The Professional Health Services Division of World ROUNDUP State of Israel Bonds cordially invites you to attend the Maimonides Tribute Dinner honoring Leopoldo Eisenberg, M.D. Recipients of the 2010 State of Israel Bonds Maimonides Award Special Guest Speaker Dr. Raanan Gissin Senior Political Advisor to Former Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Wednesday, April 28, 2010 Adat Shalom Synagogue 29901 Middlebelt Rd Farmington Hills, MI Tribute Dinner Co-Chairs Dr. William M. Leuchter Dr. Arthur S. Lieberman Dr. Harris W. Mainster Cocktails and Strolling Dinner 6:00 p.m. Program 7:00 p.m. Dessert Buffet to follow Couvert: $100 (not tax deductible) R.S.V.P. By April 21, 2010 Development Corporation for Israel ISRAEL BONDS Mcce b., /N., SI, For further information, please contact: Paula Lebowitz 29777 Telegraph Road Suite 2415 Southfield, Ml 48034 248-352-6555 or toll free 888-352-6556 email: paula.lebowitz@israelbonds.com 1585800 32 April 15 • 2010 ing the prayer, Cantalamessa told the Italian daily. Cantalamessa, noting that Passover and Easter fell this year in the same week, quoted during the service from a letter he said was from a Jewish friend. The friend, Cantalamessa said, wrote that he was "following the vio- lent and concentric attacks against the Church, the pope and all the faithful by the whole world." He quoted the friend as adding that "the use of stereotypes, the shift- ing from personal responsibility and guilt to a collective guilt, remind me of the more shameful aspects of anti- Semitism." The chief Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the com- parison was not "appropriate" and that Cantalamessa's statement did not rep- resent official Church thinking. Stephan Kramer, the secretary gen- eral of Germany's Central Council of Jews, told the Associated Press that Cantalamessa's remarks were "repul- sive, obscene and most of all offensive towards all abuse victims as well as to all the victims of the Holocaust." Anti-Semitism Up JERUSALEM/JTA — Anti-Semitic incidents around the world more than doubled in 2009 over the previous year, posting their worst year since monitoring began two decades ago, according to a new survey. The total number of anti-Semitic incidents was 1,129 in 2009 corn- pared to 559 in 2008, according to a report released Sunday by the Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism at Tel Aviv University. The record number of incidents — cases that show clear anti-Semitic content and intention — included 566 incidents of vandalism of Jewish property, which constituted 49 percent of all incidents. Hundreds of incidents against Jewish people and property did not meet the criteria, according to the institute. Incidents also go unre- ported. In Europe, Britain and France led with the number of incidents, accord- ing to the report. There were 374 violent incidents against Jews recorded in Britain in 2009 compared to 112 in 2008, according to the institute. France saw 195 attacks in 2009 compared to 50 the previous year. Britain and France have the highest Jewish popu- lations in Europe as well as the largest Muslim populations. Only 78 incidents of anti-Semitic violence were recorded in 1989, the year that the institute began recording such incidents. In 2009, some 41 of the incidents were armed assaults directed at Jews because of their religion; 34 incidents were arson, according to the report. The report was compiled and released in cooperation with the European Jewish Congress. P.A., PLO Waivers President Obama issued waivers allowing the transfer of funds to the Palestinian Authority and extending the stay of the PLO office in Washington. Obama's waivers, issued on April 7, set aside laws dating back to the 1980s banning a Palestine Liberation Organization presence in the United States, and more recent laws requir- ing strict reporting requirements for any funds transfer to the Palestinian Authority. Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, in the final years of his presiden- cy, raised funding for the Palestinians from occasional spurts of $20 million to $400 million annually. Obama has budgeted $500 million in assistance for the Palestinians; much of this is directed to non- profit groups, but about half of it goes directly to the Palestinian Authority. As his predecessors have done, Obama cited national security con- cerns in announcing both waivers. The PLO office waiver must be renewed every six months. WASHINGTON/JTA — Answering Israel's Critics The Charge Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week said Israel is the main threat to peace in the Middle East; and he implied that Israel's Gaza policy amounts to child murder. The Answer Although Turkey is Israel's closest relationship in the Muslim world, Erdogan's comments are incitement and will harm that relationship as well as inflame anti-Israel sentiment. - Allan Gale, Jewish Community Relations Council of Metropolitan Detroit © Jewish Renaissance Media, April 15, 2010