The AJC, the Supreme Court and Jennifer Rubin

by Theodore Samets Jennifer Rubin is angry. Really, really angry. What’s got Rubin, one of the loudest right-wing voices on Israel in the United States, with her perch at The Washington Post’s blog “Right Turn,” so upset? The American Jewish Committee’s refusal to join eleven other Jewish organizations in an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of M.B.Z. v. Clinton. M.B.Z. v. Clinton is the case that the Supreme Court will hear this fall brought by Naomi and Ari Zivotofsky, American citizens who wants their young son’s U.S. passport to list his place of birth as “Jerusalem, Israel,” instead of simply “Jerusalem.” This doesn’t merely refer to East Jerusalem, annexed by Israel but considered by the U.S. government to be “occupied territory.” This is West Jerusalem, Israeli territory since the 1948 War of Independence. Per Rubin: Not...

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This Week's Links: Is it Summer yet? Edition

By Benjamin Schuman-Stoler SPAM is back! A nice summary of the basic problems and solutions related to bringing kids to synagogue. "AJC extended today congratulations to Cem Özdemir, the newly elected co-leader of the Green Party in Germany. Özdemir has been a longstanding participant in the Turkish-Jewish Roundatble, sponsored by AJC's Berlin Office." Anti-Semitic graffiti was found on a cafe in Northwest London. With election hoopla finally dying down, Jewish news has mellowed out. One Jewish blogger is reallllllly bored. The result? A list of 22 useful travel tips for you and me. And this week's award for most ridiculous news story goes to the Danish. Oh they take it home, and easily, for trying to ban circumcision under the age of 15. Not only would that effectively ban Jews from one of our historical homes,...

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Sarah Silverman's Great Schlep

Trying to push American Jewish seniors to vote Democrat, the Jewish Council for Education & Research has enlisted Sarah Silverman as the face of its new hilarious canvassing campaign, "The Great Schlep." Besides Silverman's outrageous tactics (that often flirt with the inappropriate) are talking points such as, "Obama Loves Israel And So Do You" and "He's Black, Let's Talk About It," as well as Silverman's own assertion that if anyone should be able to relate to outsiders with funny names it should be the Jews. This comes in the wake of an AJC poll that concluded Jewish voters favor Obama to Republican nominee John McCain 57 to 30 percent. According to AOL News, Obama is sweeping the 18-29 demographic as well, with a 60 percent share. But what's most interesting is the AJC's finding that 13...

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