By LORRAINE SWANSON
Editor
$20,000 reward offered for arrests in vandalism of synagogues and schools
At a Martin Luther King Day press conference, the Anti-Defamation League of Chicago and the Jewish Federation announced a $20,000 reward for information leading to arrests in hate crimes in West Ridge and Lake View. Standing with representatives from the Chicago police and the Commission on Human Relations at the commission's office at 740 N. Sedgewick, local Jewish leaders offered the reward for leads in the throwing of a Molotov cocktail at Temple Sholom in Lake View last month and spray-painting and brick throwing this month at two synagogues and two high schools in West Ridge.
On Dec. 29, a witness reported seeing someone throwing a Molotov cocktail from a car and shouting an ethnic slur at a passerby at Temple Sholom at 3840 N. Lake Shore Dr. around 2 a.m., according to a Chicago Police Department spokesman.
Shortly after midnight on Jan. 10, 24th District police discovered the words "Death to Israel" spray-painted on a sign in front of Hanna Sachs Bais Yaakov High School, an Orthodox girls' school at 3201 W. Devon.
Three more acts of vandalism and anti-Israel graffiti were also reported that same morning at Anshe Motele Congregation at 6520 N. California, Lubavitch Boys High School at 2756 W. Morse, and the Congregation of Young Israel of West Rogers Park, at 2706 W. Touhy.
Orange spray paint was used in each incident where anti-Israel graffiti was reported. All instances are being investigated as hate crimes by the Chicago Police Department's Area 3 detective division's hate crime unit at Belmont and Western.
At Lubavitch and Young Israel, bricks were thrown through the glass doors and windows. The incidents all occurred in West Ridge, where many of the neighborhood's Orthodox Jews reside.
The Lincolnwood Jewish Congregation in suburban Lincolnwood just outside the Chicago city limits also reported its glass windows and doors shattered by two men in ski masks early Saturday morning.
Jenna Benn, assistant director of the Anti-Defamation League of Chicago, said the five incidents may be related to increased tensions in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. She reported a similar trend in assaults against Jews and sacred places of worship in 2006 during Israel's war with Lebanon.
"Assaults against Jews and communities locally and worldwide are on the rise," Benn said. "In Europe, Jews have been threatened and beaten on the streets and synagogues have been fire-bombed."
Benn denounced the hate crimes, adding that "the intention of the reward fund is to provide law enforcement with the necessary leads to bring the perpetrators to justice in the five incidents that appear to be linked."
Area 3 Deputy Chief of Patrol Bruce Rottner said Chicago police are working with the FBI to investigate and monitor the incidents that occurred in the 24th Police District that covers Rogers Park and part of Edgewater.
"We're re-canvassing all these areas in Rogers Park where these crimes occurred," Rottner said. "We know there is someone out there who saw something or heard something who hasn't come forward yet."
Police still haven't determined if the Temple Sholom incident is related to the defacement of synagogues and schools in West Ridge.
"All are being investigated together by the detective division and our hate crime unit," Rottner added. "We're leaving no stone unturned."
Rottner would not comment on surveillance video that was said to capture one of the West Ridge incidents or the number of individuals that police are seeking to question about the crimes. According to 24th district police reports, a security camera at Lubavitch High School revealed three males - two wearing ski masks and a third acting as a lookout - throwing an object at the school's door.
"There was surveillance video. I'm not going to comment any further," the deputy chief said. "We're looking for several people. [The video] captures part of the incident taking place."
Benn said that the Anti-Defamation League's special investigator who monitors anti-Semitic incidents locally and internationally has been in constant touch with Area 3's hate crime unit. Until Monday, she was unaware that more than one person may be involved in defacing the West Ridge synagogues and schools.
Since the Jan. 10 vandalism, Jewish synagogues, schools and other institutions in Rogers Park have been placed on a special watch.
Meanwhile, Chicago police and the FBI will continue to work with the public to generate intelligence and alleviate fears and tension in both neighborhoods.
"We have strategies in place that I obviously can't share," he said. "Interestingly enough in two of [the West Ridge] incidents, two were discovered by police. We were proactive."
Showing posts with label antisemitism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label antisemitism. Show all posts
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Arson damages Paris kosher warehouse
January 25, 2009
PARIS (JTA)
A major kosher food warehouse in Paris was badly damaged in an arson attack.
Molotov cocktails were found after Friday night's attack near the warehouse, which provides kosher meat and other products for much of the Paris region.
A video camera showed one person firebombing a car parked in front of the shop in the eastern Paris suburb of Montreuil Sous Bois. Police said the flames from the vehicle could have spread to the warehouse.
While police say it is too early to conclude a motive for the attack, the National Bureau of Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism said in a statement Sunday that it has "no doubt" the attack was anti-Semitic. The group noted that the store was clearly marked with religious symbols on its exterior.
A sharp rise in anti-Jewish crime has plagued France since the start of Israel's operation in Gaza. French government officials and Jewish institutions believe recent massive, flag-burning anti-Israel protests have incited some to attack Jewish individuals and institutions. During several marches, police have stopped some protesters who tried heading toward the nearest synagogue.
Despite the Israel-Hamas cease-fire, French pro-Palestinian organizations are still calling for sanctions against Israel and marching to demand Israel be tried for war crimes. Nearly 10,000 people, including leaders of the far-left Communist and Green political parties, participated Saturday in such a march in Paris, according to police and the French press agency AFP. The march did not end in riots, as has happened in recent weeks.
In another incident, the the National Bureau of Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism reported that a father and son were spit on and threatened Saturday as they left a synagogue that was firebombed Jan. 11 in the northern Paris suburb Saint-Denis.
According to the bureau, the Chabad-Lubavitch father and son were called "dirty Jews," were told they would be killed and had beer bottles thrown at them by four men of North and sub-Sahara African origin.
PARIS (JTA)
A major kosher food warehouse in Paris was badly damaged in an arson attack.
Molotov cocktails were found after Friday night's attack near the warehouse, which provides kosher meat and other products for much of the Paris region.
A video camera showed one person firebombing a car parked in front of the shop in the eastern Paris suburb of Montreuil Sous Bois. Police said the flames from the vehicle could have spread to the warehouse.
While police say it is too early to conclude a motive for the attack, the National Bureau of Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism said in a statement Sunday that it has "no doubt" the attack was anti-Semitic. The group noted that the store was clearly marked with religious symbols on its exterior.
A sharp rise in anti-Jewish crime has plagued France since the start of Israel's operation in Gaza. French government officials and Jewish institutions believe recent massive, flag-burning anti-Israel protests have incited some to attack Jewish individuals and institutions. During several marches, police have stopped some protesters who tried heading toward the nearest synagogue.
Despite the Israel-Hamas cease-fire, French pro-Palestinian organizations are still calling for sanctions against Israel and marching to demand Israel be tried for war crimes. Nearly 10,000 people, including leaders of the far-left Communist and Green political parties, participated Saturday in such a march in Paris, according to police and the French press agency AFP. The march did not end in riots, as has happened in recent weeks.
In another incident, the the National Bureau of Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism reported that a father and son were spit on and threatened Saturday as they left a synagogue that was firebombed Jan. 11 in the northern Paris suburb Saint-Denis.
According to the bureau, the Chabad-Lubavitch father and son were called "dirty Jews," were told they would be killed and had beer bottles thrown at them by four men of North and sub-Sahara African origin.
