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Roundup from page 26

outcome which ends the conflict and recon-
ciles the Palestinian goal of an independent
and viable state based on the 1967 lines, with
agreed swaps, and the Israeli goal of a Jewish
state with secure and recognized borders':
Clinton said in a statement.
At a news conference at the State
Department, the administration's Middle
East envoy, George Mitchell, said that "while
they fall short of a full freeze, we believe
the steps announced by the prime minister
are significant and could have substantial
impact on the ground. For the first time
ever, an Israeli government will stop housing
approvals and all new construction of hous-
ing units and related infrastructure in West
Bank settlements. That's a positive develop-
ment."
"Nothing like this occurred during the
Bush administration," he added later.
Netanyahu told Security Cabinet mem-
bers at the start of the Nov. 25 meeting that
"In the international circumstances that
have been created, this step will promote
Israel's broad national interests. This is nei-
ther simple nor easy, but it has many more
advantages than disadvantages. It allows us
to place a simple fact before the world: The
government of Israel wants to enter into
negotiations with the Palestinians, is taking
practical steps in order to do so and is very
serious in its intentions to promote peace."

Hate Crimes Flare
Washington/JTA The incidence of hate
crimes in the United States in 2008 hit
a seven-year high, according to data
released Monday by the FBI. The 7,783
documented hate crimes in 2008 repre-
sented a 2.1 percent increase from 2007
and the highest since 2001.
Of the 1,519 religion-based hate
crimes, also at a seven-year high, 1,013
— or 66 percent — were directed
against Jews and Jewish institutions. The
FBI report also found the highest num-
ber of crimes directed at blacks, Jews and
gay men and lesbians since 2001.
"While the increase in the number of
hate crimes may be partially attributed
to improved reporting, the fact that these
numbers remain elevated — particularly
the significant rise in the number of
victims selected on the basis of religion
or sexual orientation — should be of
concern to every American:' said ADL
national director Abraham Foxman and
ADL national chair Robert Sugarman.
In response, the ADL called for a coor-
dinated campaign to prevent, deter and
respond effectively to criminal violence
motivated by bigotry and prejudice,
including training on the provisions of
the new Matthew Shepard and James
Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act,
more vigorous enforcement of existing

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28 December 3 • 2009

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laws, and anti-bias education and anti-
bullying programs for schools and com-
munities.

Mezuzah Case Heard
Washington/JTA A U.S. appeals court will
hear the case of an Orthodox condo owner
whose condominium association had tem-
porarily banned the use of mezuzahs.
The Nov. 13 ruling by the Chicago federal
court resulted from a rare en banc rehear-
ing on the case brought by Lynne Bloch of
Chicago and her family. In 2008, an appeals
court panel had rejected the appeal.
The Blochs' condo association had adopt-
ed a rule banning materials of various kinds
outside tenants' doors, which included their
mezuzah.
Nathan Diament, public policy director for
the Orthodox Union, applauded the court's
ruling. "We believe that, irrespective of the
facial neutrality of the condo association's
rule, to ban a Jewish tenant from affixing a
mezuzah ought to be viewed as a construc-
tive eviction from their home and thus
illegal under the Fair Housing Act': he said.
"Freedom from religious discrimination in
housing must encompass the freedom to act
in conformity with one's religious beliefs.
The court's ruling vindicates this view and
for that we are grateful."

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Ex-SS Member Charged
Washington/JTA A 90-year-old German
man was charged with the murders of Jewish
slave laborers during World War II. The man,
who has not been identified in most news
reports, allegedly served in an SS tank divi-
sion and is accused of conspiring with his
division to commit murders in March 1945.
He was charged on Nov. 17 in a German
court with 58 counts of murder.
The indictment claims that the accused
was guided by an extremely hostile and
inhumane attitude toward the victims equiv-
alent to the Nazi doctrine, said Stefan Ulrich,
a spokesman for the court in Duisburg. The
murders in question are known as the mas-
sacre at Deutsch Schuetzen, a small town in
Austria.
The Associated Press has identified the
man as Adolf Storms and reported that he
was identified by an Austrian graduate stu-
dent who was researching a paper.
The arrest comes two weeks before the
start of the trial of former U.S. citizen John
Demjanjuk, 89, a suspected Nazi death-camp
guard accused of killing 27,900 people in the
Sobibor concentration camp.

