This week in power: Bin Laden, Hamas, Huckabee, Yaroslavsky

A roundup of the most talked about political and global stories in the Jewish world this week:

Bin Laden’s death
The big news around the world this week has been the death of the al Qaeda mastermind, and Jewish and Israeli leaders welcomed the news, ” title=”http://blog.pjvoice.com/diary/463/framing-an-inclusive-jewish-reaction-to-the-end-of-osama” target=”_blank”>said Rabbi Goldie Milgram in The Philadelphia Jewish Voice. But our tradition warns that we shouldn’t celebrate others’ demise, ” title=”http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2011/05/03/a-spiritual-response-to-bin-ladens-assassination/” target=”_blank”>said Peter Gabel at AlterNet. Celebration like we witnessed on Sunday night shows disrespect for human life, and even “undermines the moral character and worthiness of those responsible for the death itself.”

Hamas deal
Some wonder about the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation struck last week and what that means for the potential for peace in the Middle East, ” title=”http://www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/article/abbas_yes_hamas_no_20110504/” target=”_blank”>said Larry Derfner in The Jewish Journal. “It set back the cause of Palestinian independence, it made the occupation that much harder to dislodge, and the only people who’ll benefit from it are the rejectionists on both sides.” But this could actually work, too, ” title=”http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=218895″ target=”_blank”>ADL response. This wasn’t Huckabee’s first ” title=”http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/05/04/973053/-Huckabee,-Bachmann-Warn-of-Holocaust-Over-Taxes,-Debt” target=”_blank”>said Avenging Angel at Daily Kos. While Huckabee does have Jewish support, ” title=”http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/05/03/adl_blasts_huckabee_over_holocaustgun_control_anal/” target=”_blank”>said M.J. Rosenberg at Talking Points Memo. “Will someone tell these right-wingers that professing their ‘love’ for Israel will not get them off the hook for trivializing the murder of 6,000,000 Jewish men, women and children in Europe?”

Pope beatified
Pope John Paul II, who has dedicated himself to Catholic-Jewish relations among other things, was ” title=”http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/29/2193253/in-pope-john-paul-ii-jews-remember.html” target=”_blank”>said Daniel Shoer Roth in the Miami Herald. “To the Jews, he is a saint.” Rabbi Jack Bemporad, ” title=”http://www.laweekly.com/2011-04-28/news/zev-yaroslavsky-will-replace-antonio-villaraigosa-as-mayor-experts-predict/” target=”_blank”>according to LA Weekly. For decades, he “has been mentioned as mayoral material, and for almost as long has been uninterested in the job,” but if he changes his mind Yaroslavsky “is clearly the man to beat.” So what’s holding him back? ““It’s largely a personal decision about what I want to do for the rest of my life,” Yaroslavsky said in February, ” title=”http://www.thecitymaven.com/2011/03/28/is-zev-yaroslavsky-the-next-mayor-of-la/” target=”_blank”>focused on the work at hand.