Judaism

Existence of Islamophobia Denied; Muslims Object

August 21, 2001

Source: Council on American-Islamic Relations

On August 21, 2001, the Council on American-Islamic Relations reported that "a prominent national Islamic advocacy group today called on Jewish groups to repudiate materials distributed at a Washington, D.C., news conference by B'nai B'rith International that claimed Islamophobia, the irrational hatred of Muslims and Islam, is an 'invention' that can never exist. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said today's incident is but one of many attempts by pro-Israel extremists to vilify and demonize...

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Hate Group Litters Town with Anti-Semitic Propaganda

August 19, 2001

Source: The Boston Globe

On August 19, 2001, The Boston Globe reported that "as many as 1,000 packets of racist and anti-Semitic propaganda were dropped on lawns across [the predominantly Jewish town of Sharon, Mass.]... signed by a West Virginia-based hate group called the National Alliance...Rob Leikend, director of the Anti-Defamation League of New England, described the National Alliance as 'one of the more sophisticated' groups promoting hate against blacks, Jews, and immigrants... He called the contents 'classic Nazi hate theories.'...Other...

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First Online Yiddish Courses Offered

August 18, 2001

Source: The Dallas Morning News

On August 18, 2001, The Dallas Morning News reported that "Florida International University is...offering the first-ever Yiddish courses online. Sponsored by a local Jewish cultural center, the courses are helping revive the millenium-old language...Yiddish was the common tongue for Eastern European Jews...Its use dwindled last century due to cultural assimilation and the Holocaust...For more information, see...

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Muslims Find Ways to Swim without Breaking Rules of Islam

August 13, 2001

Source: The Washington Post

on August 13, 2001, The Washington Post reported that "combining the desire to swim and Muslim traditions, [Washington D.C]'s soaring Muslim population is renting out community pools for sex-segregated swim sessions. It's another example of how the country's Muslims...are enjoying American culture within the parameters of their faith, " which requires women to cover their hair and bodies except in the presence of close relatives. "Recreation center directors say that all-female or all-male Muslim swim sessions have become as...

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Documentary Explores Links Between Judaism and Christianity

August 11, 2001

Source: The Dallas Morning News

On August 11, 2001, The Dallas Morning News reported that a new documentary linking the traditions of Jews and Christians, Jews and Christians: A Journey of Faith, "is set to debut on public television in at least 70 markets this fall...An executive at Connecticut Public Television "believes that this film 'fills a vacuum' as the first even-handed documentary to address the shared heritage and differences without either side 'scoring points.'...Dr. Wilson, a professor of Old Testament and Jewish Studies at...

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Muslim Group Withdraws Endorsement of New York Mayoral Candidate

August 9, 2001

Source: Daily News

On August 9, 2001, New York's Daily News reported that "Mark Green and Alan Hevesi shifted into damage-control mode...after a videotape surfaced...The tape shows a leader of the Muslim Political Coordinating Committee saying Green told them Israel had 'made mistakes' and had criticized Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon...Two weeks ago, however, Green aides and committee leaders told the Daily News that Israel never came up in Green's meeting with the group...A Muslim leader seen on the tape, Ali Mirza, said yesterday that he spoke in...

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Nominee for International Post Under Scrutiny for Religious Views

August 7, 2001

Source: The Boston Globe

On August 7, 2001, The Boston Globe reported on Bush's new nominee for a top international aid post. As "president of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, he instituted a policy that permitted only 'committed Christians' to be hired to teach in the school's adult education program...Two civil rights groups...called on the US Senate to question...Kent R. Hill...about the hiring criteria and whether he would favor international religious groups in his new job."

Diversity in Workplace Requires Adjustments for Religious Beliefs

August 6, 2001

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On August 6, 2001, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that "all kinds of people have come into the workplace from such far-flung countries as Somalia, Bosnia, Pakistan, Malaysia and India, bringing their religious beliefs with them. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires that they be accommodated, if reasonably possible...For example, observant Jews can be expected to leave work early on Fridays...to acelebrate the Sabbath." Some employers are more accommodating than others.

