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Jewish Journal

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October 20, 2011

Putting a price tag on Israel aid

Leave a Comment / News, Opinion /

In my last piece, I highlighted a Washington Post column in which Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Walter Pincus urged that the $3 billion aid package to Israel be re-examined.

Israel, with a population of seven million, receives $3 billion a year from the United States while the entire continent of Africa, with a population over a billion, receives $8 billion. Israel is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, while many countries in Africa languish in poverty and disease, especially HIV/AIDS. Obviously, these relative aid levels are ridiculous.

Nonetheless, I am now having second thoughts about the issue as a result of a call from a friend who works to increase aid levels for Africa.

She agrees that the foreign aid levels disproportionately favor Israel. But she points out that without aid to Israel, there probably would be no foreign aid at all because the Israel aid package is the locomotive that drives the aid legislation forward.

Simply put, the foreign aid bill passes due to AIPAC’s pressured lobbying for it (because it contains the Israel aid package). Needy countries in Africa would probably receive little aid from the United States at all if not for Israel’s inflated aid package and AIPAC’s fevered determination to enact it.

Any doubt on that score would be eliminated by reviewing what the Republican candidates have said about foreign aid in their various debates and by what Republican and conservative Democratic members of Congress say about it.

Virtually all of them oppose foreign aid and would eliminate it altogether. When asked which government program they would cut to reduce the deficit, foreign aid is at the top of their list even though it represents 1 percent of the budget.

Sad to say, the American public tends to agree. According to a recent Gallup poll, 59 percent of respondents favored cutting foreign aid. The good news is that they only favor reducing aid because they believe it constitutes a far larger chunk of expenditures than it does: According to PBS, a recent survey conducted by the University of Maryland’s Program on International Policy Attitudes asked Americans, “What percentage of the federal budget goes to foreign aid?”

The median answer was roughly 25 percent, according to the poll of 848 Americans. In reality, about 1 percent of the budget is allotted to foreign aid.

Asked what “would be an appropriate percentage of the federal budget to go to foreign aid, if any,” the average response was 10 percent, at least ten times the actual percentage.

But politicians are something else. Believing that most Americans oppose foreign aid, the common response (especially by Republicans) to any question about budget cutting is to say that first they would cut foreign aid.

For instance, in Tuesday’s GOP debate, Mitt Romney not only urged cutting foreign aid but specifically cited humanitarian assistance (such as feeding kids and providing pre-natal care in sub-Saharan Africa) as frills we can live without or farm out to the Chinese.

Speaking of our aid program, he said, “Part of it is humanitarian aid around the world. I happen to think it doesn’t make a lot of sense for us to borrow money from the Chinese to go give it to another country for humanitarian aid. We ought to get the Chinese to take care of [those] people…”

But here’s the thing. Romney cannot flatly oppose foreign aid because he is a vehement, albeit cynical, supporter of aid to Israel, as are all the Republican candidates (with the exception of Ron Paul).

So the GOP presidential contenders, like Republicans in Congress, are in a box. They can’t eliminate foreign aid to the world’s poor and hungry without also eliminating aid to Israel. And so foreign aid survives. Surely, no one believes that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) or Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) would bring the foreign aid bill to the floor if it did not include the Israel aid package.

AIPAC, for its part, lobbies for the entire foreign aid package not only to preserve aid to Israel but also because it understands that singling out one very prosperous country for our assistance would look very bad. Additionally, AIPAC, in principle, favors foreign aid (except, of course, in the case of Palestinians in Gaza and United Nations organizations that endorse Palestinian statehood). Also, it should be noted there are some fine humanitarian projects in the Israel aid package like Hadassah Hospital, which received the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize for its nondiscriminatory treatment of Israelis and Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza.

The bottom line is that it will be very difficult to target the Israel aid package without jeopardizing the entire foreign aid program. So what do we do?

My recommendation is that we not focus on wholesale cuts to the Israel aid package but rather link U.S. aid to Israeli behavior (as is the case with other countries).

Israel should pay a financial price for refusing to freeze settlements, evicting Palestinians from their homes in East Jerusalem, allowing settlers to destroy Palestinian olive groves and fields, and maintaining the illegal blockade of Gaza. In short, there should be a “price tag” for actions the Netanyahu government takes to subvert negotiations or increase the suffering of Palestinian people.

