E alert

Chicago, Midwest, and US news

Thousands join NYC rally to Stop Iran Now
JUF leaders express solidarity as fire cleanup begins at Chinese-American Museum
Jewish Federation launches collection for hurricane relief
Election coverage from a Jewish angle

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Jerusalem terrorist was a Hamas member
Security forces uncover east Jerusalem terror cell
Sderot mother faces Human Rights Council
P.A. newspaper portrays caricature of Livni with a bloody dagger
Blair's sister-in-law finally leaves Gaza; photo betrays her baseless propaganda

Israel and World news

Olmert resigns, Livni to create new governmental commission
Paul McCartney talks with the JPost prior to first concert in Israel
Facebook reflects struggle over Islam's role

Iran Watch

Ahmadinejad slams 'Zionists' in address to United Nations
Israel slams 'absurd' Iran bid for Security Council seat
Russia defies West over nuclear Iran
Israeli military intelligence: Iran halfway to first nuclear bomb
IAEA shows photos alleging Iran worked on missile

Events and Programs

Learn modern Hebrew

Editorial, Opinion & Analysis

From the world press



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Chicago, Midwest, and US news

THOUSANDS JOIN NYC RALLY TO STOP IRAN NOW
Thousands of people gathered across from the United Nations Monday to protest the policies and messages of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and to call attention to the grave threats Iran poses to the world. The National Rally to Stop Iran Now featured prominent civic and religious figures, from the United States and overseas, who called on the international community to stop Iran's nuclear ambitions, its threats against the United States and Israel, its support for terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, and its domestic human rights abuse. The rally took place against the backdrop of the opening of the UN General Assembly and the gathering of world leaders, including Ahmadinejad.
The rally was sponsored by the National Coalition to Stop Iran Now, which includes leaders and organizations representing various communities who are deeply concerned about the Iranian threat. Members include United Jewish Communities, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, UJA-Federation of New York, and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. Watch video clips of the rally.

Sarah Sechan, a student at Columbia/JTS in New York and a former JUF News Lewis Summer Intern, was present at the rally, along with a delegation of students attending thanks to JUF's JCRC. Read Sechan's account of the rally and her perspective piece on what it was like to attend.


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JUF LEADERS EXPRESS SOLIDARITY AS FIRE CLEANUP BEGINS AT CHINESE-AMERICAN MUSEUM
Standing outside the charred remains of the Chinese-American Museum of Chicago, where the smell of burnt 19th Century robes, historic photographs and countless other artifacts wafted through the air, officials on Sunday vowed to rebuild within a year.
"We are all saddened by this event. But we have to take a deep breath and pull ourselves together," said Raymond Lee, who just three years ago helped buy the property at 238 W. 23rd St. to give Chicago's Chinese-American community a place to preserve its history. The building's top two floors were gutted and the bottom two severely damaged by water in a fire that started about 2 p.m. Friday, just after museum staff had closed its doors for the day. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, said Kim K. Tee, president of the Chinatown Museum Foundation.

In a letter to the museum's president, leaders of JUF's JCRC expressed solidarity and offered to assist the the museum in its recovery efforts.


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JEWISH FEDERATION LAUNCHES COLLECTION FOR HURRICANE RELIEF
In the wake of hurricanes that have devastated parts of Texas and Louisiana while causing catastrophic flooding here in the greater Chicago area, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago has opened an emergency mailbox to funnel humanitarian aid to the impacted areas. The funds will help support victims of Hurricanes Ike and Gustav, which struck the Gulf Coast and cut a swath of destruction across the Midwest, and also could be used to help victims of other storms that may strike.
The Jewish Federation will not deduct any administrative costs--100% of collected funds will go directly to aid the victims. Initial relief will go toward short-term disaster needs such as food, water and medicines, and for more intermediate needs such as mental-health and other counseling, Other needs will be determined as officials continue to assess the overall impact of this and other recent storms.

Individuals can contribute online, by phone at 312.444.2869 or by mail, making checks payable to:

Jewish Federation Hurricane Relief Fund
c/o Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago
30 S. Wells St.
Room 3017
Chicago, IL 60606


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ELECTION COVERAGE FROM A JEWISH ANGLE
Visit JTA's Election Central '08 and The Forward's Campaign Confidential for the latest news and views.


