FEATURED JOBS
Comments (0)A bipartisan slate of U.S. Congress members urged the Obama administration to keep the Goldstone report from advancing to the International Court of Justice.
The U.N. General Assembly is poised to refer to the report, which accuses Israel and Hamas of war crimes in last winter’s Gaza war, to the United Nations Security Council. The council is the only body able to refer the report to the court.
“We know you share our concerns about an anticipated U.N. General Assembly resolution that is expected to refer the Goldstone Report to the Security Council, and ultimately to the International Court of Justice,” said the letter signed by 95 members of the House of Representatives and sent Thursday to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. “This is an extremely troubling development that threatens to undermine the renewal of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at a critical time, and is counterproductive to our foreign policy goals.
“We believe that the correct venue for investigating issues related to Operation Cast Lead is not the Security Council or the International Court of Justice, but the world-class Israeli justice system itself.”
A large majority last year condemned the report in a House resolution.
In testimony Thursday, Clinton said she also favored Israeli review of the allegations, and noted that Israel has done so—but avoided saying whether the United States would exercise its Security Council veto to impede such a referral.
“We have stood very staunchly on the side of those who reject the underlying premises of this report,” she told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Meanwhile, B’Tselem, one of a group of Israeli human rights organizations that have described Israel’s response to Goldstone as inadequate, on Thursday said Hamas’ response was “shameful” and full of “baseless claims.”
The Hamas reply said that its militants did not aim at civilians and that its rocket fire was legitimate in the face of an occupier.
“The vast majority of attacks were intentionally aimed at civilian objects in Israel, with the declared purpose of striking them,” B’Tselem said. “Israelis living near Gaza suffered for many years from the ongoing rocket fire, and during that time members of Hamas and of other armed groups expressly stated that the rocket fire was intended to strike civilians.”
Rabbi Condemned for Ordaining Woman
The Agudath Israel Council of Torah Sages has issued a statement condemning a New York rabbi for ordaining a woman.
Rabbi Avi Weiss last week conferred rabbinic ordination on Sara Hurwitz and made her an assistant rabbi at his Hebrew Institute of Riverdale. He also gave her the title of rabbah.
“These developments represent a radical and dangerous departure from Jewish tradition and the mesoras haTorah, and must be condemned in the strongest terms,” said the council’s statement, which was released Thursday. “Any congregation with a woman in a rabbinical position of any sort cannot be considered Orthodox.”
Hurwitz, who has served at the Hebrew Institute for nearly seven years, performs some rabbinic duties, but cannot perform others because of her gender, including acting as a witness, leading religious services and being counted in a minyan.
The Agudah council is comprised of the heads of most of the prominent Orthodox yeshivas in America.
The Rabbinical Council of America, the largest mainstream Orthodox rabbinical group, is considering kicking out Weiss, The New York Jewish Week reported Thursday, citing an unnamed source.
According to the weekly newspaper, the RCA will not consider for its membership any rabbi ordained by Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, a men’s rabbinical school founded by Weiss.
Rothman Letter Would Urge Abbas on Incitement
A letter circulating in the U.S. Congress would urge the Palestinian Authority to crack down further on televised incitement.
The letter, circulated by Rep. Steven Rothman (D-N.J.) among his colleagues in the House of Representatives, refers to a Jan. 29 broadcast by an unnamed Nablus imam, or preacher, who says that “Jews will always be Jews. Even if donkeys cease to bray, dogs cease to bark, wolves cease to howl, and snakes cease to bite, the Jews will not cease to be hostile to the Muslims.”
The letter to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, urges him to “condemn this imam and his statements in the strongest possible language. We also request that you clarify the editorial position of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation with respect to incitement of any kind. We further respectfully request that you share with us the steps you have taken and will take to ensure that this type of incitement will not happen again.”
The letter also commends Abbas for steps he has taken so far to stem incitement. In 2007, PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad cut off government funds to a slate of preachers known for their incitement.