U.S. Report

WASHINGTON (JPS) -- Several Jewish and Christian groups in the U.S. are launching grassroots campaigns to have the peace plan dropped in favor of the Bible.

In more than a dozen cities across the country, a coalition of Jewish and Christian groups called "The Committee for a One-State Solution" recently initiated a billboard campaign urging the public to contact the White House, reaffirm their support for Israel and pray that President Bush supports the Jewish state.

The black-and-white billboards, currently featured in eight states, quote a verse from Genesis in which God pledged to give Israel to Jacob's descendants. "Pray that President Bush honors God's covenant with Israel," reads the billboard.

Dentist sentenced for aiding bomber

MIAMI (JTA) -- A Florida dentist received a prison sentence for aiding a man who tried to bomb an Islamic center, ostensibly to send a message on behalf of the Jewish people.

Michael Hardee on April 30 received 41 months in prison for agreeing to drive Robert Goldstein to the Islamic Society of Pinellas County, which Goldstein planned to blow up.

The attack was intended mainly as revenge for the Sept. 11 terror attacks, but Goldstein also wanted to make a statement on behalf of the Jewish people because of Israeli-Palestinian violence, Hardee said.

Hardee, who pleaded guilty, received a relatively light sentence because he aided prosecutors in their case against Goldstein and his estranged wife.

Groups rally to save Pakistani victims

NEW YORK (JTA) -- Jewish groups are joining a New Jersey congressman in fighting to prevent the deportation of a Pakistani mother and her child. The woman's husband was murdered in a post-Sept. 11 bias attack.

Rep. Rush Holt (R-N.J.) has enlisted the aid of 20 groups, including the Anti-Defamation League and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, in backing the family of Waqar Hasan, who was killed on Sept. 15, 2001, in Texas, in retaliation for the Sept. 11 attacks.

Hasan was in the process of applying for green-card status at the time of his death. His wife and daughter, who don't have U.S. citizenship, now face deportation.