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Demjanjuk Indicted
Berlin/JTA — Convicted Nazi guard
John Demjanjuk was formally charged
with being an accessory to the mur-
der of 27,900 Jews. The Munich State
Prosecutor on July 13
issued the indictment
accusing Demjanjuk of
being an accessory to
the murder of 27,900
Jews at the Sobibor
death camp in Poland.
Trial date has been
set for mid-October.
John
The 89-year-old retired
Demjanjuk
autoworker, who has
spent most of the post-
war period as a U.S. citizen, was extra-
dited to Germany in May and has been
held since then in a Munich prison.
According to the German Press
Association, Demjanjuk was formally
accused of having been a guard at
Sobibor, where he allegedly drove thou-
sands of victims into gas chambers.
Among the evidence against him is SS
identification. His name is on a 1943
list showing that he was transferred to
Sobibor, the press group noted.
Earlier this month, Demjanjuk was
declared medically fit to stand trial, but
medical experts said he could not be on
the stand longer than three hours per
day, broken up into two segments.
Demjanjuk, who was born in Ukraine,
has claimed that he was a Soviet pris-
oner of war in a German prison camp.
He reportedly was later trained to be
a guard and was transferred from an
agricultural posting to Sobibor, where
he stayed for seven months before being
transferred to the concentration camp
at Flossenbuurg. After the war he was
labeled a displaced person and in 1952
immigrated to the United States.
Germany was able to apply for
his extradition after Demjanjuk was
stripped of his U.S. citizenship for lying
about his Nazi past.
Israelis Can Buy Land
Jerusalem/JTA — Israelis may purchase
property in all parts of Jerusalem,
Benjamin Netanyahu said. The Israeli
prime minister's comments Sunday
to his Cabinet at its
weekly meeting came
after the U.S. State
Department told
Israel's ambassador to
the United States over
the weekend that the
Jewish state must halt a
construction project in
eastern Jerusalem.
"I would like to re-emphasize that the
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united Jerusalem is the capital of the
Jewish people and of the State of Israel,"
Netanyahu said. "Our sovereignty over it
cannot be challenged. This means, inter
alia, that residents of Jerusalem may
purchase apartments in all parts of the
city.
"(I)n recent years, hundreds of apart-
ments in Jewish neighborhoods and
in the western part of the city have
been purchased by or rented to Arab
residents, and we did not interfere.
This says that there is no ban on Arabs
buying apartments in the western part
of the city and there is no ban on Jews
buying or building apartments in the
eastern part of the city.
"I can only describe to myself what
would happen if someone would pro-
pose that Jews could not live in certain
neighborhoods in New York, London,
Paris or Rome. There would cer-
tainly be a major international outcry.
Accordingly, we cannot agree to such a
decree in Jerusalem."
In 1985, American philanthropist
Irving Moskowitz purchased the land
on which the Shepherd Hotel sits. It is
located near an Israeli compound hous-
ing several government ministries. He
plans to build 20 apartments there.
Yes, Franken
Washington/JTA — Al Franken has won
the Minnesota Senate race after eight
months of recounts and legal challenges.
In a unanimous,
unsigned decision, the
Minnesota Supreme
Court ruled that
Franken, a Jewish
Democrat, "received
the highest number of
votes legally cast" and
is entitled "to receive
Al Franken
the certificate of elec-
tion as United States
senator from the state of Minnesota:'
according to media reports.
His Republican opponent, Norm
Coleman, then ended his legal battle,
officially conceding the race. Coleman,
who also is Jewish, said further litiga-
tion "would damage the unity of our
state."
With Coleman's defeat and the deci-
sion by Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter to
join the Democratic caucus, the Senate
now has no Jewish Republican mem-
bers. The House of Representatives
has one Jewish Republican, Minority
Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia.
During the court battle over the
Minnesota vote, Coleman has been
serving as a paid consultant to the
Republican Jewish Coalition, an organi-
zation for which he often stumped dur-
ing his years in the Senate.
