Roundup
Obama Slams 15-Year Jail
Term for U.S. Jew In Cuba
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Obama
administration condemned the 15-year
sentence handed down by a Cuban court
to Alan Gross.
Gross, 61, of
Maryland, was sen-
tenced Saturday for
crimes against the state.
The State Department
has described Gross as
a U.S. contractor assist-
ing Cuba's Jewish corn-
Alan Gross
munity.
"Today's sentencing
adds another injustice to Alan Gross's
ordeal," Tommy Vietor, the U.S. National
Security Council spokesman, said in a
statement. "He has already spent too
many days in detention and should not
spend one more. We urge the immediate
release of Mr. Gross so that he can return
home to his wife and family"
Gross, 61, was detained in December
2009 as he prepared to return to the
United States from Cuba.
The U.S. Agency for International
Development says Gross was a contractor
who was bringing Internet access to the
island's small Jewish community.
Transgender Singer
To Represent Israel
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Transgender pop
diva Dana International will represent
Israel at this year's Eurovision song con-
test.
The Israeli music star won the chance
to sing the Hebrew and English song
"Ding Dong," written
by Zvika Pik, dur-
ing a contest Tuesday
night broadcast on
Israeli television, where
viewers voted for
their choice. She won
Eurovision in 1998 with
Dana
the song "Diva," also
International
written by Pik.
Dana was known as
Yaron Cohen before a sex change opera-
tion two decades ago.
Eurovision will be held May 14 in
Dusseldorf, Germany. Dana will compete
first in a semifinal two days earlier.
Forbes: Oracle's Ellison
Biggest Jewish Billionaire
(JTA) — Oracle founder Larry Ellison
is the highest ranked Jewish person on
Forbes magazine's annual list of world
billionaires, coming in at sixth with $28
billion.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg
was the next Jewish person at 17th, with
$16 billion, followed by Google co-found-
ers Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who were
Ask
Financial Crisis
Attorney
Ken Gross
about...
Pittsburgh Day Schools
Offering Free Tuition
(JTA) — Pittsburgh's Jewish day schools are offer-
ing free tuition to new students in grades 3-11 for
the coming school year.
The initiative is being paid for by the three schools
— the Community Day School, Hillel Academy and
Yeshiva Schools, all in the residential Squirrel Hill
neighborhood in the east end of the Pennsylvania
city — as well as by a grant from the Jewish
Federation of Greater Pittsburgh's Centennial Fund
for a Jewish Future.
The free tuition program is for local, permanent residents who apply to one of
the day schools for the first time and meet admission guidelines. The student must
currently be enrolled in any school in Allegheny County and must be enrolled at
one of the day schools prior to the start of the 2011-12 school year.
Nearly 900 students combined are currently enrolled in the three schools. Tuition
ranges from more than $4,600 to $14,000 per year, depending on the school and
the child's grade.
"Pittsburgh Jewish day schools provide the highest quality private school educa-
tion, coupled with a deep and lasting connection to Jewish values': said Chuck Perlow,
chairman of the Pittsburgh Jewish Day School Council. "With a strong connection
to this community, Hillel Academy, Community Day School and Yeshiva Schools are
working collaboratively to give more children and their families the opportunity to
experience all that a Jewish day school education has to offer." II
tied for 24th with $17.5
billion each. George
Soros landed in 35th
with $14 billion.
Other Jews to make
the top 100 included
Brazilian banking and
investment mogul
Larry Ellison
Joseph Safra, at 64th
with $10 billion, and
casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, 73rd with
$9.3 billion.
Sixteen Israelis made the list, including
shipping magnate Sammy Ofer at No. 79
with $10.3 billion.
Macedonia Inaugurates
Holocaust Memorial Center
NEW YORK (JTA) — Macedonia inaugu-
rated a memorial center dedicated to the
country's Jewish Holocaust victims.
The memorial museum opened
Thursday in the capital Skopje, in an area
that had been home to many of the hun-
dreds of Jewish Macedonian families.
More than 7,000 Macedonian Jews
were killed after being deported to the
Treblinka concentration camp in 1943.
Today about 200 Jews live in Macedonia,
most in Skopje.
"The tragedy of the Jews of Macedonia
during the Holocaust is a particularly
painful one, even when placed amidst the
many other horrific accounts of deporta-
tion and murder': said Rabbi Andrew
Baker, the American Jewish Committee's
director of international Jewish affairs,
who played a central role in the plan-
ning for the Holocaust Memorial Center.
"Uprooted by Bulgarian gendarmes from
their homes virtually overnight, their
assets seized, they were handed over to
the Nazis who took them overland and
by ship to Treblinka and near certain and
immediate death."
During the ceremony, three urns with
ashes of Macedonian Jews killed in
Treblinka were placed in the building.
American Greed Episode
To Feature Sholom Rubashkin
(JTA) — Jailed former Agriprocessors
official Sholom Rubashkin will be fea-
tured on an episode of the CNBC series
American Greed.
The March 23 episode of the cable
TV network series will tell the story of
the failed kosher meatpacking plant in
Postyille, Iowa. The episode is being
billed with the tagline
"The head of a kosher
slaughterhouse uses
unorthodox methods
to make money"
Rubashkin, 51, is
serving a 27-year
prison sentence and
Sholom
was ordered to pay
Rubashkin
$26 million in res-
titution after being
convicted in November 2009 on 86
counts of financial wrongdoing. He was
the highest level executive of the plant
to be prosecuted following a May 2008
immigration raid that led to the arrest
of nearly 400 illegal workers, most of
whom were deported.
The plant went bankrupt in late 2008
and has since reopened under new own-
ership as Agri Star Meat and Poultry.
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March 17 4, 2011
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