Press Release)--The President of the State of Israel, Mr. Shimon Peres, has congratulated Abdullah Gul, who was elected President of Turkey on Tuesday, August 28. President Peres told Gul that the entire the State of Israel congratulates him today and hopes that under his extensive experience, actions and activity on behalf of Turkey and the nations of the region, the good relations prevailing between Israel and Turkey will continue.

The Turkish President thanked Peres warmly and said that strengthening relations between Turkey and Israel is extremely important for Turkey and that he hopes to continue to work alongside Peres in order to promote stability in the region.

He also said that he expects the future to bring with it a good wind and the glad tidings of peace to all the nations in the region.

The office of Israel's President Shimon from time to time releases accounts of his official activities. We have been publishing them as they are made available.

Iran builds a new Jewish community center in move fraught with symbolism

TEHRAN (Press Release)—Iran has started building work a huge new cultural and sports complex in central Tehran for its Jewish community, billing the project as proof of the freedoms enjoyed by its religious minorities.

Housing and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Saidi-Kia broke the ground for the new building alongside Morris Motamed, the representative of Iran's Jewish community in parliament. Motamed said that the US$ 3.2 million dollar project will cover 6,800 square meters (73,194 square feet), around half of which will be devoted to sport and half to cultural activities. Saidi-Kia said "In Iran, the followers of the different religions have freedoms guaranteed in the constitution. The followers of the divine religions are living under one flag."

Iran's Jewish community numbers around 20,000 people and remains the largest in the Middle East after Israel, despite substantial emigration in the aftermath of the Islamic revolution in 1979. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sparked an international outcry by repeatedly predicting Israel is doomed to disappear and also questioning the scale of the Holocaust. However Iranian officials vehemently deny charges of anti-Semitism, saying the Jewish minority is well treated and the president's attacks are only against Israel -- which the Islamic republic has always refused to recognize.

The preceding story was provided by the World Jewish Congress

Europe

People's party makes racist appeal
in Switzerland's election campaign

BERN (Press Release)—Switzerland's biggest political party has come under fire for racist and xenophobic campaigning after its posters featured black sheep and its proposals to deport immigrants were likened by anti-racism campaigners to Nazi practices.

The nationalist People's party, which controls the lower house of the Swiss parliament, has run an advertising campaign showing three white sheep on a Swiss flag kicking out a black sheep with the caption ‘For more security’.

The party, which controls the justice ministry and is part of Switzerland's governing coalition, is proposing a scheme to deport immigrant families if their children are convicted of a violent crime, drug offences or benefit fraud. It claims immigrants, which make up 20% of the population, are four times more likely to commit crimes than Swiss nationals. The party is trying to collect the 100,000 signatures needed to force a referendum on the scheme.

Ronnie Bernheim of the Swiss Foundation against Racism and Anti-Semitism said the proposal was similar to the Nazi practice of ‘Sippenhaft’ -- or kin liability -- whereby relatives of criminals were held responsible for his or her crimes and punished equally.

The preceding story was provided by the World Jewish Congressz

Australia

Anti-Semitic cricketers expelled

MELBOURNE (Press Release)—An Australian cricket club has expelled two members for posting anti-Semitic comments on a website. The expulsions, from the McKinnon cricket club, follow an internal investigation into comments posted on the ‘Facebook’ internet site about a rival Jewish Club, Maccabi AJAX.

Following the incident the club’s local council suspended grants and renewal works for the cricket club and threatened to evict them from their ground unless disciplinary action was taken against the offending players. Local councillor and B'nai B'rith Anti-defamation Commission chairman Michael Lipshutz said the club should be commended on the way it had handled the incident. "By and large they've done everything we've asked of them," he said.

The regional cricket association also investigated the individuals but found no fault with the club itself. The president of the McKinnon club said he was disappointed the incident had happened and that racism had never been an issue at the club before. He added that McKinnon was ready to move forward after further negotiations with cricketing bodies, the council and AJAX.

The preceding story was provided by the World Jewish Congress

United States of America

Commentary
AJC's Harris says all in all, there have been many better weeks for the Jews

By David A. Harris
Executive Director, American Jewish Committee

ROME, Italy (Press Release)--For those who believe that bad things happen in groups of three, their view was borne out in the past week.

Much of the Jewish world's attention was focused on the planning conference, chaired by Libya and assisted by, among others, Iran, for the 2009 rendition of the Durban Conference; the release of the long awaited book, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, by Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer; and the 300 Qassam and mortar attacks launched against Israel from Gaza in August alone.

However, three events within the Jewish community provided yet another sobering reminder that not all of our challenges are external. We're mighty capable of creating problems for ourselves, if that ever seemed in doubt.

Take the appearance of a prominent editor of Ha’aretz, widely regarded as Israel's top paper, before a UN-sponsored conference in Brussels. The gathering was organized by the notorious Committee for the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. This committee was established by the UN General Assembly on November 10, 1975, the same day that the infamous "Zionism is racism" resolution was adopted.

Its mandate was to pursue "a programme of implementation to enable the Palestinian people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination without external interference, national independence and sovereignty, and to return to their homes and property." Note especially those last words, as in the so-called "right of return," meaning the end of Israel as we know it. (Jump to continuation)

Jewish Humor

A nice Jewish name for the baby

A young Jewish man falls in love with a Native American (aka: American Indian) woman and they decide to get married. When his mother hears the news, however, she is extremely distressed because she wanted him, of course, to marry a nice Jewish girl.

When she hears that not only is he marrying this Native American girl but has decided to live with her on the reservation, the mother becomes so upset that she refuses to even speak to the boy, practically disowning him.

After a year, the son telephones the mother to tell her that he and his wife are expecting a child.

The mother, relenting, is happy for him, but there is still quite a bit of tension in the air.

Nine months later, the son calls the mother again. "Mom," he says, "just wanted you to know that last night my wife gave birth to a healthy baby boy. I also wanted to tell you that we've talked it over and we have decided to give the boy a Jewish name."

Upon hearing this, the mother is overjoyed. "Oh, son, this is wonderful," she gushes. "I've been waiting for this moment all my life. You have made me the happiest woman in the world."

That's great, Mom, " replies the son.

"And what," asks the mother, "is the baby's name?"

The son proudly replies, "Smoked Whitefish."

—Our thanks to Herb Braverman for relaying this.

The Jewish Grapevine

CYBER-REFERRALS—San Diego Jewish World appreciates and thanks those individuals and organizations which recommend or post stories of interest to the worldwide Jewish community:

● Bruce Lowitt: An article on Salon.com on the best 18 Jewish baseball players of all time. Here is the link.

● Cable News Network reports that the leader of Fatah al-Islam, Shaker al-Abbsi, may have been among 39 killed when Lebanese troops stormed a refugee camp which it had under siege. DNA tests will be required to verify. Here is the link.

JEWISH PUBLIC OFFICIALS
● U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (Republican, Pennsylvania) says maybe U.S. Sen. Larry Craig (Republican, Idaho) should reconsider his resignation from the U.S. Senate in the wake of a sting operation in which Craig was accused of soliciting an undercover policeman for gay sex. Specter advised his colleague to fight the charge. Here is the link.

IN MEMORY
●Ben Borevitz, 79, an attorney who was an active supporter of such Jewish defense agencies as the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League and the Community Relations Council of United Jewish Federation of San Diego County, has died of ALS, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Active in Democratic politics, Borevitz also was known as a wine connoisseur. Here’s the link to an obituary by Elizabeth Fitzsimons in today’s San Diego Union Tribune.