By law, aid to Egypt is contingent on maintaining peace with Israel. Similarly, aid to Israel should be contingent on its good faith efforts to end the occupation and achieve peace with the Palestinians.

To be honest, I see no value whatsoever in across-the-board cuts. However, if cuts are to be made, the president and Congress should make their decisions based on the merits — not based on the influence of lobbyists and campaign donors. Unfortunately, the likelihood of that happening is very slim, especially when it comes to Israel.

Foreign Policy Matters is updated daily. Read more here.

Putting a price tag on Israel aid Read More »

You spell Kadafi, I spell Gaddafi

Leave a Comment / News, Worldwide /

It seems like almost every publication has a different spelling for the late Libyan dictator’s name.  Here are the top 10 spellings and the publications who use them.

1)  Gaddafi (Reuters, Huffington Post, Washington Post, Jerusalem Post, Wikipedia)

2)  Gadhafi (CNN, ABC News, JewishJournal, Haaretz, Associated Press)

3)  Qaddafi (New York Times, Fox News, CBS News, )

4)  Kadafi (LA Times)

5)  Qadhafi (Politico, Saif al-Islam—-Muammar Gaddafi’s son)

6)  Kadhafi (AFP, Bangkok Post)

7)  Qadhaffi (The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions)

8)  Gathafi (Middle-East-Online.com)

9)  Al-Gaddafi (Facebook)

10) Cadaphi (we dare you to use it…)

Don’t get us started on how to spell Moammar (sp?)…

You spell Kadafi, I spell Gaddafi Read More »

Weddings: Focus on fitness

Leave a Comment / Culture, Weddings /

From reality TV shows to ads for bridal boot camps, it’s no secret that many women want to slim down for their wedding.

But the average bride-to-be endures months of parties, tastings and never-ending to-do lists leading up to her big day – and it can be a daunting feat to try to drop pounds and keep them off.

But with enough time and the right attitude, says Leslie Maltz, owner of the Topham Street Gym in Reseda, most women can achieve their goals of looking their best when they walk down the aisle.

“Brides want to drop dress sizes,” she said, adding that her average bridal client hopes to lose between 20 and 25 pounds before the big day. “And if they are really focused, it’s doable.”

The first thing that women should keep in mind, said Maltz, who also runs a boot camp in the Valley, is not to wait until the last minute to start eating right and exercising.

“I’ve had people contact me 10 days from the wedding,” she said. “They wanted me to give them a magic pill that makes their body transform.”

Instead, she advises the affianced to begin any weight-loss program at least 12 weeks in advance.

“Twelve weeks out from the wedding is perfect, because it gets you really excited, and it gets you on a plan that is doable,” she said. “It also gives you more motivation, and you know that after 12 weeks, there is an end.”

Once a time frame for getting in shape has been established, personal trainer Doug Rice, who developed the program Bridalicious Boot Camp in Beverly Hills and now runs it out of Dallas, Texas, suggests enlisting the help of a friend for support and encouragement.

Rice, who also has a top-selling bridal workout DVD on leading wedding Web site TheKnot.com, came up with the idea of having a loved one or member of the wedding party bear witness to the bride’s weight-loss goals.

“I have them sign a Fitubah,” said Rice, who is Jewish. “It’s a contract that the bride makes with herself and her bridal body buddy, who holds her accountable.”

The contract begins: “I, _____, of sound mind but currently not a sound enough body, enter into this fitness contract with myself.”

If a Fitubah isn’t part of your workout plan, though, Maltz still suggests involving someone else in your get-fit plan — like the person to whom you’re about to commit the rest of your life.

“Grooms also want to look good, although it’s generally just for their honeymoon night,” she said. “They want to lose their gut, build up their chest and tone up their arms.”

Working out together, she says, can increase both partners’ motivation, and each can keep the other on track during the busy months leading up to the wedding.

When it comes to specific exercises for those about to don a bridal gown, many women want to target the areas that will show most prominently in photos and that will be visible in strapless gowns: the back, the arms and the shoulders.

