JACPAC News & Opinion Digest

September 19, 2014 


 
JAC members went to Washington, DC this week to meet with Congressmen and Senators to discuss the US-Israel relationship and reproductive rights. 
 
JAC  Executive Director Marcia Balonick and Communications Director Hollis Wein met with Senator Mark Udall (D-CO) in Washington, D.C.


With Rep. Ron Barber (D-AZ) (l to r: Lisa Lavin, Rep. Barber, Joan Ramer)


JAC met with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) in Washington, DC. (l to r: Membership & Outreach Director Dana Gordon, Jackie Cohen, Sen. Kaine, Beverly Spector, Jacki Parmacek, Director of Special Projects Linda Rae Sher) 
 
JAC met with Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) in Washington, DC. (l to r: Lisa Lavin, JAC President Janna Berk, Susan Berk, Sen. Hagan, Executive Director Marcia Balonick, Membership & Outreach Director Dana Gordon, Communications Director Hollis Wein)
 
JAC met with Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ) in Washington, DC. (l to r: Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, JAC Executive Director Marcia Balonick, Communications Director Hollis Friedman Wein) 
 
  JAC members met with Rep. Gary Peters (D-MI) (l to r: Andy Berk, Susan Berk, Marcia Melamed, Harriet Joseph, Rep. Peters, Helaine Rosenfeld, Merle Styer, Jerri Jacobs) 
 
  JAC members taking a break in the Dirksen Senate building after a jam-packed day of meeting with members of Congress on the Hill. JAC was well received everywhere we went. 
(l to r: Lorry Borowitz, Lonnie Levin, June Rogul) 

talking points logo
TALKING POINTS Chicago
Featuring:

Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL 8th District)
&
Donna Crane
Vice President for Public Policy
NARAL, Pro Choice America

Monday, October 6, 2014
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
at the home of Dana Hirt
Chicago, IL
(Address provided upon RSVP)
Red RSVP Button





Alison Lundergan Grimes (D-KY)

Alison Lundergan Grimes is seeking the seat held by Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Lundergan Grimes is a strong supporter of Israel and the right to defend itself. "You can count on me to champion Israel's right to live in a secure society, free from terrorist attacks."
 
McConnell is one of the fiercest, anti-choice Members of Congress. He pushed for a 20-week abortion ban in the Senate as well as other restrictive legislation. McConnell actually believes that discrimination against women in the workplace is non-existent, claiming "most of the barriers have been lowered."

Grimes supports Roe v. Wade and other measures that would allow women to make their own, unfettered reproductive choices. Replacing Mitch McConnell with Alison Lundergan Grimes would add another pro-choice vote in the Senate. Grimes supports Israel's right to defend itself and a two-state solution.
 
DONATE TO ALISON AND LET'S ELECT SOMEONE ON OUR SIDE.
 

  

 

An Evening with Alison Lundergan Grimes

Join the MadMitch Series Finale! 

September 23

Philadelphia, PA

For More Information, CLICK HERE 

 

Call the JAC office for details on these and other upcoming events. 
847.433.5999

 

Visit Us Online  
Like us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter 

Our members count on JACPAC to provide information on current events, candidates, and elections.  JACPAC depends on membership support to make this possible.

 

If you have not renewed your membership, please consider doing so today, to help us pursue a strong US-Israel relationship, reproductive rights, and separation of religion and state.  Together we can make this a better world!

   

Sincerely,

 
Janna Berk, President
Marcia Balonick, Executive Director
Joy Malkus, Research Director 




This week's issue highlights these key developments here and in the Middle East.
This week's EZ Read brings you these stories and some that may have slipped past your news feed.


Yesterday, the US House of Representatives took a stand against the rising tide of hatred around the world, passing H.Res. 707, which condemns all forms of anti-semitism and religious discrimination.
Israel & The Middle East 

US Senate elevates Israel's status as 'major strategic' partner 

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/05/09/4031477/islamic-cleric-in-gaza-rejects.htmlstorylink=cpy
An omnibus bill full of measures improving the relationship between Israel and the United States has passed the US Senate, after delay since May. The bill declares Israel a "major strategic partner" of the US, enhances Israel's trade status to expedite export licensing, increases cooperation on energy, water engineering, research and development, and expands authority for forward-deployed US weapons stockpiles in the Jewish state.   

 

Hamas Will Not Break Ceasefire, Gaza Leader Vows

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/05/09/4031477/islamic-cleric-in-gaza-rejects.htmlstorylink=cpy

Mahmoud Al-Zahar says terror group won't renew attacks after September 26 deadline for talks, unless Israel fires first; criticizes political leader Mashaal for relocating to Qatar rather than Beirut.

  

Terror Tunnels: The Case for Israel's Just War Against Hamas, by Alan Dershowitz

"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." This truism, by philosopher George Santayana, well describes the current situation in the Middle East in general and Gaza in particular. Israelis and Palestinians have been condemned to repeat the tragedies of the past because history is neglected or misunderstood. That is why it is necessary to place the recent events in Gaza into a brief historical context.

Read Full Article   

Anti-Semitism & BDS

GOVE3-Year Study Charges UCLA Department with Antisemitic Activity and Anti-Israel Bias w/ Video

A consortium of American Jewish and civil rights groups are concerned that federal funds are underwriting "one-sided, antisemitic programming that masquerades as scholarship," at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), according to statements released Wednesday. 
 
