US under Jews: Hate Crimes Bill passes House of Representatives

Author: [author]

Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE53S8IM20090429?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday approved an expansion of federal "hate crime" laws -- an effort that former Republican President George W. Bush had opposed.

On a vote of 249-175, the House passed and sent to the Senate a bill backed by the new Democratic White House to broaden such laws by classifying as "hate crimes" those attacks based on a victim's sexual orientation, gender identity or mental or physical disability.

The current law, enacted four decades ago, limits federal jurisdiction over hate crimes to assaults based on race, color, religion or national origin. The bill would lift a requirement that a victim had to be attacked while engaged in a federally protected activity, like attending school, for it to be a federal hate crime.

House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer urged passage of the Federal Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009.

"Hate crimes motivated by race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, and identity or disability not only injure individual victims, but also terrorize entire segments of our population and tear at our nation's social fabric," Hoyer said.

Bush had helped stop such a bill in the last Congress, arguing existing state and federal laws were adequate. But President Barack Obama asked Congress to send it to him to sign into law.

"I urge members on both sides of the aisle to act on this important civil rights issue by passing this legislation to protect all of our citizens from violent acts of intolerance," Obama said in a statement before the vote.

Conviction of a hate crime carries stepped up punishment, above and beyond that meted out for the attack. The bill would allow the federal government to help state and local authorities investigate hate crimes.

Representative Lamar Smith, ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, helped lead the charge against the bill, arguing it was misdirected and discriminatory.

"All violent crimes must be vigorously prosecuted," Smith said. "Unfortunately, this bill undermines one of the most basic principles of our criminal justice system -- 'equal justice for all.'"

"Justice will now depend on the race, gender, sexual orientation, disability or other protected status of the victim," Smith said. "It will allow different penalties to be imposed for the same crime."

Earlier this year, Congress passed two other major bills derailed during the Bush administration.

One, vetoed by Bush, would have expanded a federal health insurance program for children. The other, blocked by Bush's fellow Republicans in the Senate, would have reversed a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to make it easier to sue for discrimination in the workplace.

With Democrats having won the White House and expanded their control of Congress in the 2008 election, both measures were among the party's top 2009 legislative priorities. And they became among the first bills Obama signed into law.

US under Jews: Hate Crimes Bill passes Senate

Source: http://jta.org/news/article/2009/07/17/1006603/senate-passes-hate-crimes-bill

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- The Senate approved legislation that would expand federal involvement in investigating hate crimes.

By a 63-28 vote Thursday, the measure was attached to the defense authorization bill, considered "must-pass" legislation by the Senate. Five Republicans joined every Democrat present to vote in favor.

The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act would permit greater federal involvement in investigating hate crimes and expand the federal definition of such crimes to include those motivated by gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability. Supporters say the legislation would allow federal authorities to pursue hate-crimes cases when local authorities are either unable or unwilling to do so.

The House passed a similar bill in April, and President Obama has said he would sign the legislation. The bill has passed both houses of Congress previously, but has not survived the conference committee process.

A number of Jewish groups, headed by the Anti-Defamation League, have been working for a decade to enact the measure.

What AJC, the leading jewish organization in US, thinks of Jews marrying other ethnic groups

Author: American Jewish Congress

Source: http://www.ajc.org/site/c.ijITI2PHKoG/b.841657/k.5C30/Jewish_Continuity_and_Intermarriage.htm

American Jewry is experiencing two narratives. Jews enjoy greater opportunities than ever before to lead a creative Jewish life, and many are doing so to degrees never imagined by their parents and grandparents. Conversely, a larger number are choosing to withdraw from Jewish communal life.

Human relations efforts to strengthen ties between Jews and others make sense only within the context of a critical mass of Jews interested in leading a creative Jewish life. Combating anti-Semitism presupposes the importance of having Jews in the world. In other words, defense of Jewish rights against external foes should run in tandem with the defense of Jewish teachings and Jewish creative vitality against the internal dangers of indifference to the Jewish enterprise and erosion of Jewish commitment. The Contemporary Jewish Life Department was established by AJC in 1964 specifically as a vehicle to combat assimilation and to underscore the identity of AJC as a Jewish organization.

