Shorts: U.S.

Columbia committee for Israel studies includes Palestinians

new york (jta) | Columbia University has crafted a search committee for an Israel studies chair which includes prominent Palestinian activists.

Rashid Khalidi, director of Columbia's Middle East Institute, and Lila Abu-Lughod, an anthropology professor, are members of a committee to select Columbia's new Yosef Haim Yerushalmi chair of Israel studies.

The move comes after an uproar at the university over claims by some Jewish students that they were harassed by anti-Israel professors. A panel, which investigated the charges, found the professors largely innocent.

The search committee is chaired by Michael Stanislawski, a professor of Jewish history and the associate director of Columbia's Center for Israel and Jewish studies.




Annan praises Jewish-U.N. relations

new york (jta) | Kofi Annan said the United Nations, Israel and the world Jewry "have reached a new level of confidence and mutual understanding."

But the U.N. secretary-general, speaking to international Jewish officials at the United Nations this week, admitted that "there is still some distance to travel." Jewish officials attending the meeting said they were impressed by Annan's sincerity, but are skeptical about the United Nations becoming a more hospitable place for Israel.

The meeting was part of the International Delegation of Jewish Leadership, a joint project of the U.N. Foundation and the American Jewish Committee's Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights.




Giuliani-Hitler comparison costs editor her job

new york (jta) | The editor of a college newspaper resigned after publishing a doctored photograph that compared Rudolph Giuliani to Hitler.

Andrea Gissing apologized for the photograph in the March 17 issue of the Middlebury College paper, but said she might do it again if given the chance.

The photo, which ran in the paper after Giuliani was selected as the Vermont school's commencement speaker, showed the former New York City mayor sporting a Hitler-style haircut and giving a Nazi salute, The New York Times reported.




Agencies work to deport ex-Nazi guard

new york (jta) | Deportation proceedings were launched in the United States against a man found to have participated in World War II crimes.

Last year, a U.S. appeals court upheld a decision against Jack Reimer, who trained as a camp guard at Trawniki, Poland, and was involved in the extermination of Jews throughout Poland. Reimer, 86, who has lived in New York, previously was found to have lied about his wartime activities when he applied to enter the United States in 1951.

The U.S. Justice Department's Office of Special Investigations and the Department of Homeland Security jointly launched the deportation proceedings against him.




Australian survivor to meet long-lost cousin in Arkansas

new york (jta) | An Australian man who survived the Holocaust by pretending not to be Jewish, and whose life story was the subject of a documentary, plans to meet a recently discovered cousin he has in the United States.

Alex Kurzem survived the war by becoming a mascot for the Latvian Nazis who decided to spare him; when he made his way to Australia after the war, he continued to disguise his Jewish roots.

Kurzem recently discovered that a first cousin, Emanuel Krupitsky, also survived and lives in Little Rock, Ark. The two are slated to appear together at a Holocaust Remembrance Day event at the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock.




Chairman chosen for umbrella organization

new york (jta) | Harold Tanner was elected chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

The past president of the American Jewish Committee was unanimously confirmed this week at a meeting of the umbrella organization for 52 U.S. Jewish groups. Since the nominating committee announced its choice of Tanner on April 7, the heads of the American Jewish Congress and the Anti-Defamation League questioned the nominating process, suggesting Tanner was a last-minute candidate who had not been vetted properly.

Tanner will assume his duties on May 1. At this week's meeting, only Morton Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of America, raised a point of procedure, suggesting that future candidates provide a brief presentation to the group so that members know their positions. After Tanner's nomination, Klein complained that he knew nothing about the candidate.