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Forward this to a friend February 28, 2008






Local News


Robert M. Schrayer remembered
Community, school, family and friends mourn Cpl. Albert Bitton
Outlining a vision of Israel-Diaspora relations
Jewish-Catholic Relations
Anti-Zionism decried at Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism
Students return from Ta'am Yisrael 2008

Israel and World News

Student killed in Negev college as Qassam barrage intensifies
Rocket fired from Gaza scores direct hit on Ashkelon home
Arab leaders say the two-state proposal is in peril
Report: Abbas does not rule out resuming armed conflict with Israel
Hamas official: Abductions to continue
Slain Hezbollah militant was organizer in 2006 war
Abbas: Hamas allowed al-Qaeda operatives into Gaza
Hamas Gaza protest passes peacefully
Israel's economy grew 6.4% in fourth quarter
10,000 shoppers descend on Sderot
Sabbath conflict may end playoff run for Jewish boys' basketball teem

Iran Watch


Iran president says nuclear report a victory; U.S. calls for more sanctions
Iran confirms new nuclear centrifuges
U.S. weighs sanctions on Iran's central bank
Iran must pay for '92 bombing

Events and Programs

UIC Inaugural Israel Scholar Lecture to discuss international terrorism March 5 as part of JUF's new Visiting Israel Scholar program
Hillel Halkin to deliver Klutznick Lecture March 12
Discounts and limited-time offers to see Shalom Chanoch, "The Bruce Springstein of Israeli music," at House of Blues March 2
Lewis Summer Intern application deadline approaching: This Monday for applications, March 14 for interviews

Editorial, Opinion & Analysis


From the Israeli and American press and other sources



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Local News


ROBERT M. SCHRAYER REMEMBERED
Robert M. Schrayer, one of the Jewish community's most prominent and long-serving leaders, was eloquently eulogized by his rabbis and family Sunday.
Schrayer's life and work are recalled in obituaries published in numerous publications. See Distinguished businessman, Jewish community leader (Daily Herald), US Jewish leader Schrayer remembered for vision, service (Jerusalem Post) and Jewish leader strove to nurture community (Chicago Tribune).

Schrayer's ideas and actions were chronicled often in the pages of JUF News where, as 2005 JUF Campaign Chairman, he wrote a monthly column. He was quoted in relation to the significant events occurring during his watch as a community leader, and he reflected from time to time on the major currents of Jewish history that he had witnessed, and to which he helped shape the community's response. Read some of his elequent words printed in JUF News during the past decade.

The Jewish Federation has established a Robert M. Schrayer Memorial Fund. Checks should be made payable to JF-R. Schrayer Memorial Fund and sent to the Jewish Federation, 30 South Wells Street, Room 3138, Chicago, IL 60606.


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COMMUNITY, SCHOOL, FAMILY AND FRIENDS MOURN CPL. ALBERT BITTON
Hundreds of community members, family and friends packed Congregation Adas Yeshurun of West Rogers Park to honor the memory of Corporal Albert Bitton on Feb. 26. They gathered in the same synagogue where congregants had previously joined each week to recite Psalms in the merit of Albert's safety in Iraq.
Albert, a medic serving his seventh month in Iraq, was killed--along with two other soldiers--in Bagdad when his Humvee was struck by an improvised explosive device. He was part of the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), according to the Defense Department. He was buried with full military honors in a ceremony precided over by an honor guard under Major General Robert Radin, including: a 21-gun salute and a flag, Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart presentation to Bitton's wife and parents.

Albert joined the U.S. Army in 2005 after graduating from Ida Crown Jewish Academy with hopes of receiving the training and financial help to someday become a surgeon. He is survived by his wife, Melissa Handelman, his parents, Elie and Silvia, and his sisters, Jackie and Elizabeth.


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OUTLINING A VISION OF ISRAEL-DIASPORA RELATIONS
In an interview with the Jerusalem Post, Alan Solow, immediate past chairman of JUF's JCRC and current chairman of the Jewish Community Centers Association (JCCA) of North America, outlines the intricacies of being Jewish on both sides of the Atlantic and explains why he wants to encourage Jewish community centers across the US and Canada to become more "Israel-centric."

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JEWISH-CATHOLIC RELATIONS
Chicago Archbishop Francis Cardinal George and Catholic-Jewish studies expert Dr. Eugene Fischer on Tuesday night called on Jews and Catholics to continue their interfaith dialogues during the annual Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Jerusalem Lecture. The event was sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, the Archdiocese of Chicago, the American-Jewish Committee, and the Chicago Board of Rabbis.

