thisisbabylon.net

"For these things I cry; my eye, my eye runs down with water; because the Comforter is far from me...my children are desolate, because the enemy hath prevailed." -- Lamentations 1:16

Has the enemy prevailed?

Has the f-your-neighbor-f-the-poor attitude of secular right-wing culture done so much damage?

TwinCities.com reported today about one Minnesota (Conservative) Rabbi who has "stirred up controversy" by backing the tzedek hechsher, the Conservative Jewish movement's justice certification:

A dozen years ago, Rabbi Morris Allen stood before his congregation in this Twin Cities suburb to announce a program called Chew by Choice.

In the past year, however, Allen has extended his concern with kosher standards from adherence to religious ritual to commitment to social justice.

His drive to create a "hechsher tzedek," a justice certification, on the basis of how kosher food companies treat their workers, has brought him into intense conflict with the Orthodox authorities who traditionally have dominated the certification process.

Last month, the hechsher tzedek received formal endorsement from the Rabbinical Assembly, the national association of Conservative rabbis. In voting to support Allen's initiative with an unspecified amount of "volunteer and financial support," the assembly invoked a verse from Deuteronomy declaring, "You shall not abuse a needy and destitute laborer, whether a fellow countryman or a stranger."

While the catalyst for Allen's action was a series of articles in the Forward weekly newspaper about accusations that workers at a large kosher slaughterhouse in Iowa are exploited, the resulting conflict has far wider import...By religious tradition and in some cases state law as well, kosher certification generally rests with Orthodox boards. The Orthodox Union, the largest force in certification, oversees more than half the kosher items in circulation. So the entrance of the Conservative movement into the field represents a challenge to the Orthodox authorities not only on ethical grounds but also on market share.

From R' Chaim Ozer Grodzienski to the Chofetz Chaim to today's Orthodox leaders, the idea of "interdenominational cooperation" within the various Jewish "denominations" is largely eschewed at worst, and severely curtailed at best. With the possible exception of anti-missionary campaigns, there is virtually no issue regarding Jewish observance that will get the "denominations" -- which range in belief from "personal autonomy" and "decide your own laws" to "do not depart from your ancestors' ways in the slightest" -- to "agree upon." And indeed, this was a primary if not the main issue when when the Jewish Press ran the article in January:

In December 2006, a call came from outside the sphere of Orthodox kosher certifiers for a tsedek heckscher or justice certification that would ensure that kosher food producers “have met a set of standards that determine the social responsibility of kosher food producers, particularly in the area of worker rights.”

The [Orthodox Rabbinical Organization] views the suggestion as an attempt by those outside the observant community to infiltrate and dilute the existing framework of kashrus certifications.

These things need to be addressed by the haredi communities themselves.

Prefacing everything with the caveat from Rav Weiner:

Addressing the issue at a meeting of rabbis in Flatbush was Rabbi Moshe Y. Weiner, rabbinic administrator of the Kosher Information and Service of Boro Park and Flatbush. Rabbi Weiner stressed that a kashrus certification could not (and must not) be awarded to a food-producing establishment that does not meet all of its required civic and legal obligations.

Without the necessary municipal and other mandatory permits on full display as mandated, no kashrus certification could be valid, stressed Rabbi Weiner.

Would we buy free porn for masturbatory teenagers? Would we offer "free fill-up on premium for all getaway cars"? Obviously not. We do not give people additional sins or "beef up" people's already-being-committed sins.

While external, nebulous "standards" derived from "verses in Deuteronomy" do originate from "alien impositions" as the Jewish Press Op-Ed piece stated (apparently), my fear is that we could create an environment where, for the food service industry, the entire Choshen Mishpat, the entire body of Jewish civil and labor laws, is effectively relegated to irrelevance and impertinence.

And here's why the "velt" or "the system" is not at fault:

The universally highly-regarded HaEdah HaCharedis Kashrus Beis Din in Jerusalem as well as Rabbi Shmuel Wosner, author of Shevet Levi and leading posek, have been alerted to the suspicious machinations of those attempting to impose the so-called hekhsher tzedek.