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Tears And Sackcloth
The Jews In India
80 per cent of India's 4,480 Jews live in Bombay
8 is the number of synagogues in the city; many of its landmarks were built by Jews, including Flora Fountain, Sassoon Docks, Sassoon Mills
60,000-odd Indian Jews have migrated to Israel in the last six decades
***
For two millennia, they faced persecution everywhere. Everywhere but here in India, where for the first time in their painful history, the Jews found a place where they felt safe, a multicultural society in which they were at home.
But not any more. Not since that fateful Wednesday, November 26, when two terrorists entered Nariman House—a dilapidated, white, five-storey structure in south Bombay's Colaba area—that housed a Jewish spiritual centre known to the city's Jewish community as Chabad House.
By the time the hostage drama ended 48 hours later, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg who ran the centre, his wife Rivkah and four other Jews staying there were dead. The only ones to emerge alive were the rabbi's two-year-old son Moshe and his Indian nanny, Sandra Samuel, who saved his life.
The fact that Jews were specially targeted by the terrorists—of the 22 foreigners killed during the siege of Bombay, eight were Jews—was a message not lost on India's 4,480 Jews, 80 per cent of whom live in Bombay.
The majority of Bombay's Jews are Bene Israelis who, according to legend, were shipwrecked off the Konkan coast 2,000 years ago, and went on to adopt typically Konkan livelihoods like oil-pressing, and even Maharashtrian family names. Many of them moved to Bombay as the city grew into a bustling trading centre, and six of the eight synagogues in the city were built by them. Cochin and Calcutta were other cities with significant Jewish communities. Indian Jews, from Bombay as well as other cities, have distinguished themselves in various professions—law, medicine, engineering, civil service, business, IT, the armed forces, cinema.
Bombay's Jewish community, like those in other Indian cities, has shrunk greatly since 1948—some 60,000 Indian Jews are believed to have emigrated to Israel over the past six decades—but they have left their unique imprint on the city and its signature landmarks, like Flora Fountain.
"This is the only country where we escaped persecution of any sort, but now there is a sense of fear among us," says author Esther David. "We've been brought up not to call attention to ourselves," she adds, "but now I'm cautious, scared and worried. Are we becoming more visible?"
Certainly there was nothing about Chabad House that screamed for attention. In '06, the Holtzbergs raised funds to buy it and set up the Mumbai headquarters for the Chabad Lubavitch movement of Hasidic Jews, a New York-based ultra-orthodox sect that runs Jewish spiritual centres all over the world.
When the Holtzbergs first arrived in Bombay in '03 with the purpose of serving the local Jewish community as well as visiting Jewish tourists and businesspeople, they found a well-established local Jewish community playing an active role in the city's vibrant culture. Apart from the Bene Israeli Jews, the Baghdadi Jews—Jewish merchants who fled deteriorating conditions in Iraq—had come to Bombay in the early 19th century, contributing much to how the city looks today. Commercial interests drew their leader David Sassoon to India in 1832. Sassoon, and his sons after him, built the David Sassoon Library, the Sassoon Docks, the Sassoon Mills, the Jacob Sassoon School and the grand Magen David and Knesset Eliahu synagogues, as well as Flora Fountain, named after David Sassoon's daughter-in-law. Although there are no Sassoons left in India, the very face of this city is a memorial to them.
80 per cent of India's 4,480 Jews live in Bombay
8 is the number of synagogues in the city; many of its landmarks were built by Jews, including Flora Fountain, Sassoon Docks, Sassoon Mills
60,000-odd Indian Jews have migrated to Israel in the last six decades
***
For two millennia, they faced persecution everywhere. Everywhere but here in India, where for the first time in their painful history, the Jews found a place where they felt safe, a multicultural society in which they were at home.
But not any more. Not since that fateful Wednesday, November 26, when two terrorists entered Nariman House—a dilapidated, white, five-storey structure in south Bombay's Colaba area—that housed a Jewish spiritual centre known to the city's Jewish community as Chabad House.
By the time the hostage drama ended 48 hours later, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg who ran the centre, his wife Rivkah and four other Jews staying there were dead. The only ones to emerge alive were the rabbi's two-year-old son Moshe and his Indian nanny, Sandra Samuel, who saved his life.
The fact that Jews were specially targeted by the terrorists—of the 22 foreigners killed during the siege of Bombay, eight were Jews—was a message not lost on India's 4,480 Jews, 80 per cent of whom live in Bombay.
The majority of Bombay's Jews are Bene Israelis who, according to legend, were shipwrecked off the Konkan coast 2,000 years ago, and went on to adopt typically Konkan livelihoods like oil-pressing, and even Maharashtrian family names. Many of them moved to Bombay as the city grew into a bustling trading centre, and six of the eight synagogues in the city were built by them. Cochin and Calcutta were other cities with significant Jewish communities. Indian Jews, from Bombay as well as other cities, have distinguished themselves in various professions—law, medicine, engineering, civil service, business, IT, the armed forces, cinema.
Bombay's Jewish community, like those in other Indian cities, has shrunk greatly since 1948—some 60,000 Indian Jews are believed to have emigrated to Israel over the past six decades—but they have left their unique imprint on the city and its signature landmarks, like Flora Fountain.
"This is the only country where we escaped persecution of any sort, but now there is a sense of fear among us," says author Esther David. "We've been brought up not to call attention to ourselves," she adds, "but now I'm cautious, scared and worried. Are we becoming more visible?"
Certainly there was nothing about Chabad House that screamed for attention. In '06, the Holtzbergs raised funds to buy it and set up the Mumbai headquarters for the Chabad Lubavitch movement of Hasidic Jews, a New York-based ultra-orthodox sect that runs Jewish spiritual centres all over the world.
When the Holtzbergs first arrived in Bombay in '03 with the purpose of serving the local Jewish community as well as visiting Jewish tourists and businesspeople, they found a well-established local Jewish community playing an active role in the city's vibrant culture. Apart from the Bene Israeli Jews, the Baghdadi Jews—Jewish merchants who fled deteriorating conditions in Iraq—had come to Bombay in the early 19th century, contributing much to how the city looks today. Commercial interests drew their leader David Sassoon to India in 1832. Sassoon, and his sons after him, built the David Sassoon Library, the Sassoon Docks, the Sassoon Mills, the Jacob Sassoon School and the grand Magen David and Knesset Eliahu synagogues, as well as Flora Fountain, named after David Sassoon's daughter-in-law. Although there are no Sassoons left in India, the very face of this city is a memorial to them.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Chabad Rabbi attacked in Berlin
BERLIN (EJP)---A few days before the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of Nazi anti-Jewish pogroms in Germany known as “Kristallnacht”, a rabbi in Berlin and 8 rabbinical students were attacked on Saturday night by two hoodlums
Rabbi Yehudah Teichtal, who serves since 11 years as rabbi of Chabad Lubavitch, one of the three Jewish communities of the German capital, was returning in his vehicle with the students after attending a Jewish event in the city when the two aggressors began to chase the rabbi's car.
The two men, driving a Mercedes Benz, braked in front of the rabbi's van and then reversed back towards it while shouting anti-Semitic insults.
"The rabbi then saw the driver light up an unknown object and throw it towards his van," the police said, adding that the rabbi could not explain what the object was.
