Shorts: World

Groups press Bush on Sudan genocide

new york (jta) | In an ad in The New York Times, Jewish groups called on President Bush to intensify efforts to end the killings in Sudan.

In the advertisement organized by the American Jewish World Service that ran Tuesday, Sept. 20, Jewish leaders from across the religious and communal spectrum called on Bush to work to expand peacekeeping operations and provide additional support to African soldiers in Darfur, the region where government-sponsored militias have killed tens of thousands of people.

The ad also called on the United States to increase funds for humanitarian efforts and help reunify families and rebuild communities. "Sixty years after the Holocaust, the world vowed 'never again,' " the ad reads. "That pledge was repeated after the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. We cannot wait any longer to make good on our promises."

The renewed awareness campaign is intended to coincide with the High Holy Days.




Israeli rabbis urge pope to fight anti-Semitism

rome (ap) | Israel's two chief rabbis urged Pope Benedict XVI during a meeting last week to speak out against the desecration of synagogues and other forms of anti-Semitism.

The rabbis also asked the pontiff to urge priests, bishops and cardinals around the world to set aside one day of the year to preach the teachings of a landmark Vatican document on relations with Jews that repudiated all forms of anti-Semitism.

The pope said he would try to respond "in a positive way" to the rabbis' request, Israel's ambassador to the Holy See said at a news conference after the meeting.

Israel's Ashkenazi chief rabbi, Yona Metzger, and the Sephardic chief rabbi, Shlomo Amar, visited the pope at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, in the hills south of Rome.

The meeting followed last month's historic visit by Benedict to the central synagogue in Cologne, Germany, the second time a pope had entered a Jewish house of worship. During the visit, Benedict said the world was seeing the rise of new forms of anti-Semitism.

The visit also follows a diplomatic spat between the Vatican and Israel that erupted over the pope's omission of Israel in a list of countries hit by terrorism. After Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon wrote a letter to the pope, Ambassador Oded Ben-Hur said the dispute was resolved.