The goal of continuity efforts should be development of knowledgeable Jews who can make informed choices about the nature of their commitment to Judaism and the Jewish people. Our goal should be to ensure that the choices Jews make are informed choices rather than out of ignorance. More knowledgeable Jews are, in all likelihood, going to choose to be more committed Jews. Studies repeatedly indicate the high correlation between intensive Jewish education and Jewish continuity.

The Jewish community must develop a multi-track approach to strengthen Jewish identity and positive Jewish experience in both in-marriages and mixed-marriages. We must reach-in and reach out. AJC studies as well as other studies show that the rapidly rising number of intermarriages represents a serious risk to the vitality of the Jewish community, Jewish continuity, and identity. The challenge for the Jewish community is to offer positive communal and personal connection to intermarrieds while at the same time to develop and encourage programs that lead to Jews marrying other Jews. Conversion to Judaism remains the single best outcome to a mixed-marriage. However, the community ought to maintain open doors to all Jews, those seeking to be Jews, and those who wish to raise their children as Jews.

Britain under Jews: UK court sentences two men for mocking Holocaust online

Author: Michael Freund

Source: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443788062&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

A court in the northern English city of Leeds sentenced two men to prison on Friday after they were convicted of multiple counts of possession, publication and distribution of racially incendiary materials.

Simon Sheppard, 52, was sentenced to four years and 10 months in prison, while Stephen Whittle, 42, was handed a term of two years and four months, in connection with what Judge Rodney Grant described as "unpleasant and very serious" charges.

The two had published articles and other material mocking the Holocaust and referring to the Auschwitz death camp in Poland as a "holiday camp" for Jews. They also disseminated racist leaflets against blacks and other minority groups, and published the material on Web sites run by Sheppard.

This is the first time that suspects in the United Kingdom have been convicted and sentenced to prison for inciting racial hatred on the Internet.

The investigation of Sheppard and White was launched back in 2004, after they reportedly dropped off a copy of a comic book called Tales of the Holohoax at a synagogue in the city of Blackpool.

Last July, the two skipped bail and went to the United States, where they attempted to seek asylum before being deported back to England in June.

Addressing the two men in court, Grant said, "Such offenses as these have, by their very nature, the potential to cause grave social harm, particularly in a society such as ours which has, for a number of years now, been multi-racial."

The judge added that "these are serious offenses."

"I can say without any hesitation that I have rarely seen, or had to read or consider, material which is so abusive and insulting... toward racial groups within our own society," he said.

Britain Under Jews: People sentenced to prison for "antisemitic" blog

Author: Michael Freud

Source: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443788062&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

A court in the northern English city of Leeds sentenced two men to prison on Friday after they were convicted of multiple counts of possession, publication and distribution of racially incendiary materials.

Simon Sheppard, 52, was sentenced to four years and 10 months in prison, while Stephen Whittle, 42, was handed a term of two years and four months, in connection with what Judge Rodney Grant described as "unpleasant and very serious" charges.

The two had published articles and other material mocking the Holocaust and referring to the Auschwitz death camp in Poland as a "holiday camp" for Jews. They also disseminated racist leaflets against blacks and other minority groups, and published the material on Web sites run by Sheppard.

This is the first time that suspects in the United Kingdom have been convicted and sentenced to prison for inciting racial hatred on the Internet.
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The investigation of Sheppard and White was launched back in 2004, after they reportedly dropped off a copy of a comic book called Tales of the Holohoax at a synagogue in the city of Blackpool.

Last July, the two skipped bail and went to the United States, where they attempted to seek asylum before being deported back to England in June.

Addressing the two men in court, Grant said, "Such offenses as these have, by their very nature, the potential to cause grave social harm, particularly in a society such as ours which has, for a number of years now, been multi-racial."