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The Israeli-Palestinian conflict

JERUSALEM TERRORIST WAS A HAMAS MEMBER
The terrorist who rammed his BMW into a group of soldiers at a central Jerusalem thoroughfare late Monday was a member of Hamas, according to the Palestinian Ma'an news agency.
Qassem Mughrabi, 19, from east Jerusalem's Jebl Mukaber, the same village that was home to the terrorist who killed eight students at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in March, wounded fifteen people before being shot dead by an off-duty IDF officer. The 19-year-old had wanted to marry his cousin, and when she refused his offer, he decided to carry out a terror attack, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. Also read Jerusalem's latest suicidal driver.


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SECURITY FORCES UNCOVER EAST JERUSALEM TERROR CELL
The Shin Bet and Israel Police have recently uncovered a terror cell operating out of east Jerusalem. The cell, consisting of seven Arabs, six of them east Jerusalem residents, carried out two attacks in the past year in which two Border Guard officers were killed and two others were injured. Ten days ago, the Jerusalem District Prosecution filed indictments against the terrorists for murder, attempted murder, illegal possession of firearms and weapons trafficking. The terrorists also planned several other attacks, apparently plotting an assassination, a kidnapping and a shooting attack before they were apprehended. The head of the terror cell was identified as Mahmad Abu-Senena.

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SDEROT MOTHER FACES HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
With her baby in her hands, Sderot mother Dena Cohen has only 15 seconds to dash to safety when she hears the warning siren of an impending rocket attack ring out across her hometown of Sderot. Last Thursday, she was the first resident of that city to address the United Nation's Human Rights Council and to give them an intimate portrait of what it was like to live under the constant rocket threat from the Palestinians in neighboring Gaza.

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P.A. NEWSPAPER PORTRAYS CARICATURE OF LIVNI WITH A BLOODY DAGGER
The Fatah-run Palestinian Authority media presented Kadima chairwoman and Israeli prime minister-designate Tzipi Livni with a dagger dripping with blood in a caricature drawing published recently in one of the official PA publications, according to the Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) watchdog organization. The cartoon shows Livni holding the dripping dagger an arm's length away from a hanging dove, the classic bird of peace. Livni has been designated to to try to form the next Israeli government, and could be the next prime minister. See the caricature.

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BLAIR'S SISTER-IN-LAW FINALLY LEAVES GAZA; PHOTO BETRAYS HER BASELESS PROPAGANDA
Lauren Booth, the sister-in-law of former British prime minister Tony Blair, left the Gaza Strip on Saturday nearly a month after sailing in to protest an Israeli blockade of the territory. The crossing was opened Saturday to allow 1,500 Gazans, mostly Muslim pilgrims on their way to Mecca, to leave the territory.

A photo is circulating widely via email depicting Lauren Booth in Gaza shopping at an abundently-stocked grocery store, despite the baseless claims of her and others that Israel is starving the Palestinian people.


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Israel and World news

OLMERT RESIGNS, LIVNI TO CREATE NEW GOVERNMENTAL COMMISSION
With her primary victory in hand, and Ehud Olmert's resignation Sunday, prime minister-designate Tzipi Livni now has six weeks to form a government and stave off new elections. Kadima Chairwoman Tzipi Livni met Wednesday with Labor Chairman Ehud Barak in Jerusalem in a meeting which was deemed positive in advancing the formation of a new government.

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PAUL MCCARTNEY TALKS WITH THE JPOST PRIOR TO FIRST CONCERT IN ISRAEL
Ahead of his Tel Aviv concert today, McCartney talks to The Jerusalem Post about his beliefs, Israel and the threats he received prior to the concert, about how he copes with near-universal fame, about the inspiration for some of his songs, and about his abiding, insistently optimistic outlook on life.

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FACEBOOK REFLECTS STRUGGLE OVER ISLAM'S ROLE
Read how Facebook is reflecting what is happening in Muslim society.

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Iran Watch

AHMADINEJAD SLAMS 'ZIONISTS' IN ADDRESS TO UNITED NATIONS
Iran's president delivered a scathing attack on Zionists at the United Nations. In an address replete with classical anti-Semitic motifs, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that Zionists are criminals and murderers, are "acquisitive" and "deceitful," finance despite their "minuscule" number. Read the full text of Ahmadinejad's speech.