The students managed to jot down the license plate of the attacking vehicle, which they reported to the police together with the complaint about the offense.
Shmuel Segal, Rabbi Teichtal’s assistant, expressed the hope that police “would do all within their power to find the criminals.”
"This event encourages us to continue our Jewish oriented activities in the city. In every case we encounter instances of darkness. We are motivated to increase our efforts to spread out more light," he told EJP.
He said the Chabad community is due to open a new Mikveh, or Jewish ritual bath, in a few days.
Last year, a smoke bomb was thrown through a window of the community’s kindergarten and anti-Semitic slogans were spray painted on its walls.
The Rabbinical Centre of Europe (RCE), which provides assistance to rabbis across Europe, expressed shock at Saturday's aggression.
“We are totally shocked to find time and again, that particularly the country that should have been dispersing messages of tolerance to all European countries, has been once again the arena of a severe anti-Semitic incident,” it said.
"We maintain that Berlin must put an end to nationalistic and neo-Nazi organizations within its boundaries, otherwise, we have no guarantee that history will not repeat itself,” the Brussels-based centre said.
Rabbi Yehudah Teichtal, who serves since 11 years as rabbi of Chabad Lubavitch, one of the three Jewish communities of the German capital, was returning in his vehicle with the students after attending a Jewish event in the city when the two aggressors began to chase the rabbi's car.
The two men, driving a Mercedes Benz, braked in front of the rabbi's van and then reversed back towards it while shouting anti-Semitic insults.
"The rabbi then saw the driver light up an unknown object and throw it towards his van," the police said, adding that the rabbi could not explain what the object was.
The students managed to jot down the license plate of the attacking vehicle, which they reported to the police together with the complaint about the offense.
Shmuel Segal, Rabbi Teichtal’s assistant, expressed the hope that police “would do all within their power to find the criminals.”
"This event encourages us to continue our Jewish oriented activities in the city. In every case we encounter instances of darkness. We are motivated to increase our efforts to spread out more light," he told EJP.
He said the Chabad community is due to open a new Mikveh, or Jewish ritual bath, in a few days.
Last year, a smoke bomb was thrown through a window of the community’s kindergarten and anti-Semitic slogans were spray painted on its walls.
The Rabbinical Centre of Europe (RCE), which provides assistance to rabbis across Europe, expressed shock at Saturday's aggression.
“We are totally shocked to find time and again, that particularly the country that should have been dispersing messages of tolerance to all European countries, has been once again the arena of a severe anti-Semitic incident,” it said.
"We maintain that Berlin must put an end to nationalistic and neo-Nazi organizations within its boundaries, otherwise, we have no guarantee that history will not repeat itself,” the Brussels-based centre said.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Chabad to leave Temescal Canyon
Robert Garcia, executive director and counsel for The City Project, sent in a posting early this morning to our blog about the ongoing Chabad saga we mentioned last week and what happened at last night's emergency meeting.
The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Board voted 8-1, and the Advisory Board voted unanimously, to keep Tesmescal [sic] Gateway Park open for all. The Conservancy upheld the decision by the Executive Director and Staff not to renew a non-renewable lease for a private day-care center at the Park, denying the appeal by a private Palisades group. Several hundred people attended the hearing at the Park July 7, which went from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m.
Sandy Cooney, the state resources agency's representative on the board, was the sole dissenting vote in favor of renewing the lease, according to those at the meeting. We haven't been able to reach him today to ask about his vote, but we'll update this post when we do. *(Update: We were able to reach him Wednesday. His comments are at the end of the post.) His boss, Secretary for Resources Mike Chrisman, wrote that letter to Chabad at the behest of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. It includes guidelines on how to deal with the conservancy and suggestions (that Chabad took into account) on how to formulate an appeal for an extended lease.
Addressing the board last night, Chabad attorney Benjamin Reznik asked its members to be flexible with Chabad and allow the group five months to get its paperwork in order, noting that the conservancy for years has used Chabad's money to help pay for park upkeep. Today, Reznik was pretty matter-of-fact on the phone about the final vote.
"This is a lot of to do about nothing quite frankly," Reznik said. "I guess they’ll be looking for an alternative site in the interim."
He also said that whatever happened with the new Los Liones site for the preschool (which has riled the Getty Villa and a local Mormon church) will likely be "more exciting" and a "more interesting case." Reznik and Chabad plan to file paperwork (a conditional use permit) next week to allow them to use the site for the preschool. Meanwhile, they also are drawing up road plans to submit to the city.
"The city is not accepting dedicated roads these days because of a shortage of funds in some areas," Reznik said. "We’re going to offer to pay for it. So we're going through that process, designing plans -- Chabad is in the process of doing all that."
Conservancy Executive Director Joe Edmiston, who denied the lease extension last month, was "gratified" that the board decided to keep to its word and not renew the lease.
"The board last year said no extensions under any circumstances, and they should adhere to what they said before," Edmiston said today. "We're not in the private rental business. We're in the public park area. How about five more months? Nobody believes they can do what they need to get done in five months. They're not going to leave in January ...
"And frankly in January, I'm just going to say it, there's not a highway patrolman born who will come in and evict the Chabad kids, holding a Torah in one hand and holding onto Rabbi Cunin's frock coat with the other. It's never going to happen."
Rabbi Zushe Cunin, who heads Chabad of the Pacific Palisades, said the organization would not appeal again and sounded resigned to the decision.
"The board did what it did," Cunin said. "It’s unfortunate. Our requests were very minimal. We will live with their decision, and we will immediately be identifying any other locations as necessary because we anticipate there may be delays in our CUP process" beyond Sept. 4, when the school's fall term begins.
"It would have been heartwarming to feel a sensitive partnership," he continued. "But it was not in the cards."
*New comments below:
Cooney, who was the lone dissenting vote on the Board at Monday night's meeting, said he'd voted in favor of Chabad's appeal, but had not made up his mind on whether the lease should be renewed.
"The item on the agenda put into motion in the discussion, and ultimately voted on, which was to grant Chabad an appeal, in effect overturned Joe’s denial of the lease extension, but it did not convey a new lease," Cooney said. "What it did was set into motion a new process through which a new lease could be potentially be granted."
He said the overarching conversation on public access versus private interest was not the "issue on the table to be voted"; especially since the Conservancy had previously allowed a non-renewable lease to be extended.
"Obviously I was completely outnumbered by the entire board …" Cooney said. "In the end, out of fairness and listening to all sides and trying to be as absolutely objective as possible, I felt that we should have moved to the next step, which is grant the appeal, then we should consider the remainder of the agenda and whether or not we should take those steps that would move toward a new lease."
-- Tami Abdollah
Photo: Rabbi Zushe Cunin, at the preschool's current site, is at odds with Getty Villa, state parks, the Coastal Commission and a Pacific Palisades neighborhood association. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times
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As an American and as a Jew whose parents survived the horrors of the Holocaust, I was in complete shock when I read Conservancy Executive Director Joe Edmiston's quote to the Los Angeles Times: "I'm just going to say it, there's not a highway patrolman born who will come in and evict the Chabad kids, holding a Torah in one hand and holding onto Rabbi Cunin's frock coat with the other. It's never going to happen."
It's 2008. As a public official, if Edmiston were to make such comments about a priest or a mullah, he would and should be called to task and severely reprimanded. Does the fact that Edmiston is Jewish give him a green light to make sinister and racist comments about a rabbi? I don't think so.
