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The Telegraph

Syria’s peace dividends

By Uriel Heilman · July 29, 2008

Mired in economic woe, Syrians see economic benefits to pursuing peace with Israel, The New York Times reports:

Mr. Zayat, a 35-year-old television cinematographer, says he views a peace deal with Israel as necessary and inevitable — not just for political reasons, but because Syria's vulnerable economy needs all the help it can get.

"We are tired, the country is suffocating," he said, as he played backgammon with a friend at a cafe here, the sweet smell of apple-flavored tobacco drifting around him. "We have suffered a long time from the political boycott and the sanctions."

That sentiment is echoed by many others. Prices soared here after the Syrian government cut fuel subsidies in May, deepening the gulf between rich and poor in this nominally socialist state. It had little choice. The oil reserves Syria has relied on for so long are rapidly disappearing. The hefty budget surpluses of a decade ago have turned into multibillion-dollar deficits. A country that could once afford to be serenely indifferent to Western sanctions is now being forced to liberalize and open its economy.

None of this has changed Syria's conviction that any peace agreement must include the return of the Golan Heights, the area captured by Israel in 1967. But a profoundly uncertain economic future has created additional incentives for peace, which could help lure foreign investment by ending Syria's pariah status in the West.

A settlement with Israel "would lift a huge weight from our shoulders," said Ghimar Deeb, a Syrian lawyer and economist who works with the United Nations here. It would lead to the lifting of sanctions, which would give Syria access to new investment, high-tech supplies and training opportunities, he said.

"Poverty is increasing, inequality is increasing, and I believe the street is frustrated," Mr. Deeb said. "They need peace with all our neighbors."

Meanwhile, senior Israeli officials told Ha'aretz that Syria is taking its talks with Israel seriously:

Senior officials in Jerusalem confirmed Monday that Syria has carried out a number of measures in recent weeks that reflect that it is taking talks with Israel seriously.

The sources refused to say whether they were referring to such measures as lowering the alert levels of the Syrian army or stemming the flow of arms to Hezbollah in Lebanon through its territory, but they did say that the effects of the measures were "tangible."

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The News Shticker

By Uriel Heilman · July 29, 2008

A growing number of Hispanics are discovering their Jewish roots, and one organization, Aliyah Sepharad International, wants to help them make aliyah, the Fort Myers, Fla., News-Press reports.
Meanwhile, The Oregonian reports, more Chinese adoptees and other non-whites are being raised as Jews. "But – you don't look Jewish," they're often told.
And in Israel, the Jerusalem Post features a group of 22 Polish youth who recently discovered their Jewish roots and arrived in the Jewish state for a three-week seminar in Jerusalem organized by Shavei Israel, a non-profit that strengthens ties to Israel among descendants of Jews around the world.
Gregory Levey, the author of "Shut Up, I'm Talking: And Other Diplomacy Lessons I Learned in the Israeli Government," writes in The New Republic about what happens when a member of the Israeli delegation takes Arabic classes at the U.N.
The Chicago Tribune has a piece on how some younger Jews are reclaiming the ancient rite of immersion in the mikvah, seeing it as a way to honor and nurture women in times of transition.
Jonathan Freedland has a new novel out on the Jewish avengers who tracked down and executed their Nazi tormentors after World War II.
A new "wiki" helps educators design curricula for Torah teaching, thanks to Lubavitch.

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Head of HIAS speaks at rally in Postville

By Ami Eden · July 28, 2008

Sue Fishkoff was in Postville, Iowa for yesterday's rally there on behalf of the workers at Agriprocessors. Click here for her story.

Perhaps the biggest name from the Jewish organizational world to take part was Gideon Aronoff, president and CEO of HIAS. Here's the text of his speech:

Statement of Gideon Aronoff President and CEO, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) Postville Iowa, July 27, 2008

Why are we all here in Postville on this Sunday afternoon? The simple answer can be found in the lessons of the Hebrew Bible - in the book of Genesis - where we are taught that we are - in fact - "our brothers' keepers."

This core Jewish teaching goes far in explaining the fundamental Jewish commitment to vulnerable refugees and immigrants of all faiths and backgrounds. We at HIAS, the American Jewish community's international migration agency, have sought for 127 years to put these values into action. As both Americans and as Jews, we have worked to ensure that our country's immigration laws reflect the promise that the great American-Jewish poet and HIAS volunteer, Emma Lazarus, described in her poem The New Colossus – "Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath free…"

We are our brothers' and sisters' keepers. We are responsible. As Americans, we are responsible to see that our country addresses its problems directly, and does not simply dump them on the backs of the Mexican and Guatemalan immigrant workers at Agriprocessors, or on the community of Postville that they called home.