To accomplish this, Maltz and Rice agree that the best bet is interval training, which alternates between short bursts of high-intensity cardio and rests, or slower intervals of movement, and resistance training using dumbbells or even the body’s own weight.

Maltz tasks her brides with working out at least three days a week, for an hour at a time, at maximum output.

And while the upper body might be the main focus of a bride’s critical eye, the rest of her figure shouldn’t go unattended to, adds Rice.

“Most brides are going to go to a beach for the honeymoon, and don’t forget about the wedding night,” he said. “You want everything to be toned and looking awesome.”

But even the most disciplined bride-to-be can’t escape the months before the wedding without the inevitable parties, alcohol and food sampling.

To get through the social obligations without undoing all her efforts at the gym, Rice suggests keeping drinking to a minimum — but not eliminating it altogether.

“When you are a bride, there is a lot of social drinking,” he said. “Just limit yourself to a couple of drinks.”

And, he adds, for brides who have the overwhelming urge to let loose, pick one party a month at which to do so. Other than that, he says, “You have to keep your mind focused on your goals.”

When faced with tasting sample menus, cakes and appetizers for the big day, Maltz reminds those who might be prone to overdoing it, there’s a reason it’s called a tasting.

“The truth of the matter is, if you’re just tasting one or two bites, it’s not a problem,” she said. “But it’s when you eat something and you like it and eat the whole thing” that the damage is done.

“Keep the tasting to a taste,” she said.

By the time most brides’ weddings roll around, Maltz notes, if all went according to plan, there’s no reason they can’t lose anywhere from 10 to 25 pounds within three or four months. 

And, for Rice, it’s satisfying to know that he was able to help worried brides feel beautiful on such an important day.

“As I like to say, I take them from kvetching to fetching.”

Weddings: Focus on fitness Read More »

Tribe Calendar November 2011

Leave a Comment / Culture, What's Happening /

Saturday, November 5

YAD Havdalah Hike
End Shabbat on a natural note with a Havdalah ceremony and schmooze at the summit of Mission Canyon’s Inspiration Point after a moderate four-mile hike. Bring water, a flashlight or headlamp, and dress for hiking. Sponsored by the Santa Barbara Jewish Federation Young Adult Division. 4:30-7 p.m. 4 p.m. carpool from Bronfman Family Jewish Community Center, 524 Chapala St., Santa Barbara. Free. RSVP to (805) 957-1115, ext. 107. ” title=”artsandlectures.sa.ucsb.edu”>artsandlectures.sa.ucsb.edu.

Sunday, November 6

Mitzvah Day
Jews across the Valley join together for a common goal — to give back to the community. Mitzvah Day represents an opportunity for the entire family to help others through serving meals, gathering toys, donating blood, learning CPR, knitting blankets for babies, reading to children and more. Sponsored by The Jewish Federation Valley Alliance in partnership with local Jewish institutions. Contact your local synagogue or any Jewish social service agency to learn what community service projects are happening near you. For more information, call (818) 464-3203, visit ” title=”jewishto.org”>jewishto.org.

Monday, November 7

“How to Begin Your Genealogy”
Cover the basics of family documents, time lines, tracking records and family photos, interviewing techniques, newspaper research and more in honor of International Jewish Genealogy Month. Seasoned genealogists will share tips and tricks of the trade. 7-9 p.m. Free. Sponsored by the Jewish Genealogical Society of Conejo Valley and Ventura County. Temple Adat Elohim, 2420 E. Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks. (818) 889-6616. ” title=”conejoplayers.org”>conejoplayers.org.

Saturday, November 12

“Jews Gone Wild”
See which one of tonight’s stand-up comedians might follow in the hilarious footsteps of Don Rickles, Jerry Seinfeld or Rita Rudner during “Jews Gone Wild,” part of “Ventura Comedy Festival 2011 — Laughter by the Sea.” 7 p.m. $15 (21 and older; two-drink minimum). The Greek at the Harbor, 1583 Spinnaker Drive, Suite 101, Ventura. (805) 644-1500. ” title=”jewishsantabarbara.org”>jewishsantabarbara.org.

