This is great news for people like my wife who was converted to Judaism by non-Orthodox rabbis, as well as my children who are not considered Jewish according to the Orthodox, but could hardly be considered anything but Jewish by any non-Jew. And as we learned from the Nazis, it is not always up to the Jews to determine who is Jewish when it matters most.

Court recognizes non-Orthodox abroad conversion of Israelis

People who undergo non-Orthodox conversions to Judaism overseas are entitled to Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return, even if the converts are Israeli residents who traveled overseas solely for the purpose of converting, the High Court of Justice ruled Thursday in a 7-4 decision.

That being said, she was born in Israel and is therefore considered Israeli anyway. What´s important is that she would now be considered a Jewish Israeli by the Israeli government.

Last night, I went to the third soccer game of my life, the World Cup qulaifier between Argentina and Colombia which Argentina won 1-0 in what most considered to be a pretty boring game. The low score came despite the fact that Colombia played with only 10 men for the entire second half. The game was in the Estadio Monumental of the River Plate club.



My mother-in-law actually lives only a 15 minute walk away and it´s easily visible from her balcony. My brother-in-law is actually a fan of Boca Juniors, which is "River´s" biggest rival - think Yankees vs. Mets - so it must annoy him terribly that he always has to see the enemy stadium and that the national team´s games are played there.

My brother-in-law and I were sitting in the upper level a little bit inside of one of the goals. Although the stadium was full, I was actually surprised at the general calm of the fans. Aside from the occassional singing, it didn´t really seem that there was much more or less passion than at a typical NFL game. My favorite chant is when everyone starts hopping up and down and screams:

YA LO VE
YA LO VE
EL QUIEN NO SALTA ES UN INGLES

(Hey look now, hey look now, whoever´s not jumping is English!)

Apparently, this is the type of chant that is easily transferable depending on who you dislike. A recent article in the New York Times, A Dutch Soccer Riddle: Jewish Regalia Without Jews, talks about a Dutch game where the crowd sang, "Everyone who's not jumping is a Jew!" , which in this case meant supporters of Ajax. Read the story.

Anyway, the peanuts cost about 30 cents for a small bag, 15 cents after the game. Since this was my first game in Argentina where there are signs everywhere saying "No to violence", I was surprised that there were people at the game with small children, people with cell phones and digital cameras. I didn´t notice anyone particularly drunk, and not even a lot of smoking which is still prevalent here in public places.

I imagine that the atmosphere is much different at a regular season game when the real barrabrava (hooligans) show up, but I still look forward to going to one someday.

In other World Cup news, Israel actually tied France and the U.S. beat Guatemala.

After several years of complaints that Columbia University has become a breeding ground for anti-Semitism, a University comittee will issue a report saying that the exact opposite is the case. It´s the Jews that are causing all the trouble.

Columbia Panel Reports No Proof of Anti-Semitism

But the report, obtained by The New York Times and scheduled for release today, said it had found "no evidence of any statements made by the faculty that could reasonably be construed as anti-Semitic."

It did, however, describe a broader environment of incivility on campus, with pro-Israel students disrupting lectures on Middle Eastern studies and some faculty members feeling that they were being spied on.

The full report can be read here.

Certain Jewish members of the student body are not happy.

Fueling the ire was word that the university's public-affairs department leaked a copy of the report to The New York Times — which first reported the findings on its Web site — before showing it to the students who made the charges.

Sophomore Bari Weiss said the move illustrated the school's lack of respect for students.

Great follow-up here from Kesher Talk.

Among other commentary, a link is provided to Charles Jacobs of the Anti-Slavery Group and the David Project...

The report obfuscates by referring to incidents of biased, dishonest teaching in pedagogical and psychological terms. It classes them as ‘rhetorically combative’ methods or as expressions of ‘uncongenial views’ that — and the issue is reduced to this — make some students ‘uncomfortable.’ But the committee never considers the possibility that these ‘teachings’ are lies and propaganda. When Professor Massad teaches that the word ‘Zion’ means ‘penis’ and therefore Zionism is a macho movement, this is not an uncongenial view, but a lie. When at Columbia it is taught that the Jews are Nazis and the Palestinians are the new Jews, and that the Jews slaughtered Arabs in Jenin, these are not ‘rhetorically combative’ modes of teaching; they are blood libels, anti-Semitic provocations, deceptions, and Arabist propaganda.

Iran won its 2006 World Cup qualifying match against North Korea today, sealing it´s position in first place in the Evil* Region. But what would a clash of evil nations be without violence?

*Evil refers to the respective governments, not the people of course.

Iran triumph sparks ugly reaction

Iran overpowered North Korea 2-0 on Wednesday in a spiteful Asian World Cup qualifier that saw the match officials marooned on the pitch for 20 minutes after the final whistle.