It is my opinion that the Orthodox community should be the most vocal in trying to rid all theft and oppression from its communities, to shake off the dust of theft which covers so many of us, like the Talmud says. Every crumb of chometz/leaven must be removed from our homes before Passover, and this leaven, we are taught represents our own Evil Inclinations which try to tempt us to sin. Will we allow this huge breadbasket of materialism-driven pooh-poohing of gezeilah and oshek while punctiliously checking freezers?

Where are we?

I pray that only the truth of halacha comes out of this interplay, and more importantly, I hope that G-d's Will -- for all people, and all paychecks, involved -- gets done.

If we can get food lelo chashash tevel orlah u'shvi'is, we should be able to get food lelo chashash gezel, oshek v'ribbis. Ha'meivinim yavinu v'yaskilu.

Posted by Y-Love at 04:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I can't be more happy about this story. I feel like on some level, souls of all the departed Panamanians whose lives were taken as a result of this man's department's oversight pleaded for this on high.

From USA Today:

China's former food and drug safety chief was given a death sentence Tuesday for taking bribes from drug companies and approving unsafe medicines.

The sentence, announced by state media, comes as China is under growing domestic and international pressure to clean up its food and drug sectors after a series of scandals, including the poisoning of hundreds of American pets.

Zheng Xiaoyu, director of China's State Food and Drug Administration from 1998 to 2005, was convicted of dereliction of duty and taking more than $832,000 in cash and gifts, according to state news agency Xinhua.

An antibiotic OK'd under Zheng was withdrawn from the market last year after 10 patients died, state media reported. Six types of fake drugs were approved while he led the agency, according to state-run media...

Scores of deaths in recent years — from fake drugs and food products tainted by industrial chemicals — have enraged Chinese. Bloggers and other writers in Chinese Internet chat rooms demanded a stiff sentence for Zheng...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has linked poisoned ingredients from China to a massive recall of pet food and animal feed in the past two months. The pet food has been blamed for the deaths of thousands of pets, according to unconfirmed reports that pet owners have made to the FDA.

An industrial chemical found in medicines that contained ingredients from China has been blamed for dozens of deaths — 51 in Panama alone — in Central America and the Caribbean. The chemical was also found in Chinese-made toothpaste.

Zheng's former agency announced plans this week to blacklist food producers who violate rules and to keep their products off the market.

And now one sentence.

Hasta la vista, Zheng Xiaoyu. And let this be the last time that such a loss of life -- poison hidden in toothpaste and cough syrup -- ever has to happen in China.

Posted by Y-Love at 02:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As YNet reports today:

Head of the rabbinical conversion courts in Israel, Rabbi Haim Druckman, slammed on Sunday a rabbinical judge from Ashdod for his decision to annul the conversion of a woman who converted 15 years ago.

Druckman criticized the judge, Rabbi Avraham Atiya, for his harsh statements regarding the conversion courts in Israel, and spoke against "the closed haredi clique."

The Ashdod rabbinical court recently announced that the convert and her children were no longer Jewish, after the woman admitted to Rabbi Atiya that she never observed the mitzvot. After declaring the woman's conversion invalid, Atiya also stated that the conversion courts were run by "heretics and criminals who annihilate the Jewish people and push it toward assimilation."

My personal instinct is to side with Rabbi Atiya. And not just because I'm charedi.

Jewish Law contains a principle called giluy da'at -- by someone's actions afterwards, you can judge retroactively what their mindset "must have been" at a point in time. Conversion requires that the convert "accept upon themselves the yoke of the commandments". If a person were to say, go directly from immersion (the culmination of the conversion process) and order a BLT, we would say that "this eating a BLT shows that this person never intended to keep kosher".

If this woman for any amount of time would have been observant, this would not be an issue, she would be no more than any other Jew who goes through a rough time with observance. Even 15 years of laxity doesn't render someone a non-Jew.

