Friday, February 25, 2011

March 1 Conference Call with Dr. Zudhi Jasser: Developments in the Arab world

Conference Call with Dr. Zuhdi Jasser of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy

Dr. Jasser will speak for 30 minutes about the recent developments in the Arab world as well as discussing Islam in America. He will then take 20 minutes of questions.

Tuesday, March 1st 9:00 am Iowa Time

Presented by Rabbi David Kaufman and the Jewish Community Relations Commission Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines.

Instructions:

Listen in on the Conference Call at 712 432-1001 Enter access code: 457069072

You may submit questions for Dr. Jasser to dkaufman@aol.com.

Rabbi Kaufman will serve as Moderator for the call.

Biography

M. Zuhdi Jasser is a former U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander. He is the President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy based in Phoenix, Arizona. AIFD, founded in 2003, is a think tank and activist Muslim organization which provides a platform for an American Muslim movement to separate spiritual Islam from the political. AIFD seeks to build coalitions of Muslims which not only reject the means of terror as an anathema to Islam but more globally reject the ends of the Islamic state which Islamists seek. AIFD believes that the only way to genuinely wage the contest of ideas and counter the root cause of terrorism is for Muslims to be given ample opportunity for debate between one another-- especially within the mosques. AIFD believes that the outcome of these debates will ultimately be the primary method to defeat the ideology of political Islam which ultimately inspires radical Islamism. Dr. Jasser believes that it is essential for devotional Muslims to lead the ideological war against militant Islamism. This Muslim led effort seeks to establish the synergy of Americanism and our Constitutional democracy with a post-modern, pluralistic Islam.

Dr. Jasser is a respected physician currently in private practice in Phoenix Arizona specializing in internal medicine and nuclear cardiology. His highest military award is the Meritorious Service Medal. He recently served as the President of the Arizona Medical Association (ArMA) until June 2007. Dr. Jasser has served on the Maricopa County Board of Health since 2005. As ArMA President in early 2007, Dr. Jasser formed and now chairs a statewide Disaster Preparedness Task Force whose primary mission has been to inform and engage all Arizona physicians in disaster preparedness. Dr. Jasser chairs the bioethics committee and teaches nuclear cardiology in a major Phoenix hospital. He has been active in a number of interfaith efforts in Arizona including the founding of a Jewish-Muslim dialogue group in 2000 called the Children of Abraham.

He also was featured in the controversial PBS film, Islam v Islamists produced by ABG Films, Inc. This film was initially banned from distribution on PBS stations as originally intended in the Crossroads program but was then aired in a limited distribution to some affiliates. It received national acclaim in its release on the Fox News Channel in October 2007.

Dr. Jasser has also been an advisor on Islamic affairs to the U.S. Embassy in the Netherlands. During his last visit in December 2007, he led an AIFD program on “Citizenship and Democracy” with Dutch Muslim youth, media, and political leadership. The program focused on strategies in countering the threat of political Islam to the west while engaging anti-Islamist Muslims.

Dr. Jasser was honored in October 2007 as a “Defender of the Home Front” at the annual Keeper of the Flame Dinner of the Center for Security Policy.. He was also one of five moderate Muslims who met with Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to discuss the “Contest of Ideas with the Muslim World” at the Hudson Institute on December 5, 2007. In January 2008, Dr. Jasser was presented with the 2007 Director’s Community Leadership Award by the Phoenix office of the FBI.

Dr. Jasser was also recently featured in The Third Jihad, produced by PublicScope Films. Dr. Jasser narrates this documentary about the threat of radical Islamism to the West which was recently released and will be shown and featured internationally in 2009.

Dr. Jasser is a regular columnist and contributing editor for FamilySecurityMatters.org and Hudson New York. He appears frequently on the Fox News Channel and CNN appearing regularly on the Glenn Beck Show. Dr. Jasser has been published in the National Review, Arizona Republic, Middle East Quarterly, Dallas Morning News, Washington Times, and Beliefnet. He is a frequent national radio and television commentator and featured speaker about Islam, Islamism, moderate Muslims, and counterterrorism.