Franken was ahead by 312 votes after
a statewide recount, but Coleman had
sued, arguing that the recount applied
differing standards to ballots depending
on the county.
The Franken victory gives Democrats
a 60-vote, filibuster-proof majority in
the Senate. Franken is a former writer
and performer on Saturday Night Live.
President Obama welcomed the
news. "I look forward to working with
Senator-Elect Franken to build a new
foundation for growth and prosperity by
lowering health care costs and invest-
ing in the kind of clean energy jobs and
industries that will help America lead in
the 21st century," Obama said.
Local Economic Workshops
Jewish Detroiters suffering under the
strain of current economic conditions
can join Part 2 and Part 3 of the Jewish
Assistance Project of Metropolitan
Detroit's summer "Get Help" series.
"Losing Your Job, But Not Losing Your
Way:' a panel forum, will be held at 7
p.m. Tuesday, July 28, at Young Israel of
Oak Park, 15140 W. 10 Mile.
Workshops facilitated by partner
agencies of the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit will be held at
9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, at the Max
M. Fisher Federation Building, 6735
Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township.
Workshops will include job search
strategies, healthcare for the uninsured
or underinsured, managing credit and
debt, mortgage negotiation and maxi-
mizing your food budget with chef Matt
Prentice of the Bingham Farms-based
Matt Prentice Restaurant Group.
Both events include an agency fair
where Jewish social service agency rep-
resentatives will address specific con-
cerns, and offer registration for work-
shops and individualized consultations.
For information, call (248) 203-1519,
or e-mail mayer@jfmd.org .
Fewer Israeli Millionaires
Jerusalem/JTA — The number of Israeli
millionaires has fallen by 28 percent,
nearly twice the global total.
According to the Merrill Lynch World
Wealth report released June 25, Israel
now has 5,900 "high net worth individu-
als," defined as those with at least $1
million in liquid financial assets, down
2,300 from the 2008 report.
The number of global millionaires fell
by 14.9 percent, according to the report.
In the United States, the number
dropped by 18.5 percent. Hong Kong
lost the most millionaires, 61 percent,
from the previous year.
According to the report, the number
of Israeli "ultra-high net worth indi-
viduals," with liquid assets of at least
$30 million, fell by 24.6 percent, from
97 to 73.
Farmington Hills Blood Drive
Jenna Garber, a 2009 North Farmington
High School graduate, is hosting a blood
collection drive through the American Red
Cross as part of a summer scholarship
program.
The drive takes place 1-7 p.m. Tuesday,
Aug. 4, at the Farmington Community
Library, 32737 W. 12 Mile, Farmington
Hills. Walk-ins are welcome, but appoint-
ments are encouraged. Contact Jenna
Garber at x3trackstar197@aim.com or
(248) 320-4516.
Donors will be entered in a raffle; one
person will win four tickets to Cedar
Point in Ohio and a $50 gasoline card.
Other prizes include a two-year lease on a
Lincoln Mercury Milan.
Donors must be at least 17, weigh more
than 110 pounds and be in general good
health.
Every two seconds, someone in the U.S.
needs blood. The Red Cross must collect
six million donations each year.
Jerusalem And Tourism
Jerusalem/JTA — Travel and Leisure
magazine's annual poll ranked
Jerusalem as one of the best cities in the
world for tourists. Jerusalem was ranked
17th overall, above cities such as Tel
Aviv, London and Paris, and third in the
Africa and Middle East list.
Answering
Israel's Critics
The Charge
Amid tensions over criticisms of
Israel's treatment of journalists, a
unanimous vote of the International
Federation of Journalists last month
expelled the National Federation of
Israeli Journalists from its ranks.
The Answer
The Israeli group called the expulsion
biased, unfair and one-sided, which
pushed Israel "into a corner" and
labeled it an aggressor.
- Allan Gale,
Jewish Community Relations Council
of Metropolitan Detroit
© Jewish Renaissance Media, July 23, 2009