The raid at AgriProcessors should not have happened. Last year the President and Congress had a chance to fix our broken immigration system and create a new legal immigration system that honors core American values and serves essential American interests. They failed to live up to their responsibilities.

By now, millions of undocumented workers – including those arrested at AgriProcessors – who came to the United States simply to work and support their families – not to harm this country – should have been on the path to legal status and potentially citizenship. This would have been a long process, with appropriate penalties, but the immigrant workers would have been out of the shadows, able to fight exploitation, and as legal residents able to call on the government to protect them.

The AgriProcessors raid is part of the legacy of failed immigration reform. Instead of a national solution to a national problem, we now have a mishmash of state and local immigration proposals, scattershot raids, unworkable solutions like the border fence, and billions of dollars spent chasing after undocumented immigrant workers. Employers who need more immigrant workers than the tiny quota our law provides still have no legal avenues. Fundamentally, we must recognize that we cannot enforce our way out of this problem. The economic and social forces that drive immigration to the United States and around the world are simply far too strong.

The people of Postville are bearing the brunt of this federal non policy. For the undocumented workers, the punishment does not fit the crime. Criminal prosecution and months of jail time are not morally appropriate. There was no intent to harm anyone – they were simply playing by the rules of our defacto illegal immigration system. Now many of the workers sit in jail, families are separated and others live in fear that they may be next. And for the community of Postville – the schools, the businesses, the churches – the raid has meant massive dislocation and harm to a once thriving small town.

The raid at AgriProcessors typifies what our country faces in the wake of national failure on immigration reform. For many of those in the Jewish community who have yet to join in the mobilization for immigration reform, the raid is a wake up call. The kosher meat produced here sustains life for so many. We must pay attention to how this product is produced.

If, as alleged, AgriProcessors violated labor, health and safety laws then they should be prosecuted to protect their workers – legal and undocumented alike – and the entire community. If AgriProcessors, like countless employers across the country, relied on undocumented workers to fill vital labor needs then they should be penalized, not just the workers. But more importantly for the future of our country, a rational relationship must be created between our economic realities and our immigration laws.

We in the Jewish community are taught the preeminent importance of welcoming, protecting and loving the stranger. We remember the thousands of years of expulsion and dispersion of Jewish history where we were forced by anti-Semitism and poverty to migrate in search of security, freedom and opportunity.

These lessons – and our community's interests in pluralism, economic vitality, social integration and security – compel us to insist on humane and just treatment of immigrants. We also must work to end to the chaos, violence, death and exploitation that come from the failure to fix our broken immigration system. The government must take responsibility and do its job. But we in the Jewish community – and all in the broader American community – must also heed the biblical injunction to be our brothers' keepers.

Our values and our interests require that we care for the stranger – the immigrant – when he or she is in need. We also must and stand with Postville and other communities across the country that have been devastated by raids and failed immigration policy. These are the new frontlines of the immigration struggle. And that is why I, and we, are here today.

1 Comment | Share This | Agriprocessors, immigration, Kashrut |

Aroma, the Israeli coffee shop chain, recently opened a new store in Jerusalem's historic open-air market. Does the influx of trendy cafes signal the beginning of the end for Mahane Yehudah, the historic market that has survived terrorist attacks, recessions and the birth of the Israeli supermarket? Ha'aretz reports.

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NCYI heading to Postville

By Ben Harris · July 28, 2008

On the heels of Sunday's interfaith rally in Postville, the National Council of Young Israel has announced it is planning a mission of its own to the beleaguered Iowa town on July 31. Here's the purpose of the trip, which will involve "several dozen Jewish community and rabbinic leaders," according to NCYI's Pesach Lerner:

This mission is meant to provide Jewish leaders from across the United States with a factual perspective of the true situation at the Agriprocessors plant, untainted by the rumors and innuendos that have been circulating in many circles. As one of the major producers of kosher meat in the U.S., the success or failure of Agriprocessors is an issue that will directly impact Jewish communities that purchase kosher meat and poultry across the country.� The situation warrants that we approach this with an open mind and obtain a first-hand account of the situation so that we can draw our own conclusion for the betterment of the American Jewish community.

