Shorts: U.S.

Former AIPAC staffers plead not guilty

washington (jta) | Two former American Israel Public Affairs Committee staffers pleaded not guilty to charges involving the passing of classified information.

Steve Rosen, AIPAC's former policy director, and Keith Weissman, a former Iran specialist for the pro-Israel lobby, appeared this week in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., and waived their right to a speedy trial. Larry Franklin, a former Pentagon analyst accused of giving the two AIPAC men classified documents, also waived that right.

Judge T. S. Ellis set a trial date for Jan. 3, 2006, and all three men were released without bail.




Calif. terror probe yields third arrest

los angeles (ap) | A Pakistani national has been arrested in a terrorism investigation into a possible plot to attack the Israeli Consulate, California National Guard facilities and other targets, officials said this week.

Hammad Riaz Samana, 21, was taken into custody Aug. 2 and has been detained in Los Angeles, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

His arrest came after investigators discovered a potential target list at the home of Levar Haney Washington, who has been implicated in a series of gas station robberies in Los Angeles County, according to a law enforcement official who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the investigation.

The list included three National Guard facilities in the Los Angeles area, as well as the Israeli Consulate and a couple of synagogues.

Washington, 25, was arrested July 5 in connection with a robbery investigation. Also arrested was Gregory Vernon Patterson, 21.

Both men have pleaded not guilty to the charges in Torrance Superior Court.




PETA reconsiders another campaign

richmond, va. (ap) | People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is reconsidering a campaign comparing images of animal abuse with those of slavery after complaints from civil rights groups and others.

The animal rights group's "Animal Liberation' campaign included 12 panels juxtaposing pictures of black people in chains with shackled elephants and other provocative images.

The Norfolk-based group wrapped up the first leg of the tour in last week visiting 17 cities before deciding to put the tour on hold.

Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Project with the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., called the exhibit "disgusting.'

"Black people in America have had quite enough of being compared to animals without PETA joining in,' he said.

PETA officials apologized earlier this year for a campaign that compared the suffering of Jews during the Holocaust with that of factory animals.




Mother who wants to talk to Bush made anti-Israel comments

new york (jta) | The mother camped out near President Bush's Texas ranch has said her son, who died in the Iraq war, was killed to "benefit Israel."

Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Baghdad last year, told a Veterans for Peace conference earlier this month that she would tell the president, "You get America out of Iraq, you get Israel out of Palestine."

The Republican Jewish Coalition, which compiled the quotations, says Sheehan has aligned herself with anti-Israel "peace" organizations and several Democratic lawmakers and activists have given her support.

The National Jewish Democratic Council questioned the authenticity of Sheehan's quotes and said she should not be seen as speaking for all Democrats. Sheehan recently told CNN that she didn't say her son died for Israel. "I do believe that the Palestinian issue is a hot issue that needs to be solved and it needs to be more fair and equitable, but I never said my son died for Israel," she said this week.




Church condemns Israel's barrier

new york (jta) | A Protestant church condemned Israel's West Bank security barrier.

The proposal passed last week by the Evangelical Lutheran Church's assembly denounced the barrier for causing hardships for Palestinians, and called on the denomination to play a role in "stewarding financial resources — both U.S. tax dollars and private funds — in ways that support the quest for a just peace in the Holy Land," the Associated Press reported. But it did not specifically mention divestment from Israel or companies that do business with Israel. The vote is the latest taken by Protestant churches to protest Israel's security barrier.




High Holy Day election date draws protest

new york (jta) | Jews in Albuquerque, N.M., are upset because city elections will be held on Rosh Hashanah.

The estimated 10,000 Jews in the city will have to vote early — residents can vote beginning Sept. 14 — or by absentee ballot if their religious observances on Oct. 4 will keep them from voting on election day, the Albuquerque Tribune reported. City officials say the city's charter mandates that the election be held on the first Tuesday in October.