Carter: Universities blocked book promo

Jimmy Carter said universities with substantial Jewish enrollment have blocked him from discussing his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," which blames most of the impasse in Israeli-Palestinian talks on Israel's settlement policy.

"My most troubling experience has been the rejection of my offers to speak, for free, about the book on university campuses with high Jewish enrollment," Carter said in a recent op-ed published in the Los Angeles Times.

The former U.S. president made a similar charge in a C-Span interview earlier this week; asked to elaborate, he would not name the universities, except to say he was invited by individual professors, but turned down by the universities' leadership. — jta




White House honors Sharansky

Natan Sharansky will be honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. A former Soviet refusenik and recently retired Israeli politician, Sharansky will receive the medal from the White House on Friday, Dec. 15.

Sharansky now is a fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem and head of its new strategic studies institute.

In 2004, President Bush embraced Sharansky's book, "The Case for Democracy," instructing his staff to read it and using it as a template for his own plans to democratize the Middle East. — jta




U.S. Jewish population rising

The new American Jewish Yearbook reports that there are 6.4 million Jews in the United States. That's significantly more than the 5.2 million figure provided by the 2000-2001 National Jewish Population Study.

The yearly survey, published by the American Jewish Committee, is based on a tally of individual Jewish communities across the country.

According to the survey, 2.2 percent of the American population is Jewish. New York has the largest Jewish population of any state with 1,618,000, followed by California with 1,194,000, Florida with 653,000 and New Jersey with 480,000. — jta




N.Y. official calls for Olmert's resignation

A New York State assemblyman is calling on Ehud Olmert to resign in a series of full-page newspaper ads.

Dov Hikind's campaign started with ads in major Jewish American newspapers last week, to be followed by Israeli newspapers in coming weeks, then the New York Times and Washington Post.

The ad asks the Israeli prime minister to "please resign. For the sake of the Jewish people." It also describes Olmert as "arrogant," "delusional" and "incompetent."

Hikind said the ads aren't meant as a personal attack. He did not say who might provide better leadership. — jta




Pelosi slots Lantos, Waxman as chairs

The incoming speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives nominated two Jewish California lawmakers to chair key committees.

The nod from Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) virtually guarantees that Rep. Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo), a staunch defender of Israel, will chair the International Relations Committee, and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles), who is well known for his outspokenness, will chair the Government Reform Committee when Democrats assume control of the House in January.

They join Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the Democratic Caucus chairman and fourth-ranked Democrat in the House. Two Jewish congresswomen, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), are among the nine deputy whips. — jta




Pentagon brass back Christianity

Top Pentagon brass appear in their offices and in uniform in a video promoting a group that evangelizes among Washington elites.

Maj. Gen. Jack Catton, a senior weapons acquisition official, says in the video that when people meet him in his professional capacity, "I share my faith because it describes who I am." Catton is among six uniformed officers appearing on the video.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a watchdog group headed by Mikey Weinstein, a former Air Force officer, called on the Pentagon's inspector general to investigate. — jta




Opera to feature

persecuted artists

The Los Angeles Opera received a $4 million grant to highlight the work of Jewish artists whose work was affected by the Nazis.

Opera board member Marilyn Ziering, whose late husband was a Holocaust survivor, donated more than $3 million to the "Recovered Voices" project, and raised the remainder from private donors.

Music director James Conlon is to conduct concerts for the project, which will include the work of composers such as Alexander Zemlinsky, Kurt Weill, Erwin Schulhoff and Viktor Ullman. The series will begin in March. — jta




Brooklyn rabbi charged with molestation

A Brooklyn rabbi was charged with molesting his students at an Orthodox boys yeshiva.

Rabbi Yehudah Kolko was charged on Friday, Dec. 8 with four counts of sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child. The court released him on $5,000 bail after he pleaded not guilty.

Kolko, 60, taught at Yeshiva-Mesivta Torah Temimah for decades and served as the school's assistant principal. He is accused of molesting a boy who was a first-grade student of his in the 2002-03 school year, and another former student.

"If something did indeed happen, we sympathize with the child and are confident that the judicial system will handle it appropriately," said Yaakov Applegrad, executive director of the school. Kolko was fired recently after 37 years at the school. — jta




Seattle airport puts back Christmas trees

Seattle's international airport put Christmas trees back on display after a local rabbi agreed not to file a lawsuit for the addition of a menorah.

The Seattle Times reported that the Port of Seattle removed the trees Friday, Dec. 8 after Chabad Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky's lawyer threatened to sue.

Bogomilsky said Tuesday, Dec. 12 he would not sue, insisting that he hadn't wanted the trees to be removed.

Port Commission President Pat Davis acknowledged the rabbi's good intentions, but added that the port had no time to form a response other than to remove the trees in order to avoid a lawsuit.

There will be no menorah at the airport this year, but officials promised to meet with Bogomilsky and other religious leaders to discuss a more inclusive display for next year. — jta




N.Y. decorations look too Jewish?

Residents of a wealthy New York City suburb complained that a local vendor's holiday decorations were too Jewish-looking.

Chappaqua jewelry-store owner Tara Caverzasi paid $3,000 for 50 banners for the town's downtown business district, with Town Hall approval. She said Tuesday, Dec. 12 that her goal was to be neutral, and chose blue banners with white snowflakes and the word "welcome."

But dozens of residents called Town Hall to complain, saying the colors were those of the Israeli flag and that at least one of the snowflakes looks like a Star of David.

Caverzasi, who is not Jewish, also has been receiving angry phone calls from residents.

"There has to be some tolerance," she said, according to the New York Daily News. "It was just a snowflake. I really don't see what the big deal is." — jta