I
World
DIGEST
FREE
PARIOtsi G
In the
Compuware gatage
Mon Fnlam - 6pm 400.
41111,
low
Alt
with skating
admissio n "fa,
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$°1
HOURS: Mon.-Thurs
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
11 am - 10 pm
1 lam - Midnight
10 am - Midnight
Noon - 8 pm
• Field Trips
• Group Rates
• Skate Rentals
• Convenient
Adjacent Parking
• Open 7 Days
Including
Holidays
ink
CAMPUS
800 Woodward Avenue
3 Blocks North of Jefferson
For reservations & further info, call 313-963-9393
" DAVE'S BAN K "
I 'AS MOVE D
We are proud to announce that "Dave's Bank" has moved.
While our growth has allowed us to double our staff, it has also caused us to
outgrow our banking offices. In order to better serve our clients, we've moved to
the Somerset Place Building at 2301 W. Big Beaver Road in Troy.
First Michigan Bank is dedicated to providing its clients with service north of the
highest level. Our new, convenient, banking offices will allow CEO and Executive
Managing Director, Dave Provost and his Private Bankers,to once again exclusively
and personally cater to their client's diverse banking needs.
So, while we know the location is different, and the name a bit unfamiliar, the
superior personal banking service remains the same. And, just like the old days, you
can call us "Dave's Bank." Everyone still does.
Stop by anytime, or call (248) 649-2301
PROUD RECIPIENT OF
YESHIVA BETH YEHITDAH' S
2007 OUT STANDING
LEADERSHIP AWARD
SERV ICE .NIORTII 0.1.1.`11:E;
'LEVEL,
2301 West Big Beaver Road I Suite 525 I Troy, Michigan 48084
Member FDIC Equal Housing Lender
A26
February 19 • 2009
JN
Pope's Israel Visit
Rome/JTA — The Vatican says Pope
Benedict XVI's decision to visit Israel
this spring is "courageous:' It cites
the continuing strife in the region,
strains in Jewish-Catholic relations
and Israel's political limbo.
"The peace process has hardly
made any decisive steps:' said spokes-
man Rev. Frederico Lombardi said
Feb. 14 on Vatican radio. "Shadows
and mistrust repeatedly darken
the dialogue that is well under way
between the Jewish world and the
Catholic Church."
Still, Lombardi said, "He must go —
indeed, perhaps for all these reasons
it is urgent to go, to pray at the most
important places where hate and love
confront each other, where reconcilia-
tion seems humanly impossible."
In Israel, Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert on Sunday confirmed the
papal trip would take place in May
and said President Shimon Peres
would escort the pontiff around
Israel.
It will be the first papal trip to
Israel since John Paul II made a his-
toric pilgrimage in 2000. Only one
other pope visited the Holy Land
— Paul VI in 1964, before the Vatican
and Israel established diplomatic
relations. He spent only part of a
day, did not visit Jerusalem and did
not use the term "Israel" to describe
where he was.
U.S. At Durban II
MARTIUS
)PARK
Located in Detroit's Meeting Place, Across from the Compuware Building and Hard Rock Cafe.
Council Leaders
Bloomfield Township — The Jewish
Community Relations Council is
accepting nominations for its 2009-
2010 board of directors.
Candidates should be leaders
within the Detroit Jewish community
who are able to make a commit-
ment to the public affairs agenda
that Council pursues on behalf of its
member organizations and the Jewish
community.
To nominate a candidate, contact
the Council at (248) 642-5393, or
download a nomination form at
detroitjcrc.org . Nominations must be
received by Monday, March 2.
0
Washington/JTA — The United States
will participate in planning a con-
troversial international conference
against racism.
The State Department announced
late Feb. 14 that it would send a dele-
gation to the Feb. 16-19 consultations
for the United Nations-sponsored
World Conference Against Racism,
dubbed Durban II, "as a means of
evaluating the current direction of
Conference preparations and whether
U.S. participation in the Conference
itself is warranted!'
The conference, which will be held
in Geneva, Switzerland, in April, has
threatened to be similar to the first
conference, held in South Africa
in 2001. Arab states and their sup-
porters used the Durban meeting to
attack Israel.
The United States and Israel
walked out of the Durban conference
after the introduction of a resolution
comparing Zionism to racism, which
is likely to be raised again.
"This will be the first opportunity
the [Obama] administration has had
to engage in the negotiations for the
Durban Review, and — in line with
our commitment to diplomacy — the
U.S. has decided to send a delegation
to engage in the negotiations on the
text of the conference document:' a
statement from the State Department
read.
"The intent of our participation is
to work to try to change the direction
in which the Review Conference is
heading. We hope to work with other
countries that want the Conference to
responsibly and productively address
racism around the world!"
Canada and Israel already have
announced that they will boycott the
conference.
'Hamas Harmed Gazans'
London/JTA — Amnesty
International issued a report
detailing Hamas violence against
Palestinians during Israel's military
operation in the Gaza Strip.
In its report, the human rights
organization states that at least two
dozen men were shot dead by Hamas
gunmen, and many more were knee-
capped or otherwise tortured during
and after Israel's military operation.
It also confirms media reports that
some victims had been executed
in hospitals where they were being
treated for wounds.
Amnesty International sent a fact-
finding team to the Gaza Strip once
the cease-fire was in force.
Responding to the report, Hamas
spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said,
"Maybe some of them were killed
because they were acting against the
population, against the resistance."
Hamas officially endorses the
killing of collaborators, but denies
allegations that it executes political
rivals.