There is no place in our community for intolerance and racism, even against your own people. Period.
Posted by: Norman Sweetzer | July 08, 2008 at 08:30 PM
We appreciate the Times continuing coverage of Temescal Gateway Park.
Jane Ulman covers the July 7 hearing in the Jewish Journal:
"The vote upheld the unequivocal denial by Conservancy executive director Joe Edmiston on June 12 to extend Chabad's lease. It also confirmed the decision of the Conservancy in April 2007 to stop leasing the public parkland to private entities -- including Chabad's Palisades Jewish Early Education Center and Little Dolphins Preschool -- and to increase public access to the park, especially for underprivileged youth from congested urban areas. . . .
"And while Chabad supporters stressed that the school is using less than half an acre in a 140-acre park, the Conservancy's Edmiston said that the park is predominately covered by chaparral, while Chabad's site, which includes three trailers and a fenced-in field, occupies one of only two flat, grassy spots in the park that can accommodate large groups of children. 'It's a zero-sum situation. If you have trailers there, you're not going to be able to have kids playing there,' he said.
Amy Lethbridge, in charge of education for the Conservancy, told the group that more experiential programs have been planned for the coming year, including additional contracts with Los Angeles Unified School District to bring out more kids.
'I need space to serve the very programs the park was purchased to serve,' she said."
Posted by: Robert Garcia | July 08, 2008 at 08:31 PM
The most interesting part of this whole affair is the fact that Joe Edmiston must have gone through a major charachter change. Is this the same person that put up two fake stop sign violation cameras on the road of the "all access" park that he so proudly refers to in the article? Is this the same Joe Edmiston that is denying a tiny area of the park to a small school for a few months while continuing his crooked fund raising efforts via collecting $100 at least 5,000 times (by last count)from unsuspecting motorists whom are traveling legally close to a stop sign on the only road of his "open" park?
Posted by: Gary Solomon | July 08, 2008 at 08:46 PM
Joe Edmiston should be removed for his anti-semitic outburst.
Posted by: Commentator | July 08, 2008 at 10:14 PM
There is no justification for personal attacks here.
A board member emphasized at the July 7 heating that everyone was respectful and avoided personal attacks throughout the three hour hearing. This was true regardless of how one felt on the merits -- whether the lease should be renewed for a non-park use, or whether the parks should be kept open for all.
The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy board voted 8-1 against renewing the non-renewable lease. The Advisory Council voted unanimously against renewing the non-renewable lease. As discussed at length at the three hour hearing on July 7, the Palisades group promised not to seek renewal of the lease. What does that have to do with any individual?
Some children and adults did indeed speak about their experiences in the pre-school, including the religious, spiritual, and cultural aspects. Some children and adults spoke about their experience in hiking and playing in the park, including cultural aspects of being in the Palisades and coming from the inner city. The history of discriminatory access to parks and recreation in Los Angeles was explicitly. There have been no sinister, racist, or intolerant comments.
I suggest that people remain respectful and civil here.
Posted by: Robert Garcia | July 08, 2008 at 10:27 PM
I'm sorry but Joe Edmiston and his remarks are no different than Rev. Wright, only Edmiston is paid for by California taxpayers. How sad and shameful. I am sick to my stomach. Edmiston should publicly apologize and then he should resign.
Posted by: Jennifer Malsat | July 08, 2008 at 11:22 PM
In my view Mr. Garcia is being disingenuous. In my view it was clear at the Board meeting that many participants from the inner-city "anti" coalition were misled into believing that the issue was a permanent privatization, rather than a short temporary lease extension. Further, if they had taken the trouble to read Chabad's appeal, one of the conditions Chabad stipulated was that the meadow surrounding the temporary site was to be released from any restrictions that interfered with public use. It was falsely represented that access to this meadow, a key flat area, would be unavailable to the public.
In this writers opinion what we saw was a naked political power play by a largely Latino non-mainstream coalition that was economical with the truth to achieve their objectives, and cynically used little children in pursuit of those objectives. The experience provided a valuable lesson on the political tactics of the left.
The Board, despite that, decided on the merits to deny Chabad's appeal on grounds that it did not comply with the SMMC Act, rather than on any political grounds. To their credit they were dispassionate, listened to all points of view with attention, and then voted based on the law.
Posted by: Commentator | July 08, 2008 at 11:31 PM
i agree. edmiston and his outrageous remarks must be rejected and cannot be tolerated. it's a dangerous and slippery-slope when public officials engage in divisive rhetoric and religious intolerance. the entire community must stand united when it comes to combating hatred and divisiveness.
Posted by: marco binecca | July 08, 2008 at 11:46 PM
Joe Edmiston has secured his bully pulpit over the last 25 years without ever having to face a public election. His actions are directly responsible for the recent fires that burnt in the canyons of Malibu which left so many good citizens in disarray. Talk about "zero sum", his bully tactics, and secured position make Joe more of a mafia man then a honest public servant.
Joe Edmiston has a badge and gun, his own police force, direct control of hundreds of millions of dollars in state funds and lands. He serves at the pleasure of a Board of Directors, also unelected. He is not accountable to the public who pays his salary.
People with such power should be required to be elected. They should be required to answer to the public for the actions that they take.
Preserving open space is important but education to children should take priority. And if they need a bit more time to move into their new location, is there not enough public outdoor space to fill the need in the interim? Shame on you Joe.
Steve P. Weiner
Malibu, CA
Posted by: Steve Weiner | July 08, 2008 at 11:55 PM
This is the same Robert Garcia who appeared at the Malibu City Council meeting to support Edmiston in his quest to force overnight camping into our box canyons and parks where fire to cook would be allowed. The residents, in fear for their lives and homes with three fires last year to cope with, were incensed. I guess Garcia and Edmiston are BFFs and so where Edmiston goes, Garcia goes to do his Hispandering. Sounds incestuous to me. It should be investigated.
Posted by: Susan Tellem | July 09, 2008 at 08:34 AM
Joe Edmiston and Robert Garcia teaming up, that is eco-terrorism in my opinion. Garcia uses a lot of jumbled jargon to inflame his "peers" and garner public attention, Edmiston uses public funds to boost his own ego. Both need to go, neither of them are worth the paper they push to gain power.
This statement by Commentator in response to Garcia's mumbling puts it all in perspective, Garcia USES poor kids to push his agenda and tries to say he does it for poor people.
"In this writers opinion what we saw was a naked political power play by a largely Latino non-mainstream coalition that was economical with the truth to achieve their objectives, and cynically used little children in pursuit of those objectives. The experience provided a valuable lesson on the political tactics of the left."
Posted by: marko peer | July 09, 2008 at 09:11 AM
Where does Chabad get the money for all this real estate, just from the telethons? Seems like they have a site in every community in the united states with a population of 5,000 or more.
Fires in the canyons. Good jobs Garcia and Edmiston. You two are rocket scientists.
Shame on you, Edmiston -- torah and coattails. Shame on you, previous commenter, for wrapping yourself in the holocaust. Shame on you, Chabad, for not sticking to the strip malls.