But her "never" having kept mitzvot -- this shows something. She either must not have accepted them on herself as binding, or she just wanted to get G-d angry (ch"v).

Either way, while her heart-wrenching story may incense some, Rabbi Atiya's ruling remains -- as far as the halacha is concerned, she never performed an integral part of the conversion process: accepting G-d's rule, through His Law, over her life.

And it's kind of hard to have a legitimate conversion without that.

Posted by Y-Love at 02:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One of my friends from MySpace.com told his father about my previous article, where I detailed an email I received, signed by two prominent rabbis, about how Crest toothpaste may be made with ingredients derived from pork fat.

His father went -- not to his phone, but directly to a Crest employee at a recent "Hygiene Extravaganza". Well that Crest employee went apparently to Bill Landrigan, of Procter & Gamble's Professional & Scientific Relations department. Here is P&G/Crest's newest official response:

I met you at the Hygiene Extravaganza at the Art Center last month. You had some concerns about animal by products in Crest Toothpaste. Here is information from our corporate office that will address your concerns.

Crest Toothpaste Ingredients and Potential for Animal By-products

This is to provide you background on the ingredients in Crest toothpastes. Recently several dental professionals have inquired about the use of animal by-products in Crest Pro-Health toothpaste.

Bill Landrigan and our Regulatory group explain why there may be some confusion.

All Crest toothpastes being produced today are completely free of any materials derived from animals. In particular, you can be assured that this is not a concern for Crest Pro-Health Clean Mint or Crest Pro-Health Clean Cinnamon.

A number of years ago, the glycerin used in our Crest products came from either an animal or vegetable source. However, we have since changed our sourcing strategy so that all the glycerin is vegetable derived. All Crest Pro-Health has been produced since its launch in April 2006 uses this vegetable-based glycerin.

There is one other ingredient that is in a few Crest variants that had the potential for being animal derived. The ingredient is Polysorbate 80 (commonly known as Tween) which is an emulsifier. Polysorbate 80 is used in Scope Mouthwash. There are some Crest toothpaste variants that use a small amount of Scope in them; therefore, these Crest products have an even smaller amount of Polysorbate 80 in them. Like with glycerin, we have now switched to a source of Polysorbate 80 that is 100% vegetable derived.However, this switch has occurred more recently than the switch with glycerin. As a result, there may be some Crest products on the retail shelves that have small amounts of Polysorbate 80 in them which might have been animal derived.

Again, everything that is being produced today is free of any animal by-products. We cannot guarantee that if someone purchases an older tube of one of these Crest variants that they are 100% free of an! imal by-products.

The particular Crest variants that contain Polysorbate 80 are:

Crest Sensitivity Whitening Plus Scope
Crest Sensitivity Extra Whitening
Crest Plus Scope Liquid Gel
Crest Whitening Plus Scope Extreme Cinnamon Ice
Crest Whitening Plus Scope Extreme Mint Explosion
Crest Rejuvenating Effects Paste & Liquid Gel
Crest Tartar Control Whitening Plus Scope Cool Peppermint and Minty Fresh Liquid Gels
Crest Whitening Plus Scope pastes: Cool Peppermint, Minty Fresh Striped, Citrus Splash

These are the only Crest variants that may be in question (depending on the age of the product) with respect to guaranteeing no animal derived ingredients.

If a dental professional wants to be 100% certain when advising patients that there is no chance of getting any ingredients derived from animals in their Crest toothpaste, you should advise them to refrain from purchasing the above variants from a retail outlet for at least another year.

There are many other Crest variants that Professionals can confidently recommend, for example, Crest Pro-Health Clean Mint and Clean Cinnamon.

Posted by Y-Love at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Sometimes I feel like a lone voice denouncing racism in the charedi world. Many of the same households in which people are ejected from Shabbos tables or have their conversations quickly cut short at even the mention of a non-Jewish song lyric or mythological deity will pooh-pooh some of the most virulent racist language.