Referee Mohammed Kousa had refused to award the Koreans a late penalty and was surrounded by angry players while fans threw bottles and other missiles.

The missiles, luckliy, were not of the long-range kind that could hit the U.S.

The other day, Daniel Okrent of the New York Times reported without doubt that the reporters and editorial board at his current employer do work independently of one anohter. Assuming this is the case at other large news organizations, I guess we have to start blaming individual reporters for spreading liberal opinion through the hard news sections.

Back on March 18, Paul Blustein and Richard Leiby of the Washington Post reported -

Battle lines hardened yesterday over President Bush's nomination of Paul D. Wolfowitz to become president of the World Bank, as U.S. officials pressed for swift approval by the bank's board and some European officials vowed to resist.

The deputy defense secretary's nomination, already hugely controversial because of his role as a key architect of the Iraq war, drew fresh denunciations in European capitals, where critics fumed that Washington had failed to consult other member countries of the bank before springing its choice on them.

How is it possible that less than two weeks later, Reuters can report the following -

The European Union gave U.S. nominee Paul Wolfowitz a green light on Wednesday by calling him the "incoming president of the World Bank" on the eve of a board meeting to choose a new head of the development bank.

After the U.S. deputy defense secretary met senior European finance and development officials in Brussels, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said on behalf of the EU: "We had a constructive and friendly meeting where European ministers were putting all the questions they wanted to put to the incoming president of the World Bank."

However, no article would be complete without finding something bad to say -

EU governments have mostly avoided public criticism of a man more widely associated with the unilateral use of U.S. military power rather than with development assistance. But some non-government organizations have slammed the choice.

Since governments are by definition public bodies, I think it´s laughable that by definition Reuters suggests that there is some other form of criticism from government officials that is representative of the whole body, especially without naming sources.

I was going to spend some time going through Paul Krugman´s latest op-ed piece claiming that there´s a bunch of Christians out there ready to assassinate non-believers, but others, like the genetlemen at Powerline, are just so good at it that I´ll just take the lazy way out and link to their work.

I´ve been in Argentina since Saturday morning visiting the in-laws. As is typical for this time of year, the weather is beautiful (outside of the occasional fall thunderstorm) as the heat of summer gives way to the cool air of fall.

I don´t get out in the streets enough, and I don´t wear a yarmulke, so perhaps I can´t confirm whether this is true or not - Report Finds anti-Semitism Increased Since 1994 Buenos Aires Attack

The report, issued by the Institute of the World Jewish Congress, is titled, "Justice and the AMIA Attack: The Selective or the Collective in Argentina - Who Is At Fault?" Recent anti-Semitic incidents have ranged from vandalized Jewish property and cemeteries to police discrimination and verbal threats. Although politicians such as President Kirchner, who signed the WJC petition to the UN against anti-Semitism, have been sympathetic to Jewish concerns, investigations into various incidents have made little progress to date.

Argentines have long ago given up the idea that anyone will be prosecuted for the AMIA bombing, but I don´t know that anti-Semitism is on the increase here. I imagine that there´s the typical increase in anti-Israel sentiment that´s occurred globally over the last few years, but I don´t think there´s been a increased sense of danger in the community.

Friday afternoon the Multiwife and I are going to our nephew´s school - Instituto Bet-El for the unveiling of a plaque in our parent´s honor/memory. We are helping them to build a new library-classroom for the school. We´ve never made a donation like this before so we don´t know quite what to expect. I hope they don´t expect me to make a speech in Spanish....

Here´s some nice news from Israel - Warring sides sing a song of peace

Israeli and Palestinian singers will perform a love song in Hebrew and Arabic on each side's public radio stations on Sunday, hoping it will help inspire peacemaking after years of bloodshed.

The bilingual In My Heart, to be sung by Israeli David Broza and Palestinian Wisam Murad, will be broadcast simultaneously on the official Voice of Palestine radio and Israel's Army Radio.

"It's a big issue for Israelis to hear an Arab sing on Army Radio, and the Voice of Palestine has never before broadcast a song in Hebrew. It's a breakthrough for coexistence," Broza's media adviser, Nir Gontarz, said.

I can´t find a link to the song right now, but if I do I´ll post it.

UPDATE - Many thanks to Richard at Tikun Olam for providing a link to B´Libi with english translation as well! Todah rabah.

Honestly, I have no clue what is going on over there right now, although the signs that there are increasing tensions between the hardliners and the not-so-hardliners within both Israeli and Palestinian societies is probably a sign of peace since it means people are more focused on conflict amongst themselves than with others.

I´ve heard many jokes over the years that once Israelis lose their external enemy, their society will fall apart. I certainly hope that´s not true.

Add another country to the list where people are asking for more democracy, not just independence. Bahrain.

