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Thursday October 11, 2007

Shorts: U.S.

Tutu reinvited to Minnesota college

Archbishop Desmond Tutu will speak at a Minnesota university after all. Less than a week after it was revealed that Tutu’s appearance at the University of St. Thomas was nixed over comments deemed offensive to Jews, the university’s president announced Wednesday, Oct. 10 that he had made a mistake by rescinding his invitation to Tutu.

“I have wrestled with what is the right thing to do in this situation, and I have concluded that I made the wrong decision earlier this year not to invite the archbishop,” said the Rev. Dennis Dease. “Although well intentioned, I did not have all of the facts and points of view, but now I do.”

It was reported last week that Dease had cancelled Tutu after consulting with local Jewish leaders. Jewish critics pointed to a speech Tutu delivered in 2002 in which he compared Israeli practices to those of the apartheid regime in South Africa. The university’s decision to rescind the invitation to Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and internationally recognized humanitarian, prompted an uproar and revived claims that U.S. Jews seek to quash public criticism of Israel.

On Tuesday, Oct. 9, Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman wrote to Dease urging him to reconsider his decision about disinviting Tutu. University officials did not say whether Foxman’s letter affected Dease’s decision, but they said Dease received a steady stream of phone calls and e-mails when the story broke last week. — jta

Mideast peace summit may be delayed

Washington may delay November’s Middle East peace parley by at least two weeks.

The Israeli-Palestinian peace conference scheduled for mid-November in Annapolis, Md., could be postponed to give Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas more time to reach agreement on a joint agenda. — jta

Most U.S. Jews never visit Israel

Sixty percent of American Jews have never visited Israel, according to the Jewish Agency.

In a report to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s Cabinet this week, Jewish Agency head Ze’ev Bielski outlined problems in sustaining diaspora ties to Israel but praised the various programs encouraging outreach and immigration. “The government and the Jewish Agency face a great challenge in strengthening the connection and the commitment to Israel through many projects, especially the programs bringing young people to Israel,” a Jewish Agency statement quoted Bielski as saying.

The statement also noted the limited relationship of hundreds of thousands of young Jews in the former Soviet Union with Israel.— jta

L.A. man arrested in synagogue incident

A Los Angeles man has been arrested after he allegedly tried to molest a 7-year-old girl at a Jewish synagogue. Eyal Magid, 28, was booked for investigation of kidnapping with the intent to molest a child after his arrest Oct. 4. He was being held on $600,000 bail.

Police say he tried to molest the girl after luring her into a closet at a San Fernando Valley temple that day. The girl’s family was at the synagogue for religious services. An attorney for Magid could not be located, and his phone number is unlisted. — ap

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