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ANTI-ZIONISM DECRIED AT GLOBAL FORUM FOR COMBATING ANTI-SEMITISM
Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni and Minister for Diaspora Affairs and for Combating Anti-Semitism Isaac Herzog opened the Annual International Conference of Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism held February 24 and 25 in Jerusalem. The conference was attended by a record number of over 300 high-ranking delegates from over 45 countries, among them parliamentarians, judges and legal experts, ambassadors and diplomats, academics, heads of NGOs, and leaders of Jewish organizations and communities. Watch a recorded live broadcast of the conference.

JUF/JF Executive Vice President Michael Kotzin moderated a session on the new anti-Semitism. Read a paper he prepared for the conference.

Also see the Jerusalem Post's coverage of the conference from February 24 and February 25.


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STUDENTS RETURN FROM TA'AM YISRAEL 2008
Ta'am Yisrael: A Taste of Israel is a program designed by the Community Foundation for Jewish Education (CFJE) of Metropolitan Chicago to give a select number of 8th grade students a meaningful, intense, emotional and focused taste of their heritage through a seven-day trip to Israel. Read the web journal from participants of Ta'am Yisrael 2008, who returned from Israel earlier this month.
For more information on Ta'am Yisrael contact: Sid Singer, Director of Informal Education Services, at ssinger@cfje.org, or (847) 410-3900, x 29.


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Israel and World News

STUDENT KILLED IN NEGEV COLLEGE AS QASSAM BARRAGE INTENSIFIES
Around 50 Palestinian rockets hit the western Negev on Wednesday, with one of them slamming into Sapir College near Sderot and killing a 47-year-old student. Another exploded on the helipad of Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon, while the hospital was treating casualties from Sderot. The deceased, Roni Yechiah from the town of Btecha in the western Negev, was inside his car in Sapir's parking lot. He died of shrapnel wounds to the chest. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.



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ROCKET FIRED FROM GAZA SCORES DIRECT HIT ON ASHKELON HOME
Gaza-based militants stepped up their campaign against southern Israel on Thursday, firing a barrage of Qassam rockets and longer-range Grad rockets. Ten Grads hit Ashkelon, some 10 km from the Gaza border, and one scored a direct hit on a home in the port town. Several people were wounded in the barrages, although the exact number was unclear.


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ARAB LEADERS SAY THE TWO-STATE PROPOSAL IS IN PERIL
Arab leaders will threaten to rescind their offer of full relations with Israel in exchange for a complete Israeli withdrawal from occupied lands unless Israel gives a positive response to their initiative, indicating growing disillusionment with the prospects of a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
At an Arab League meeting next month in Syria, the leaders are planning to reiterate support for their initiative, first issued in 2002. The initiative promised Israel normalization with the league's 22 members in return for the creation of a Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as the capital, and a resolution of the issue of Palestinian refugees.

But this time, "there will be a message to Israel emphasizing the need to respond to the initiative; otherwise, Arab states will reassess the previous stage of peace," said Muhammad Sobeih, assistant secretary general of the Arab League in charge of the Palestinian issue.


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REPORT: ABBAS DOES NOT RULE OUT RESUMING ARMED CONFLICT WITH ISRAEL
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that he does not completely rule out the possibility of resuming the armed conflict with Israel. In an interview with the Jordanian newspaper al-Dustur, Abbas said that he is against an armed conflict at this time, but things may differ in the future.


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HAMAS OFFICIAL: ABDUCTIONS TO CONTINUE
Hamas will abduct more IDF soldiers if Israel does not answer its demands for freeing Cpl. Gilad Shalit, a Hamas official said in an interview published Saturday, referencing a March 2007 proposal whereby Palestinian security prisoners would be released in return for Shalit. The swap has been upheld by disagreement between the two sides over the criteria regarding prisoners to be included in the exchange.


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SLAIN HEZBOLLAH MILITANT WAS ORGANIZER IN 2006 WAR
Hezbollah officials and associates are describing a previously unknown role for Imad Mughniyeh, the mastermind behind bomb attacks on U.S. and Israeli targets in the 1980s and 1990s. Far from being too busy fleeing enemies, he was a key commander for Hezbollah in its 2006 war with Israel.

He was among the leading military and security strategists--if not the very top himself--of the group and a member of its decision-making committee, according to those who had knowledge of Mughniyeh before he was killed Feb. 12 in Damascus.


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ABBAS: HAMAS ALLOWED AL-QAEDA OPERATIVES INTO GAZA
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas confirmed on Wednesday reports that al-Qaeda operatives have infiltrated the Gaza Strip.

