An Israeli immigrant from the former Yugoslavia has been arrested for alleged involvement in Bosnian genocide. Aleksander Cvetkovic, 42, who moved to Israel and obtained citizenship in 2006 with his Jewish wife and their children, is accused of involvement in the 1995 Srebrenicia massacre in which Bosnian Serb forces shot and killed 8,000 Muslim men and boys.
U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman reportedly will not run for re-election. Lieberman (I-Conn.), who became the first Jewish nominee on a major presidential ticket when Al Gore chose him as his running mate in 2000, will announce his decision Wednesday in Hartford, Politico reported. Lieberman lost favor with Democrats over his support for the Iraq War. He lost the Connecticut primary in 2006 but ran as an independent and won.
The national board of Hadassah: The Women’s Zionist Organization of America has nominated its former treasurer to take over the organization’s top lay leadership position. The board on Sunday officially selected Marcie Natan, currently the national chairperson of Hadassah College in Jerusalem, to become the organization’s president in July. Natan, of Lancaster, Pa., must be approved officially at Hadassah’s annual meeting. She would succeed Nancy Falchuk, who has served as president since 2007. The organization’s top lay position, the Hadassah president serves as essentially a volunteer CEO, wielding an unusual amount of responsibility for a lay leader at a nonprofit.
The PLO office in Washington raised a flag for the first time. \”It\’s about time that this flag that symbolizes the struggle of the Palestinian people for self-determination and statehood is raised in the United States,\” said Palestine Liberation Organization envoy Maen Areikat in a brief ceremony Tuesday outside its Dupont Circle offices. \”We hope that this will help in the international efforts to provide recognition for the Palestinian state.\” The Obama administration granted the delegation, which does not have embassy status, permission to raise the flag last July.
In the wake of revelations that a computer virus may have set back Iran’s nuclear weapons program, the Western groups and analysts that track the Islamic Republic are saying “More of the same, please.” The benefits of a nonviolent program that inhibits Iranian hegemony by keeping the country\’s nuclear weapons program at bay are obvious: Better to stop Iran with cyber warfare — in this case, the Stuxnet computer virus, which reportedly caused Iran’s nuclear centrifuges to spin out of control — than actual warfare. For those who favor engagement, the cyber attack buys more time to coax the regime in Tehran into compliance. For those who favor the stick, it allows more time to exert pressure on Iran through sanctions and diplomatic isolation.
Jewish author Anthony Horowitz has been commissioned by the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle to write a full-length Sherlock Holmes novel. Horowitz, author of the popular young adult series about teenage spy Alex Rider, told The Guardian Tuesday that he set about writing \”a first-rate mystery for a modern audience while remaining absolutely true to the spirit of the original.\” Horowitz said he fell in love with Sherlock Holmes stories when he was 16.\n
Was it an act of political self-preservation, a feat of political destruction or a bid to stabilize Israel’s government ahead of some dramatic move? And for Israel\’s Labor Party, was it another sign of the once-leading party’s demise, or a precursor to a revival and the ideals for which it stands? What’s certain is that Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s decision this week to quit Labor, which he had headed until Monday, has sent shock waves throughout the Israeli political establishment. Ironically, the split of Labor — until this week a part of the Israeli government but now in the opposition — may yet strengthen the coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Barak’s decision to quit Labor and found a new political party along with four other Labor defectors leaves Netanyahu with eight fewer members in his coalition, but the 66 who remain are considered far more stable than the 74 he had pre-defection.
Ever so often Astrology is presented with an opportunity to explain herself and thus improve on her wisdom and service to humankind. Such occasions, alas, usually happen when her system of symbolism is under attack, usually from people who have no knowledge of Astrology and who base their dismissive notions on popular culture and misunderstandings instead of serious consideration.
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