World ROUNDUP West Bank Ties Jerusalem/JTA The alleged Fort Hood shooter is a conservative Muslim, not an extremist, says an uncle who lives in the West Bank. Rafik Hamad, 64, who lives in El-Bireh, near Ramallah, told the Associated Press that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan loved America and wanted to serve his country. Hasan, 39, a U.S. Army psychiatrist who allegedly killed 13 people at the U.S. Army base in Texas, also reportedly has a brother and grandfather living in the West Bank. Hamad told the Associated Press that his nephew had been harassed for being a Muslim. His car was vandalized and a bumper sticker that read "Allah is Love" was ripped off. Also, diapers were thrown at his house with the message "this is your head cover" written inside. Hasan reportedly said in a presenta- tion during a public health course for his master's degree during the past school year that he was against U.S. wars in Muslim countries. His presentation also justified suicide bombings, the AP reported. Hasan was born in the United States to Palestinian parents living in Virginia. They are both dead. Another brother also lives in Virginia. Several solders reported that he shouted Allahu Akbar (Arabic for "God is great") before opening fire in a medical clinic at Fort Hood on Nov. 5. He was hit four times by a civilian police officer. On Sunday, he was removed from a respirator at a San Antonio hospital but still had not spoken. Britain's Sunday Telegraph reported that Hasan prayed at the same mosque in Virginia in 2001 as two of the 9-11 terrorists. — Yoffie: Eat Less Meat Toronto/JTA Reform Jews should eat less red meat and consider more carefully what food they serve in their syna- gogues, the movement's Rabbi Yoffie leader said. "We need to think about how the food we eat advances the values we hold as Reform Jews;' Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, said Saturday in Toronto at the biennial conference of the movement's synagogue arm. A day earlier at the biennial, URJ passed a resolution urging equal services for Israeli Arabs. It was the first time the body had passed a measure specifically addressing the needs of the minority population. During his presidential sermon, Yoffie outlined the URJ's Green Table/Just Table Initiative. Noting that Americans are increasingly — 22 November 12 - 2009 Little Bird, Little Bird The Jewish Community Center in Oak Park had a little guest on Oct. 26. Now, Judy Front has a guest she would rather not get attached to. Front, assistant membership direc- tor for the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit, was leaving The guest canary the JCC's Jimmy Prentis Morris Building on Oct. 26 when she saw a yellow, orange and brown canary outside pecking at a JCC window. Judy Front Front, a former pet shop and bird owner, slowly walked up to the bird and captured it with her hands. The bird "showed no fear;' said Front. "She is obviously someone's pet and had been well cared for." Because of the bird's coloring and "necklace," Front estimates it would be valued at $100-150. She said the bird is fairly quiet, which is why she believes she is a female. Front took the bird home, put her in a homemade incubator/fishbowl the first night, then transferred her to a borrowed cage. The bird seems happy and content, but her foster mom "can't keep pets right now I'm becoming attached to this bird, so the sooner we can find it a home, the better!" The bird's owner or potential foster parents can call Front at the JCC, (248) 432-5605. "We can talk about the bird',' Front said, "and we can also talk about JCC membership." - Alan Hitsky, associate editor concerned about food issues, he urged Reform Jews to consider the ethical, envi- ronmental and health aspects of what they eat and come up with food policies for their synagogues. Yoffie steered clear of promoting kashrut, saying "ours is an ethically based tradition" But rather than ignore dietary practice, as he said Reform leaders did a century ago, he noted that food choices are intimately connected to issues, such as environmen- talism and social justice, that Reform Jews care about. Saying that he was not promoting veg- etarianism, Yoffie said that cutting down on red meat "is an area where we can make a difference" in offsetting our carbon foot- print. "Reducing our collective meat consump- tion by 20 percent would be comparable to every American driving a Prius," he said. Synagogues might also consider serving more communal meals, Yoffie suggested, as a way of building spiritual community. He also encouraged the planting of synagogue gardens. To help Reform Jews take these practi- cal steps, the union has posted a food policy guide, sample curriculum for youth groups, gardening tips and information on how synagogues can set up Community Supported Agriculture programs. In his sermon, Yoffie also urged Reform congregations to harness the community- building power of the Internet and set up their own blogs. Calling such congregational blogs an "online Oral Torah;' he said congregations need to think more creatively about social media. To help them do so, the union is offering a blogging platform, substantive and strategic support, and other resources. The resolution on Israeli Arabs encourag- es the Israeli government's efforts to imple- ment its Or Commission recommendations to reduce the gaps between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel, "including but not limited to the gaps in education, housing, industrial development, employment and services;' and encourages the government to address the needs of the unrecognized Bedouin villages. It commits the Reform movement to educate its member congregations and the wider American Jewish community about these issues, and encourages Reform movement missions and Israel programs, including those run by NFTY, the Reform youth movement, "to include issues of Arab-Jewish equality as part of their pro- gramming." against Israel's security fence. The activists are calling for a complete boycott of all Israeli goods in British super- markets to last for "as long as Palestinian rights are denied by the apartheid regime" and for demonstrations at the chain's branches and head offices. Activists were asked to come to demon- strate Friday in front of the North England headquarters of the chain, and to bring with them children's clothes stained with blood, candles and placards. Obama 'At' Rabin Rally Jerusalem/JTA President Obama called on Israelis to continue to pursue peace with the Palestinians, in a video message screened during a memorial to Yitzhak Rabin. Thousands filled Rabin Square in Tel Aviv Saturday night near the site where the Israeli prime minister was shot to death 14 years ago. "On that terrible November night, Yitzhak left us with his death," Obama said in his message, which was televised. "Now it is up to us to carry on its meaning, to carry on his work. "To all who seek peace I say tonight, you will always have a partner in the United States of America and in my administra- tion. That's why we've been working aggres- sively for our clear goal, two states living side by side in peace and security." The memorial service had been post- poned one week due to extremely heavy rains. The secular date of the assassination by a right-wing law student is Nov. 4. President Shimon Peres in his address called on Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas to continue to work with Israel toward peace. Abbas said last week that he would not run for re-elec- tion in a vote he has called for late January. "(W)e both signed the Oslo accords, and I turn to you as a colleague and ask that you don't let go;' Peres implored. Labor Party chairman Ehud Barak and opposition leader and Kadima Party chair- woman Tzipi Livni also addressed the gathering. — Abbas Won't Run Jerusalem/JTA Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced he would not run for re-election. In a live televised speech on Nov. 3 from his head- quarters in Ramallah, Abbas said he would not run in the elections he has called for January. In response, a Hamas spokesman said Abbas' decision not to seek re-election was a rebuke to his supporters, the Obama administration and the Israelis. "We advise him to ... face the Palestinian people and tell them frankly that the path — Supermarket Boycott London/JTA A pro-Palestinian group is staging a weeklong protest at two British supermarket chains to force them to stop selling Israeli products. Palestine Solidarity Campaign is calling this week for a boycott of the Morrison and Waitrose chains as part of a long-term campaign for an economic and cultural boycott of Israelit coincides with a call by a Palestinian group called the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign for a week of global action —