David Jay Kaufman
Rabbi
Temple B'nai Jeshurun
Des Moines, Iowa
www.templebnaijeshurun.org
www.rabbikaufman.blogspot.com
515-274-4679
dkaufman@aol.com

www.weareforisrael.org
President and Co-Founder

Hoenlein's take on current events in the Middle East

For a pro-Israel summary and analysis of events in the Middle East,

tune in by computer to Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

Hoenlein often co-hosts the John Bachelor Show Thursday evenings on WABC-Radio in New York. The show is then available on demand on the station's website. Links are below. // Mark Finkelstein, JCRC@dmjfed.org

Broadcast date: Thursday, 2/24/11 - John Batchelor Show

GUESTS: Co-host Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents; Cliff May, FDD: David Schenker, Washington Institute

Listen http://wabcradio.com/FlashPlayer/default.asp?SPID=33447&ID=2119214

or Download this show : http://wabcradio.com/getpodcast.aspx?sid=33447&lid=5145&id=2119214&source=1&url=http://podloc.andomedia.com/dloadTrack.mp3?prm=10803xhttp://podfuse-dl.andomedia.com/800185/podfuse-origin.andomedia.com/citadel_origin/pods/WABC/WABC-Batchelor/jbs_022411b.mp3

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Hiromoto: anti-Israel activists distort reality

"Israel is not perfect. . . But obfuscating basic truths about Israel’s diverse society and longstanding desire for peace is counterproductive and will only serve to inflame an already polarized discourse." -- Hiromoto, who spent four years in Israel prior to attending Harvard Law School, responding to anti-Israel activism at Harvard.

My Israel

By Lee M Hiromoto

Published: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 The Harvard Crimson

“Discrimination is built into Israel.” Zionism “has at its core the replacement of one people with another.”

These were two claims I heard at a law school panel discussion on “boycotting the Israeli occupation” which was coincidentally held on a Friday evening, when many Jews would be observing the Sabbath through prayer and a family-style meal. As the speakers attempted to ascertain the best practices for attacking and dismantling the State of Israel, I thought back to the four years I spent there before starting law school last fall.

The Israel I experienced differed starkly from the fascist dystopia of which the panelists spoke.

That Israel, my Israel, hopes for peace with its neighbors and respects the rights of minority groups, sometimes to a greater extent than the U.S. does.

My military service as a dual citizen gives me great respect for Israel’s deep yearning to co-exist with its Arab neighbors. I served in the Coordinator for Government Activity in the Territories, the Ministry of Defense agency responsible for liaising with the Palestinian Authority, a quasi-sovereign and internationally recognized government entity through which the Palestinian people exercise a great deal of authority over their communities in the West Bank en route to full realization of their national hopes (for which even the conservative Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced his support).

As part of my service, I visited hospitals in Jerusalem where Palestinian children, with Israeli military coordination, receive critical dialysis treatments several times a week (such treatment is unavailable in the West Bank). I saw a Jewish Israeli surgeon, an Apache pilot in the Israel Defense Forces reserves, treat Palestinian, Iraqi, and African children in an intensive care unit. At the crack of dawn I welcomed Palestinian workers to the Israeli community of Qedar outside Jerusalem, where they worked with their Israeli neighbors for much higher wages than they would earn in a Palestinian city.

The upshot here is that Israel doesn’t have to let thousands of Palestinians, many of whom still deny Israel’s basic right to exist, into its communities for medical care or work (as happens every day). But Israel does. These actions, along with Israel’s full, painful withdrawals from the Gaza Strip in 2005 and the Sinai Peninsula in 1982, speak louder than words to Israel’s deep desire to get along with—not replace—its neighbors.

Living in Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv exposed me to a cosmopolitan diversity that would give many world cities a run for their money. Both cities, one renowned for piety and the other for partying, host gay pride parades that run the gamut from uniformed (and sometimes armed) soldiers fresh from an on-base stint to gay and lesbian Arab-Israelis who enjoy a level of freedom unparalleled in the Middle East (homosexuality is a capital crime in Iran, Saudi Arabia, and several other Muslim countries). I saw same-sex couples walking the streets hand in hand, something I rarely see here in liberal Cambridge. Gay Israelis may sponsor their same-sex partners (including Palestinians) for immigration rights, something currently impossible in the U.S.

