Roundup
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the basic norms of civil discussion and
debate at our public events. We do this
not to stifle free expression of views, but
rather to protect it."
Israeli Soldier Sentenced
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- An Israeli soldier
was sentenced to prison for posing for
a photo showing him pointing a loaded
weapon at a blindfolded and handcuffed
Palestinian prisoner.
An Israeli military court on Oct. 31
handed down a five-month sentence;
prosecutors had asked for six months.
The soldier's cell phone also contained
photos of two friends in similar poses.
Legal proceedings against the other two
soldiers reportedly are going forward.
The three soldiers were indicted
for abuse, illegal use of weapons and
improper behavior.
The photos were taken in January in
Jenin. They were not distributed on any
social networks.
In recent months, other soldiers have
posted photos on Facebook and videos
on YouTube that have damaged the image
of Israel's military, including line danc-
ing while on patrol in Hebron and belly
dancing around a blindfolded Palestinian
woman.
'Beat The Jew'
PALM SPRINGS (JTA) -- A high school
where a group of students played a high-
way chase game called "Beat the Jew" will
study a new tolerance curriculum.
Administrators at the La Quinta
High School in Southern California and
Desert Sands Unified School District
have accepted an offer from the Jewish
Federation of Palm Springs and Desert
Area for anti-bias education to be deliv-
ered by the Anti-Defamation League's "A
World of Difference" Institute, the federa-
tion's CEO, Bruce Landgarten, announced
on the organization's website.
Seven of the high school's seniors were
disciplined after playing the game in May
in which a willing person, "The Jew," was
blindfolded and left on a nearby highway
while members of the other team, "the
Nazis:' rode by in cars and tried to tackle
and capture the Jew. The game was orga-
nized via a Facebook page on which the
rules were outlined.
The sessions for the 700-student soph-
omore class at La Quinta High will begin
Tuesday. The classes will work on inspir-
ing empathy, unlearning prejudice and
motivating teens to take action against
bullying and bias.
Landgarten wrote that other area
schools also will receive the sessions.
No New
Rubashkin Trial
DES MOINES (JTA) -- A
federal judge denied a
motion for a new trial for
former Agriprocessors
executive Sholom
Rubashkin.
Sholom
U.S. District Court
Rubashkin
Chief Judge Linda Reade
on Oct. 27 rejected a
motion that accused her of a conflict of
interest in Rubashkin's case. The defense for
Rubashkin, a vice president with the kosher
meatpacking firm in Iowa, claimed Reade
should have recused herself.
According to emergency court papers
filed Aug. 5 in the U.S. District Court for
the Northern District of Iowa, Reade was
involved in preparations for the May
2008 federal immigration raid on the
Agriprocessors plant in Postville. The raid
led to Rubashkin's arrest on an array of
charges, including the financial fraud for
which he ultimately was convicted.
Reade sentenced Rubashkin to 27 years
in federal prison last June — two more
years than prosecutors demanded.
Rubashkin was convicted in November
2009 on 86 counts of fraud in connection
with the Agriprocessors plant.
In the raid on the plant, 389 illegal immi-
grants, including 31 children, were arrested.
Meanwhile, Rubashkin's son Mendel cel-
ebrated his bar mitzvah earlier this month
at an event with hundreds of guests at the
Chabad Center of New City in Monsey, N.Y.
Rubashkin addressed the guests via
cell phone from the Federal Correctional
Institution in Otisville, N.Y., Chabad.org
reported.
No Kippot In Jordan
AMMAN (JTA) -- Israelis have been asked
to leave their yarmulkes at the border
when entering Jordan, an Israeli news site
reported.
An Israeli businessman told Ynet that
his yarmulkes were taken and put in a
safe upon his entry into Jordan, with a
Jordanian policeman telling him that it was
for his own good. Tefillin and other reli-
gious articles also are not allowed into the
country.
Yossi Levy, the director of communications
at Israel's Foreign Ministry, told Ynet News
that there were "disagreements with our
Jordanian counterparts in regards to Jewish
religious objects" entering the country.
We receive a growing number of com-
plaints by Israeli visitors who report of
religious items being confiscated at the
border crossing "for security reasons',' Levy
told Ynet. "They explain this by the need
to protect visitors carrying "obvious Israeli
identification means.'"
