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Forward this to a friend February 14, 2008






Local News


Experts speak about Iran at major forums this week

Israel and World News

Bomb kills top Hezbollah leader
Livni: 'We'll act against Gaza terror'
Hamas leaders hiding from Israeli hits
Video describes daily horrors faced by the children of Sderot
U.S. pushes Israel to accept proposed Egypt border deal
Remembering Tom Lantos
Two boys, two sides, two beds in an Israeli hospital ward
JCPA applauds Congress for taking a stand against torture
Jewish Coalition mobilizes for restoration of rights for Americans with disabilities

Iran Watch


Experts: Iran develops fast centrifuges
Iran celebrates revolution, and muzzles reformers
Iran reinstates Khomeini's grandson for election: report
Olmert: Iran's nuclear program still a threat
World Bank guarantees for Iran exposed

Events and Programs

See Hadag Nachash at the House of Blues this Monday
13th Annual Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Jerusalem Lecture, Feb. 26
Lewis Summer Intern application deadline approaching: March 3 for applications, March 14 for interviews
JCC Chicago Maccabi reschedules final information night
Father Patrick Desbois speaking Monday and Tuesday
Save the Date for these important March events

Editorial, Opinion & Analysis


From the Israeli and American press and other sources



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Local News


EXPERTS SPEAK ABOUT IRAN AT MAJOR FORUMS THIS WEEK
On Feb. 11, the 29th anniversary of the Islamic revolution, nearly 200 people, mostly non-Jews, gathered in downtown Chicago for a lecture titled "Iran: Insights into its Religion, Politics and Power," featuring Prof. David Menashri,director of the Center for Iranian Studies at Tel Aviv University and Mehdi Khalaji, a visiting fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a trained Shiite cleric.

The program, sponsored by JUF's Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), was moderated by Ambassador J.D. Bindenagel, vice president for Community, Government and International Affairs at DePaul University.

In a breakfast meeting the next day with members of the international diplomatic corps stationed in Chicago and senior law federal, state and local enforcement officials, Menashri called on the European Union to urge their governments to intensify action aimed at thwarting Iran's nuclear ambitions, while working to champion the cause of human rights in Iran.
JUF's JCRC is an spearheading a broad effort to combat a nuclear Iran through the Comprehensive Action Plan for Iran Advocacy approved in April of 2007. Get more information



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Israel and World News

BOMB KILLS TOP HEZBOLLAH LEADER
A top Hezbollah leader, Imad Mughniyeh, has died in a bombing in Damascus, and the group has blamed Israel for assassinating him. Mughniyeh is widely believed to be behind a wave of Western hostage-taking in Lebanon during the 1980s. He had been in hiding for years and was high on US and Israeli wanted lists.
The Israeli prime minister's office issued a statement rejecting "the attempt by terror groups to attribute to it any involvement" in the killing.

Mughniyeh, in his late 40s, is variously described as special operations or intelligence chief of Hezbollah's military wing, the Islamic Resistance. Correspondents say his death is a significant blow to Hezbollah, which battled Israel in the 2006 Lebanon war, and its Iranian and Syrian backers.

The United States on Wednesday applauded the killing of Moughniyah, and called him a cold-blooded murderer responsible for many deaths.


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LIVNI: 'WE'LL ACT AGAINST GAZA TERROR'
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni made it clear on Wednesday that Israel would act to end the terrorist threat from Gaza. During a tour of the border area with Gaza, Livni told some 60 foreign ambassadors and diplomats serving in Israel: "The situation in the region is unbearable, and the threat of terror from Gaza is growing larger from year to year. The problem is not only the Kassam rockets, but also the strengthening of the terror organizations. Israel must act to reduce these threats."
The initiative was part of Israel's diplomatic efforts to explain to the world that civilians are living under daily attack. At the end of the tour, Livni told the diplomats, "Even if there is a lull in the shooting - don't let this quiet deceive you. The terror organizations are growing in strength, and planning for the future must be based on an understanding of this threat in the present."


