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Friday April 13, 2007

Shorts: U.S.

Controversial Jewish Republican named envoy

President Bush bypassed Congress to name Jewish philanthropist Sam Fox as U.S. ambassador to Belgium.

Bush nominated Fox, 77, of St. Louis, earlier this year, but Democrats protested because Fox had donated $50,000 to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group that claimed during the 2004 presidential elections that Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) had exaggerated his Vietnam War heroics. Fox also led a fundraising campaign to pay for the recent legal defense of Lewis “Scooter” Libby, a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Bush last week withdrew his nomination of Fox, former head of the Republican Jewish Coalition, when it became clear that he could not muster enough votes in the Senate for approval. But he then appointed Fox as ambassador while Congress was on spring recess. Under terms of the recess appointment, Fox can remain ambassador until the end of Congress’ next session. — jta

Chicago synagogue is vandalized

Anti-Israel graffiti was painted on a Chicago synagogue on the eve of Passover. Vandals spray-painted several areas of the Conservative Ner Tamid Ha-Bonim Synagogue on the city’s north side March 31.

The synagogue has a “For Sale” sign up, on which vandals painted “F— Israel.” They also wrote “Death to Israel” on Jewish United Fund placards on the side of the synagogue. On the front of the synagogue, they painted “Free Palestine” in English and Arabic.

Michael Kotzin, executive vice president of the Jewish United Fund Federation of Chicago, who attended the synagogue in his youth, said “It should be seen in the framework of the new anti-Semitism, which is connected to anti-Israel hostility.” — jta

Sen. Clinton seeks Polish restitution law

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton wrote to the Polish prime minister requesting that his country enact a restitution law for property confiscated during the Nazi and communist eras.

Also signing the letter to Jaroslaw Kaczynski were members of the Helsinki Commission. Clinton (D-N.Y.) and the commission want the Polish government to ensure that properties obtained illegally will be returned or the owners will be properly compensated.

The signers welcomed statements by Polish government officials that they would work to pass legislation on the issue by the end of this year, but the commission expressed concerns that the victims have experienced numerous delays in their efforts to gain restitution. Along with restitution or compensation, the commission’s recommendations in the letter to Kaczynski included keeping burdens for filing a claim to a minimum, consistent involvement of the central government and the return of artwork to its rightful owners. — jta

Basketball coach dropped after slurs

A basketball coach who made what some saw as anti-gay and anti-Semitic remarks will not have his contract renewed.

The Continental Basketball Association’s Albany Patroons parted ways last week with Micheal Ray Richardson, a former NBA player who was briefly a member of the Golden State Warriors. Richardson was suspended March 28 for the team’s last two playoff games, a day after he told the Albany Times Union that he had “big-time Jew lawyers” working for him.

The coach also yelled at hecklers during the first playoff game, using profanity and an anti-gay slur.

Richardson’s lawyer said the suspension had put his client’s career in jeopardy, and might make it hard for him to get other coaching jobs. “Now he’s labeled the rest of his life as anti-Semitic, and he’s not,” attorney John Aretakis said. “He’s got two kids who are being raised Jewish. He’s got an ex-wife he has a good relationship with who is Jewish.” — jta

MIT launches peace contest

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is launching a contest to redesign Jerusalem in a way that fosters peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

The “Just Jerusalem” contest, to begin March 31, invites entrants to propose design-based answers to questions at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, Reuters reported.

Winners in five categories will receive $50,000 fellowships at MIT to work on implementing the winning ideas. “There is a kind of nested set of conflicts that start at a small locality like Jerusalem and work up through the nation-state level of the Israeli and Palestinian conflict,” said Diane Davis, co-director of the project and associate dean of MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning. The contest is open to anyone and the deadline for submissions is Dec. 31. Winners will be announced next March. — jta

Israel-studies chair endowed at Maryland

A University of Maryland alumnus will donate $1.5 million to his alma mater to create a chair in Israel studies.

