Shorts: U.S.

Wal-Mart official resigns over Nazi comparison

washington (jta) | A top Wal-Mart official resigned following the publication of an ad comparing a local zoning law to Nazi book burning.

The Washington Post reported last week that Peter Kanelos, Wal-Mart's community affairs director for Arizona and Southern California, oversaw publication of an ad in the Arizona Daily Sun that was part of a campaign to defeat a ballot initiative in Flagstaff seeking to halt Wal-Mart's expansion.

The ad, which featured a 1933 picture of Germans tossing books on a bonfire, sparked criticism from the Anti- Defamation League and members of Congress.




American veterans want inquiry into '67 ship attack

washington (jta) | A veterans group called for a government investigation of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty during the 1967 Six-Day War.

The USS Liberty Veterans Association filed a report last week with the Department of Defense that it says proves Israel deliberately attacked the American ship, killing 34 sailors, and therefore is guilty of war crimes.

The group says the Defense Department is obligated to initiate a formal inquiry into the incident, something the American government has not done. Israel has said the attack was an accident, asserting that it mistook the ship for an Egyptian vessel.




Reconstructionist rabbi tabbed to lead JCPA

washington (jta) | Reconstructionist Rabbi Steve Gutow was chosen as executive director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.

Gutow has served as executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council and Southwest regional director for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Gutow, who was a pulpit rabbi for the Reconstructionist Minyan of St. Louis, also is an attorney and taught at the Saint Louis University School of Law the past two years. He accepted the JCPA position this week.

Gutow replaces Hannah Rosenthal, who left JCPA earlier this year to head the Chicago Foundation for Women.