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HAMAS LEADERS HIDING FROM ISRAELI HITS
Hamas leaders in Gaza turned off their cell phones, avoided public appearances and were sleeping in safe houses after Israel threatened Monday to assassinate those responsible for Palestinian rocket attacks on border towns.

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VIDEO DESCRIBES DAILY HORRORS FACED BY THE CHILDREN OF SDEROT
Watch a compelling video, "Red Color," directed by Yoav Shoam, describing the daily horrors children in Sderot face, as well as their resilency and the extraordinary work of teachers and social workers - funded by JUF - to help them and their families deal with it all.

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U.S. PUSHES ISRAEL TO ACCEPT PROPOSED EGYPT BORDER DEAL
The U.S. administration is urging Israel to engage Egypt in immediate dialogue in order to find a joint solution to the problem of the breached Gaza-Egypt border. The U.S. wants Israel to show some flexibility on Egypt's demand to add 750 soldiers to its border force, as well as to agree to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's proposal to take over responsibility for the Israel-Gaza Strip border.

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REMEMBERING TOM LANTOS
U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to Congress, died Monday of esophageal cancer at the age of 80.

"We lose a voice for human rights, which was in his case unique," Elie Wiesel, the novelist whose own writings have become icons of Holocaust remembrance, told JTA. "He spoke always against oppression, against persecution, against racism."

Lantos died at the Naval Medical Center in suburban Bethesda, Md., surrounded by his wife, Annette, two daughters and many of his 18 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.


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TWO BOYS, TWO SIDES, TWO BEDS IN AN ISRAELI HOSPITAL WARD
Two small boys lay sedated in a hospital ward in a Tel Aviv suburb on Tuesday, unaware of each other or of the growing commotion around them. One was Osher Twito, 8, an Israeli boy from the town of Sderot, who was seriously wounded Saturday by shrapnel from a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza. The other was Yakoub Natil, almost 7, a Palestinian who was brought here three weeks ago from Gaza City after he was badly hurt by shrapnel from an Israeli Air Force strike on Jan. 18.

Also see, 'I screamed as loud as I could so they'd hear me'


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JCPA APPLAUDS CONGRESS FOR TAKING A STAND AGAINST TORTURE
The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) applauds Congress for voting to extend the U.S. military's ban on torture to all U.S. agencies, including the CIA.
JCPA Chair Lois Frank issued the following statement: "We applaud Congress for its action to end United States' sponsored torture and cruelty and to uphold our moral values, international treaty obligations, and human rights. Legislation passed this week in the Senate, extends the Army Field Manual's ban on torture to all U.S. agencies including the CIA. As Jews and as Americans, we have been deeply troubled by the United States' use of torture and cruel interrogations techniques. The adoption of the Army Field Manual Provision creates a single humane standard for the treatment of all detainees in U.S. custody. It clearly delineates which acts are permissible from those which constitute torture.

We urge the President to sign this bill into law and to send a clear message to the people of the United States and of the world that we are serious about upholding a ban on torture."


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JEWISH COALITION MOBILIZES FOR RESTORATION OF RIGHTS FOR AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES
Representatives of Jewish organizations met last week with key House members to advocate for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Restoration Act of 2007. Members of the Jewish Disability Network, a coalition of more than 20 organizations established in 2007 by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and United Jewish Communities, will specifically target members of the four committees with jurisdiction over the bill. A letter signed by 60 national, state and local Jewish organizations, including the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, urging the bill's enactment was sent on Wednesday to all members of Congress.

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Iran Watch


EXPERTS: IRAN DEVELOPS FAST CENTRIFUGES
Iran has developed its own version of an advanced centrifuge that churns out fissile material much faster than other machines and has started testing them, diplomats and experts said Thursday. Few of the IR-2 centrifuges were operating and testing appeared to be in an early phase.
More significant, said those with knowledge of the issue, was the fact that Tehran has appeared to combine know-how and equipment bought on the nuclear black market with domestic ingenuity to overcome daunting technical difficulties and create advanced machines that reflect a high level of nuclear development.