And, when derogatory terms for non-Jews like "shaiggitz" and "shiksa" began to fall out of vogue, "shvartzer" remained and still is acceptable language in some circles.

Indeed, I even have myself witness words like "shvartzer" (or "spic") nonchalantly "just slip out" of the mouths of even people close to me derogatorily -- something which would never happen with, say, the F word.

So a post as brilliant as Chabakuk Elisha's on A Simple Jew stands out among its peers in the JBlogosphere. In a place where there are no leaders, Mr. Elisha is trying to lead.

His six paragraphs give us an insight into his feelings about this overlooked problem:

Disdain for people and belief systems that oppose Yiddishkeit (Judaism) I can understand, but the old-fashioned, peasant-like, uncivilized and coarse commonly accepted hatred and speech regarding other races can be more than just disgusting.

Obviously, not everyone is this way, but it is prevalent enough that it is tolerated by even those that do not share the view. I've heard the ugliest terms and opinions about other races in all kinds of places, and 99% of the time nobody objects...

I have had the sit-down meeting with each of my older children when they have uttered a disgustingly racist word or idea – heard in school from classmates or even teachers or faculty members; they didn't even realize there was anything wrong with it. I sit down with them and we discuss it...

Mr. Elisha's post concludes with his hopeful attitude and realism:

I must clarify that "heimishe" racism isn't about violence; I've never heard someone express a desire to take up any action, even if they themselves were materially damaged in some way. And other than the occasional individual caught in the commission a crime (in which case, Hashem yerachem), it's not common to hear anyone express a desire that any violent action be taken up – nevertheless, the hatred is there.

So, while I know I can't change the guy that told me he wouldn't call them "nig..rs" if they didn't act like it," and I can't change the guy that told me he wishes, "they were wiped of the face of the Earth" – I have wasted enough time debating these morons – and I realize that the 20 year old Klausenberger camp counselor that teaches the bunk a song with the line about slapping the goy in the face...isn't going to change into a better person, I can continue to speak with my children and complain to administrators, and maybe sometimes it'll make a difference.

I can't change the overall attitudes; I know, but in my area of influence, I can still try.

The latter is building our exile.

Posted by Y-Love at 03:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

No commentary really necessary on this one -- this has been all over the wires this entire past week.

See the Navy Times. See the slightly sensationalistic KCRG who reported Navy vet David Miller as saying:

Miller also claims a chaplain repeatedly pushed Christianity on him. He says he had to yell for nurses to remove the chaplain.

Miller called VA staff, “Fundamentalist Christian predators who spread their cancerous tentacles through the American military and Veterans Administration."

Hospital spokesman Kirt Sickels says they're taking Miller's complaints seriously. He says it's standard practice to conduct a spiritual assessment of each patient.

After speaking with hospital administration and writing a letter to Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, Miller said he will sue. "I think this is pretty offensive," he said. "This is the only access to health care that I have as a disabled veteran. They tried to convert me when I was hooked up to a heart monitor, twice...."

Posted by Y-Love at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE) released findings today on Jewish day school alumni. "This survey validates what we have long seen anecdotally across the country, which is that Jewish day schools are effectively preparing students for college, while ensuring they will carry a solid grounding in Judaism," said Rabbi Joshua Elkin, executive director of PEJE.

Some of the topline findings of the study:

JUST SAYING NO: Former Jewish day school students are more resistant to social pressures that lead to binge drinking and other risky behaviors than their public and private school peers.

-- BURSTING THE SOCIAL BUBBLE: Jewish high school alumni develop diverse social networks that extend well beyond their day school connections. Only a small minority (11%) indicated that most of their friends continue to be those they met in high school.

-- SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE: Students who attended Jewish day school for at least six years are more likely to become involved in socially responsible activities, such as community volunteerism and advocacy, than their public and private school peers.

Ho-hum. Another day, another case for religious education.

Posted by Y-Love at 01:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From Newsday:

When he began testifying at his own trial this week, a Florida doctor accused of pledging to support al-Qaida hoped to convince a jury that the FBI had it all wrong: He was a man of peace. If that was the plan, then Rafiq Abdus Sabir had a disastrous day on the witness stand Friday.