In an interview to the al-Hayat daily, Abbas claimed that Hamas was responsible for allowing the operatives into the Strip, and said that a years-long alliance has existed between the two groups. "I believe that al-Qaeda members have reached Palestinian territories and Gaza in particular. I think that al-Qaeda's presence there was made possible with the help of Hamas, especially in Gaza," he told the newspaper.


On Tuesday, IDF Intelligence Chief Amos Yadlin told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the recent breaching of the Egypt-Gaza border has enabled members of Bin Laden's group, as well as Hamas terror experts, to enter the Strip.


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HAMAS GAZA PROTEST PASSES PEACEFULLY
Israel deployed thousands of troops and police along the volatile border with the Gaza Strip on Monday but a Hamas demonstration against Israel appeared to pass without incident. Organizers had hoped to form a human chain running the length of the 25-mile strip but turnout was well below expectations. About 5,000 people, many of them schoolchildren and university students, joined the chain outside the town of Beit Hanoun, about four miles from the border.
After the protest ended, some 2,000 Hamas loyalists marched to a checkpoint several kilometers away from Erez. However, Hamas police blocked the main road leading to the Erez checkpoint and called on loyalists to obey the law.


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ISRAEL'S ECONOMY GREW 6.4% IN FOURTH QUARTER
Israel's economic growth unexpectedly accelerated to an annualized 6.4 percent in the fourth quarter, the fastest pace in a year, led by exports. Growth picked up from a revised 5.9% in the previous three months with exports jumping 15.5%, the Central Bureau of Statistics said Monday.

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10,000 SHOPPERS DESCEND ON SDEROT
Some 10,000 people from all over Israel traveled to Sderot last Friday to do their Shabbat shopping and show their solidarity for the residents of the beleaguered town. Hundreds of cars headed to the city from meeting points in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and Ra'anana. Numerous organizations participated in the solidarity mission, and several municipalities even provided buses for the journey.
Among the participants were activists from dozens of social movements, as well as members of student organizations, secular and religious communities and sports clubs.


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SABBATH CONFLICT MAY END PLAYOFF RUN FOR JEWISH BOYS' BASKETBALL TEEM
State senators have taken up the cause of a Jewish boys basketball team in Denver whose playoff run may be halted because its players can't play on the Jewish Sabbath. The Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy team could be headed for a regional championship on Saturday, March 8, if it wins one more game. But the Denver team won't play on Shabbat. If Herzl/RMHA makes it to the regional championship and will not play a Saturday game, another school would be chosen to take its place, CHSAA commissioner Bill Reader said. Earlier this month, the Colorado High School Activities Association, which governs sports and other high school activities, rejected the team's request for a schedule change.
At the end of morning debate in the state Senate on Wednesday, Majority Leader Ken Gordon, D-Denver, called on the CHSAA to be more flexible. Senate President Peter Groff, D-Denver, said the CHSAA's decision was ironic because it has a rule barring games from being played on Sunday for religious reasons. Sen. Tom Wiens, R-Sedalia, said there must be a way for the CHSAA to accommodate the team.

Another player from Boca Raton, Bassie Orzechowitz, 17, a senior at Weinbaum Yeshiva High School, won a regional three-point shooting competition this month, making her eligible for the Queen of the Hill championship in Lakeland but the final stage of that competition took place Saturday evening.


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Iran Watch


IRAN PRESIDENT SAYS NUCLEAR REPORT A VICTORY; U.S. CALLS FOR MORE SANCTIONS
World powers can pass U.N. sanctions resolutions for 100 years without deterring Iran from its nuclear ambitions, Iran's president said on Saturday. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's defiant comments came a day after a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran was being more transparent about its nuclear plans but was not doing enough to clear up concerns about whether Tehran had military aims.
Tehran insists its plans are peaceful. But the United States, which has accused Iran of seeking to build nuclear bombs, said Friday's report was a good reason to impose more U.N. sanctions.

Ahmadinejad declared the IAEA report a "victory" for the Iranian nation, pointing to areas of the document which showed Iranian cooperation had cleared up suspicions. Read the IAEA report


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IRAN CONFIRMS NEW NUCLEAR CENTRIFUGES
Iran said Sunday that it has started using new centrifuges that can churn out enriched uranium at more than double the rate of the machines that now form the backbone of the Islamic nation's nuclear program. The announcement was the first official confirmation by Tehran after diplomats with the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog reported earlier this month that Iran was using 10 of the new IR-2 centrifuges.
"We are (now) running a new generation of centrifuges," the official IRNA news agency quoted Javad Vaidi, deputy of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, as saying. No futher details were provided.