Tuesday, November 15

“Norway and the Holocaust”
Irene Levin Berman, who escaped from Norway to Sweden with her family during the Holocaust, speaks about her memoir, “We Are Going to Pick Potatoes,” and discusses how the Holocaust affected Norway and its Jewish families. Sponsored by the Scandinavian American Cultural and Historical Foundation and the CLU History Department. 7 p.m. Free. California Lutheran University, Overton Hall (Regent Avenue and Memorial Parkway), Thousand Oaks. (805) 241-1051. ” border = 0 vspace = ‘8’ hspace = ‘8’ align = ‘left’>Marc Cohn
Go “Walking in Memphis” with the soulful sounds of Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Marc Cohn. We dare you not to sing along with Cohn’s signature song about a spiritual awakening in the birthplace of rock ’n’ roll. 6 p.m. (doors open), 9 p.m. (show). $38 (younger than 18 must be accompanied by a paying adult). The Canyon Club, 28912 Roadside Drive, Agoura Hills. (818) 879-5016. ” title=”congregationbnaiemet.org”>congregationbnaiemet.org.

Monday, November 21

Haverim B’nai B’rith of the Conejo Valley
Enjoy an evening of Broadway tunes, folk songs and more with musician and singer Michael Cladis. Open to new members, couples and singles, especially baby boomers. 7:30 p.m. (general meeting), 8 p.m. (program), 9 p.m. (refreshments and schmoozing). Free. Sponsored by Haverim B’nai B’rith of the Conejo Valley. Temple Adat Elohim, 2420 E. Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks. RSVP to (805) 529-9297.

Tribe Calendar November 2011 Read More »

TRIBE Life: Game on

Leave a Comment / Culture, Is Featured?, News, Travel /

While urban hubs Cape Town and Johannesburg are home to thriving Jewish communities, with members whose personal convictions helped shape post-apartheid South Africa, the allure for many who make the long journey from the United States is the rare opportunity to experience wildlife in its most authentic setting. In other words, the original “eco-tourism” experience, which goes beyond anything that may be trendy in nature-focused vacations, is a major draw for travelers.

Safari lodge resorts like Kapama Private Game Reserve near Hoedspruit (on the outskirts of South Africa’s Kruger National Park) represent today’s South Africa at its best without trying too hard, thanks to ethnically diverse staffers and guides, superb cuisine and a relaxed, comfortable approach to luxury safaris.

At the Kapama’s sprawling complex, nature’s bounty, combined with uplifting examples of philanthropy and an eco-friendly lifestyle, are celebrated both on a grand scale and on a personalized, intimate level. The reserve is composed of several resorts of different sizes and settings, enabling guests to customize their safari experience to their own needs — families, honeymooning couples, corporate groups, guys’ or girls’ getaways, or hard-core adventuring travelers.

The compact but regal Kapama Lodge (kapama.co.za) is quintessential safari South Africa. Its cottages are appropriately comfortable and elegant, yet free of the trappings of jungle kitsch or over-the-top five-star hotel décor. Dinners are served open air in a lapa (courtyard) with an array of seasonal, simple sides and made-to-order grilled meats. Daytime dining, meanwhile, benefits from the presence of local produce and a gorgeous terrace overlooking the nearby river.

While the resort has decent Internet access, e-mail loses its urgency when you’re surrounded by the serenity of the area’s lush greenery and sprawling river. Though camping here is hardly “roughing it,” Kapama’s approach puts you back in touch with nature, from a greeting committee of giraffes to nayala antelopes and monkeys strolling nonchalantly past your cottage, to elephants adding extra ambience to your spa experience, to the lodge’s astute and youthfully energetic staff.

Kapama Lodge’s guests enjoy braAi (pronounced “bry”), a traditional South African barbecue.

Though you could visit Kruger National Park on your own, guided tours are ideal for short stays and eco-tourism virgins. Game drives conducted by Kapama’s guides in tricked-out Land Rovers deliver on their promise of genuine thrills and “wow” moments, ample photo ops and plenty of witty commentary from guides as they make earnest efforts to ensure you see at least four of the “big five” (lions, elephants, water buffalo, rhinoceroses and the elusive leopards) as well as other equally interesting specimens of wildlife. However, this is the jungle, so expect surprises. Our group, for example, delighted in stumbling upon a family of normally elusive cheetahs en route to an outing outside the Kapama compound.