Under cross-examination, the Columbia University-trained physician was forced to acknowledge a history of family violence, a fascination with weapons and a belief that good Muslims should engage in armed jihad, or holy war.

In just a few hours, Sabir gave jurors a number of reasons not to like him ...

they discussed passages from several religious books. One said Jews should be expelled from the Arabian peninsula. Another said Muslims are obligated to obey an imam who declares war against nonbelievers.

Hou asked Sabir whether he agreed with both passages.

Sabir said yes, but added that Muslims are required to follow such instructions only if they come from a legitimate religious authority. Orders from false leaders, he said, should be ignored. And he said he had nothing against Jews or Christians and counted people of both religions among his friends.

Hou persisted. "You believe that you must participate in armed jihad, if you get a chance to?" he asked.

"Yes," Sabir answered, adding again that he would only do so in a legitimate conflict.

But taking that with a huge grain of salt, still, this article leaves much unsaid. Does Dr. Sabir realize that jihad an-nafs, the "greater jihad", must be fought first -- thereby vanquishing all evil from one's mind, action and speech -- before a gun can be picked up? Was this only a list of things Mr. Sbair was asked during Mr. Hou's "persistence" in cross-examination?

We will never know. One thing, however, is for sure, Dr. Sabir may have sealed his fate on that witness stand.

Posted by Y-Love at 06:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Iranian delegate Mohamed Sadiq Husseini and American Jewish delegate Joseph Ehrenkrenz got into a shouting match at the 5th Doha Conference on Inter-Faith Dialogue this past Wednesday following Ehrenkrenz's making what Husseini took as inaccurate accusations against Iran. Husseini, an advisor at the General Secretariat for the Centre for Iran-Arab Cooperation in Tehran, angrily interrupted when Ehrenkrenz who said Tehran wanted to eliminate all the Jews in Israel.

Speakers included Dr Souad Al Hakim, from Lebanon; Joseph Ehrenkrenz, from the US; David Lazar, from Israel; John Taylor, from the US; and Jerald Whitehouse from Venezuela. Professor Saad Harib, from the UAE; and Dr Mohamed Ben Breika, from Algeria, were the moderators.

Qatar's Peninsula Daily reports:

An Iranian delegate stunned the audience at an international inter-faith dialogue here yesterday when he angrily interrupted an American panelist who said Tehran wanted to eliminate all the Jews in Israel.

Joseph Ehrenkrenz was in the middle of his speech when Mohamed Sadiq Husseini shouted back at him.

"Ya, Yahud!," (Oh, Jews!), he said loudly, putting his microphone on, "Iran does not have any such agenda. What you are saying is a lie. Contrarily, your designs are suspect…Look, what you are doing at ‘Guatenamobay’."

Ehrenkrenz said that in the 1930s, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem congratulated Hitler for his anti-Jewish stance and "sought his help"...

The biggest challenge before the rabbis (Jewish spiritual leaders) today is to protect the community. Palestinians have influenced Muslims around the world. "We are getting threats from Tehran. Their decision is to eliminate all the Jews in Israel. The UN is not taking any action," said Ehrenkrenz.

No sooner than he finished his sentence, Husseini, who is advisor at the General Secretariat for the Centre for Iran-Arab Cooperation in Tehran, interrupted him with an angry protest, speaking in Arabic.

However, this, in the big picture, may prove irrelevant if everyone takes the same plan of action as the Israeli delegate David Lazar:

One-to-one meetings between delegates representing the three different faiths have been taking place on the sidelines of the convention on sensitive community and religious issues and on how to further dialogue, especially between Muslim and Jewish leaders.

"We will keep in touch with one another through e-mail and personal visits. This is important," said Lazar.

Posted by Y-Love at 05:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From the Canadian Jewish News:

A retired U.S. Navy chaplain says his experience as a rabbi in the armed forces taught him that focusing on common social issues is the best way to improve relations between Christians and Jews.