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U.S. WEIGHS SANCTIONS ON IRAN'S CENTRAL BANK
The Treasury Department is gathering evidence it says shows that the central bank of Iran is helping other Iranian institutions elude U.S. economic sanctions, in what could be a prelude to penalties against the central bank.
The investigation, described by financial-intelligence officials in three countries, signals a potential escalation in the financial battle Washington is waging against Tehran. Beginning in 2006, the U.S. imposed sanctions against several of Iran's major private-sector banks, blacklisting them for allegedly supporting terrorism and Iran's nuclear-weapons program.


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IRAN MUST PAY FOR '92 BOMBING
A U.S. judge ordered Iran to pay $33 million to the family of a U.S.-born Israeli diplomat killed in a 1992 bombing. In a ruling Monday, U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle held Iran liable for the attack on the Israeli Embassy in Argentina, which killed 29 people, including diplomat David Ben-Rafael.
Iran's Lebanese proxy militia, Hezbollah, took responsibility for the bombing.The ruling is one of a string in recent years holding Iran responsible for Hamas- or Hezbollah-orchestrated terrorist attacks against Americans.

Iran has refused to acknowledge or comply with the rulings, which have resulted from default judgments in the absence of an Iranian defense. Plaintiffs have sought to seize Iranian assets in the United States and Europe to collect on their judgments, albeit with limited success.


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Events and Programs

UIC INAUGURAL ISRAEL SCHOLAR LECTURE TO DISCUSS INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MARCH 5 AS PART OF JUF'S NEW VISITING ISRAEL SCHOLAR PROGRAM
The University of Illinois at Chicago's Jewish studies program, in association with the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, welcomes distinguished scholar Shlomo Shoham, professor of law at Tel Aviv University and UIC visiting Israel scholar for a lecture titled, "International Terrorism: Dynamics and Prevention," at 7 p.m. March 5, at the UIC Student Services building, 1200 W. Harrison St.

Winner of the Israel Prize, Shoham is a world-renowned scholar and a widely published author on criminology, deviance, philosophy, religion, psychology, and the interdisciplinarity of the human personality. He lectures world-wide, and has recently been resident at the universities of Harvard, Oxford, and at The Sorbonne.

The lecture is the inaugural event of UIC's new Visiting Israel Scholar Program. Supported by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, the program will bring an Israeli scholar to UIC to teach one semester per year for the next three years.

Admission is free. A reception will take place at 6 p.m. For more information, call (312) 996-2102.


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HILLEL HALKIN TO DELIVER KLUTZNICK LECTURE MARCH 12
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.

The appearance of noted experts like Halkin has been made possible through the vision and generosity of Philip M. and Ethel Klutnick. In 1986, when they established The Philip M. & Ethel Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization at the Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University, they also inaugurated the annual Klutznick Lecture, co-sponsored by the University and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.

Admission is free, and there will be no solicitation of funds. Reservations are required, with open seating, first come, first served. Call (312) 357-4675 or Register online


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DISCOUNTS AND LIMITED-TIME OFFERS TO SEE SHALOM CHANOCH, "THE BRUCE SPRINGSTEIN OF ISRAELI MUSIC," AT HOUSE OF BLUES MARCH 2
The Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest announces the kick-off event for the 60th anniversary celebrations of Israel: Shalom Chanoch, "The Bruce Springstein of Israeli music," will perform at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 2 at the House of Blues Chicago, 329 N. Dearborn. General tickets are $55 and box seats are $75. Purchase tickets. For group discounts and student prices, contact David Azulay at (301) 230-2232 or at david@teev.com

*The Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest has teamed up with Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem to showcase Israeli music by offering the first 100 individual tickets bought for the Shalom Chanoch concert a FREE ticket to the Israel Chamber Orchestra on Tuesday, February 26th at 7:30 p.m.! Please contact press@chicago.mfa.gov.il once your Shalom Chanoch tickets are purchased to reserve your free ticket for the Israel Chamber Orchestra!

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LEWIS SUMMER INTERN APPLICATION DEADLINE APPROACHING: THIS MONDAY 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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Editorial, Opinion & Analysis


FROM THE ISRAELI AND AMERICAN PRESS AND OTHER SOURCES
Pro-Israel vs. Pro-Palestine, by Rabbi Yehiel Poupko, JUF/JF's Judaic Scholar
The Sderot calculus, by Bret Stephens
Iran's Parliamentary elections: assured victory for the Supreme Leader, by Mehdi Khalaji
It's the Middle East, stupid, by Michael B. Oren
The goal: annihilating Israel, by Yoel Marcus
The growing al-Qaeda presence in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, by Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi
Sderot's war children, by Anat Meidan
Iran's diplomatic elite believe that the time has come to lead the region, by Iason Athanasiadis


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