World Food Prize laureate

At #WorldFoodPrize, @SecClinton congratulates winner Israeli scientist Dr. Hillel for saving "every last drop" of water http://pic.twitter.com/4rz5z67B


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Dire reports, impending genocide in Nuba, Sudan.

JCRC Action Alert.    Please help save people in Sudan from genocide. The time to speak out is now!  The situation is getting worse.

 

  In sum:  Refugees from Sudan have come to us pleading for help in saving the residents of Nuba Mountains from almost certain genocide at the hands of the Sudanese government.  Just this morning, we received a report from Ryan Boyette, one of the only witnesses on the ground in the Nuba Mountains. 

 

The report is clear and succinct.

 

Ryan reporting for NubaReport.org: June 6, 2012 at 8:20am

17 bombs were dropped in villages in Buram County in Southern Kordofan Sudan. The government of Sudan is trying to stop the already starving people of Nuba from planting.

This is planting season in Nuba and the people have about 1.5 months to plant. If the people don't plant in that time then it will be too late. The government of Sudan knows this and has increased their bombing campaign in Buram County over the past week.

 

We also call your attention to Nicholas Kristof’s June 6^th column in the NY Times about what he observed in the Nuba Mountains.   Please read the excerpt below:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/07/opinion/kristof-if-only-our-leaders-had-mariams-guts.html?_r=2

 

“World leaders …. have said little and done almost nothing as President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has — for a year now — undertaken daily bombings in the Nuba Mountains and the neighboring Blue Nile region, blocked food from entering, expelled aid groups and tried to bar witnesses. I entered illegally on a dirt track from South Sudan, and, as noted in my last column, I found that hundreds of thousands of people in the Nuba Mountains have run out of food and are surviving on leaves, wild roots and insects.”

 

“I’d like to explain to [the people of  Nuba]  why the world lets this happen without even speaking out strongly, and I just don’t know what to say.”

 

 

JCRC calls upon you to contact your Congressman and Senators.   (They need evidence that people are concerned.)

 

 Ask them to act immediately in any way possible to save the people of Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile from genocide. 

 

 

 

 

Contact numbers:  or access   http://www.alllaw.com/state_resources/iowa/congress/default.asp

 

 

Senator Grassley (515) 288-1145

Senator Harkin  (515) 284-4574

 

Cong. Boswell  (515) 282-1909

Cong. Latham  (515) 232-2885

Cong. Loebsack  (319) 364-2288

Cong. Braley  (319) 287-3233

Cong. King  (712) 277-2114

 

Thank you.   For JCRC,   Mark Finkelstein    jcrc@dmjfed.org

 

For updated information, it is recommended that you consult  http://helpnuba.net

 

 

Save the Date of July 8! P2G Arts Chair Kim Goldberg: "People, Process and Product - The Arts within Partnership2Gether with Israel"

                              The Jewish Federation’s Cultural Project, Partnership2Gether with Israel (P2G), is delighted to present

                                                                      Kim Goldberg, Arts Chair, of the U.S. Central Consortium,

                                                                                                    Sunday, July 8, 2012  

                      1:00 pm at Tifereth Israel Synagogue, 924 Polk Boulevard, in Des Moines.  Refreshments provided.  All are welcome.

 

                           People, Process, and Product - The Arts within Partnership2Gether*   

                                                              For more information or to RSVP, contact jcrc@dmjfed.org or call 987-0899 x 212 

 

 about Kim Goldberg

A multifaceted, seasoned designer, Kim is an artist who loves creating. With a background in branding, visual communication and fine art, she specializes in printed materials, website design and object design.

Art and design are obsessions for Kim, but in a 'good' way. Her focus is on building strong relationships with clients and giving each project a great deal of attention, dedication and creativity. The ultimate goal is to create meaningful, appropriate, and high quality results.

Her client list includes: Ann Taylor Stores Corporation, The Center for Health Transformation, Suze Orman, TD AMERITRADE, Healthways, The University of Nebraska in Lincoln, The Clifton Strengths School, Building Bright Futures, Wells Fargo, The Jewish Federation of Omaha, HCA Hospital Corporation of America, Best Buy, Aylward Enterprises, Gallup University, The Institute for Holocaust Education, Teens Finding Hope, Inc., MyWay Collection clothing, Lori Stohs Consulting, and Partnership2Gether.