“The secret of the chaplain corps was not talking about theology first...Instead, we rolled up our sleeves and talked about shared concerns [first] – [soldiers] in pain, those in fear, those suffering from doubt or loneliness,” Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff told the the 21st annual Neighbourhood Interfaith Dinner...

Rabbi Resnicoff said it’s possible to be moved by the faith and teachings of others, noting that he was inspired to become a rabbi by a Christian chaplain who served with him in the Vietnam War...He said Jews and Christians have “conflicting visions of the end of days,” and so he stressed the importance of working together on issues in the here and now, such as poverty and homelessness.

“The more we focus on getting through today – making this a better day – the more we can agree. Therefore, focus on poverty, crime, injustice and discrimination. Work on projects like Habitat for Humanity, which help the homeless.”

Rabbi Resnicoff outlined three pitfalls to avoid in interfaith dialogue, which he calls the “rules of engagement.” Firstly, he said comparisons between religious groups can’t be a comparison between “our best and their worst.” Secondly, one can never compare “our teachings to their actions.” Thirdly, in a comparison of teachings, don’t compare “our beliefs to their words” because beliefs are learned in context while words can be taken out of context from others’ holy books.

What did he call for religious citizens to form a united front to combat?

Poverty, crime, injustice and discrimination.

Four things which no religion advocates, yet four things which are often caused by disunity. Actions and gestures of interfaith unity deserve the utmost of respect.

Posted by Y-Love at 05:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Jerusalem's demographers have released their census projections for the near future for Jerusalem. The Holy City has seen a Jewish population increase of 140% since it was reunified in the Six Day War.

On the "Arab" side, however, the population has increased 257% over the same period, outpacing their Jewish counterparts by 83%. If current trends continue, Jerusalem is in for a huge demographic shift.

The Jerusalem Post reports:

The capital's Arab population has increased at more than twice the rate of its Jewish inhabitants over the last decade, according to a survey released by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies on Monday. By 2020, if current trends continue, 60 percent of Jerusalem residents will be Jews, while the remaining 40% will be Arabs.

The city's population is currently 720,000, 66% Jews and 34% Arabs.

Its population has increased by 170% from 300,000 since it was reunified in the Six Day War. In the last four decades, the Arab population of Jerusalem has grown by 257% (from 68,000 residents to 245,000) while the number of Jewish inhabitants has increased by 140% (from 200,000 to 475,000), the survey shows.

The Arab growth rate over the last decade was 3-4%, the survey found, more than double that for Jews.

"If these trends continue, we could reach the 60/40 rate by 2020, and by 2035 we could see the same number of Jews and Arabs in the city," senior institute researcher Dr. Miya Hoshen said.

Tens of thousands of Israelis continue to migrate from the city to the suburbs, a trend that began in the 1980s.

...Among the main reasons cited by those who have left the city are better job opportunities and more affordable housing.

And let's remember, Jerusalem is not Tel Aviv. The average salary in Jerusalem is actually 18% less than in Tel Aviv with the average salary in Jerusalem (of all workers) being about (again using the same rule-of-thumb rate) $1800 per month gross.

And let's not forget about employment status: perhaps another reason that the Jerusalem demographic is changing could be the fact that the Arab employment rate is higher than its Jewish counterpart with 76% of Arab households containing employed persons, as opposed to 66% on the Israeli side.

We need to see economic development initiatives increasing exponentially in the Jerusalem area. The residents of Jerusalem need economic empowerment. We need to see a proliferation of things like Startup Jerusalem to draw entrepreneurs and small business. The Jerusalem Development Authority should continue to draw investment and business development to the region.

The poverty rate in Jerusalem has increased 40% since 2000 to the point that 1 in 3 Jerusalem families were living in poverty in 2005. And this is not explained by a simple, curt "oh, they're haredim learning in kollel somewhere."