The judge added that "these are serious offenses."

"I can say without any hesitation that I have rarely seen, or had to read or consider, material which is so abusive and insulting... toward racial groups within our own society," he said.

Vatican replaces cardinal in Holocaust controversy

Author: Ariel David

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090708/ap_on_re_eu/eu_vatican_conservatives

Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday replaced the cardinal responsible for lifting the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop as part of the Vatican's effort to reconcile with an ultraconservative group.

The commission that had been in charge of the effort will now be under the authority of a powerful office seen as close to the pontiff, the Vatican said. Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, who had been leading the reconciliation, is stepping down after reaching the customary retirement age of 80, the Vatican said.

Hoyos had been head of the Pontifical "Ecclesia Dei" Commission, which was charged with healed the schism with the ultraconservative Society of St. Pius X.

The effort to reconcile with the Society of St. Pius X will now be headed by Cardinal William Levada, the highest-ranking U.S. churchman in the Vatican hierarchy. Levada heads the Vatican's powerful orthodoxy watchdog, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which Benedict headed for decades before becoming pope in 2005.

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre founded the Pius society in 1969 in opposition to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, which included outreach to Judaism and other religions.

The Vatican in 1988 excommunicated four of its bishops after they were consecrated without papal consent by Lefebvre.

Shortly before the excommunication of Bishop Richard Williamson and the three other Society bishops was lifted in January, Williamson denied in an interview with Swedish TV that 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis. He said about 200,000 or 300,000 were murdered and none were gassed.

Jews and Catholics around the world voiced outrage and Williamson later apologized for the "hurt" caused by his remarks but didn't recant them.

Hoyos said he and other officials knew nothing about Williamson's denial that the Nazis killed 6 million Jews. Benedict made a rare acknowledgment of a Vatican mistake in March, saying in a letter to Catholic bishops worldwide that he was unaware of the bishop's positions when he lifted the excommunication.

The Vatican said Hoyos' tenure at the commission had run out and did not mention the controversy when announcing that Levada would now directly handle the reconciliation process.

The Vatican said Benedict had expressed thanks to Hoyos and said Levada's office would handle upcoming talks with the Society because it is most suited to resolve doctrinal differences.

On Wednesday, Benedict reiterated that until theological differences with the Society are resolved, the group has "no canonical status in the church and its ministers cannot legitimately exercise any ministry."

The Society has been defiant, with new priests being ordained last month in Switzerland and Germany. The Vatican had said any ordinations would be considered invalid.

Ahmadinejad beyond the Zionist propaganda

Source: http://rehmat1.wordpress.com/2009/07/11/ahmadinejad-beyond-the-zionist-propaganda/

Character assassination has always been Zionists’ first and last tool to blackmail or destroy political or social reputation of a person who has the good conscience to criticize Zionists for their crimes against Americans, Palestinians or the rest of the Muslim world – be it Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, Dr. Finkelstein or Dr. Ahmadinejad. Zionists have more than 8,000 fellow Jews on their “Self-Hating Israel-Threatening” list.

“I can understand why a candidate for the highest office (in the US) would have to dissimulate or dissemble. You have to lie to get into office, that’s a given. However, once you get into office, you are either, fearless and true or you are a whore. And if you are fearless and true it will get you shot. That’s the Catch 22. Study your history and see if you can connect the dots on who got shot and why?” – Les Visible in Have Fun Bending Over for the Catch 22, October 22, 2008.

The ordinary in Islamic Iran – and they constitute the majority of population – considered Ahmadinejad to be one of their own. And he pretty much said what was on their minds. Ahmadinejad comes across to the average person in the Republic as honest, modest, and free of artificiality. His body is slim just like theirs; his face is not puffed up with the layers of affluence that come from being a “president”. One could easily confuse Ahmadinejad with any worker or craftsman in a field or in a shop.

The majority of people in Islamic Iran knows Ahmadinejad’s simple lifestyle well. He comes from a blacksmith family in the small town of Aradan – which has about forty families – a place so vague and remote that it barely appears on the map!

