World
ROUNDUP
Weizmann Chemist
Wins Nobel Prize
RehovotlJTA — A
Weizmann Institute sci-
entist was awarded the
Nobel Prize in chem-
istry, only the fourth
woman in history to
Ada Yonath
secure the prize.
Ada Yonath joined Americans
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and
Thomas Steitz in winning the prize
on Oct. 7 for mapping ribosomes, the
mechanisms that manufacture proteins
within cells.
The work has helped medical research-
ers tailor antibiotics for diseases.
1 In 4 Are Muslim
Washington/JTA — Nearly 1 in 4 people
in the world are Muslim, according to a
new report. The global Muslim popula-
tion is 1.57 billion, according to the
Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life
report. The report estimated the world
population at 6.8 billion.
Germany has more Muslims than
Lebanon, China has more than Syria,
Russia has more than Jordan and Libya
combined, and Ethiopia has nearly as
many Muslims as Afghanistan, the report
disclosed.
More than 60 percent of the world's
Muslims live in Asia, followed by 20 per-
cent in the Middle East and North Africa.
The report, which took three years to
compile, analyzed the Muslim popula-
tions in 232 countries.
Teaching About
The Holocaust
Gaza City/JTA
— UNWRA will teach
about the Holocaust to
students in Gaza sec-
ondary schools.
John Ging, the United
John Ging
Nations Relief and
Works Agency's direc-
tor of operations in Gaza, told the British
newspaper The Independent that he was
"confident and determined" that the
Holocaust would be taught in curricula
being developed by the organization that
administers relief to Palestinian refugees.
"No human rights curriculum is com-
plete without the inclusion of the facts of
the Holocaust and its lessons:' Ging told
the paper.
The statement comes after officials of
Hamas, which controls Gaza, condemned
the inclusion of the Holocaust in the
curriculum. The Muslim fundamentalist
group denies that the Holocaust occurred
and has called Holocaust education part
of a "Zionist plot." Ging said the Hamas
22
October 15 2009
Capitalizing The Jewish State
The 25th annual Art and Home Tour of the Metro Detroit State of Israel Bonds
Women's Division exceeded $400,000 in new investment capital for the State of
Israel. Participants who purchased at least $1,500 in Israel bonds toured the homes
of Barbara and Dr. Stanley Grandon, Meryl and Dr. Terry Podolsky and Judy and A.
Alfred Taubman, all of Bloomfield Hills. Shown at the tour are Margie Krasnick, Doreen
Hermelin, Meryl Podolslcy, Dr. Stanley Grandon, Barbara Grandon and Bluma Schechter.
government in Gaza did not try to inter-
fere with UNRWA.
An initial draft of the curriculum is
slated to be published in the next few
weeks and then presented to parents and
the public for consultation. It will "incul-
cate the values" of the 1948 Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, which
states that "everyone has the right to life,
liberty and security of person:' said Ging.
He said the curriculum is necessary to
counter the effects of the Israeli "siege"
and the other "illegalities that are the
daily life of Palestinians here in Gaza!'
It "is a seemingly endless list of trav-
esty and injustice, but we can't wait for
those to be righted before we also do
more to counter the effect of all that:'
Ging told The Independent.
He said the current human rights cur-
riculum was not adequate to address
issues such as the illegality of firing
rockets and the effect of propaganda, and
"anti-Semitic rhetoric:' according to the
paper.
emphasized that its conclusions were
"tentative and subject to further con-
firmation of the evidence, which it says
came from intelligence agencies and
its own investigations!' The report was
produced in consultation with a range
of nuclear weapons experts inside and
outside the agency, according to the
newspaper.
Still, the report's conclusions "go well
beyond the public positions taken by sev-
eral governments, including the United
States," the Times reported.
Last week, during meetings with
Western negotiators, Iran agreed
"in principle" to ship out most of its
enriched uranium for reprocessing in
Russia and France. The meeting came
just days after Iran admitted to operat-
ing a second secret uranium enrichment
plant in the holy city of Qom.
IAEA chief Mohammed ElBaradei said
in Tehran that his U.N. nuclear watchdog
organization will inspect the Qom site on
Oct. 25.
Iran Bomb-Capable
Tehran/JTA — Iran has enough data to
build a nuclear bomb, according to a con-
fidential United Nations report.
The New York Times reported on Oct.
4 that the International Atomic Energy
Agency's confidential analysis found that
Iran has acquired "sufficient information
to be able to design and produce a work-
able" atom bomb.
The report, titled "Possible Military
Dimensions of Iran's Nuclear Program:'
Iran Sanctions Plan
Washington/Tehran — A top U.S.
Treasury Department official said the
Obama administration is developing a
comprehensive plan for sanctions on Iran
that would involve a variety of actions.
The plan takes into account that no
single sanction is a silver bullet, said
Stuart Levey, undersecretary for terror-
ism and financial intelligence, in testi-
mony before the Senate Committee on
Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. "We
will need to impose measures simultane-
ously in many different forms in order to
be effective.
"It also takes into account Iran's poten-
tial vulnerabilities and those activities
that have the greatest influence on Iran's
decisionmakers," he said. As we consider
various measures, we are particularly
mindful of potential unintended conse-
quences on the people of Iran and the
internal dynamic now playing out in that
country"
Levey said he could not get into specif-
ics in an open hearing about what sanc-
tions were under consideration.
He said the United States was "working
closely with our allies as we put together
this strategy" because "financial mea-
sures are most effective when imposed
as part of a broad-based effort with the
support of the largest possible interna-
tional coalition."
Levey cautioned that "we should be
realistic about the ability of sanctions to
achieve our political and security objec-
tives with Iran: but that if "we accurately
target the key vulnerabilities and fissures
in Iran and then implement our plan
with a broad coalition of governments
and key private sector actors, we can at
least demonstrate to the Iranian govern-
ment that there are serious costs to any
continued refusal to cooperate with the
international community."
Jews Visit Mount?
Jerusalem/JTA — A leading Israeli rabbi,
Yosef Sholom Elyashiv, said Jews should
not visit the Temple Mount and that such
visits could provoke bloodshed. Elyashiv
told President Shimon Peres that Jews
are forbidden according to Jewish law
to ascend to the Temple Mount and that
such visits — which he termed a provo-
cation — could lead to violence and
death.
"I have declared this in the past, and
I repeat once again my statement:' he
said. "Beyond the halachic aspect, it is
also a kind of provocation of the world's
nations that could lead to bloodshed, and
this would be one sin leading to another."
Elyashiv, leader of the Lithuanian sect
of the fervently Orthodox Ashkenazi
community, hosted Peres in his sukkah
in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Meah
Shearim.
"The nation has ears and you must let
your voice be heard:' Peres replied. "Your
voice is heard; you are a Torah sage and
you are respected by the public. We must
ensure that your position is heard."
Peres was visiting with the rabbi for
the first time. At the end of the visit,
Elyashiv gave Peres a blessing to help
him steer the nation.