The Philadelphia Jewish Voice
 

PJV#7
JANUARY 2006

News & Op/Ed
Bench Press
• Jingle Bombs
• He's a Gamer
• Taking Stock
• Making The Pilgrimage
• Dear Steven Spielberg
• Barbara Boxer 
• Ballots and Bullets
• Iraq & a Hard Place
• News Briefs
• Letters to the Editor

In Their Own Words
• Interview with Chaka Fattah

Community 
• Community Calendar

• Egal. Highland Park
• Shul aids Nat'l Guard

Media Watchpost
• Jewish World Review & Moment
Magazine

Living Judaism
• A Community of Voices

The Kosher Table
• Chanukah

 
  About       Free Subscription       Donate       Contact Us        Links   border="0" />    Archives

News and Op/Ed

News Briefs

ZAKA officially recognized by the UN as a NGO

The United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) has associated 25 more non-governmental organizations (NGOs), The Department, together with the Economic and Social Council, is a key focal point in the United Nations Secretariat for NGOs that wish to work with the Organization.

Raymond Sommereyns, Chair of the Committee and Director of the Outreach Division, stated that "DPI also expects that these organizations have both the commitment and means to conduct effective information programmes with their constituencies, thereby building knowledge of and support for the United Nations at the grass-roots level, as well as communicating their own ideas and concerns to the Organization".

The 25 newly associated NGOs are advocates for an array of issues, ranging from human rights, the drive against HIV/AIDS, democratic values, sustainable development and respect for the environment, peace education and gender equality, to humanitarian rescue service, support for underprivileged children, disarmament and humanitarian support of prisoners.

ZAKA Rescue and Recovery, Israel, is devoted to save lives by providing emergency rescue services globally.

ZAKA is one of three other Israeli organizations who were recognized by the UN as NGO's, the other two are, Israeli Women's Network, and The New Israel Fund's Empowerment and Training Center for Social Change Organizations.

Ameinu Condemns Green Party Statement

Ameinu condemns in the harshest terms the decision by the Green Party of the United States to pursue a  policy of boycott and divestment from Israel.

This recent announcement is merely the latest in a series of extremist, anti-Israel measures undertaken by this organization. The foreign policy section of the Greens' platform mentions only one country by name - Israel. It's unfathomable that of all of the issues facing the world today, the Greens have selected the Arab-Israeli conflict as their focus, instead of environmental issues that impact the entire planet.

Zionist Election Has High Stakes, Strange Pairings

Although America's midterm congressional elections are a year away, balloting is underway right now for another congress with high stakes and some very  strange political bedfellows.

The election will choose the 145 American delegates to the World Zionist Congress, a quadrennial event scheduled to convene in Jerusalem in June 2006. While the voting has drawn little notice so far from rank-and-file American Jews, maneuvering for position has been intense among the would-be delegates and the organizations that have nominated them.

The Truth: it is hard to raise interest in the upcoming elections for the World Zionist Congress. Yes, the
same movement founded by Theodore Herzl in Basle, the same organization that gave birth to the modern State of Israel. It is desperately difficult.

The World Zionist Movement has been maintained in parallel to the Knesset for fifty-seven years. Some
would argue that the WZO became obsolete once it achieved its main goal: to found a nation state.
Perhaps the fact that the WZO is a lesser facsimile of the Knesset, without the authority and legitimacy, explains why it is hard to raise eyebrows for the regular four-year elections.