ROUNDUP
Conservative Rabbis Offer 'Choosing Judaism' Class
Registration is underway for the Conservative community's conversion class,
"Choosing Judaism," sponsored by the Michigan Rabbinical Assembly.
The 24-week course gives an introduction to Judaism, Torah and Hebrew
prayer. It meets 7 p.m.-9 p.m. Mondays starting Sept.14 at Hillel Day School,
32200 Middlebelt Road, Farmington Hills. Tuition is $350 per person ($500
for a couple registering together), plus a $50 materials fee.
Contact Rabbi Steven Rubenstein of Congregation Beth Ahm in West
Bloomfield, president of the assembly: (248) 851-6880, ext. 17, or
raysteven@cbahm.org .
Venus Williams Lauded
New York/JTA — Tennis star Venus
Williams received an award from the
Anti-Defamation League for oppos-
ing the exclusion from play of an
Israeli tennis player. Williams was
presented with ADL's Americanism
Award for speaking out against a move
in February to exclude Israeli tennis
player Shahar Pe'er from a tourna-
ment in Dubai. The United Arab
Emirates had refused to issue a visa to
Pe'er, Israel's top female tennis player,
preventing her from taking part in the
Dubai Tennis Championship. Williams
publicly decried the move and called
for fair treatment of players.
After receiving the award, Williams
said she strongly believes in equality
among tennis players and that she did
not think UAE officials would deny
Pe'er a visa next time. "I feel like I did
the minimum, just to speak and to say
something," Williams said. "It shows
that whatever little things you can do
to make a difference really will help. I
want to thank Shahar for her courage,
and I share this award with her."
Obama Demand Dropped?
Washington/JTA — The Obama
administration reportedly has
dropped its demand that Israel curb
construction in eastern Jerusalem.
Israeli officials and Western diplomats
said that the Obama administration
has backed away from its demand that
Israel limit construction intended for
Jews in the predominantly Arab east-
ern part of the city, Ha'aretz reported.
While the sources said the United
States would not condone such con-
struction — the United States does not
recognize Israel's annexation of eastern
Jerusalem, an area the Palestinians
claim as the capital of their future state
— the sources said the Americans
would no longer demand Israel fully
cease construction there.
The sources added that a deal
between Washington and Jerusalem
over freezing construction of Jewish
settlements in the West Bank was near-
ing completion following a successful
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meeting on Aug. 26 between Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
and the U.S envoy to the Middle East,
George Mitchell. Netanyahu denied
reports that Israel has agreed to a full
halt in settlement construction.
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Organ Harvesting
Stockhohn/JTA — A Swedish news-
paper has published a second article
accusing the Israeli army of harvest-
ing Palestinian organs.
A Palestinian family in the West
Bank told the newspaper, Aftonbladet,
in an article published on Aug. 23
that the body of their 19-year-old
son, killed by Israeli soldiers in 1992,
was returned to them wrapped in
bandages and that they found a scar
running from his neck to his stomach.
The newspaper published a picture
that the family said is their son's body,
showing the scar. The Israel Defense
Forces told the family the scar was
from an autopsy.
The article calls on Israel to inves-
tigate the issue to put a stop to the
rumors or to the practice. In an edito-
rial published Aug. 24, Aftonbladet
Editor Jan Helin defended his decision
to print the stories, saying that he is "a
responsible editor who gave the green
light to an article because it raises a few
questions:' He added that the news-
paper had no actual evidence that the
allegations against the IDF are true.
Meanwhile, thousands of Israelis
have signed on to a boycott of the
Swedish retail outlet IKEA via an
online petition. The petition calls
the publication of the articles "anti-
Semitic" and "a Medieval-type blood
libel." There is an IKEA store in
Netanya and a second outlet in Israel
is set to open in 2010.
Citing freedom of the press, the
Swedish Foreign Ministry disavowed a
condemnation of the story by Sweden's
ambassador to Israel. Israeli officials,
including Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, have called on the Swedish
government to condemn the article.
Sweden currently holds the rotating
presidency of the European Union.
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