MANAMA (Reuters) - Tens of thousands have marched in one of Bahrain’s largest opposition demonstrations to demand democratic reforms in the pro-Western Gulf Arab state.

Just two months after being sworn in as president despite a campaign that painted him as the worst president on jobs since the Great Depression, it turns out that job growth under George W. Bush is now too strong.

After years of praying for strong payroll numbers each month, investors must adjust to the idea that a healthy market for workers could be unhealthy for financial markets.

Back in the day, job creation was good for everybody: workers, bosses and investors. It showed a strong economy, which meant good profits and higher stock prices.

But now job creation could be seen as a warning sign of inflation, which could mean higher interest rates and lower stock prices.

Only a few days after criticizing a New York Times opinion piece for trying to claim that the various "people power" movements around the Middle East are not necessarily desirious of democracy, we have these photos from Taiwan where hundreds of thousands marched in protest against the mainland Chinese government.





Do I think China is going down? Not yet, not yet....

In this year of revolution and freedom, another tyrannical power falls and a joyous nation celebrates.

Spartans march on, stun top-seeded Devils ) That´s Duke University, if you didn´t know.

With one high-flying display of muscle and moxie, Maurice Ager and the Michigan State Spartans put the exclamation point on their bruising run through the NCAA tournament.

Taking a pass from Alan Anderson on a fastbreak in the second half, Ager took one step and leaped high over Duke’s J.J. Redick before hammering down a spectacular tomahawk dunk. He then pounded his chest with his fist.

I´m paying almost zero attention to March Madness, yet when Duke loses I get this warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Maybe it´s because my alma mater hasn´t made the Final Four for about twenty'five years.

From WSJ's Opinion Journal - What does this say about the authors of The Princeton Review?

How do you know that you'll be comfortable -- and that others will be comfortable with you -- at your chosen college? We dish the dirt about demographic backgrounds, lifestyle attitudes and religion.

Diversity University - Monochromatic Institute
Lots of Race/Class Interaction - Little Race/Class Interaction
Diverse Student Population - Homogeneous Student Population
Students Ignore God - Students Pray
Gay Community Accepted - Alternative Lifestyles Not An Alternative

So, I guess this means that a campus where many students pray is synonomous with single-mindedness? Has any body heard the joke about the two Jews with three opinions? Have these people seen what is going on in Gaza or Southern Thailand?

It is certainly a valid argument that the current wave of change in the Middle East is in certain ways quite dissimilar to the collapse of the Soviet empire in Eastern Europe. There's a lot more killing going on now and those in power are not slipping away quietly, as David Fromkin writes in A Wall of Faith and History in today's NY Times.

However, when the argument turns from pointing out the differences to "don't feel too good about yourselves, America", the argument always seems to rest on unrelenting pessimism or a sleight of verbal hand.

For example, Mr. Fromkin writes, "Nor are the forces on our side necessarily fighting for democracy, as they were in Berlin. The demonstrators in the streets in Beirut were not demanding democracy, but asking for independence - which is rather a different thing."

Democracy is indeed different than independence. However is his claim based on the fact that Lebanon today is considered a democracy of sorts and therefore isn't looking to change, or is it that he thinks that the Lebanese are looking towards a dictator or strongman to lead them? Both ideas seem preposterous to me as a Syrian-occupied Lebanon is no more a democracy than Iraq was or Iran is just because people are allowed to "vote" in rigged elections. And I haven't yet heard anyone claim that the "Cedar Revolution" will produce anything but a more open Western-style democracy which is certainly not a foreign concept to the Lebanese. I wonder if this guy had to place a bet on democracy or dictatorship in Lebanon, if he would put his money where his pen is.

I also like this statement - "So in 2005, along with the bad news - the continuing deadly insurgency in Iraq, Osama bin Laden remaining at large, terrorists regrouping from Syria to Pakistan - there are welcome surprises all across the Arab-speaking Middle East."

If this is the worst of the bad news, I'm OK with that. First of all, the "continuing" deadly insurgency is starting to fade away as evidenced by the precipitous drop in American casualties, and the NY Times very own "There Are Signs the Tide is Turning..."

You might as well say that New York is in terrible shape because of the "continued string of homicides in the five boroughs", ignoring the fact that there are only a third of the murders that were committed not so long ago.

As for Osama Bin Laden, as President Bush once said, "I don't see him leading any parades". Also, a recent poll has shown a sharp decline in support for Bin Laden in the most populous Muslim nation.

Finally, I WANT the terorrists to be "regrouping". It sure as hell beats "attacking", and regrouping is what armies do after they are defeated, lose ground, and retreat.

I think I'm going to send the author two free tickets to Disney's upcoming movie, Chicken Little.

Boy, I haven't written a long political post in along time - that felt good!

Sad.

Barney Martin, a former New York City detective who went into show business and became best known for playing Jerry Seinfeld's father Morty on the comedian's hit television series, has died. He was 82.