These ultra-luxury complexes going up in the Holy City are beautiful, and are bringing, baruch Hashem, many American and European Jews who may not have otherwise come. But they're driving out Israeli Jews and no one is replacing them. Moshe Q. Tzibbur simply can't afford to pay 50% or more of his Israeli salary in housing expenses. The Jews leaving are primarily young adults aged 20-34, perhaps newly married religious couples going off to start a new life in affordable Beit Shemesh, or secular people going off to make more money in Tel Aviv. Regardless of their psychographic, the 20-34 age group is always a key group to innovation, driving a city's economy and a city's general vibrance.

I'm sure Jerusalem will miss them.

We see, now, perhaps, some of the preliminary effects of the gentrification of Jerusalem. And it is most ironic that in Jerusalem, the Holy City of all places, there seems to be a dearth of affordable housing.

May G-d save us from a world in which corporate greed and real estate luxe takes over His Holy City as we see in many metropolises around the world. May the Holy City never become an exclusive playground for billionaires. I believe with all my heart that the same Holy City which three times a year made space for all of the Nation of Israel to enter its gates surely can hold under a million Jews in adequate affordable living situations. Should the privilege of living in the Holy City come with a Lower Manhattan pricetag?

Jerusalem can't let this gentrification continue. Economic development and affordable (rent-stabilized perhaps?) housing of some type must be a priority in Jerusalem, and the rest of the world.

Posted by Y-Love at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

So by now the news is the buzz of the gantze District of Columbia: Condi is going to Syria.

Her first meeting ever with her Syrian counterpart, the historic US-Syria meeting could take place as early as tomorrow (Thursday), the Wyoming-based Casper Star-Tribune tells us:

Preparations are under way for the United States to meet in high-level talks here with at least one of its fiercest Mideast enemies: Syria...

An Egyptian official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak with the media, said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice could meet with her Syrian counterpart as early as Thursday...

If Rice meets with Moallem it would be the first such high-level talks since the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, for which many blame the Syrian government. Syria denies it had anything to do with the killing, but U.S. and European officials have since shunned the regime.

The U.S. also accuses Syria's leaders of allowing terrorists to use their country as a staging area for sending fighters, weapons and other material into Iraq _ allegations Syria denies.

Apparently I'm not the only one without short-term media memory loss, because ThinkProgress.org said the exact same thing I was thinking. Not six weeks ago, when Nancy Pelosi went to Syria, it "wasn't the right time", it was counterproductive, it was the wrong thing to do. Now, it seems that the W cabal have changed their tune, and now want to involve Syria in dialogue.

By the way, want to know how Nancy Pelosi was received in Syria? What did Syrians think about Ms. Pelosi's visit this March?

In short, they LOVE her.

Even the right-wing Washington Times had to take note:

The second most popular politician in Syria these days may be an American: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The California Democrat warmed Syrian hearts with her trip last month to Damascus, an event that people still share with visiting Americans as conversational currency.

"Nancy Pelosi is good, yes?" asked a Damascus laborer who found himself sitting next to an American at a greasy gyro stand this week. "Nancy Pelosi, good American."

Pictures of Mrs. Pelosi and Syrian President Bashar Assad -- officially Syria's most popular citizen -- still turn up on the local news channels, especially during coverage of the dispute between President Bush and Congress over the Iraq war spending bill.

Mrs. Pelosi's two-day visit to Damascus was a major news event here. Camera crews trailed her as she bought sweets in the ancient Hamadieh souk, made the sign of the cross at what is thought to be the tomb of John the Baptist and donned a black abaya to visit the historic Omayyad Mosque.

Mrs. Pelosi, 67, is praised as "a friend of Syria," and that makes her more influential than Oprah Winfrey and more appealing than the old Hollywood movies shown on satellite television.

"I love her," said an Iraqi woman who has emigrated to Syria. "She's a grandmother, so handsome, so cute. I see myself, my old self, in her."

Despite the lingering personal affection, few expect U.S. policy to change as a result of Mrs. Pelosi's visit. "She is a different face of America, but she does not have ideas, any solutions," the Iraqi woman said.