Firms like Distell (parent company of Amarula Liqueur and several internationally distributed wines, including Durbanville Hills) contribute significantly to the well-being of communities neighboring Kapama and Kruger National Park. Convening with nature on safari may be the focus of your journey, but a visit to the Amarula Lapa (visitor center) near the village of Phalaborwa brings an added dimension of human interest and cultural enrichment to a safari vacation, even if you are not an avid cocktail fan.

Marula fruit (a relative of the mango that in its fresh-picked state tastes like an eccentric hybrid of citrus, passion fruit and plum) has provided nourishment to elephants and humans living in this region for centuries. Prior to the arrival of Distell, locals used marula to manufacture local beer, fruit juice and beauty products. However, the economic value of this fruit grew when, nearly 20 years ago, Distell’s experiments to develop a marula spirit with international appeal, in a manner of speaking, bore fruit.

From that seed emerged the Amarula Trust (amarulatrust.com), and if you travel to the Amarula Lapa during harvest season, you can witness firsthand the trust’s conservation efforts and community philanthropy in action. During the months the villages’ men are stationed at their jobs, the trust provides wives supplemental household income, as well as a medical facility and day-care center. The trust also oversees a scholarship program enabling young adults to further their education and train for field-guide careers.

Johannesburg-based Rabbi Baruch Goldstuck, meanwhile, has developed a uniquely Jewish way for his brethren from other countries to experience Africa’s majestic bush and wildlife, using his own memories of childhood vacations as a starting point. By converging the Jewish traditions that shaped him with the untamed wonders of nature, Goldstuck built a unique tour company offering tailor-made and strictly kosher safaris in Southern Africa a little over a decade ago. Today, The Kosher Wildlife Experience not only offers fully catered, glatt kosher safaris, but also has retained its quaint, personal approach, arranging a unique, custom-prepared vacation for each group.

For more information on South Africa, visit southafrica.net, and for information on flights into South Africa, visit flysaa.com. Companies such as Momentum Tours (momentumtours.com), The Kosher Wildlife Experience (kosherwildlife.com) and Travel With Jacob (travelwithjacob.com) also offer Jewish-focused tours of South Africa, which include safaris in their itineraries.

TRIBE Life: Game on Read More »

TRIBE Life: The mourning after

Leave a Comment / Culture, Is Featured?, News /

Each culture has rituals and customs surrounding death, and Judaism is no exception. Jewish tradition and the Jewish community provide mourners with structure and direction during the grieving process.

When a family member dies, those left behind often find themselves in a state of confusion when planning the memorial service, burial, reception and shivah. Rabbi Ed Feinstein of Valley Beth Shalom, a Conservative congregation in Encino, says he tries to help families with planning and spiritual guidance.

“The fact that we are taken aback by a death means we are not prepared,” Feinstein said. “It’s my job to come in and facilitate a process, such as gathering the community to support the family.”

Jews have two obligations to a loved one who has died, Feinstein says. “We have an obligation to protect the dignity of their body and the dignity of their soul. The way we protect the body is by carefully guarding it and preparing it for burial. We bury the body in the earth with love and care,” he said.

A congregation might have a chevrah kadisha (burial society), a small group of volunteers responsible for the physical and spiritual preparation of the deceased according to Jewish law. In addition to washing, purifying and dressing the deceased, a shomer (guardian) will sit with a body until burial.

Jewish funerals take place soon after death, preferably within 24 hours. Funerals cannot take place on Shabbat or other holy days, and a funeral can be delayed for legal reasons, to transport the deceased or to allow close relatives to travel.

Funeral services can be held in a synagogue, a funeral home or at the gravesite. The service is usually brief and simple, including psalms, prayers and a eulogy. Unlike other religious traditions, Jewish funerals always feature a closed casket to protect the dignity of the deceased.

“We keep the casket closed because it is undignified to have people looking at you when you cannot look back,” Feinstein said.

The body should be buried in the ground in a plain, unadorned casket made of wood. Jewish law forbids cremation. “The body does not belong to us. It is a loan from God, and we need to bring it back with dignity,” Feinstein said.