Saudi Arms Deal
WASHINGTON (JTA) -- The U.S. Defense
Department has notified Congress that it
is planning to sell $60 billion in advanced
military equipment to Saudi Arabia. Israel
does not object to the sale, the assistant sec-
retary of defense for international security
affairs, Alexander Vershbow, told reporters
during an Oct. 20 briefing.
Congress has 30 days to review the deal
and could block or amend the sale. This is
seen as unlikely, despite the fact that a small
group of Congress members oppose the sale.
Congress will return from a recess in early
November following the midterm elections.
U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y.,
opposes the proposed sale. "It seems to be
rewarding a country that hasn't been par-
ticularly helpful to any of our foreign policy
objectives and one that doesn't seem to be
well suited to be a military bulwark against
Iran," he told the Washington Post.
The deal includes 84 new F-15 fighter
planes, and nearly 200 Apache, Black
Hawk and Little Bird helicopters as well
as upgrades for 70 fighter planes. The deal
would include a satellite-guided "smart
bomb" system as well as anti-ship and anti-
radar missiles. It will take five to 10 years to
complete the deal, according to reports.
Talks between the United States and Saudi
Arabia over the arms sale have been ongo-
ing for months.
Israel recently signed a deal to buy 20 U.S.
F 35 joint strike fighter jets.
Andrew Shapiro, assistant secretary
for political military affairs at the State
Department, told reporters at the briefing
that as part of the process, the U.S. con-
ducts an independent assessment of what
the impact would be on Israel's qualitative
military edge.
"And our assessment is that this would
not diminish Israel's qualitative military
edge; and, therefore, we felt comfortable in
going forward with the sale he said.
-
Vatican - Jewish Spat
ROME (JTA) -- The Vatican and the Jewish
world are at odds over a U.S. bishop's rejec-
tion of a biblical rationale for Israel as a
Jewish state.
Greek-Melkite Bishop
Cyrille Salim Bustros of
Newton, Mass., said at an
Oct. 23 news conference
that for Christians, "the
concept of the promised
land cannot be used as a
base for the justification
of the return of Jews to
Bishop
Israel and the displace-
Bustros
ment of Palestinians."
Bustros was presenting the final docu-
ment, or "Message," of a monthlong Vatican
synod of Middle Eastern bishops.
The advent of Jesus, he said, meant that
Jews "are no longer the preferred people,
the chosen people; all men and women
of all countries have become the chosen
people."
Bustros added, "sacred Scripture should
not be used to justify the occupation by
Israel of Palestine
His remarks sparked condemnation
from Israel and Jewish organizations. The
Anti-Defamation League protested what
it called "shocking and outrageous" com-
ments.
"By stating that God's Covenantal prom-
ise of land to the Jewish people 'was nulli-
fied by Christ' and that 'there is no longer
a chosen people, Archbishop Bustros is
effectively stating that Judaism should
no longer exist," ADL National Director
Abe Foxman wrote in a letter to the new
Vatican official in charge of Catholic-
Jewish relations, Cardinal-elect Kurt Koch.
"This represents the worst kind of anti-
Judaism, bordering on anti-Semitism."
The Vatican's chief spokesman, Father
Federico Lombardi, responded to the
criticism by distancing the synod from
Bustros' remarks. He said that personal
comments by individual synod partici-
pants "should not be considered as the
voice of the synod in its entirety." The final
"Message" was the only text that expressed
the approval of the full synod, he said.
The Message mainly dealt with the
plight of Christians in the Middle East, but
it devoted a section to Israel and Jews.
Calling for a furthering of Jewish-
Catholic dialogue, it also condemned anti-
Semitism and anti-Judaism, noted "the
suffering and insecurity in which Israelis
live and affirmed Israel's right to live at
peace within its "internationally recog-
nized borders."
But it also noted "the impact of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the whole
region, especially on the Palestinians who
are suffering the consequences of the
Israeli occupation: the lack of freedom
of movement, the wall of separation and
the military checkpoints, the political
prisoners, the demolition of homes, the
disturbance of socio-economic life and the
thousands of refugees."
The Message also said "recourse to theo-
logical and biblical positions which use
the word of God to wrongly justify injus-
tices is not acceptable."
It said, "With all this in mind, we see
that a just and lasting peace is the only
salvation for everyone and for the good of
the region and its peoples."
Actress At Kotel
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Pamela Anderson
visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
Anderson, the former star of Baywatch
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November 11 . 2010