Also at the UN general assembly, President Bush told the UN's 192 members that they needed to do more to fight terrorism. As Ahmadinejad and other American foes sat in the audience, Bush called on the UN to enforce sanctions against Iran and North Korea over their nuclear programs. While a few regimes "like Syria and Iran" continued to sponsor terror, they were growing more isolated, he said. Also read Iran's leader gives thumbs down during Bush speech.

Also read remarks by Israeli President Shimon Peres at the UN General Assembly.


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ISRAEL SLAMS 'ABSURD' IRAN BID FOR SECURITY COUNCIL SEAT
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said on Wednesday that giving Iran a seat on the UN Security Council would be "absurd" given the insecurity its policies have caused.
"It is absurd that a state unparalleled in threatening the security of its neighbours and calling for the destruction of another state should be a member of a body whose goal is to further global security," Livni said. "The significance would be to let a criminal become his own judge," she added. Her statement came a day after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered a new tirade against Israel in a fiery address to the UN General Assembly.


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RUSSIA DEFIES WEST OVER NUCLEAR IRAN
Russia announced this week it will resist western pressure for tougher United Nations sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. The announcement came after the Kremlin agreed to sell advanced antiaircraft systems to the Iranians, bringing condemnation from the US.

On Tuesday, the United States and five other powers called off plans for high-level talks to debate further sanctions against Iran, after Russia complained of US attempts to "punish" it. The cancellation of the meeting in New York involving US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her counterparts from Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany came amid rising US-Russian tensions over the crisis in Georgia.

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ISRAELI MILITARY INTELLIGENCE: IRAN HALFWAY TO FIRST NUCLEAR BOMB
Iran is halfway to a nuclear bomb, and Hezbollah, Hamas and Syria are using this period of relative calm to significantly rearm, Brig.-Gen. Yossi Baidatz, the Military Intelligence's head of research, told the cabinet Sunday during a particularly gloomy briefing on the threats facing the country.

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IAEA SHOWS PHOTOS ALLEGING IRAN WORKED ON MISSILE
The UN nuclear watchdog has shown its members documents and photographs suggesting that Iran secretly tried to modify a missile cone to carry a nuclear bomb, diplomats said. Diplomats who attended a special briefing Tuesday said the IAEA's head of inspections in the Middle East, Herman Naeckerts, had shown them new proof indicating that Iran tried to refit the long-distance Shahab-3 missile to carry a nuclear payload. The US envoy to the IAEA, Gregory Schulte, said Naeckerts showed photos and diagrams of Iranian work on re-designing a Shabab-3 "to carry what would appear to be a nuclear weapon."

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Events and Programs

LEARN MODERN HEBREW
The Community Foundation for Jewish Education of Metropolitan Chicago ("CFJE"), a support foundation of the Jewish Federation, offers adults an outstanding opportunity to learn and feel comfortable with Hebrew through its "Merkaz Ivrit" or "Ulpan Center." Classes will take place in Skokie, the North Shore, Lakeview and new this year: Buffalo Grove. Running from October 2008 through May 2009, this 22-session program (1.5 hr/week) is structured to meet the needs of learners at all levels.

Registration has begun and will fill up fast. For the Ulpan brochure and registration information, go to www.cfje.org, click on Adult Learning and then click on Ulpan. Questions? Contact the Ulpan Center today (847) 410-3900 x 20 or by e-mail at Ulpan@cfje.org.


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Editorial, Opinion & Analysis

FROM THE WORLD PRESS
The forgotten path to Middle East peace, Ben Lowenberg
Taking Ahmadinejad at his word, by Malcolm Hoenlein
Analysis: Will Livni get her coalition, or will Israel go to elections?, Leslie Susser
A peace from the bottom up, by Jackson Diehl
Everyone needs to worry about Iran, by Richard Holbrooke, R. James Woolsey, Dennis B. Ross and Mark D. Wallace
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's triumph, by Bret Stephens
Creeping Islamization in Europe, by Diana West


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The mission of E-Alert is to provide timely information about issues and events in Israel and the wider Jewish world. E-Alert connects members of the Chicago Jewish community to these issues and mobilizes them to take action. E-Alert is a product of JUF's Jewish Community Relations Council and JUF News, and is published as a service to the community by the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago