(World
ROUNDUP
More Security Funding
Washington/JTA
U.S. community and
religious institutions will receive an
additional $4 million in federal funding
for security.
In light of recent thwarted bomb plots
involving two New York synagogues, U.S.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., urged
the Homeland Security Subcommittee to
increase federal anti-terror funding to
help protect civil, religious and commu-
nity institutions from terrorist attacks.
The measure will be included in the
Homeland Security Appropriations Bill,
bringing the total to $19 million in fed-
eral resources allotted for the safeguard-
ing of these groups.
"No New Yorker, or American, should
ever have to live or worship in fear of
being targeted because of who they are
or what they believe," Gillibrand said,
adding later that "These homeland
security dollars will help arm our non-
profits with the resources they need to
guard us from attacks and keep us safe."
—
Auschwitz On Facebook
Warsaw/JTA
The state-run Auschwitz
Memorial Museum in Poland launched
its official page on Facebook.
By Oct. 15, less than a week after the
page debuted on the popular social
networking Web site, the Auschwitz
page had more than 1,400 members.
The page was launched to reach out to a
broader, younger public.
"Auschwitz Memorial is experiment-
ing with new ways of reaching and
educating people — such as Facebook,"
a note on the page said. "There are
many contemporary issues connected
with historical memory and there are
contemporary problems that we must
solve now, after 65 years. The question
is, should Auschwitz Memorial, as an
institution, be closed for such new pos-
sibilities as Facebook with millions of
people?"
This year, more than 1 million people
have visited the Auschwitz Memorial
ADL: Let Tenenbaum
revealing key facts in the case.
Sue Government
During a 1997 polygraph
Washington/JTA
The Anti-
test administered by the Army,
Defamation League urged a
Tenenbaum said anti-Jewish
federal appeals court to allow a
epithets were shouted at him.
Jewish U.S. Army employee to
He said the next day his com-
sue the government for discrimi-
puter was gone and his name
nation. In a friend-of-the-court
erased from the e-mail system
David
brief filed Oct. 14 in the case of
at the Tank Automotive and
Tenenb aum
Tenenbaum v. Ashcroft, the ADL
Armaments Command, the mili-
told the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
tary facility in Warren, where he worked.
in Cincinnati that David Tenenbaum of
After a yearlong FBI investigation, the
Southfield "deserves his day in court."
U.S. Justice Department in 2008 deter-
A 2008 Department of Defense investi- mined that there was no basis to pros-
gation concluded that David Tenenbaum, ecute Tenenbaum.
now 51, a civilian Army employee, had
"David Tenenbaum deserves to have
his security clearance privileges revoked
his day in court:' Deborah Lauter, ADL's
inappropriately more than a decade ago
civil rights director, said. "Like a number
because of his Jewish faith and the per-
of other Jews who have had security clear-
ception of a dual loyalty to the United
ances denied or revoked, Mr. Tenenbaum
States and Israel.
was subjected to special scrutiny simply
Tenenbaum's right to sue for dis-
because he was Jewish and because he
crimination was denied, however, because had ties to Israel. The charge that Jews are
the Eastern District Federal Court of
more loyal to Israel than to America is an
Michigan agreed with the government's
insidious anti-Semitic canard that has no
claim that "state secrets" prevented it from place in our society."
—
—
Museum, located at the site of the Nazi
death camp in southern Poland.
The Facebook page includes infor-
mation on Auschwitz and provides a
forum to post discussions, photographs
and Web links. The memorial museum
already has a Web site and a YouTube
channel.
Several other pages on Facebook are
devoted to Auschwitz and Holocaust
memory.
Obama Defamed
Lakeville, Mass./JTA A swastika and
the name of President Obama were
carved into the green of a Massachusetts
golf course. The incident at the Lakeville
Country Club is being investigated by
the Secret Service.
Groundskeepers on Monday found the
words "I" and "Obama" scrawled into
—
the green with the image of a swastika
between them.
"This is sick," Lakeville County Club
owner Gary Mosca said. "They are going
to do this stuff and cause a problem just
to be anti-establishment or just to be
tough guys. Their minds are probably
demented enough to think of anything."
Footprints Found
Jerusalem/JTA
Archeologists discov-
ered footprints underneath an ancient
mosaic in Israel. The 1,700-year-old foot
and sandal prints, including an imprint
of a sole that resembles a modern
sandal, were uncovered when the Lod
Mosaic was removed for conservation.
The mosaic, one of the largest ever
found in Israel, was exposed in the city
of Lod in 1996 and was covered again
when no resources could be found for
—
its conservation.
With a recent contribution from
the Leon Levy Foundation, the Israel
Antiquities Authority is conserving and
developing the site. The mosaic was re-
excavated and exhibited to the public,
and now is being removed from the area
for treatment in the IAA conservation
laboratories.
It is believed the mosaic floor was
part of a villa that belonged to a wealthy
man in the Roman period.
"Based on the concentration of
foot and sandal prints, it seems that
the group of builders tamped the
mortar in place with their feet," said
Jacques Neguer, head of the IAA Art
Conservation Branch.
"The excitement here was great. It is
fascinating to discover a 1,700-year-old
personal mark of people who are actu-
ally like us, who worked right here on
the same mosaic. We feel the continuity
of generations here."
The revealed hand and foot prints
will be removed from the area. They will
be conserved and returned to the site
together with the mosaic.
Iran Sanctions
Washington/JTA
The U.S. House of
Representatives enacted legislation
authorizing state and local governments
to divest from companies doing busi-
ness with Iran's energy sector.
The Iran Sanctions Enabling Act,
sponsored by Reps. Barney Frank, D-
Mass., and Mark Kirk, Rill., passed on
Oct.14 by a vote of 414-6. The measure
allows for state and local governments
to divest from companies that invest in
Iran's petroleum and natural gas indus-
tries or do business with Iran's nuclear
industry.
It also provides for divesting from any
company providing tankers or any prod-
uct used to construct or maintain pipe-
lines that transport Iranian oil or lique-
fied natural gas, as well as any financial
institution that offers a $20 million line
—
Attorney Eyes Council Post
H
untington Woods resident Jules
Olsman has decided to run for
the vacant city commission seat.
His experience includes serving on the
city's Planning Commission for 11 years
and the Zoning Board of Appeals, which
he chaired for two years. Olsman orga-
nizes the city's Blight Committee, which
is revising and clarifying the city's trash
and blight laws.
26
October 22 ® 2009
Olsman, owner/president
of Olsman Mueller Wallace &
McKenzie in Berkley, believes that
he will provide "strong and posi-
tive representation to the citizens
of Huntington Woods," which he
has called home since 1976.
"We, as citizens, have an obli-
gation to be accountable to one
another. City government has
Jules Olsman
an obligation to be responsible
to its citizens:' said Olsman. "I
believe that I have the qualifica-
tions to help promote good city
government and to help further
the image that Huntington
Woods is one of the best places
in the country to live."
Olsman brings 32 years of
legal experience, along with
involvement in state politics and service
and leadership roles in organizations
such as Citizens for Better Care, the
Elder Abuse Task Force and the State Bar
of Michigan.
He is an active member of
Congregation Shaarey Zedek of Oakland
County.
Olsman is married to Barbara, and
has two children, Carly and Jake.