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IRAN CELEBRATES REVOLUTION, AND MUZZLES REFORMERS
Iran celebrated the 29th anniversary of the victory of its Islamic revolution on Monday as the government appeared to be taking steps to bury the chances of reformers in parliamentary elections next month, putting on sharp display a split between veterans of the revolution's early days and the nation's current leaders.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continued to defy the West, and in an address to tens of thousands of marchers vowed that Iran would continue its nuclear program despite international pressure. He announced that Iran would send two more research rockets into space before launching a satellite this summer.


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IRAN REINSTATES KHOMEINI'S GRANDSON FOR ELECTION: REPORT
Iran has allowed the grandson of the late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's and some other reformists to stand in parliamentary elections after initially disqualifying them, reports said on Wednesday. Ali Eshraghi was one of more than 2,200 mainly reformist candidates disqualified in the initial phase of vetting, to the dismay of moderates, but has now been reinstated by the hardline Guardians Council.
The Guardians Council, Iran's main vetting body, announced on Tuesday that 280 of the candidates disqualified in the original vetting were being reinstated to stand in the March 14 elections.


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OLMERT: IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM STILL A THREAT
Israel's prime minister on Tuesday brushed aside suggestions that the threat from Iran's nuclear program has receded, saying he remains convinced that Tehran is "moving forward" with plans for an atomic weapon. Israel has continued to warn that Iran seeks to acquire nuclear weapons since a December report by U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Iran suspended its nuclear weapons program in 2003.
Israel still "is of the opinion that the Iranians are moving forward with their plans to create a capacity for non-conventional weapons," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country has been among those leading efforts to persuade Iran to give up uranium enrichment.


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WORLD BANK GUARANTEES FOR IRAN EXPOSED
According to U.S. Reps. Steve Rothman, D-N.J., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill.--a former Bank staffer, World Bank has "transferred at least $50 million in U.S. and allied taxpayer funding to Iran" over the last six months.

In a letter, Rothman and Kirk argued the World Bank is "undermining the Iran policies of the U.N. Security Council, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the United States by giving technical assistance, loans and investment guarantees directly to the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad." The letter urges the Bush administration to "align the World Bank board to the policy" of the U.N. Security Council, by suspending all World Bank loans to Iran and all guarantees on foreign investment in the country.


The World Bank's Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) provides financial guarantees to secure foreign investments in developing countries, and the U.S. government is one of the agency's largest contributors. U.S. contributions since 2000 have totaled nearly $24 million. Documents and public filings show the MIGA has issued $122.2 million in guarantee coverage for three companies from Thailand and Japan, that have in turn invested a total of $42.8 million in a state-owned Iranian petrochemical company.


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Events and Programs

SEE HADAG NACHASH AT THE HOUSE OF BLUES THIS MONDAY
Israeli hip hop group Hadag Nachash will perform in Chicago at 8 p.. February 18 at the House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn. General admission tickets are $30. Tickets for Birthright Alum are $20 and student tickets are $10. Special rates for "Birthright Alum (non-students)" and "Students" are thanks to the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago and Birthright Israel NEXT. Tickets at these rates can only be bought until February 17th. Discounted tickets purchased online will be available for pick-up at the door prior to the concert. After the 17th, students can purchase tickets at the House of Blues box office for the reduced rate $20. The event is sponsored by Teev Events, the Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest, JUF and Birthright Israel NEXT.

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13TH ANNUAL JOSEPH CARDINAL BERNARDIN JERUSALEM LECTURE, FEB. 26
The 13th Annual Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Jerusalem Lecture, "Reflections on Jewish-Catholic Relations: Past, Present and Future" featuring Dr. Eugene Fisher with remarks by Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I. will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, February 26 at the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, 610 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago

A reception will follow the lecture. Admission is free, but reservations are requested. For information call 312-751-5325 or e-mail eia@archchicago.org

The lecture is sponsored by The Archdiocese of Chicago, The American Jewish Committee, The Chicago Board of Rabbis, The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago and the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies.


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LEWIS SUMMER INTERN APPLICATION DEADLINE APPROACHING: MARCH 3 FOR APPLICATIONS, MARCH 14 FOR INTERVIEWS
Applications are still being accepted for the 2008 Lewis Summer Intern Program. There is still time to submit an application and schedule an interview, but time is running out. The deadline to submit applications is March 3, 2008, and the deadline for interviews is March 14, 2008.