Posted by: Uncle Billy Went to Washington | July 09, 2008 at 09:29 AM
Joe Edmiston has always treated his post like a throne and the park like his personal property. He is callous, and in the view of many who know him in the environmental community, he is a bourgeois elitist. And aren't we suffering from a lack of schools and school sites to begin with?? How exactly is this helping that situation or moreover, how is it benefiting the site? He most certainly should be removed for his anti-semitic outburst, or at least flogged in the parking lot of the school he is evicting.
Posted by: R. Mills | July 09, 2008 at 09:39 AM
Where does Chabad get the money? From many thousands of contributors, large and small, in every community where they are located, over the entire year, not just at Telethon time, In addition, the Chabad non-sectarian programs receive Federal, State and local funding, and are scrutinized closely and regularly by those agencies to insure compliance with both the U.S. and California Constitutions, and associated licensing, certification, and other regulations. Chabad of California is audited by an independent CPA firm; in fact many of its grants require such an audit.
But the question is a red herring with, it seems to me, unworthy implications.. This discussion isn't about sources of 501(c)(3) charitable funds overseen by the IRS and other regulatory agencies. The IRS code is both explicit and strict. Instead the discussion is about the hearing on the Temescal Gateway Park.
In fact, the question of Chabad funding was raised as a red-herring argument by those leftists at the meeting attempting to create a straw man of "rich" Chabad vs. the poor children of the inner city. In fact the "anti" coalition is perfectly free to appeal for charitable funds to the mainstream Latino and broader mainstream community if they are a legal tax-exempt organisation. If they have not been more sucessful that is certainly not the fault of Chabad's contributors, but rather evidence of lack of support by the mainstream communities.
Posted by: Commentator | July 09, 2008 at 09:53 AM
What most people don't know is that Joe's wife runs a little camp of her own called Happy Trails (yep, stole it from Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, it is not affiliated with that organization or foundation in the least). It is the ONLY link on the website for Joe's little fiefdom and purports to provide camping opportunities for underprivileged children. I find it highly suspicious that taxpayer funds are used to provide promotions for a spouse's boutique efforts and thereby garnering even more of the tax base for the Edmiston household to feed off of. Remove special favors and non-bid contract awards to spouses, but also clean house by removing Edmiston himself so that we don't find favors being gifted to any other "groups" such as the City Project. The hungry foxes have definitely gotten into the chicken coop, time for us Farmers to hike up the suspenders and load the shotguns to clean our land of the marauding varmits feasting on our efforts.
Posted by: Smokey Joe Needs to Be Put Out | July 09, 2008 at 11:40 AM
Forget everything I wrote above, I just realized that I am an idiot.
Posted by: Jennifer Malsat | July 09, 2008 at 10:52 PM
I apologize for my ridiculous remarks which were posted earlier. I have a very low income and haven't accomplished anywhere near the amount of things Joe has in his lifetime, so once again I am sorry and I am way out of line.
Posted by: marco binecca | July 09, 2008 at 10:59 PM
The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Board voted 8-1, and the Advisory Board voted unanimously, to keep Tesmescal [sic] Gateway Park open for all. The Conservancy upheld the decision by the Executive Director and Staff not to renew a non-renewable lease for a private day-care center at the Park, denying the appeal by a private Palisades group. Several hundred people attended the hearing at the Park July 7, which went from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m.
Sandy Cooney, the state resources agency's representative on the board, was the sole dissenting vote in favor of renewing the lease, according to those at the meeting. We haven't been able to reach him today to ask about his vote, but we'll update this post when we do. *(Update: We were able to reach him Wednesday. His comments are at the end of the post.) His boss, Secretary for Resources Mike Chrisman, wrote that letter to Chabad at the behest of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. It includes guidelines on how to deal with the conservancy and suggestions (that Chabad took into account) on how to formulate an appeal for an extended lease.
Addressing the board last night, Chabad attorney Benjamin Reznik asked its members to be flexible with Chabad and allow the group five months to get its paperwork in order, noting that the conservancy for years has used Chabad's money to help pay for park upkeep. Today, Reznik was pretty matter-of-fact on the phone about the final vote.
"This is a lot of to do about nothing quite frankly," Reznik said. "I guess they’ll be looking for an alternative site in the interim."
He also said that whatever happened with the new Los Liones site for the preschool (which has riled the Getty Villa and a local Mormon church) will likely be "more exciting" and a "more interesting case." Reznik and Chabad plan to file paperwork (a conditional use permit) next week to allow them to use the site for the preschool. Meanwhile, they also are drawing up road plans to submit to the city.
"The city is not accepting dedicated roads these days because of a shortage of funds in some areas," Reznik said. "We’re going to offer to pay for it. So we're going through that process, designing plans -- Chabad is in the process of doing all that."
Conservancy Executive Director Joe Edmiston, who denied the lease extension last month, was "gratified" that the board decided to keep to its word and not renew the lease.
"The board last year said no extensions under any circumstances, and they should adhere to what they said before," Edmiston said today. "We're not in the private rental business. We're in the public park area. How about five more months? Nobody believes they can do what they need to get done in five months. They're not going to leave in January ...
"And frankly in January, I'm just going to say it, there's not a highway patrolman born who will come in and evict the Chabad kids, holding a Torah in one hand and holding onto Rabbi Cunin's frock coat with the other. It's never going to happen."
Rabbi Zushe Cunin, who heads Chabad of the Pacific Palisades, said the organization would not appeal again and sounded resigned to the decision.
"The board did what it did," Cunin said. "It’s unfortunate. Our requests were very minimal. We will live with their decision, and we will immediately be identifying any other locations as necessary because we anticipate there may be delays in our CUP process" beyond Sept. 4, when the school's fall term begins.
"It would have been heartwarming to feel a sensitive partnership," he continued. "But it was not in the cards."
*New comments below:
Cooney, who was the lone dissenting vote on the Board at Monday night's meeting, said he'd voted in favor of Chabad's appeal, but had not made up his mind on whether the lease should be renewed.
"The item on the agenda put into motion in the discussion, and ultimately voted on, which was to grant Chabad an appeal, in effect overturned Joe’s denial of the lease extension, but it did not convey a new lease," Cooney said. "What it did was set into motion a new process through which a new lease could be potentially be granted."
He said the overarching conversation on public access versus private interest was not the "issue on the table to be voted"; especially since the Conservancy had previously allowed a non-renewable lease to be extended.
"Obviously I was completely outnumbered by the entire board …" Cooney said. "In the end, out of fairness and listening to all sides and trying to be as absolutely objective as possible, I felt that we should have moved to the next step, which is grant the appeal, then we should consider the remainder of the agenda and whether or not we should take those steps that would move toward a new lease."
-- Tami Abdollah
Photo: Rabbi Zushe Cunin, at the preschool's current site, is at odds with Getty Villa, state parks, the Coastal Commission and a Pacific Palisades neighborhood association. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times
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As an American and as a Jew whose parents survived the horrors of the Holocaust, I was in complete shock when I read Conservancy Executive Director Joe Edmiston's quote to the Los Angeles Times: "I'm just going to say it, there's not a highway patrolman born who will come in and evict the Chabad kids, holding a Torah in one hand and holding onto Rabbi Cunin's frock coat with the other. It's never going to happen."
It's 2008. As a public official, if Edmiston were to make such comments about a priest or a mullah, he would and should be called to task and severely reprimanded. Does the fact that Edmiston is Jewish give him a green light to make sinister and racist comments about a rabbi? I don't think so.
