Last month I had a post wondering out loud about what it would mean to have Rep. Gary Ackerman — a staunch supporter of Israel who also has backed U.S. support for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas — chairing the House’s Middle East subcommittee. Well, tomorrow Ackerman is hold his first hearing — on the…
Jonathan Miller – boychick candidate for governor of Kentucky – made nice with his state’s coal lobby at a press conference yesterday. Miller called for new methods to remediate the mountaintop removal associated with mining – that is, put the mountains back afterwards – rather than a halt to the practice, which involves releasing tons…
Hillary Clinton is out with a statement condemning the attack against Elie Wiesel…. “The shameful attack on Elie Wiesel is a violent reminder that we must continue to speak out against Holocaust denial and against hate crimes that seek to silence free speech. Elie survived the Holocaust and has spent a lifetime urging us never…
The National Jewish Democratic Council issued a statement criticizing Mitt Romney for announcing his presidential candidacy at the Henry Ford Museum in Detorit…. “NJDC is deeply troubled by Governor Romney’s choice of locations to announce his Presidential campaign,” said NJDC Executive Director Ira Forman. “Romney has been traveling the country talking about inclusiveness and understanding…
It’s off to the races for Barack Obama, which includes fielding questions about U.S. policy towards Iran and Syria, as he did in an interview that aired last night on 60 Minutes. Like Clinton and Edwards, Obama advocates talks with Tehran and Damascus, and keeping “all options” on the table when it comes to preventing…
When Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton addressed a packed crowd of Israel supporters in New York last week, she opened with a joke that signaled she was among respected old friends. Earlier in the afternoon, Clinton said, she had been frantic, as a critical Senate vote on the minimum wage delayed her trip north for the…
A major debate over energy and the environment is poised to erupt among national Jewish organizations at an upcoming public policy conference. According to communal insiders, several groups belonging to the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, a policy coordinating body made up of 13 national Jewish organizations and 125 local Jewish communities, are wrangling over…
Jerusalem – The latest faux-form letter making the rounds here is called “The Kissing Contract As Per the Ramon Rule,” and men and women across Israel are passing it around by e-mail with a chuckle — and in some cases, bitterness. The four-point contract permits a man to kiss a woman on the “mouth/cheek/forehead/other* (herein:…
Jerusalem – As Palestinian leaders set off for Mecca this week in the latest effort at Hamas-Fatah peace talks, well-placed sources in Jerusalem were speaking of growing doubts within Israeli officialdom over the current policy of boycotting Hamas. “People in different government agencies are well aware of the problematic nature of the present policy and…
As rabbis of Conservative Judaism begin work on a new, ethically motivated food certification, they are coming under attack from a number of Orthodox kosher authorities. The Conservative movement decided last December to create a Tsedek Hekhsher, or justice certification, after finding substandard working conditions at the country’s largest kosher slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa. The…
Washington – The new budget presented Monday by President Bush to Congress has Jewish groups worried over proposed cuts in social spending. Bush’s proposed $3 trillion budget for 2008, which will now be debated in Congress, includes a significant increase in spending on defense, national security and homeland security, while cutting back on Medicare, Medicaid…