Like all country people, Ahmadinejad is very meek and “religious”. He is not known for being ostentations – he is not a man who likes to attract notice and impress others. And during the past four years when all his citizens were watching he was not contaminated by the disease of aristocracy and of the ruling class: vanity. On the people’s watch – during these past four years – he was working long hours (even his adversaries and political enemies confess) 16 to 18 hours a day. He was doing all this to improve the lot of the poor people; he wanted to improve their conditions. His aim was to alleviate their hardships and be their public servant. He raised the minimum wage as well as retirement pensions. Does it come as surprise to anyone that poor people all over the country would vote for him as president for the next four years? Is anyone surprised to see the elites, the upper classes of society, and the power-hungry annoyed by such a humble person and his populist policies?

Unlike his opponent (Mousavi) Ahmadinejad is more closer to Imam Khomeini’s foreign vision of folding back imperialism and zionism. He, like the Imam is not hesitant when it comes to full liberation from the evil schemes of imperialism and Zionism.

“During the first political generation of Islam after the Prophet (pbyh) – there were credentialed Muslims who believed in an Islamic government. Some of them spent their lives fighting for an Islamic government. But they differed on methods and priorities. Some of them wanted an “Arab First” government. Some of them wanted to be relieved of the “global burdens” of an Islamic government; others wanted to get on with life and improve their standard of living. And for 1400 year we have been suffering from that political deviation. President Ahmadinejad brings back to the Muslim voices that were crowded out by nationalism and class interests in the early generation of Islam. A vote for him is not simply a vote for the president of Iran, it’s a vote for Imam Hussein against Yazid, a vote for the Che Guevara against his executioners, a vote for Hugo Chavez against US imperialism, and a vote for the Palestinians against their Zionist murderers…..This should explain why the US was more interested in the elections in Iran than they were in their own. Ahmadinejad’s political enemies, as fervent as their Shi’i rituals are, were they to win would have in their own ways put us back on the slippery slope of the post-khilafah era,” – Abu Dharr, Crescent International, July 2009.

“The American media adheres to no standards and observes no limits in carrying out its function of manipulating public opinion in accordance with the objectives, domestic and foreign, of the American ruling elite. Nothing so clearly demonstrates the decay of American democracy and the “free press” in the United States than the manner in which it lines up behind phony “color revolutions” against regimes deemed inimical to US interests and ignores flagrantly antidemocratic measures by regimes backed by the CIA, the military and State Department,” – Barry Grey in Tehran and Tegucigalpa: A tale of two capitals.

Russian-Israeli writer, Israel Shamir, in his article Iran: All is Well that Ends Well wrote: Ahmadinejad is also popular all over the world as a symbol of the Third World rebellion, on a par with Castro and Chavez. He maintains good relationship with neighbouring Russia and China, even with the US-occupied Iraq and Afghanistan. Ahmadinejad’s lightning visit to Yekaterinburg to the SCO conference in the midst of the upheaval has proved his statesmanship. In his well-received fiery speech he never referred to the crisis back home, and he was congratulated by his peers President Medvedev and President Hu Jintao for his electoral victory. His stalwart anti-Zionist stand endeared him to the Arab neighbours of Iran, even to the annoyance of Arab rulers. His weapons saved Lebanon in 2006 from being devoured by Israel. Sometimes he goes too far, but otherwise, how can he find out how far he can go?

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (b. 1956) is an Iranian academic with PhD in transporation engineering – which he taught at Science and Technology University. He entered politics and was elected Mayor of Tehran in 2003. On June 24, 2005 he won the election of President of Islamic Republic of Iran on the platform of providing social justice and fight on corruption and poverty.

Like many other Zionist myths – the myth of Wipe Israel off the map attributed to Ahmadinejad – is also entertaining to people with rational thinking. Like the others, it should also be enjoyed without being joining Zionists in their self-denial that the only country which has been wiped off the map in the modern time – is 5,000-year-old Palestine.