There is no place in our community for intolerance and racism, even against your own people. Period.
Posted by: Norman Sweetzer | July 08, 2008 at 08:30 PM
We appreciate the Times continuing coverage of Temescal Gateway Park.
Jane Ulman covers the July 7 hearing in the Jewish Journal:
"The vote upheld the unequivocal denial by Conservancy executive director Joe Edmiston on June 12 to extend Chabad's lease. It also confirmed the decision of the Conservancy in April 2007 to stop leasing the public parkland to private entities -- including Chabad's Palisades Jewish Early Education Center and Little Dolphins Preschool -- and to increase public access to the park, especially for underprivileged youth from congested urban areas. . . .
"And while Chabad supporters stressed that the school is using less than half an acre in a 140-acre park, the Conservancy's Edmiston said that the park is predominately covered by chaparral, while Chabad's site, which includes three trailers and a fenced-in field, occupies one of only two flat, grassy spots in the park that can accommodate large groups of children. 'It's a zero-sum situation. If you have trailers there, you're not going to be able to have kids playing there,' he said.
Amy Lethbridge, in charge of education for the Conservancy, told the group that more experiential programs have been planned for the coming year, including additional contracts with Los Angeles Unified School District to bring out more kids.
'I need space to serve the very programs the park was purchased to serve,' she said."
Posted by: Robert Garcia | July 08, 2008 at 08:31 PM
The most interesting part of this whole affair is the fact that Joe Edmiston must have gone through a major charachter change. Is this the same person that put up two fake stop sign violation cameras on the road of the "all access" park that he so proudly refers to in the article? Is this the same Joe Edmiston that is denying a tiny area of the park to a small school for a few months while continuing his crooked fund raising efforts via collecting $100 at least 5,000 times (by last count)from unsuspecting motorists whom are traveling legally close to a stop sign on the only road of his "open" park?
Posted by: Gary Solomon | July 08, 2008 at 08:46 PM
Joe Edmiston should be removed for his anti-semitic outburst.
Posted by: Commentator | July 08, 2008 at 10:14 PM
There is no justification for personal attacks here.
A board member emphasized at the July 7 heating that everyone was respectful and avoided personal attacks throughout the three hour hearing. This was true regardless of how one felt on the merits -- whether the lease should be renewed for a non-park use, or whether the parks should be kept open for all.
The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy board voted 8-1 against renewing the non-renewable lease. The Advisory Council voted unanimously against renewing the non-renewable lease. As discussed at length at the three hour hearing on July 7, the Palisades group promised not to seek renewal of the lease. What does that have to do with any individual?
Some children and adults did indeed speak about their experiences in the pre-school, including the religious, spiritual, and cultural aspects. Some children and adults spoke about their experience in hiking and playing in the park, including cultural aspects of being in the Palisades and coming from the inner city. The history of discriminatory access to parks and recreation in Los Angeles was explicitly. There have been no sinister, racist, or intolerant comments.
I suggest that people remain respectful and civil here.
Posted by: Robert Garcia | July 08, 2008 at 10:27 PM
I'm sorry but Joe Edmiston and his remarks are no different than Rev. Wright, only Edmiston is paid for by California taxpayers. How sad and shameful. I am sick to my stomach. Edmiston should publicly apologize and then he should resign.
Posted by: Jennifer Malsat | July 08, 2008 at 11:22 PM
In my view Mr. Garcia is being disingenuous. In my view it was clear at the Board meeting that many participants from the inner-city "anti" coalition were misled into believing that the issue was a permanent privatization, rather than a short temporary lease extension. Further, if they had taken the trouble to read Chabad's appeal, one of the conditions Chabad stipulated was that the meadow surrounding the temporary site was to be released from any restrictions that interfered with public use. It was falsely represented that access to this meadow, a key flat area, would be unavailable to the public.
In this writers opinion what we saw was a naked political power play by a largely Latino non-mainstream coalition that was economical with the truth to achieve their objectives, and cynically used little children in pursuit of those objectives. The experience provided a valuable lesson on the political tactics of the left.
The Board, despite that, decided on the merits to deny Chabad's appeal on grounds that it did not comply with the SMMC Act, rather than on any political grounds. To their credit they were dispassionate, listened to all points of view with attention, and then voted based on the law.
Posted by: Commentator | July 08, 2008 at 11:31 PM
i agree. edmiston and his outrageous remarks must be rejected and cannot be tolerated. it's a dangerous and slippery-slope when public officials engage in divisive rhetoric and religious intolerance. the entire community must stand united when it comes to combating hatred and divisiveness.
Posted by: marco binecca | July 08, 2008 at 11:46 PM
Joe Edmiston has secured his bully pulpit over the last 25 years without ever having to face a public election. His actions are directly responsible for the recent fires that burnt in the canyons of Malibu which left so many good citizens in disarray. Talk about "zero sum", his bully tactics, and secured position make Joe more of a mafia man then a honest public servant.
Joe Edmiston has a badge and gun, his own police force, direct control of hundreds of millions of dollars in state funds and lands. He serves at the pleasure of a Board of Directors, also unelected. He is not accountable to the public who pays his salary.
People with such power should be required to be elected. They should be required to answer to the public for the actions that they take.
Preserving open space is important but education to children should take priority. And if they need a bit more time to move into their new location, is there not enough public outdoor space to fill the need in the interim? Shame on you Joe.
Steve P. Weiner
Malibu, CA
Posted by: Steve Weiner | July 08, 2008 at 11:55 PM
This is the same Robert Garcia who appeared at the Malibu City Council meeting to support Edmiston in his quest to force overnight camping into our box canyons and parks where fire to cook would be allowed. The residents, in fear for their lives and homes with three fires last year to cope with, were incensed. I guess Garcia and Edmiston are BFFs and so where Edmiston goes, Garcia goes to do his Hispandering. Sounds incestuous to me. It should be investigated.
Posted by: Susan Tellem | July 09, 2008 at 08:34 AM
Joe Edmiston and Robert Garcia teaming up, that is eco-terrorism in my opinion. Garcia uses a lot of jumbled jargon to inflame his "peers" and garner public attention, Edmiston uses public funds to boost his own ego. Both need to go, neither of them are worth the paper they push to gain power.
This statement by Commentator in response to Garcia's mumbling puts it all in perspective, Garcia USES poor kids to push his agenda and tries to say he does it for poor people.
"In this writers opinion what we saw was a naked political power play by a largely Latino non-mainstream coalition that was economical with the truth to achieve their objectives, and cynically used little children in pursuit of those objectives. The experience provided a valuable lesson on the political tactics of the left."
Posted by: marko peer | July 09, 2008 at 09:11 AM
Where does Chabad get the money for all this real estate, just from the telethons? Seems like they have a site in every community in the united states with a population of 5,000 or more.
Fires in the canyons. Good jobs Garcia and Edmiston. You two are rocket scientists.
Shame on you, Edmiston -- torah and coattails. Shame on you, previous commenter, for wrapping yourself in the holocaust. Shame on you, Chabad, for not sticking to the strip malls.
Posted by: Uncle Billy Went to Washington | July 09, 2008 at 09:29 AM
Joe Edmiston has always treated his post like a throne and the park like his personal property. He is callous, and in the view of many who know him in the environmental community, he is a bourgeois elitist. And aren't we suffering from a lack of schools and school sites to begin with?? How exactly is this helping that situation or moreover, how is it benefiting the site? He most certainly should be removed for his anti-semitic outburst, or at least flogged in the parking lot of the school he is evicting.