Arab-Israelis make up about 20 percent of Israel’s population and participate in Israeli democracy at all levels. Justice Salim Joubran, an Arab Christian, sits on the country’s Supreme Court, which has not shied away from confronting other branches of government to advance human rights. Arab men and women continue to vote in elections for and serve in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. Out of respect for the complexity of Arab-Israeli identity, Arab citizens are exempt from the compulsory military service that has secured the accomplishments of Israeli democracy.

I know personally that Jews and Arabs in Israel, rather than locking themselves in a self-defeating downward spiral of discrimination and resentment, often come together under the aegis of scholarship. I studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with numerous Arab students who seemed quite content to learn with their Jewish compatriots at the highest-ranked Middle Eastern institution according to international rankings. After a year of study, I went to work for the non-profit Hand in Hand, which runs four bilingual, multicultural schools throughout Israel where Jewish and Arab youth study together in both Hebrew and Arabic (both of which are official languages). Where else in the Middle East would I have heard an Arab adolescent talking about attending his best-friend’s bar-mitzvah—and understanding the Hebrew far better than most American Jews?

As a young democracy that recently celebrated its 60th birthday, Israel is not perfect. Many agree that Israel should play a greater role in helping Palestinian national aspirations find their proper realization. But obfuscating basic truths about Israel’s diverse society and longstanding desire for peace is counterproductive and will only serve to inflame an already polarized discourse.

Lee M. Hiromoto, HLS ’13, served in the Israel Defense Forces from 2008-2010.

Source: http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/2/22/israel-israeli-palestinian-israels/

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Source: Tunisian protesters shouted 'Death to the Jews'

“This is a new phenomenon,” said the Tunisian source. “Until now, we have not heard this. Perhaps the people were thinking it, but we have not heard it. Now they feel free to say what they wish, what is in their hearts.” Members of the Jewish community are meanwhile staying out of sight, the source said. “Jews are very afraid, and trying not to show themselves.”

A7 Exclusive: Tunisian Protesters Shouted 'Death to the Jews!'

www.israelnationalnews.com

Protesters demanding the ouster of their new unity government in Tunisia are also now beginning to call for 'Death to the Jews.'

Source: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/142490

Note: If you would like to add your comments to news items, join the Jewish Current Events page on facebook, at http://www.facebook.com/index.php?lh=3a745f133ed3fcba5e0e4129582f26e8&#!/pages/Jewish-Current-Events/141935999166450

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

SWC Report: Exposing Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood: Jihad against Jews, Judaism, & Israel

From: Simon Wiesenthal Center [mailto:enewsletter@wiesenthal.com]

CRUCIAL SWC NEW REPORT
Exposing Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood: Jihad Against Jews, Judaism, and Israel

February 22, 2011

Against the backdrop of the historic changes in Egypt, the Simon Wiesenthal Center is releasing a riveting expose on Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.

“Hitler Put Them in Their Place”: Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood’s Jihad Against Jews, Judaism, and Israel, is authored by Dr. Harold Brackman, the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Senior Historic Consultant.

This impactful report presents an "unsanitized history of the Muslim Brotherhood," and traces the evolution of its beliefs, goals and tactics. It presents an unflinching look at the Brotherhood's genocidal Jew-hatred and sheds light on The Brotherhood's global reach and its emerging impact on Egypt in the balance.

Click here to read the report. Please forward this to family and friends.

Support the Work of the Simon Wiesenthal Center

Monday, February 21, 2011

Situation in Libya, the Jews of Libya, and Civil War

Reposted from Rabbi Kaufman

Jewish Libyan group: Bloodshed greater than reported

http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=209236

There is interesting background information on the Jewish community of Libya and also some history of modern Libya in the article. The author is clearly not a believer that the popular uprising in Libya is a democratic one, but instead is part of a civil war between tribes with the opposition being "Political Islamists." Where have we heard this story before???

Again, we can only hope that democratic reforms and not a new and potentially worse type of tyranny are in the offing should the horrible dictatorship fall.

-D