Jack Kay, a resident of Chevy Chase, Md. and Palm Beach, Fla., and president of the Kay Management Co., is giving the gift in part with the Kay Family Foundation to endow the Abraham S. and Jack Kay Chair in Israel Studies.

The position will complement growing Mideast studies initiatives on campus, but Eric Zakim, executive director of the Joseph and Alma Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies, said the chair will focus on Israeli history rather than the conflict with Palestinians. The new chair will serve in the Israel studies, Jewish studies and history departments. — jta

Israeli picked in WNBA draft

Shay Doron, a 22-year-old Israeli who led the Maryland Terrapins women’s basketball team to an NCAA championship in 2006, was chosen by the New York Liberty in the WNBA’s preseason draft April 4.

Doron still has to impress team officials in the traditional preseason mini-camp to make the Liberty’s final roster.

“During the event itself I wasn’t nervous, because I knew it was out of my hands, but as soon as my name was called out I began to tremble — I had tears in my eyes,” she told Ynet.com. “My father, who is also a very strong person, also shed a tear.” — ynetnews.com

Marine Corps vehicles to be made in Israel

An Israeli firm reportedly won a contract to supply the U.S. military in Iraq. The Associated Press reported that Rafael will provide the Marine Corps with 60 Golan armored vehicles. The shipment, to be made to the United States in May, is priced at $37 million. — jta

Clinton raises $100 million for Israel

President Clinton reportedly helped raise more than $100 million for Israel Bonds in a single sitting.

The Washington Post on Feb. 23 reviewed Clinton’s post-presidential career as a public speaker. Most of Clinton’s speaking income goes to his foundation, which fights poverty and AIDS, and he speaks pro bono for causes he favors, but Clinton has earned nearly $40 million in six years from speeches for which he charges $150,000 apiece.

“The former president in 2005 helped the U.S. arm of Israel’s treasury authority sell $101 million in investment bonds by speaking at a luncheon at the Pierre Hotel in New York that was jammed with real estate executives who wanted to hear his keynote address,” the Post reported. — jta

U.S. blacklists Hezbollah firm

The United States has blacklisted a Lebanese construction firm linked to Hezbollah.

The Treasury Department has designated Jihad al-Bina a terrorist organization, a move that bans Americans from doing business with it and freezes its U.S. assets.

Jihad al-Bina, which means “Construction for the Sake of Holy Struggle,” has led efforts to rebuild Hezbollah population centers hit by Israel’s Lebanon offensive last year. Hezbollah responded to the Treasury’s move by accusing the Bush administration of trying to hinder Hezbollah’s rebuilding efforts, which could be a boon to parallel efforts by the moderate Lebanese government. — jta

U.N. chief meets with AJCommittee

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with American Jewish Committee leaders last week to discuss the Middle East, as well as Israel’s treatment at the United Nations.

AJCommittee Executive Director David Harris said, “We were impressed by his deep commitment to advancing the search for peace in the region and his keen understanding of the challenges that need to be addressed in order to achieve progress.”

Among topics discussed in the 45-minute meeting were the recent Arab League summit in Riyadh, Ban’s recent visit to Israel and efforts to implement U.N. resolutions in Lebanon, including Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended last summer’s war between Israel and Hezbollah. The resolutions calls for Hezbollah to be disarmed and for the Lebanese government to assert its control in the south of the country. Ban also acknowledged the U.N. Human Rights Council’s obsessive focus on Israeli actions. — jta

AJCommittee launches blog

The American Jewish Committee has become the first major Jewish organization to launch its own blog.

The group says ajcwire is a forum for AJCommittee experts from around the world to comment on issues of concern to the Jewish people. AJCommittee experts will write about terrorism, current events, anti-Semitism, civil and human rights, the Holocaust, Jewish identity, the Middle East and energy.

“Ajcwire is part of AJC’s pioneering efforts to use cutting-edge communications technology to bring the agency’s work to a wider audience,” Executive Director David Harris said.

The blog can be accessed at www.ajcblog.org — jta

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