Muslim Group Withdraws Endorsement of New York Mayoral Candidate

August 5, 2001

Source: Newsday

On August 5, 2001, Newsday reported that the Muslim Political Coordinating Committee "issued a statement...that reasserted the groups' endorsement of mayoral candidate Mark Green and three other candidates for local offices. [The group's] statement said several published accounts inaccurately reported that the groups had withdrawn their support of Green and the other candidates. The reports were based on an interview with one person and did not reflect the official policies of the organizations."

Muslim Group Withdraws Endorsement of New York Mayoral Candidate

August 4, 2001

Source: Newsday

On August 4, 2001, Newsday reported that "a Muslim coalition withdrew its mayoral endorsement of Mark Green...after an influential Jewish assemblyman criticized the Democrat for accepting the group's support....The Muslim Political Coordinating Committee of New York...said it acted after Assemb. Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn)... said the group had ties to Islamic militants...The coalition has denied those ties...One of Green's chief Jewish supporters...accused Hikind of 'slash and burn tactics...The group also withdrew its endorsements for three...

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Muslim Group Withdraws Endorsement of New York Mayoral Candidate

August 4, 2001

Source: Daily News

On August 4, 2001, the New York Daily News reported that "a coalition of 15 Muslim-American organizations withdrew its endorsement of mayoral hopeful Mark Green...after its backing caused the Democrat a political headache...  The coalition acted after reports in the Daily News and Jewish Week newspaper revealed that two organizations in the coalition had taken strong anti-Israeli positions." The Muslim Political Coordinating Committee "said...that it was acting 'to avoid any difficulties for the candidates.'...The committee'...

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Catholic Priest Opposes Negative Depictions of Jews

August 4, 2001

Source: The Boston Globe

On August 4, 2001, The Boston Globe interviewed the Rev. Robert W. Bullock, a Catholic priest who "has spent many o his 72 years thinking about Judaism...He has become a voice on the impact of the Holocaust on Catholocism and Christianity." He wrote that "the problem is not in the classroom; it is in the church." In the interview he explained that "primarily [these problems] arise in the lectionary...[For example,] there is the problematic depction of Jews as the mob crying out for the death of Jesus."

40 Chaplains Hired for 2002 Olympics

August 4, 2001

Source: deseretnews.com

On August 4, 2001, deseretnews.com reported that "to make sure everyone is taken care of, Olympic organizers have chosen 40 spiritual advisers to be on call during the 17 days of competition [at the 2002 Winter Games]. Their duties will range from hosting regular worship services at the Olympic Village to being available for any athlete, any time...The chaplains ...come from nearly every sect imaginable...There are Catholic priests, a Jewish rabbi, an Islamic imam and Protestant ministers from several denominations. [A chaplain]...

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Perry Farrell's Latest Album Reflects His Jewish Faith

July 29, 2001

Source: Daily News

On July 29, 2001, the New York Daily News reported on Perry Farrell. "It has been six long years since we've had any new music from Farrell, a period that finally ends this week with the release of his first solo album, 'Songs Yet to Be Sung.'...It is...the first music Farrell has made that fully reflects his Jewish faith. (Last year, he wrote the afterword to a book called 'Jews Who Rock.') On some songs Farrell's voice has the cadences of a cantor; he has also anchored the lyrics on the ancient Jewish religious notion of a Jubilee."

Ancient Ketubah Makes a Comeback

July 29, 2001

Source: Star Tribune

On July 29, 2001, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported on the ketubah, one of the world's earliest prenuptial agreements, created by rabbis many years ago in the desert. "It was designed to protect women in the case of divorce or if the husband died," said a modern-day ketubah maker. "More than 2,000 years later, these wedding contracts have become an essential part of every Jewish wedding, evolving both as legal documents and as highly decorated works of art that reflect the diverse artistic cultures of the diaspora."

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