Either before or after the funeral, close family will observe keriah — tearing clothing or a black ribbon. Parents should make a tear or cut on the left side, over the heart, while all other relatives tear on the right side.

The rites of mourning, Feinstein said, are like a toolbox that one uses to get through the grief. Some people, because of level of observance, use all of these tools, while others find a few of them to be comforting.

Shivah, for example, is the seven-day mourning period observed by immediate family. Mourners remain home from school or work, receive condolence calls and condolence meals, and refrain from entertainment. Observances include reciting Kaddish three times daily at home with a minyan, lighting a seven-day memorial candle, wearing the keriah (except during Shabbat) and covering the mirrors in the shivah house.

Once shivah ends, a mourner returns to work or school but refrains from entertainment and social activities during the first 30 days following the burial — a period known as shloshim. Kaddish is recited daily in synagogue.

A mourner who has lost a parent recites Kaddish daily for 11 months (Shanna) and refrains from public celebration for 12 months. These mourners also begin reciting Yizkor during Yom Kippur, Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot.

Each year on the anniversary of the death (yahrzeit), Kaddish is recited and it is customary to light a 24-hour yahrzeit candle, study and donate tzedakah.

When he counsels families after the death of a loved one, Feinstein said he likes to impart the notion that Jewish life and tradition is always about life — that it is life affirming.

“We need to remember that death is a part of life. We need to be reminded that every moment is precious and that we should not waste time,” he said.

TRIBE Life: The mourning after Read More »

Jewish community leaders honored as “Local Heroes”

Leave a Comment / California, Community, News /

Jewish community leaders Zane Buzby and Stephen Sass were honored at the 14th Annual Local Heroes Awards on Tuesday, Oct. 18, organized by KCET and Union Bank, N.A.

Buzby is the founder of the Survivors Mitzvah project, which provides financial aid to Holocaust survivors living in Europe.

Stephen Sass, president of the Jewish Historical Society of Southern California, has spearheaded the effort to revitalize the Breed Street Shul in Boyle Heights.

Story continues after the jump.

The culmination of a yearlong “Local Heroes” campaign that aired on public television station KCET, the event also honored community activists working on behalf of local women, Asian Americans, African-Americans and Latinos. The ceremony took place at the Club Nokia at L.A. Live.

“I feel terrific about being honored,” Buzby said in an interview. “It was great company to be in, and it’s really nice that they acknowledged the good that’s going on in the world.”

“With so much strife and so much craziness,” Buzby added, “it’s good to know that there other people out there striving to do something good.”

In their professional lives, Buzby directs sitcoms for television and Sass works for HBO as vice president of legal affairs.

Jewish community leaders honored as “Local Heroes” Read More »

The City Council’s Shameless Pander

Leave a Comment / Blogs, Featured Event /

Pander — to indulge somebody’s weaknesses or questionable wishes and tastes.

When Webster comes out with its next edition, it might have as an exemplar of the phenomenon the resolution recently introduced and co-authored by seven members of the Los Angeles City Council on the Occupy Los Angeles demonstration.

City Council members Alarcon, Rosendahl, Huizar, Koretz, Zine, Reyes and Garcetti introduced the resolution that offers the “SUPPORT (sic) [of the city of Los Angeles] for the continuation of the peaceful and vibrant exercise in First Amendment rights carried out by ‘Occupy Los Angeles’ on the City Hall lawn.” Last week the Council unanimously (with three absences) adopted the statement of support.

This official endorsement of an amorphous cause whose purpose has yet to be defined might be ascribed to the electeds’ eagerness to identify with the underdog and those battered by economic hard times. A few demonstrators camp on the grounds of City Hall, rail against Wall Street and big banks, attract a few movie stars, and Messrs. Alarcon et al. figure they have nothing to lose — after all, who loves big banks?

But the three-page council resolution goes beyond just expressing sympathy for demonstrators at First and Main streets; it lauds Occupy Los Angeles as “fueled by Angelenos from all walks of life who have come together in a demonstration of solidarity with and support for the national movement started by the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protests.” The resolution proceeds to cite the Web site of the Occupy Wall Street movement as an “overview of the goals and unifying principles of the ‘Occupy’ movement.”