The Lewis Summer Intern Program offers a wide array of summer internship opportunities across the spectrum of Jewish communal services in the Chicagoland area. Any student who is from Illinois or currently enrolled at a college in the state is eligible to apply, and applications are available online. Learn more about the internship opportunities with the Lewis Summer Intern Program. To catch a glimpse of all the fun that was had last year, please watch this video made by a student from last years program.

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JCC CHICAGO MACCABI RESCHEDULES FINAL INFORMATION NIGHT
Building on the success of the past 25 years, JCC Maccabi Chicago, a JCC of Chicago program that provides athletic, social and cultural experiences to Jewish teens ages 13-16 years, announces plans for the 2008 JCC Maccabi Games.
All interested athletes and families are invited to attend any of the information nights to learn more about this summer's Games in Akron, Ohio, Aug 10-15, and Detroit, Mich., Aug. 17-22. The final information night has been rescheduled for Wednesday Feb. 27, 7:00pm at the Bernard Weinger JCC, Northbrook.

JCC Maccabi Chicago plans to send a delegation of 25 athletes and five coaches to Akron, Ohio, to compete in boys and girls soccer and bowling. Representing JCC Maccabi Chicago in Detroit, Mich., will be 115 athletes and 25 coaches competing in boys baseball, girls softball, boys and girls basketball, in-line hockey, swimming, tennis, track & field, dance, table tennis, bowling and golf. Tryouts for the 2008 JCC Maccabi Chicago teams will take place in February and March. For more information night and tryout information, call Allan Bogan at 847.412.4253 or visit the website at www.gomaccabi.org. View the tryout schedule


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FATHER PATRICK DESBOIS SPEAKING MONDAY AND TUESDAY
Father Patrick Desbois, interviewer of surviving eyewitnesses and participants in mass shootings during the Holocaust, will speak at two Chicago programs next month.

His team from Yahad-In Unum has investigated 700 of an estimated 2,000 mass graves

The first program, Ukraine: The Holocaust by Bullets--An Interview with Father Patrick Desbois, will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, February 18 at North Shore Congregation Israel, 1185 Sheridan Road in Glencoe. For reservations call (847) 835-0724.

The Catholic-Jewish Studies program in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum will present a public lecture, "Remembering for Reconciliation: Healing memories in the Christian-Jewish dialogue" featuring Father Patrick Desbois, 4 p.m. February 19 at The Catholic Theological Union Second Floor 5416 S. Cornell Ave. Chicago. For information contact The Bernardin Center at (773)371-5432 or bernardincenter@ctu.edu


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SAVE THE DATE FOR THESE IMPORTANT MARCH EVENTS
The Jewish Studies Program of the University of Illinois at Chicago, together with the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, presents:International Terrorism: Dynamics and Prevention by Professor Shlomo Shoham, Israel Studies visiting scholar, UIC, Professor Emeritus, Tel Aviv University Wednesday, March 5, 7:00 p.m. UIC Campus, Student Services Building.

The Crown Family Center for Jewish Studies, Northwestern University and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago present The 2008 Philip M. & Ethel Klutznick Lecture in Jewish Civilization: After Post-Zionism: Building The Israel That Could Be, by Hillel Halkin, renowned Israeli journalist and author, Wednesday, March 12, 7:30 p.m. at Pick Staiger Concert Hall, Northwestern University Campus. Register online


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Editorial, Opinion & Analysis


FROM THE ISRAELI AND AMERICAN PRESS AND OTHER SOURCES
Shutting down Zanan, New York Times editorial
Analysis: In order to go in, we need a way out, by Yaakov Katz
Restraint is not possible, Haaretz editorial
The Lantos legacy, San Francisco Chronicle editorial
Gaza, stripped, by Dennis Ross
Hamas must stand down, by Osama Al Sharif
Dead in Damascus, Wall Street Journal editorial


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Candlelighting
Friday, February 15, 5:05 p.m., Tetzaveh




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