Kim is also a strong and committed advocate for Israel traveling there each year since 2006. As the Arts Task Force Chair of the U.S. Central Area Consortium of Partnership2Gether she has been instrumental in developing numerous art-related programs that connect people in the U.S. to the Western Galilee. Kim is the co-creator of Just Another Day, a multimedia dance performance that made it's debut at the 30th Anniversary of the Israeli Alternative Theater Festival in Akko, Israel and has toured the U.S. at Ballet Austin and in Europe at the Israeli Cultural Institute in Budapest. She has been a four-time Artist in Residence in the Western Galilee. Her current work includes an upcoming solo exhibition at the Haifa Rappaport Art and Culture Center scheduled for January 2013 and the development of an Israeli Art and Design online resource center called Schmear.

Partnership2GETHER is a project of the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines, online at jewishdesmoines.org

 

  

      

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3. Or to receive the news updates by e-mail,  go to

 

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Neither the Jewish Federation nor the Jewish Community Relations Commission

endorses candidates for political office.  The items posted are the opinions of those

individuals who post the items, unless otherwise indicated.

 

For additional information, contact  jcrc@dmjfed.org

 

US: CIA thwarts new al-Qaida underwear bomb plot

Published:  05.07.12

The Associated Press has learned the CIA thwarted a plot by al-Qaida's affiliate in Yemen to destroy a US-bound airliner using a bomb with a new design around the one-year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden.

 

US officials say the plot involved an upgrade of the underwear bomb that failed to detonate aboard a jetliner over Detroit on Dec. 25, 2009. This new bomb was also built to be used in a passenger's underwear but contained a more refined detonation system. (AP)

May 3, The Arab Spring Uprisings: Struggle for Freedom in the Middle East

Prof. Walid Phares speaks 7:00 pm tonight ( Thursday) at Sheslow Auditorium, Drake University. If you'd like some insight into the current Middle East, come hear his analysis of the Arab Spring uprisings. Sponsored by JFed Forum, Drake Hillel, and JCRC of the Jewish Federation.

Includes Q & A 

jcrc@dmjfed.org

May is Jewish American Heritage Month

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

May 01, 2012

Presidential Proclamation -- Jewish American Heritage Month, 2012

JEWISH AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH, 2012

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

Three hundred and fifty-eight years ago, a band of 23 Jewish refugees fled Recife, Brazil, beset by bigotry and oppression. For them, receding shores marked the end of another chapter of persecution for a people that had been tested from the moment they came together and professed their faith. Yet, they also marked a new beginning. When those men, women, and children landed in New Amsterdam -- what later became New York City -- they found not only safe haven, but early threads of a tradition of freedom and opportunity that would forever bind their story to the American story.

Those 23 believers led the way for millions to follow. During the next three centuries, Jews around the world set out to build new lives in America -- a land where prosperity was possible, where parents could give their children more than they had, where families would no longer fear the specter of violence or exile, but live their faith openly and honestly. Even here, Jewish Americans bore the pains of hardship and hostility; yet, through every obstacle, generations carried with them the deep conviction that a better future was within their reach. In adversity and in success, they turned to one another, renewing the tradition of community, moral purpose, and shared struggle so integral to their identity.

Their history of unbroken perseverance and their belief in tomorrow's promise offers a lesson not only to Jewish Americans, but to all Americans. From Aaron Copland to Albert Einstein, Gertrude Stein to Justice Louis Brandeis, generations of Jewish Americans have brought to bear some of our country's greatest achievements and forever enriched our national life. As a product of heritage and faith, they have helped open our eyes to injustice, to people in need, and to the simple idea that we might recognize ourselves in the struggles of our fellow men and women. These principles led Jewish advocates to fight for women's equality and workers' rights, and to preach against racism from the bimah; they inspired many to lead congregants on marches to stop segregation, help forge unbreakable bonds with the State of Israel, and uphold the ideal of "tikkun olam" -- our obligation to repair the world. Jewish Americans have served heroically in battle and inspired us to pursue peace, and today, they stand as leaders in communities across our Nation.

More than 300 years after those refugees first set foot in New Amsterdam, we celebrate the enduring legacy of Jewish Americans -- of the millions who crossed the Atlantic to seek out a better life, of their children and grandchildren, and of all whose belief and dedication inspires them to achieve what their forebears could only imagine. Our country is stronger for their contributions, and this month, we commemorate the myriad ways they have enriched the American experience.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 2012 as Jewish American Heritage Month. I call upon all Americans to visit www.JewishHeritageMonth.gov to learn more about the heritage and contributions of Jewish Americans and to observe this month with appropriate programs, activities, and ceremonies.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of May, in the year two thousand twelve, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.

BARACK OBAMA