Front Lines
ROUNDUP
Sen. Specter Out
After 30 Years
WASHINGTON (JTA)
-- Veteran Pennsylvania
Sen. Arlen Specter, who
switched his party affili-
ation to Democrat last
year, was ousted in a
Sen. Specter
primary battle.
U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak
defeated Specter, D-Pa., 54 to 46 percent,
in the May 18 vote.
Specter, who is completing 30 years as
a U.S. senator, was the victim of an anti-
incumbent mood and lingering cynicism
over his switch last year after it became
clear he would lose the Republican pri-
mary to Pat Toomey, a conservative.
The Jewish lawmaker had a solid pro-
Israel record, albeit one tinged with a ten-
dency to defy orthodoxies: Specter main-
tained ties with Syrian leadership during
the years that his fellow Republicans in the
White House and Congress made isolating
the regime a sine qua non of the party's
pro-Israel stance.
Sestak, who as a congressman had been
endorsed by J Street, devotes a page on
his Web site to defending his pro-Israel
record, noting that as an admiral in the
U.S. Navy he led a 2003 mission to inte-
grate the U.S. and Israeli radar systems. He
also listed his pro-Israel votes.
Sestak has drawn some pro-Israel flak
for signing on to a letter earlier this year
urging Israel to ease the transfer of goods
into the Gaza Strip and for agreeing in
2007 to speak to the Council on American-
Islamic Relations, a group with hardline
Islamist roots that has moderated its posi-
tion in recent years.
Toomey has sharply criticized the
Obama administration for tensions with
Israel over settlement building.
In other primaries news, Rand Paul,
a Libertarian conservative, won the
Republican nomination for Kentucky's
open U.S. Senate seat. Paul has distanced
himself from the sharp isolationist criti-
cism of Israel espoused by his father, Rep.
Ron Paul, R-Tex.
Proximity Talks
'Constructive'
WASHINGTON (JTA)
-- The first round of
Israeli-Palestinian prox-
imity talks were con-
structive, the U.S. State
AP),
Department said.
George
George Mitchell, the
Mitchell
U.S. special envoy, left
the Middle East on May
20 after completing a round of talks with
Israeli and Palestinian leaders, spokesman
P.J. Crowley said on the same day.
10 IA a y 27 2010
"The talks were constructive and
reflected both parties' commitments to
reach an agreement that realizes the goal
of two states and a more secure and pros-
perous future for both peoples:' he said,
but did not elaborate.
Proximity, or indirect, talks were
launched earlier this month under U.S.
auspices. Israel had wanted direct talks;
the Palestinians resisted any talks until
Israel instituted a complete freeze on
settlement building.
The Obama administration wants the
sides to acknowledge each other's com-
promises as a trust-building measure. U.S.
officials have called on the Palestinians to
acknowledge Netanyahu's partial settle-
ment freeze and on Israel to recognize
Palestinian steps to stem incitement.
West Bank Restrictions Eased
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- The Israeli military
will relax restrictions on Palestinians
in the West Bank. The decision was
announced late Sunday, after a meeting
between Israel Defense Forces officials and
Palestinian officials, according to the IDF
spokesman.
The new arrangements, which are set
to take effect in the near future, are being
called "goodwill measures toward the
Palestinian population."
The measures include allowing Israeli
tour guides to enter the Palestinian city
of Bethlehem and allowing tourists to
enter the city via all crossings; removing
60 roadblocks throughout the West Bank;
easing restriction on senior Palestinian
businessmen going through security
checkpoints; and permitting Israeli-Arab
civilians to travel through all security
crossings located on the West Bank secu-
rity fence.
During the coordination meeting,
Israeli military and Palestinian officials
discussed security issues, according to the
IDF.
"The IDF will continue to operate
strongly against terrorism while sus-
taining liaison and coordination with
Palestinian officials in order to maintain
the life routine and security of all resi-
dents of the Judea and Samaria region and
the State of Israel': according to the IDF
spokesman's statement.
British Haredi Numbers Rise
LONDON (JTA) -- Synagogue membership
has stopped declining in Britain, due to a
rise in the number of fervently Orthodox
Jews.
Membership numbers for central
Orthodox and liberal synagogues are still
down from five years ago, according to a
new survey by the Board of Deputies and
the Institute for Jewish Policy Research.
B'nai B'rith Barristers Place Judges Dinner On Docket
St. Clair Shores attorney Maroun Hakim of the Arab American Bar Association, at a
recent joint dinner with the B'nai B'rith Barristers Bar Association, poses with Steve
Kaplan and Stan Bershad, both of West Bloomfield. Attorney Herschel Fink of the
Detroit-based Honigman Miller law firm, who represents the Detroit Free Press, spoke
at the Royal Oak event on "How the Text Message Scandal Led to the Current Detroit
Corruption Investigation and Where it Will Lead:'
The next event of the B'nai B'rith Barristers is a kosher Judges Night dinner to be
attended by more than a dozen federal and local judges 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 2,
at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills. Cost is $25/members and $35/non-
members. RSVP: Keith Sirlin, (248) 682-6890 or kslawoffice@ksirlin.com .
But the numbers of haredim, or fervent-
ly Orthodox Jews, have more than doubled
since 2005, from 4.5 percent to 10.9 per-
cent of British Jews who are synagogue
members, according to the survey.
Central Orthodox — equivalent to
North America's modern Orthodox — and
Sephardim now make up 58.2 percent of
the British Jewish population, down from
69.6 percent.
Britain's non-Orthodox Jewish com-
munity, comprising Liberals, Masorti and
Reform Jews, increased as a percentage of
the total to 31 percent, even though their
raw numbers decreased, due to the surge
in growth of the haredi movements.
Nearly three-quarters of British Jews
belong to a synagogue, the survey reports.
That, however, represents a 20-year decline
from 110,000 households in 1990 versus
83,000 today.
The authors say that later marriages
among non-haredi Jews, and the resul-
tant drop in the Jewish birthrate, may be
affecting those figures.
Comedy Central Controversy
NEW YORK (JTA) -- Comedy Central has
changed the title of a video game on its
Web site, but has not removed the offen-
sive game, which includes anti-Semitic
stereotypes.
The online game "I.S.R.A.E.L. Attack"
has been renamed "Drawn Together: The
Movie: The Game according to Honest
Reporting, though the graphic with the
game's original name remains. In addition,
the game's introduction, in which a char-
acter states "You lied to me, Jew Producer"
before the Intelligent Smart Robot
Animation Eraser Lady (I.S.R.A.E.L.)
is sent to murder children and wreak
destruction, has been removed.
As part of a campaign to remove the
offensive game, a number of bloggers
including some that have no link to Israel
or Jewish causes, joined in pressuring
Comedy Central, according to Honest
Reporting.
As of Monday, the Facebook group
"Comedy Central - I.S.R.A.E.L. Attack
game is offensive. Remove it" had more
than 2,700 members.
"Comedy Central appears to have rec-
ognized that the anti-Semitism of the `Jew
Producer' was unacceptable and removed
it. But why is the game still online? Does
Comedy Central believe that the associa-
tion of Israel with child killing is any more
acceptable? Impressionable young minds
will still be able to play this game online,
thus contributing to the misrepresenta-
tion and demonization of Israel': Honest
Reporting said in an e-mail to supporters.
"We would hope that Comedy Central
never intended to cause such offense.
Roundup on page 12