World ROUNDUP Wallenberg Alive Longer Stockholm/JTA — Raoul Wallenberg was alive after the Soviets reported he had died in a Moscow prison, according to new information. The Associated Press, citing the Swedish magazine Fokus and two mem- bers of an American research team that conducted a 10-year investiga- tion into Wallenberg's disappearance in the 1990s, reported on April 1 that the archives of the Russian Security Services show that a man identified as Prisoner No. 7, who was interro- gated six days after the Soviets claimed Wallenberg was executed on July 17, 1947, was, "with great likelihood," Wallenberg. The Soviets never produced a death certificate for Wallenberg or his remains. There also have been unveri- fied reports that Wallenberg was seen years later in Soviet prisons. The AP reported that in a letter to Wallenberg's relatives, released for pub- lication on April 1, researcher Susanne Berger said that the information needs to be further verified, "but if indeed confirmed, the news is the most inter- esting to come out of Russian archives in over 50 years." Wallenberg worked for the Swedish government in Hungary and used his position to issue protective passes and establish safe houses for Jews fleeing the Nazis, saving 20,000 Jews in Budapest. He was arrested in Budapest in 1945 by Soviet secret service agents. Peters Strong On Israel DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS AfirM E The European in African Art, 1500—Present April 18—August 8, 2010 Portuguese sailors landed on the shores of West Africa more than 50o years ago. Strangers at first, Europeans became trading partners, settlers, and eventually colonizers. African artists recorded every stage of these changing relationships, and now you can experience this fascinating history—for the first time—through African eyes. Tickets: dia.org or DIA Box Office Members see it free! join today. 313.833.7971 FAAAA 7C id Ct ?v,'!"!' ■ ;.; ro, 11,e ,2,+2 Cgy ;,;,,1 beer, oio‘dilec 'r!z•MuZc oI :Os 6.:^erwis Z;•.t. rr;. 01,1s " 1 E' Nation : D:ov•:nen! foi !ma Huma ,Hlies ;lilt{ Li: E Encr:;!V bece, !, v t:;t: :o;• A.ts anti Avv v!ev,.s ; , :cc.almP.10.1Lons axP'OSscti !') 's Vo ■ ulton C!i 00: ■ !r, ,,Se Oi N' N1t'Or..1; Zi■ tT Men,Ofiai Fit.1 r;,.! •ft Ht.111,1111!1C3. ROCA :It F , e.c1.?.,,:k 1,, Stci3r:::. DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS 1 5200 WOODWARD AVE. 1` ' " 26 April 8 • 2010 Corvesi sti.sititt Washington — U.S. Rep. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, said Israel's announcement of planned new housing in the ultra-Orthodox, east Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo was ill-timed, but he noted that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said the same thing and apologized for the timing. "It is now time to move on," Peters said in a statement the week after another 1,600 housing units were announced during U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden's March 9 visit to Jerusalem. "Israel is our most trusted ally, Jerusalem is its capital and the admin- istration's continued focus on this incident and its excessive criticisms of Israel over this incident is an unneces- sary distraction from more pressing and important issues in the region such as the potential of a nuclear Iran, Peters said on March 16. Peters urged the Obama administra- tion to work with Congress "to finally enact strong sanctions on Iran until it stops its pursuit of nuclear weapons." Off-Shore Drilling Irks Green Groups Washington/JTA — Some Jewish groups expressed disappoint- ment and concern over President Obama's deci- sion to open U.S. coastal President areas to oil exploration. Obama While welcoming the administration's announcement last week of improved fuel efficiency stan- dards for cars and the regulation for the first time of greenhouse gas emis- sions from automobiles, the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) and the Reform movement's Washington arm, the Religious Action Center, expressed their concerns over the increased oil drilling. COEJL, director Sybil Sanchez said in a statement, "is very concerned that the President's policy announcement also includes an expansion of offshore oil and gas exploration that opens the door to drilling off our nation's coasts. Efforts to green our transportation fleet must be part of a broader strategy to move our nation toward a clean energy economy. The Jewish community has long advocat- ed reducing our dependence on foreign oil. However, such policies must sustain our fragile environment." The Religious Action Center said the call for increased oil drilling would increase the risk to marine ecosystems. "At a time when we need clean energy alternatives to keep both our environ- ment and our economy secure, we again call for an end to — not an expansion of — drilling in ecologically sensitive areas:' said the center's director, Rabbi David Saperstein. On March 31, the administration announced four new measures as part of its energy strategy. In addition to expanding coast oil and gas exploration, the plan includes stricter fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks to require 35.5 miles per gallon, expansion of the "green fleet" of federal vehicles and reducing the military's dependence on fossil fuels. Disappointment with the measure, which was widespread in liberal circles, also was expressed by the Jewish Renewal leader Rabbi Arthur Waskow. "What is wrong with this off-shore drilling?" Waskow said. "First, it will do far less, at far greater cost, to make the U.S. less dependent on 'foreign oil' than would a sweeping, energetic presidential campaign for energy efficiency and con- servation at every level of American life." Answering Israel's Critics The Charge The Financial Times of London's International Affairs Editor, David Gardner, wrote recently that Israel has been behaving like a rogue state. The Answer Israel has one of the most, if not the most, moral armies in the world and is a vibrant democracy that guarantees human rights and whose independent judiciary provides redress of grievances to all, even non-citizens. - Allan Gale Jewish Community Relations Council of Metropolitan Detroit 0 April 8, 2010 Jewish Renaissance Media