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Friday February 23, 2007

Shorts: U.S.

Cluster bomb bill pushed by Feinstein

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein cited Israeli cluster bombs left behind in Lebanon in introducing legislation to restrict the sale of the devices.

“What gives rise, in part, to my bill are recent developments in Lebanon over alleged use of cluster bombs by Israel,” Feinstein, who is Jewish, said last week in introducing the legislation with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).

Israel dropped some 4 million bomblets in southern Lebanon during last summer’s war with Hezbollah, and 1 million failed to explode, said the Democrat from San Francisco. “Twenty-two people, including six children, have been killed and 133, including 47 children, injured,” she said. 

Israel said it used the weapons in areas where civilians had fled, and says the postwar casualty rate is due to U.S.-made bombs that have a high rate of delayed explosion. Human-rights groups noted that Hezbollah also used cluster bombs, firing them directly into Israeli cities. — jta

3 Jews die in murder-suicide

A Jewish student at Arizona State University and her visiting Jewish friend were murdered in New York City.

Carol Kestenbaum and Nicole Schiffman, both 20, grew up together on Long Island, N.Y. They were returning from celebrating Kestenbaum’s birthday early Tuesday, Feb. 20, when they apparently were shot dead by Joshua Mendel, 22, who then turned the gun on himself. Local police said Mendel, who was dating a friend of Kestenbaum’s, was angry about her interference in his relationship. — jta

Emory profs protest Carter speech

Emory University professors protested plans for former President Carter to speak solo at the Atlanta school.

Carter has been criticized for his new book, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” a look at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that critics say omits key facts and distorts history in order to pin blame on Israel.

CampusJ.com reported that the letter ran Feb. 16 in the Emory student newspaper. Carter says his book aims to spur debate on the Middle East, but the letter notes Carter’s recent appearance at Brandeis University, where he refused to debate Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz.

“When it became known that Carter was anxious to speak at Emory, the administration consulted a group of faculty and was advised ... to have Carter appear with someone who could engage in a productive interchange and discussion on the topic,” continued the letter, whose 11 signatories include Holocaust scholar Deborah Lipstadt.

The faculty nominated former Ambassador Dennis Ross, but Carter refused to appear with anyone.

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