Elected leaders who write our laws and hope to command our respect can’t facilely pander to the sentiment du jour and hope to retain their credibility. “Indulging” (Webster’s word) the demands of constituents without discriminating between what is legitimate and what is extreme or media hype betrays a troubling lack of principles.

The Council resolution, by citing the Occupy Wall Street resolution with approval, mindlessly invokes a manifesto that is, to be generous, bizarre; akin to junior high school level Marxism. An observer of the Wall Street demonstrators noted a striking resemblance to Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s 2004 “Team America” movie, “in which a disgruntled and effusive Tim Robbins puppet complains that ‘the corporations sit there in their … in their corporation buildings, and … and, and see, they’re all corporation-y … and they make money.’ ”

It is a collection of angry accusations against corporations — who are uniformly accused of “place[ing] profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, [and who] run our governments.” “They” are accused of virtually every crime (from murder to poisoning) plaguing the world but for droughts in the Sahara. A sampling:

“They” have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.

“They” have poisoned the food supply through negligence and undermining the farming system through monopolization.

“They” have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.

“They” purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.

“They” have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.

“They” have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.

That is not even to mention the troubling connection of the Occupy Wall Street folks to Adbusters magazine and its noisome history (see David Brooks’ Oct. 10 New York Times piece).

That our local political leaders might imply support for such conspiratorial and incendiary charges by endorsing broadly the Occupy movement is troubling —their specific citation of the Wall Street document’s paranoia is mind-boggling. Either they have staffs that don’t bother to fact check data included in documents that they sign, or even more disturbing, they actually believe this errant nonsense.

The latter may be the case, since even a cursory review of the Occupy Los Angeles Web site ought to give a politician pause about embracing this inchoate collection of paranoia. The Web site includes a section titled “Rothschild’s Illuminati Will Fail! Jesus for President” — which refers to a long-standing loony conspiracy theory with anti-Semitism at its heart — as well as a call to ban military recruiters from high school campuses, among other provocative themes. Certainly enough to give a mainstream politician pause about identifying with a view of the world that ultimately will view them as the enemy of the victimized “99%” too.

Occupy Los Angeles and its analogues are a collection of grievances with no particular political or rational coherence; they seem to have attracted both genuinely hurting folks, and political extremists and conspiracy-mongers. They have an undisputed right to express their concerns and their anger; that is beyond question.

But, the demonstrators must be parsed from the 10 members of the City Council who have cast their lot, and the reputation of this city, with this teeming bundle of populist anger that is simply a balm for feeling superior and pure. Leadership means more than pandering to the base from which one hopes future votes might come — it means separating moderates from extremists, rational advocates from screaming conspiracy theorists and serious critics from perpetual complainers. We desperately need leadership on L.A.’s City Council who can tell the difference. Its absence in this case is telling.

The City Council’s Shameless Pander Read More »

‘Irvine 11’ attorneys appeal conviction

Leave a Comment / California, Community, Is Featured?, News /

Attorneys for 10 Muslim students convicted of disrupting a speech given by Israeli ambassador at UC Irvine last year, filed a notice of appeal Wednesday, arguing that the law used to convict the students was “vague and unconstitutional.”

The students — three from UC Riverside and seven from UCI — were found guilty of conspiring to and then disrupting a speech given by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren on Feb. 8, 2010.

The high-profile case garnered national debate over free speech rights and has divided Jews and Muslims as well as some within the Jewish community for more than a year.

On Sept. 23, Superior Court Judge Peter J. Wilson handed down his sentence of three years probation, which would be cut to a year if the students complete 56 hours of community service by Jan. 31 and pay $270 in fines. Charges against an 11th co-defendant have been tentatively dropped.

In the courtroom, Orange County Assistant District Attorney Dan Wagner argued that Oren was “shut down” and “censored.” But the defendants’ six defense attorneys argued that the students acted within the law and were exercising their right to free speech

Susan Kang Schroeder, chief of staff for Wagner, said the notice of appeal was expected.

“They were defiant of the jury’s verdict from the start and said they would be filing an appeal,” she said. “We will for sure file an objection. We believe the defendants got more than a fair trial.”

‘Irvine 11’ attorneys appeal conviction Read More »