Posted by: R. Mills | July 09, 2008 at 09:39 AM
Where does Chabad get the money? From many thousands of contributors, large and small, in every community where they are located, over the entire year, not just at Telethon time, In addition, the Chabad non-sectarian programs receive Federal, State and local funding, and are scrutinized closely and regularly by those agencies to insure compliance with both the U.S. and California Constitutions, and associated licensing, certification, and other regulations. Chabad of California is audited by an independent CPA firm; in fact many of its grants require such an audit.
But the question is a red herring with, it seems to me, unworthy implications.. This discussion isn't about sources of 501(c)(3) charitable funds overseen by the IRS and other regulatory agencies. The IRS code is both explicit and strict. Instead the discussion is about the hearing on the Temescal Gateway Park.
In fact, the question of Chabad funding was raised as a red-herring argument by those leftists at the meeting attempting to create a straw man of "rich" Chabad vs. the poor children of the inner city. In fact the "anti" coalition is perfectly free to appeal for charitable funds to the mainstream Latino and broader mainstream community if they are a legal tax-exempt organisation. If they have not been more sucessful that is certainly not the fault of Chabad's contributors, but rather evidence of lack of support by the mainstream communities.
Posted by: Commentator | July 09, 2008 at 09:53 AM
What most people don't know is that Joe's wife runs a little camp of her own called Happy Trails (yep, stole it from Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, it is not affiliated with that organization or foundation in the least). It is the ONLY link on the website for Joe's little fiefdom and purports to provide camping opportunities for underprivileged children. I find it highly suspicious that taxpayer funds are used to provide promotions for a spouse's boutique efforts and thereby garnering even more of the tax base for the Edmiston household to feed off of. Remove special favors and non-bid contract awards to spouses, but also clean house by removing Edmiston himself so that we don't find favors being gifted to any other "groups" such as the City Project. The hungry foxes have definitely gotten into the chicken coop, time for us Farmers to hike up the suspenders and load the shotguns to clean our land of the marauding varmits feasting on our efforts.
Posted by: Smokey Joe Needs to Be Put Out | July 09, 2008 at 11:40 AM
Forget everything I wrote above, I just realized that I am an idiot.
Posted by: Jennifer Malsat | July 09, 2008 at 10:52 PM
I apologize for my ridiculous remarks which were posted earlier. I have a very low income and haven't accomplished anywhere near the amount of things Joe has in his lifetime, so once again I am sorry and I am way out of line.
Posted by: marco binecca | July 09, 2008 at 10:59 PM
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Day Of Healing For Two South Florida Synagogues
See links at source for video.
I did not get a chance to watch, but it looks worth watching.
MIAMI BEACH (CBS4) ―
It was a day of healing and moving forward for two South Florida synagogues on Sunday; one was hit by hate and the other was damaged by fire.
A fundraiser was held at the Turnberry Jewish Center in Aventura to buy a new Torah for the Chabad Jewish Center of Miami Beach, which was damaged nearly two weeks ago in a fire. At the same time, the Torah, a religious scroll of Jewish laws and customs and a centerpiece of its religion, was taken.
"We have everyone joined together and give some donation towards it [Torah] and everyone is like joined in one Torah," said Rabii Zeb Kats of Habad Shul. "It's kind of like United Funds coming together and we are all going to have a community Torah, something that we did together."
At the Chabad of Parkland, located at 7170 Loxahatchee Rd., the Rabbi showed Hebrew school children the last of three swastikas and hateful words spray-painted on the synagogue's walls last week. Sunday, they painted over the hateful symbols.
"It's very important to show the children that not only is it relevant, not only is it something that still exists," said Rabbi Mendy Gutnick."It still exists in the world and we have to know how to deal with it, and how to overcome it."
Both of the cases are still under investigation to determine if they are hate crimes.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
I did not get a chance to watch, but it looks worth watching.
MIAMI BEACH (CBS4) ―
It was a day of healing and moving forward for two South Florida synagogues on Sunday; one was hit by hate and the other was damaged by fire.
A fundraiser was held at the Turnberry Jewish Center in Aventura to buy a new Torah for the Chabad Jewish Center of Miami Beach, which was damaged nearly two weeks ago in a fire. At the same time, the Torah, a religious scroll of Jewish laws and customs and a centerpiece of its religion, was taken.
"We have everyone joined together and give some donation towards it [Torah] and everyone is like joined in one Torah," said Rabii Zeb Kats of Habad Shul. "It's kind of like United Funds coming together and we are all going to have a community Torah, something that we did together."
At the Chabad of Parkland, located at 7170 Loxahatchee Rd., the Rabbi showed Hebrew school children the last of three swastikas and hateful words spray-painted on the synagogue's walls last week. Sunday, they painted over the hateful symbols.
"It's very important to show the children that not only is it relevant, not only is it something that still exists," said Rabbi Mendy Gutnick."It still exists in the world and we have to know how to deal with it, and how to overcome it."
Both of the cases are still under investigation to determine if they are hate crimes.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
FBI asked to probe area hate crimes
BY ADAM H. BEASLEY
The same day Chabad of Parkland members scraped spray-painted swastikas off the temple's walls, U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler called on FBI Director Robert Mueller to investigate the recent spate of anti-Semitic attacks in South Florida.
Wexler, who represents much of Broward County in Washington, sent the FBI a letter Thursday asking Mueller to look into both the vandalism at Chabad of Parkland and the suspicious fire at a Miami Beach synagogue last week.
''I am deeply concerned about this string of anti-Semitic crimes in the South Florida community, and strongly believe that the disturbing hate crimes committed against Jewish Americans deserve proper attention from the federal government,'' Wexler said in a statement.
Wexler's request comes a week after Mueller agreed to look into a series of fires at South Florida religious centers, including the blaze that torched The Chabad Shul in Miami Beach during Passover. A fire in October damaged the sanctuary of a synagogue on Chase Avenue in Miami Beach.
Wexler's congressional district does not include Parkland, but it nearly surrounds the bedroom community. Parkland is represented by Ron Klein, who also forcefully denounced the incident, deemed by Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti a hate crime.
'If we are to live up to our mantra of `never again,' we must not sit by silently in the face of any anti-Semitic attack,'' said Klein, who is co-chairman of the Congressional Taskforce Against Anti-Semitism. ``It is our solemn responsibility to speak out against such hate speech.''
Meanwhile, at Chabad of Parkland, 7170 Loxahatchee Rd., Rabbi Josef Biston went about the business of cleaning the swastikas. The vandals also scrawled ''4 Hitler'' on a stop sign.
The desecration has gained attention around the world, with BSO fielding calls from as far away as Israel.
Broward sheriff's deputies went door-to-door handing out Crime Stoppers fliers in an attempt to find those responsible.
Authorities will not have the help of videotape to find the vandals. Chabad of Parkland did not have surveillance equipment set up, and no cameras from nearby business captured the desecration, said Alesia Russell, a BSO spokeswoman.
The same day Chabad of Parkland members scraped spray-painted swastikas off the temple's walls, U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler called on FBI Director Robert Mueller to investigate the recent spate of anti-Semitic attacks in South Florida.