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Hug A Jew On Facebook
Washington/JTA Some 4,000 people have
joined a Facebook group urging members to
"hug a Jew:" The group, created by Ben Plaut
of Pittsburgh, asks users of the social net-
working site to "aspire to hug as many Jews

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as possible': the London Jewish Chronicle
reported. Followers now include users from
Israel, Australia, Great Britain and the United
States.

Schools And Religious Music
Washington/JTA New Jersey school dis-
trict's decision to ban religious holiday music
at assemblies is constitutional and not hos-
tile to religion, a federal appeals court ruled.
The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in
Philadelphia quoted from an amicus brief
filed by a coalition of Jewish organizations,
led by the American Jewish Congress, in
rejecting a parent's complaint that the South
Orange-Maplewood School District's deci-
sion to not allow religious music at holiday
concerts was unconstitutional and showed
hostility to religion. The school district did
allow religious music to be taught in regular
music classes.
The court quoted the amicus brief in not-
ing the flawed logic of the plaintiff's legal
theory. The decision stated that if a school
district could not make its own decision that
religious music isn't appropriate at assem-
blies, it would mean "almost every govern-
ment action vis-a-vis religion would fall into
one of two columns — pro- or anti-religion,
promoting or hostile to — and be subject to
Establishment Clause attack in either event."
The American Jewish Committee, Anti-
Defamation League, National Council of
Jewish Women and Jewish Council for Public
Affairs also signed on to the amicus brief.

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Kick A Jew Day

Naples/JTA Ten Florida middle school
students were suspended for participating in
a Kick a Jew day.
Administrators of the North Naples
Middle School told UPI following the Nov.
19 incident that they will work on cultural
sensitivity training. It will include using
the 20-minute homeroom at the beginning
of the day for focusing on character traits,
beginning with respect and kindness, dis-
trict spokesman Joe Landon told the Naples
Daily News.
The students served a one-day in-school
suspension, which is proscribed under the
school's bullying and harassment policy.

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Clean Energy Projects Funded
Washington/JTA A research and develop-
ment foundation will provide up to $3.3 mil-
lion to fund four clean-energy projects in the
United States and Israel, the U.S. Department
of Energy announced.
The money, given in part by the energy
department and the Israeli Ministry of
National Infrastructures, will be allocated
in coming months by Israel-U.S. Binational
Industrial Research and Development,
which aims to promote industrial research
and development projects that benefit both

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the United States and Israel. The rest of the
funding for the projects, which are slated to
begin next year, will come from the private
sector.
The projects, each of which is a partner-
ship between one Israeli company and one
American company, range from the develop-
ment of a device to produce electrical power
from solar energy to software that will give
utilities better control over power grids.
The partnerships are HelioFocus Ltd. and
Capstone Turbine Corp.; Motorola Israel Ltd.
and SmartSynch Inc.; Tigo Energy and U.S.
Architectural Glass and Aluminum Co.; and
TransBiodiesel Ltd. and The Purolite Co.

Jerusalem Tourism Support

Jerusalem/JTA Israel's Tourism Ministry
has budgeted nearly S4 million for next year
to develop tourism in Jerusalem.
The 2010 funding is earmarked to
develop tourism infrastructure in the
city and to promote tourism events both
domestically and abroad, according to the
Tourism Ministry.
The ministry has invested millions of dol-
lars in developing and improving the tour-
ism infrastructure in Jerusalem, including
Ein Kerem and the Old City.
"Jerusalem is Israel's central tourism
brand, representing the main attraction and
focus for most incoming tourists': Tourism
Minister Stas Misezhnikov said.
"In order to meet our goal of an additional
million tourists within three years, we will
invest in this important brand over the next
few years in order to make it attractive for
new markets internationally and for the
Israeli visitor."
According to the ministry, 74 percent
of tourists to Israel visited Jerusalem with
53 percent spending at least one night in
the capital and an average of six nights.
The most visited sites in Jerusalem are the
Western Wall, the Jewish Quarter, the Mount
of Olives, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
the Via Dolorosa, the Tower of David and Yad
Vashem.

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Hamas: Declare Statehood

Gaza Cii/JTA Hamas rejected the
Palestinian Authority's decision to unilateral-
ly declare a state in the West Bank and Gaza,
saying it should take over all of Israel.
Why not declare a Palestinian state from
the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River
rather than in the West Bank and Gaza only?
Hamas spokesman Salah Bardweel said on
Nov. 16, Ha'aretz reported.
His remarks followed declarations over the
weekend by chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb
Erekat that the Palestinian Authority would
ask the United Nations Security Council to
recognize an independent state along the
1967 border lines, with East Jerusalem as its
capital.

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