I make the statement: this must have had something to do with the White House's change of heart. This regime is hankering for good publicity and when they saw what Pelosi's visit did, now they want to follow suit.

I have the sinking feeling that Ms. Rice's visit is no more than a strategic move in the chess game known as global PR and, no matter what any Syrian official says, the current administration plan will proceed as planned, whatever that plan may be.

Posted by Y-Love at 05:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

...but Reuters thought it was.

This past Thursday, Reuters ran the story entitled: "Are you nuts?" A woman converts to Islam about a Dutch woman, Rabi'a, and her story of conversion to the devout niqab-wearing Muslimah she is today.

Rabi'a Frank is a 31-year-old Dutch woman who converted to Islam in 1994...She is married to a Moroccan man who grew up in the Netherlands, and they have three sons.

In 2005 she began to wear the niqab face veil and is one of about only 50 women in total to do so in the Netherlands, according to estimates by the Dutch Muslim community. Bubbly and spirited, Rabi'a spoke to Reuters in her home, where she unveiled to reveal a blonde pony tail and western clothes.

"I was young when I became interested in Islam and when you are young, nothing is strange, you just dive in. It is a bit of a cliche -- I had a Moroccan boyfriend. At first I wanted to learn more about his culture. I got out library books about Morocco and then I got to Islam. I read about it in secret. I didn't want to give him the impression that I was doing it for him...

"I can't really pinpoint when I first started thinking I should wear the niqab. But when I first became a Muslim I was in love with Islam. I was like a sponge, everything was Islam, Islam, Islam. After a few years that feeling became less intense yet I wanted it again -- I wanted to do something more for Allah. Seeing other women in a niqab touched something in me. I told my husband I wanted to wear it too. 'Are you nuts?' he said. He was not happy about it, but my feeling didn't go away.

"Wearing the niqab has nothing to do with being ashamed of your femininity or being oppressed. It is just a way to express more love to God.

"It is nonsense to suggest that by wearing a niqab I don't take part in society. When you walk through the streets or go shopping, how much contact do you really have even without a niqab? It is not as if you talk to everyone you meet. A woman once said 'I can't make contact with you,' but I thought, 'well did we ever make contact before?'"

Rabi'a relates her decision to take shahadah and become Muslim was not readily taken well by her parents:

"When my mother heard of my conversion she rushed into my room screaming and crying, yelling: 'Why did you do that, what are you thinking?' It was awful. I thought to myself: 'That reaction is exactly why I didn't tell you.'

"Wearing the hijab felt like a form of liberation. Every day I had had to walk past some builders and they would whistle at me. Then the morning I walked past in my hijab they didn't.

"On the one hand I felt so happy, thinking, 'Finally, this is who I am,' but on the other hand I wanted to say 'Hey, look, I am still the same girl underneath.'"

Sometimes they can be the same progressive, forward-thinking people underneath. Just circumscribed by different guidelines. And perhaps with a different dress code.

Those people who consider "fundamentalist" and "bigot" (or worse, "terrorist") to be absolute synonyms often can't comprehend when one of their peers or relatives takes on such a drastic change in lifestyle. They fear the person losing their mind a la John Walker Lindh or Muriel Degauque. They see something as being "wrong", for instance, in Rabi'a's case, with any woman who in her right-mind would want to cover up such large areas of skin in 2007.

Indeed, they even may consider it "breaking news" shocking enough to merit three pages on an international newswire.

But, by and by, as PhillyBurbs.com quotes one evangelical as noting, "although many mainstream religions are losing members, those such as Orthodox Catholics, Orthodox Jews and Evangelical Protestants are growing and attracting the young."

No, Rabi'a's not "nuts".

Kudos to Rabi'a and all others who maintain their sanity and identity while maintaining their stance against secularism. No terrorism, no bigotry, no division necessarily.

Just a relationship with G-d based on text. Ken yirbu.

Posted by Y-Love at 04:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)