Shorts: U.S.

Presbyterian Church threatened over Israel decision

washington (jta) | The Presbyterian Church USA stepped up security at its headquarters and its churches after receiving a letter threatening arson attacks because of its policies in the Middle East.

The letter, received Nov. 10 at the church's Louisville, Ky., headquarters, threatened to set churches on fire while people were inside in retaliation for "anti-Israel and anti-Jewish attitudes," said Jerry Van Marter, director of the Presbyterian news service.

The letter had no return address, but it was postmarked from Queens, N.Y., Van Marter said. The letter gave a Nov. 15 deadline for the church to reverse its Middle East policies, he said.

In June, the church's General Assembly decided to begin selective divestment from corporations doing business in or with Israel.




Bridal prize?

new york (jta) | A Baltimore-based kosher organization is offering a cash prize to any matchmaker who marries off an Orthodox woman in the city.

The Star-K service said it is offering $2,000 in response to a "crisis" among Orthodox singles, the New Jersey Jewish News reported.

The single woman must be at least 22 years and two months old at the time the engagement is announced.




Bush boosts Sharansky

washington (jta) | Natan Sharansky's new book on democracy won him a meeting with an admirer — President Bush.

Sharansky, a former Soviet refusenik and current Israeli government minister, said Sunday, Nov. 14, that he received a call from the White House while in the United States last week to promote his book, "The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror."

Sharansky told Israel's Army Radio: "I met with Condoleezza Rice and then with President Bush. This is a subject very close to the president's heart. He believes that stability can be brought to the world through democracy."

According to Sharansky, Rice's interest in the book was more administrative. "Condoleezza said, 'I have to read the book. You know why? Because the president is reading it, and I have to know what he is reading.'"




Mehlman likely to head RNC

washington (jta) | President Bush tapped Ken Mehlman to lead the Republican Party.

Mehlman, who is Jewish, won the president's endorsement to lead the Republican National Committee. He served as chairman of President Bush's re-election campaign.

The party will officially choose its chairman next year, but Bush's endorsement is likely to prove pivotal.




Son: Judaism played role in Rosenberg case

new york (jta) | The Jewish judge and prosecutors in the infamous case of two Jews executed for spying for the Soviets were tough in order to avoid possible anti- Semitic repercussions, one of the defendants' sons said.

Speaking Sunday, Nov. 14, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City, Michael Meeropol, the son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, made the comments about the judge in the case, Irving Kaufman, and two prosecutors, Roy Cohn and Irving Saypol.

Meeropol spoke before the screening of a new film on the case, "Heir to an Execution: A Granddaughter's Story."




Pro-Palestinian art show to go on

new york | A New York art show that one lawmaker wanted canceled for being anti-Israel will go on.

After Assemblyman Ryan Scott Karben called on the Westchester County Center to close the exhibit, county executive Andre Spano said he would preview the one-day exhibit, which is slated to be shown this weekend.

On Monday, Nov. 15, however, Spano backed off his demand, saying any government involvement would constitute censorship, The Associated Press reported.

The slide-show exhibit includes a piece with a tent, called a "Memorial to 418 Palestinian Villages Destroyed, Depopulated and Occupied by Israel in 1948."




Historian says a Harvard president cultivated Nazi ties

washington (jta) | Harvard cozied up to the Nazis in the 1930s, according to new research.

Harvard President James Conant hosted Nazi officials in 1934 and 1935 and cultivated friendly relations with German universities after their Jewish students had been kicked out, University of Oklahoma historian Stephen Norwood said at a conference in Boston on Sunday, Nov. 14.

The conference was sponsored by the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies.

Harvard officials disputed the account. "The university was then and is now repulsed by everything that Hitler represents," a Harvard spokesman said in a statement, according to the Boston Globe.