World DIGEST Settlement Building Up Jerusalem/JTA — Jewish construction in the West Bank and Jerusalem has increased since Annapolis, a Peace Now report found. Though Israel promised to freeze construction in the settlements at the Annapolis peace conference in November 2007, the left-wing organization said in its report released Monday that the construc- tion has continued and increased. Construction has taken place in 101 settlements, excluding East Jerusalem, in the past four months, according to the report. About 275 new buildings were started since Annapolis, with 20 percent of the construction taking place east of the national security fence. In addition, the Defense Ministry has approved plans for the construction of 946 units. In eastern Jerusalem, tenders for the construction of 750 housing units were granted after the summit, while in the year before the sum- mit only 46 housing units were approved. The report also found that there was construction in 58 "illegal outposts:' including 16 permanent structures, and that none were evacuated. `Any construction in the settlements, including the settlement blocs and East Jerusalem, simply reinforce the opinion of Palestinian extremists who see this as 'proof' that Israel does not truly want peace, that there is no use to talk with Israel, but instead, one has to fight Israel with force the report said. Utah Monuments Case Washington/JTA — The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a Utah case involving reli- gious monuments. The high court agreed Monday to hear a case in the term beginning in October brought by the Summum reli- gious group against Pleasant Grove City, which refused to allow the building of a religious monument in a park that houses a Ten Commandments monument. The free speech case will determine whether the monument is the private speech of the donor or is government speech, and whether the government has the right to decide what to display in a public park. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled previously that banning a monu- ment where others already stand violates the freedom of speech, paving the way for any organization to erect a monu- ment. Summum was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City. Addressing displays of religious sym- bols on public property in two cases in 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that a Ten Commandments monument can be dis- played on the grounds of a state capital that also has other monuments. Speak Up, Rabbis Urged Cincinnati/JTA — Reform rabbis were urged to "exercise moral leadership" on today's issues. Rabbi Peter Knobel, the president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, on Monday said the movement's rabbis should discuss the presidential race with their congregations, including the "moral tragedy" of the Iraq war, the need for uni- versal health care and the pressing need for peace in the Middle East. Knobel was speaking at the CCAR's national convention in Cincinnati. More than 450 rabbis from the 1.5 million- member American Reform community, the largest Jewish denomination, are attending the four-day gathering. "We have an important role in bring- ing the insights of Judaism to bear on the great issues of today',' Knobel said at CCAR's 119th convention. Adding that he hoped Protestant, Catholic and Muslim clergy would speak to their congregations as well, he said, "Often religion is decried as irrelevant. Quite the contrary, our moral values should be heard by all." Knobel blasted the Iraq war, saying it is "eating the flesh of our country" even as it is "killing and maiming thousands, alienating the Muslim world and wast- ing resources that would make for a safer, more secure and just world:' He also warned against the growing disconnect between Israel and North American Jewry, calling it "a virus." Israel®60 Online Jerusalem/JTA — An online contest to showcase Israel@60 was launched. The Israel Project invited filmmakers, writers and other artists worldwide to submit entries in the categories of televi- sion advertisement, video and printable flyer to commemorate Israel's founding in 1948. Winning entries in the TV and video categories will be posted on YouTube.com . Contest entries will be accepted in those languages through June 30. Voting for the TV and video entries will take place via YouTube. Judges will use those votes as part of their criteria in determining the winners. The winning 30- second ad in English will air on CNN at the Democratic and Republican national conventions. The Israel Project said it expanded its Web site and launched the online contest to counteract the Internet's exploitation by terrorist groups. For information on the contest, visit www.theisraelproject. org/contest. Prosyletizing Defended New York/JTA — The Anti-Defamation League criticized an advertisement in the New York Times in which evangelicals defend their efforts to convert Jews. Abraham Foxman, the ADL's national director, called the ad "offensive and insulting." The ad, which appeared in the March 28 issue, was sponsored by the World Evangelical Alliance, a 162-year-old global network that claims to represent 420 million evangelicals. In the ad, the affiance acknowledges that "church history has been marred" by anti-Semitism and that "the church did far less than it should Forever Chelm by Michael Gilbert RABBI ! HO W DO I MANAGE --(j (-IC STRESS or. Lire?! 0 HUH? 0H, UH B3 HAVING FAITH ANA, y ou KNOW, STUFF 1.-IKE THAT BUT RABBI, WHERE 70 I FI ND THAT FAITH OH, WELL y 0U l'uST.5oRT OF POKE AROUND AND,„ you KNOW,,, KEEP So ANIA.)A I CAN SEE Y OU'RE A LITT LE Busy C:\ Cti I A36 April 3 .2008 s , EVER TR WRITING Pt SERMON IN FIVE M I NU TES?! have" to protect Jews at moments of peril. But it also defends conversion efforts, saying "it is out of our profound respect for Jewish people that we seek to share the good news of Jesus Christ with them." In a separate statement, the group's CEO and international director, Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe, said the advertisement was intended as a gesture of friendship. "It is our hope that it will be received in the spirit it is intended by the non- evangelicals who see it," Tunnicliffe said. "Namely that it is a statement of friend- ship and profound respect for the Jewish people, a commitment to stand with the Jewish people who have suffered mis- treatment simply for being Jewish. And that part of our friendship and care and respect is shown in our commitment to share the love of God in Christ whom we believe is their Savior as well as ours." Among the signatories is Chuck Colson, a former Nixon aide who was jailed for involvement in the Watergate scandal and went on to found Prison Fellowship, a Christian group ministering to convicts. Hamas: Shoah 'Exaggerated' Gaza City/JTA — Hamas believes the Holocaust was "exaggerated:' its supreme leader said. Khaled Meshaal said in a Sky TV inter- view aired Monday that the numbers were embellished to justify the existence and actions of Israel. "We don't deny the Holocaust, but we believe the Holocaust was exaggerated by the Zionist movement to use as a whip:' the Palestinian faction's leader said. "We don't deny the fact but we don't accept two issues. We don't accept the exaggeration of numbers and we don't accept that Israel uses this to do what it wants." Though Hamas' charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state, Meshaal likened the group's terrorist and guerrilla attacks to French resistance against the Nazis and the American Revolution. Meshaal said Hamas has offered Israel a deal in which each side would attack only military targets. Hamas, like many Palestinians, considers Israelis living in the West Bank and east Jerusalem to be "military targets:" Asked about Gilad Shalit, an Israeli sol- dier abducted to Gaza by Hamas in June 2006, Meshaal said he is alive and well and that negotiations on his return are being held up by Israel. The Israeli government has balked at Hamas' demand for the release of hundreds of jailed Palestinians, includ- ing hard-core terrorists, in exchange for Shalit.