Wexler, who represents much of Broward County in Washington, sent the FBI a letter Thursday asking Mueller to look into both the vandalism at Chabad of Parkland and the suspicious fire at a Miami Beach synagogue last week.
''I am deeply concerned about this string of anti-Semitic crimes in the South Florida community, and strongly believe that the disturbing hate crimes committed against Jewish Americans deserve proper attention from the federal government,'' Wexler said in a statement.
Wexler's request comes a week after Mueller agreed to look into a series of fires at South Florida religious centers, including the blaze that torched The Chabad Shul in Miami Beach during Passover. A fire in October damaged the sanctuary of a synagogue on Chase Avenue in Miami Beach.
Wexler's congressional district does not include Parkland, but it nearly surrounds the bedroom community. Parkland is represented by Ron Klein, who also forcefully denounced the incident, deemed by Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti a hate crime.
'If we are to live up to our mantra of `never again,' we must not sit by silently in the face of any anti-Semitic attack,'' said Klein, who is co-chairman of the Congressional Taskforce Against Anti-Semitism. ``It is our solemn responsibility to speak out against such hate speech.''
Meanwhile, at Chabad of Parkland, 7170 Loxahatchee Rd., Rabbi Josef Biston went about the business of cleaning the swastikas. The vandals also scrawled ''4 Hitler'' on a stop sign.
The desecration has gained attention around the world, with BSO fielding calls from as far away as Israel.
Broward sheriff's deputies went door-to-door handing out Crime Stoppers fliers in an attempt to find those responsible.
Authorities will not have the help of videotape to find the vandals. Chabad of Parkland did not have surveillance equipment set up, and no cameras from nearby business captured the desecration, said Alesia Russell, a BSO spokeswoman.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Uzbek authorities revoke accreditation of the head of Jewish Chabad Lubavitch movement
The Associated Press
Friday, April 11, 2008
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan: Uzbek authorities have revoked the accreditation of the local head of the Chabad Lubavitch Jewish movement, the Justice Ministry said Friday.
Ministry spokesman Zhalolbek Abdusattarov said Tashkent-based Rabbi Abe David Gurevich breached local registration rules and that his organization failed to submit correct financial and accounting reports.
Gurevich also designated himself chief rabbi in the ex-Soviet republic without seeking authorization from the relevant government agencies, the ministry said.
The Chabad Lubavitch movement will, however, continue to operate in Uzbekistan, Abdusattarov said. The movement, a New York-based organization of Hasidic Jews, enjoys strong support in the Baltics, Russia and other former republics of the Soviet Union.
Gurevich declined to comment on the announcement.
There are few reported cases of state pressure against Jewish groups in the Central Asian nation, but the denial of registration to religious groups is common.
Gurevich's secretary, Karina Loifer, and her mother, Svetlana, were murdered in June 2006. Authorities said after investigations the killing was not motivated by anti-Semitism.
Friday, April 11, 2008
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan: Uzbek authorities have revoked the accreditation of the local head of the Chabad Lubavitch Jewish movement, the Justice Ministry said Friday.
Ministry spokesman Zhalolbek Abdusattarov said Tashkent-based Rabbi Abe David Gurevich breached local registration rules and that his organization failed to submit correct financial and accounting reports.
Gurevich also designated himself chief rabbi in the ex-Soviet republic without seeking authorization from the relevant government agencies, the ministry said.
The Chabad Lubavitch movement will, however, continue to operate in Uzbekistan, Abdusattarov said. The movement, a New York-based organization of Hasidic Jews, enjoys strong support in the Baltics, Russia and other former republics of the Soviet Union.
Gurevich declined to comment on the announcement.
There are few reported cases of state pressure against Jewish groups in the Central Asian nation, but the denial of registration to religious groups is common.
Gurevich's secretary, Karina Loifer, and her mother, Svetlana, were murdered in June 2006. Authorities said after investigations the killing was not motivated by anti-Semitism.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Ukranian president, Jewish leaders to meet
Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko will meet local Jewish leaders to discuss recent anti-Semitic attacks.
Yuschenko on Monday also will meet with representatives of the Ukrainian community and law enforcement generals about a spate of anti-Semitic attacks in Ukraine and the lackluster reaction by law enforcement agencies. There have no been no arrests or successful prosecutions, a member of Yuschenko's administration told JTA.
Yuschenko is expected to make a statement about combating the rise of ethnic hatred and anti-Semitic attacks in his country.
In late September three separate attacks on observant Jews took place in Zhitomir, Sevastopol and Cherkassy. On Oct. 5, the Chabad house in the city of Uzhgorod was set ablaze and robbed.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Saudi envoy attends Jewish event
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Washington attended a Jewish community reception for the U.S. special envoy on anti-Semitism.
Turki al-Faisal, who is completing his term in Washington, appeared Wednesday at the event in the Capitol building honoring Gregg Rickman, the State Department’s top official combating anti-Semitism. It was the Saudi’s first such appearance at a public event sponsored by Jewish groups, in this case the United Jewish Communities, World Jewish Congress’ American Section, B’nai B’rith International, American Friends of Lubavitch and NCSJ: Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States and Eurasia. Al-Faisal also met privately in recent weeks with two dovish, pro-Israel groups.
Rabbi Levi Shemtov, who heads the Lubavitch-Chabad office in Washington, appealed to Al-Faisal and other Arab ambassadors in the room to recognize that anti-Semitism ultimately poses as much of a threat to their nations as it does to Jews. Al-Faisal announced his sudden resignation last month.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Ukrainian Jews: Stop media incitement
Ukraine’s Jewish community called on authorities to end anti-Semitic incitement in the media.
Vadim Rabinovich, leader of the All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress, appealed Jan. 24 to Ukrainian law enforcement agencies to take measures that would suspend a Kiev university’s publication for continuously inciting interethnic hatred.
On Jan. 11, three newspapers associated with MAUP, a private school with a history of anti-Semitism, published an appeal by the Conservative Party of Ukraine that blamed the Chabad Lubavitch movement for Ukraine’s problems and called on authorities to deport members of the “Judeo-Nazi sect.”
The letter was published by Personal Plus, Ukrainian Newspaper Plus and For the Ukrainian Ukraine newspapers.
Rabinovich described the publications as libelous and aimed at creating a discord in Ukrainian society, which “can lead to unpredictable consequences.”
The Conservative Party of Ukraine, headed by MAUP President Georgy Schokin, ran in last year’s parliamentary elections but won no seats.
Vadim Rabinovich, leader of the All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress, appealed Jan. 24 to Ukrainian law enforcement agencies to take measures that would suspend a Kiev university’s publication for continuously inciting interethnic hatred.
On Jan. 11, three newspapers associated with MAUP, a private school with a history of anti-Semitism, published an appeal by the Conservative Party of Ukraine that blamed the Chabad Lubavitch movement for Ukraine’s problems and called on authorities to deport members of the “Judeo-Nazi sect.”
The letter was published by Personal Plus, Ukrainian Newspaper Plus and For the Ukrainian Ukraine newspapers.
Rabinovich described the publications as libelous and aimed at creating a discord in Ukrainian society, which “can lead to unpredictable consequences.”
The Conservative Party of Ukraine, headed by MAUP President Georgy Schokin, ran in last year’s parliamentary elections but won no seats.
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