The trip is to include a tour of the Agriprocessors plant, meetings with slaughterhouse officials – including newly hired compliance officer Jim Martin – as well the Postville's mayor, who will take the group on a tour. Lerner and his troop might take the opportunity to ask the mayor about reports that Agriprocessors' new hires are raising the town's crime rates.

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Jews fit to print

By Uriel Heilman · July 28, 2008

Several Jewish-related items appeared over the weekend in The New York Times:

Former workers at Agriprocessors, the nation's largest kosher meat plant, detailed alleged abuses at the Postville, Iowa plant. Sunday saw competing rallies between activists protesting working conditions at the plant and activists opposed to illegal immigration.
Gaza is getting its first museum of archeology.
Who's the Israeli media powerhouse "everyone and nobody knows," Vivi Nevo?
Tom Friedman picks up on the undercurrent reported in two recent JTA pieces (here and here) and gushes about Israel's electric car.
An Orthodox Jewish couple from Brooklyn prepare to shutter a clothing store on 43rd St. and Fifth Ave., Judy's Better Dresses, that is more Lower East Side than the fixture it has been for 40-plus years in Midtown Manhattan.

3 Comments | Share This | community, Culture, Jews Fit to Print, Media |

Syria’s ambassador speaks to Peace Now

By Uriel Heilman · July 28, 2008

Syria's ambassador to the United States, Imad Moustapha, talks with Americans for Peace Now about what Israel needs to do to achieve peace with Syria, and why U.S. guarantees are essential.

"We want to improve relations with the West, regardless of what happens between us and the Israelis," Moustapha said.

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New stance, or new spin? Ahmadinejad speaks to NBC

By Uriel Heilman · July 28, 2008

After interviewing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today, NBC News anchor Brian Williams pronounced Tehran as having a "new stance ready for further engagement."

"It was clear to all of us watching and listening he brought with him a new approach," Williams said of Ahmadinejad. Williams said the Iranian president told him, "We are not working to manufacture a bomb," said, "Nuclear weapons are so 20th century," and that, "if the American approach changes, Iranians will have a positive response.'"

Apparently, Williams is convinced. But is this a new stance, or just a new ploy by a regime doing all it can to stall action against a suspected nuclear weapons program just months away from being able to produce a bomb?

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Kristof’s argument

By Uriel Heilman · July 25, 2008

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof engages in a debate about Israel with readers who take issue with his call for the U.S. to give Israel "tough love" – which, as he outlines it, would include such things as U.S. insistence on a 100 percent West Bank settlement freeze.

In the back-and-forth with readers, Kristof says the West Bank security fence should not be built on Palestinian land, indicated that Jews don't necessarily have a right to live in Hebron, notes that more Palestinian minors have been killed by Israelis in recent years than vice versa and suggests that Israel has not done all it can to secure its long term future by negotiating with its Arab neighbors.

His arguments leave more than a few holes (e.g. there's a difference between civilian victims of terrorism and bystanders killed in counterterrorist operations), but you can point them out if you'd like by commenting below or responding to Kristof on his blog or Facebook page.

9 Comments | Share This | Arab-Israeli Conflict, Israel, Settlements |

Talansky the man

By Uriel Heilman · July 24, 2008

A few pieces in the Israeli press this week provide an insider's view of Morris Talansky.

Ehud Olmert's lawyers screened a video in Jerusalem district court of Talansky talking about how Yitzhak Rabin, too, allegedly took money from American Jews.

"You think Rabin didn't do it? I did it to Rabin!" Talansky says on the video, swearing "on my children!"

He also says Rabin was a wicked good tennis player – so good that Talansky wagered $100,000 on a game he and Rabin played against another team. Rabin and Talansky won, he says.

Meanwhile, Talanksy's former nephew, Joseph Cedar – incidentally, the director of the Israeli film Beaufort – pens a defense of his ex-uncle in a Ha'aretz column in which he calls Talansky "one of the most interesting, charismatic and generous people I have ever met:"

When my former uncle's name was raised in connection to the scandal involving the prime minister, I assumed the media would home in on his colorful personality. I never thought that the prime minister, through his representatives, would try to prove his innocence by cruelly and offensively slandering a man who spent years helping him and donating to him, and became his close friend.

I'm no expert on the nature of the financial relationship between Talansky and the prime minister, and I don't pretend to understand the legal significance of their relationship, if any. But the various media reports about Talansky's cross-examination make it difficult to avoid concluding that even if our prime minister is not a criminal, he is at least an ingrate.