 
 

"With Jews We Lose" reads one Senate Candidate's Slogan in Kentucky

Robert Ransdell, a write-in candidate for US Senate from Kentucky, is campaigning with the slogan "With Jews we lose." Campaign lawn signs with the slogan began appearing in the Cincinnati suburb of Florence, Ky., in recent days. Ransdell said his campaign has posted about 20 signs and plans 200 more in the weeks ahead.
Reproductive Rights

  

3 State Measures That Could End Legal Abortion

States have approved more anti-abortion measures during the past three years than during the entire preceding decade. And this fall, voters themselves will also have a chance to decide whether to approve or block extreme anti-abortion ballot initiatives in three states.

The official anti-choice line when objecting to the birth control benefit in the Affordable Care Act is "religious freedom". It's always been a transparent lie, particularly since the actual objection, trotted out in right-wing media sources like Rush Limbaugh's who, has always been about how women shouldn't be having sex in the first place.

  

WendyOhio's Anti-Choice Nightmare: How A Purple State is Pioneering How to Shutter Clinics

People may not always think of Ohio as a place where trends start. But sadly, the state has been on the cutting edge in one arena: politically motivated, deceptive attempts to restrict access to abortion in the name of safety. Last month, one of only two abortion clinics in Cincinnati announced it would suspend surgical services, and the last one standing might fall for the same reason: politically motivated persecution of abortion clinics. This, along with other threatened closures, would leave the western half of the state, home to more than 350,000 women, with essentially no access to safe, legal abortion.

 

White House: 'It's On Us' campaign targets culture of sexual assault on campus

The next phase of the White House's initiative to address sexual assault on campuses launches this morning: A campaign aiming to change the culture surrounding the issue by emphasizing the role that everyone - particularly college-aged men - plays in stopping and preventing violence.

"We're confident with this initiative - which includes everyone, with full engagement - we will be able to end sexual assault and change the culture of sexual assault," a senior White House official said Thursday.

Separation of Religion & State
The new social studies textbooks up for consideration this week by the Texas Board of Education have already come under heavy fire for their emphasis on America's Christian heritage. The new analysis just out by the National Center for Science Education raises more red flags- about the textbooks' treatment of global warming. 
 
Air Force Nixes 'So Help Me God' Requirement in Oaths
The Air Force has withdrawn a requirement that all airmen who take the oath of enlistment and officer appointment conclude with "so help me God," the service announced Wednesday. The Air Force previously allowed airmen to omit those words, but removed that option in October based on its interpretation of 10 U.S.C. 502, 5 U.S.C. 3331 and Title 32, which contain the oaths of office. 
 
Beyond the Core

Can You Pass the U.S. Citizenship Civics Test? Seven States May Soon Require it to Graduate from High School

Name one of the authors of the Federalist Papers. How many justices are on the Supreme Court? What do we call the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution? Students in seven states may soon be required to know the answers to those questions and more before they graduate from high school.

Read Full Article 

 

Moms Demand Action wants guns out of Kroger

The ads are direct, to the point and jarring. A girl in pigtails and a pink dress stands in the freezer aisle of a grocery store holding an ice cream cone. Next to her is a man in jeans and a T-shirt with an automatic rifle slung over his shoulder. The tagline reads: "Attention Shoppers: Kroger doesn't permit outside food and drink inside their stores. So why would they allow this loaded gun?"

 

   

Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor Meets with Groups in Oklahoma

The U.S. Supreme Court could use more diversity, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor said Thursday during an appearance at Oklahoma City University. "It's a positive thing for the judiciary to be diverse - not in the traditional ways that people think of diversity, which is race, ethnicity and gender," said Sotomayor, the first Hispanic justice on the court. "But I think the court should have experiences like the people it represents."

Political Byte
 
Is Politics Beyond Cosmopolitan's Purview?
One of the reasons we started #CosmoVotes was because we saw how regularly young female voters are derided, condescended to, and insulted. Women hear so often that we're dumb and uninformed that even the most politically savvy among us start to believe it: Women are less likely than men to think they're qualified to run for office; they're less likely to hear they should run for office; and once they do run, they are less confident and less likely to take risks.
FYI
71 Years Later, Sobibor Gas Chambers Unearthed

The gas chambers at the Sobibor death camp, where some 250,000 Jews perished between April 1942 and October 1943, have been uncovered in an archaeological dig, bringing to a close an eight-year search, Yad Vashem announced on Wednesday.

  

5774: Top 10 viral videos

For a few days this year, they clogged up our Facebook feeds and then, perhaps, our subconscious. In our list of the top viral videos of 5774, we bring back those videos that had you hitting "share" again and again.

 
Shanah Tovah from JAC

Wishing you a happy, healthy, and peaceful New Year.
Six13 - Shana Tova (2013 Rosh Hashanah Jam) 
Six13 - Shana Tova (2013 Rosh Hashanah Jam)
Find Us Online:

Like us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter  View our profile on LinkedIn  Visit our blog 
better jac logo
Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs (JACPAC) is a national network committed to the special relationship between the US and Israel and a social agenda that includes reproductive rights and separation of religion and state.  JACPAC supported US Senate and House candidates who uphold this agenda and maintains ongoing dialogue with those it helps elect.  In addition, JACPAC serves as a political resource for the Jewish community, furnishing information about candidates, elections and issues.

www.jacpac.org