Boy I don't remember the last time I went without posting for four days, but I've been working ridiculous hours and flying back and forth between Dallas and NY so many times I can't count.

I finally signed up for American Airlines' Admiral Club which will probably cost me about $5 per airport visit which really isn't a bad deal given the free drinks and cookies. In Dallas, they even have a separate kiddie room wit a couple of PCs. You can't beat that with a stick.

Anyway, with everything in the media on the Terri Schiavo case, there's nothing much new I can add, but I thought I'd try.

I understand that when someone is alive, yet incapacitated, someone has to make the decisions for that person, whether it be a spouse, the family, etc. That being said, I don't understand why anyone would be put to death when there was someone, anyone, willing to care for that person. Even if Terri Schiavo's parents and other immediate family thought she should die, what if some person or group of persons donated to pay for her hospice stay and treatment? I think that I might like to have a living will option where my family wouldn't have to shoulder the financial burden of keeping me alive if a trustworthy organization was willing to do it.

Also, if they're going to kill her, why don't they do it in some humane way instead of starving her to death? How cruel is that for everyone involved? And what kind of person is Terri Schiavo's husband living with? If politicians are afraid to even speak about supporting this guy - which would in theory be simply stating support for our judicial system - who is this woman who wants to be his lawfully wedded wife?

I just don't understand this whole thing.

Victor Davis Hanson with the irony of the day.

If Europe is awash in anti-Semitism, then one mechanism to either ignore or excuse it is to allege that the United States — the one country that is the most hospitable to Jews — is governed by a Hitler-like killer. Americans, who freed Europe from the Nazis, are supposed to recoil from such slander rather than cry shame on its promulgators, whose grandfathers either capitulated to the Nazis or collaborated — or were Nazis themselves.

CBS, although generally positive in their look back on the Iraq war, resorts to pure, unadulterated lying in their reporting.

At the same time, there's been no let-up in the violent, anti-American insurgency that continues to wreak havoc throughout much of the country – and no slowdown in the death toll that now numbers at least 1,515 Americans killed in Iraq since the war's start, according to an Associated Press count.

As always, I will refer to the actual statistics on average daily military fatalities at Lunaville.

November 2004 - 4.7
December 2004 - 2.48
January 2005 - 4.1
February 2005 - 2.14
March 2005 - 1.37

Our military is suffering a lower casualty rate than at any time since February 2004.

"No slowdown"?!?

I missed this lead editorial in the NY times yesterday - I guess they wanted to jump the gun on everyone else - Two Years Later

The invasion of Iraq, which began two years ago this weekend, was a world-changing event. We can see many of the consequences already. The good ones, so far, exist mainly as hopes and are fewer than the bad ones, some of which are all too concrete.

This statement can only be made by totally ignoring the tyranny of the Hussein regime - the tortures, rapes, environmental devastation, starvation of children, etc.

If the Bush administration is "shockingly callous about the tens of thousands of Iraqi victims, whom ordinary Americans cannot count let alone name", the Times is disgustingly oblivious to the suffering and death that Iraqis would have suffered under a typical two years of Saddam, his sons and their henchmen.

Let's see how the major media are covering the second anniversary of our invasion of Iraq.

MSNBC (via the AP) - Iraq violence, poverty dampen optimism

A truly obnoxious reading of Iraqi sentiment. The article begins:

When U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq two years ago, Adnan al-Eiby was thrilled. He thought that once Saddam Hussein was toppled, Iraq would become a flourishing Western-style democracy.

“But now, I walk down the street and all I see is death — innocent people blown up by terrorists and others shot by the Americans,” said the 32-year-old chauffeur. “I’m fed up with life. We pinned our hopes on the Americans but they let us down.”

Granted it goes on to interview an Iraqi who says, "Things are 1 million times better than Saddam’s days", but the tone is set in the headline and opening paragraphs. Every positive comment is followed by the infamous "but".

Al-Eiby complained the elections may have given Iraqis a taste of democracy but have “not provided my family with bread and butter, nor do I feel safer now.”

They have experienced the act of casting a vote in the first free and fair elections in Iraq’s modern history. But lawlessness prevails, and Iraq remains mired in acts of ferocity.

At the end it quotes a 6 month old report based on wide-ranging interviews and polls, found that Iraqis have remained optimistic, “despite failures in security, services, economic opportunity.”

Of ocurse the bold header placed before that section of the article (placed at the bottom of course) is "Surprising Optimism". Surprising to whom?

I'm not sure why they ignore a much more recent poll also showing widespread Iraqi optimism. I guess it's not as good a story and it doesn't jive with their statement that, "Iraqis are split between hope and despair" - a statement that seems based on the fact that the research for their article is based on interviews with two Iraqis.