SACTO TV REPORTER APOLOGIZES FOR ANTI-SEMITIC COMMENTS

Reporter apologizes for slurs (JTA)
A television reporter in Sacramento, Calif., apologized for making stereotypical comments about wealthy Jews.

Adrienne Bankert of KCEA-3 was discussing her faith with students in the International Christian Fellowship at Sacramento State College on Nov. 28 when she made the comments.

"Have you ever met a poor Jewish person?" Bankert was quoted in the college newspaper, The State Hornet, as saying. "I have never met a poor Jewish person ever in my life! Every Jewish person I went to school with had money, and if they didn't have money literally … they knew how to get some. The Jewish people founded Hollywood; Jewish people were in banking, lawyers."

Bankert went on to say that she is Jewish, due to her relationship with Jesus.

"I'm a Jewish person because I'm saved by the blood of Jesus. He is Jewish, and I want what he's got for me,” she said.

Members of The Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region met with the television station and accepted a written apology from Bankert on Dec. 6. The federation had asked for a meeting with Bankert when her comments came to light.

The Jewish leaders told the Sacramento Bee that they accepted the apology and did not believe Bankert had intended her comments to be malicious.

HERE'S SOME BACKGROUND ON THIS IDIOT.

JEWISH CAMP OFFERS SHELTER, PEACE AMID SAN DIEGO FIRE

'That Afternoon, We Prayed with a Little More Intensity' (LGF)
Here’s a heartwarming story of the human spirit, among the devastation of the fires in the San Bernardino Mountains: Camp offers shelter, peace amid fire chaos.

The pairing of the rabbi and the firefighters was a natural one. He had beds. They had been sleeping on asphalt. He had food and showers. They were grateful.

Rabbi Yosef Brod should have rushed down the mountain a week ago, when the Slide fire was burning toward Camp Gan Israel, the 75-acre Jewish camp he runs in the San Bernardino Mountains. The fire charred nearly 13,000 acres and wiped out 201 homes as it spread.

But Brod, a rabbi with the Chasidic Lubovitch, or Chabad, sect, stayed. “Have a nice day,” he told his employees as they evacuated. “Drive carefully.”

Over the weekend, about a dozen fire engines were parked by the giant Hanukkah candelabra at the camp. One firefighter chatted on a cellphone while another shivered in his boxers. A third asked Brod what the symbols on the cabin doors meant — they were prayer scrolls called mezuzot that are meant to keep their occupants safe. State prison officials also came by, looking to house inmate mop-up crews in the camp’s bunks.

Brod says he kept the camp open because he believed that God would shelter the pine-shaded site, which the Chabad organization bought for summer and winter camps and weekend retreats. So Brod called his wife after the evacuations were ordered last Monday and said he wouldn’t be driving home to West Hollywood.

“She knew I’m so devoted to this place I wouldn’t leave,” he said. One of his employees stayed, too, and told Brod that, if need be, he would carry the camp director down the mountain.

By midweek, flames were licking the camp’s northern edge, and a firefighting helicopter tapped the camp’s pool for water. Brod ran a hose from a fire hydrant to the pool to keep it full. He already prays three times a day, but that afternoon, “We prayed with a little more intensity,” Brod said.

The blaze halted about 100 yards from the camp’s wood-shingle main lodge and spared the property’s cellphone towers, basketball court and 16 other buildings.

The blaze had pushed a clutch of soot-dusted firefighters onto the narrow road that curves into the camp. Brod fed them. He offered mattresses and soap.

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CALIF. PENSION FUNDS BOYCOTT IRAN

Less Moolah for the Mullahs (WSJ-BOTW)
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday signed legislation mandating that CalSTRS and CalPERS, the pension funds for California teachers and other government employees, respectively, divest themselves of foreign companies that do business in Iran. Back in May we interviewed Benjamin Netanyahu, a former prime minister of Israel, who argued that such disinvestment could help topple the Islamic revolutionary regime in Tehran. Since then, Florida as well as California has passed a divestment bill, so Netanyahu's idea is about to get a real test.

SILICON VALLEY HILLEL VANDALIZED

Silicon Valley Jewish student center burned (HotAir)

It’s called the Hillel of Silicon Valley, and it serves students at San Jose State, Santa Clara, Foothill and De Anza. On the night of Oct 3, someone burned an outdoor structure called a sukkah that was being used in the Feast of Tabernacles.

Sukkot festivities ended early for Jewish students at San Jose State University after someone burned the outdoor shelter - known as a sukkah - that marks the Feast of the Tabernacles.

A student arrived Wednesday morning and found the sukkah - made of a metal frame and nylon walls - melted, said Sue Maltiel, executive director of Hillel of Silicon Valley.

Police and Hillel officials believe the fire was deliberately set but was not a hate crime. There were no notes or messages indicating anything other than vandalism, said Sgt. Mike Santos with university police, noting that the campus is downtown and vagrants often sleep on Hillel’s patio.

The Hillel was also broken into in late August.

Last week, two people attempted to break into to Hillel of Silicon Valley. Police suspect they were trying to steal a few new items that were recently purchased for Hillel. They were probably turned on by the empty boxes sitting outside of the house in the dumpster. Thankfully, nothing was taken. The alarm went off seconds after the perpetrators entered the house, but unfortunately, damage was done to the window overlooking the Hillel kitchen and dining room. “It’s just such a shame this had to happen just as the year started,” said one student.

So that’s twice in about 6 weeks that the same Jewish center has been harmed. One attack could be chalked up to any number of fairly mundane origins, but two in six weeks? As Cinnamon Stillwell notes, there has been an uptick in antisemitic activity on campuses that the Hillel serves.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA'S JUDENREIN PROGRAM

Univ. of Cal. Backs Down from 'No Jews Allowed' Program (INN)
(IsraelNN.com) A U.S. State Department-funded University of California program which provides business training for residents of the Middle East specifically excluded Israeli Jews - until Jewish journalists protested.

The University of California has now altered the program's eligibility requirement that initially barred Israeli Jews. The turnaround in policy also may have saved the State Department, whose Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) finances the program, from having to provide an embarrassing explanation. MEPI also selects the participants.

Jerusalem-based marketing specialist and businesswoman Miriam Schwab uncovered the bias last week when she checked into applying to the university's San Diego branch Beyster Institute program for Middle East Entrepreneur Training (MEET). She discovered that the program was open to citizens of "Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel (limited to Israeli Arab citizens), Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, West Bank/Gaza and Yemen."

The Beyster Institute, which manages the program, offers three 10-day seminars, each one with 20 eligible participants. The program includes professional coaching and offers opportunities to make new contacts and "to help promising leaders realize their aspirations to build successful [businesses]... The participation of women is highly encouraged."

AIPAC ACTION ALERT: CALIFORNIA

California Senate to Vote on Iran Divestment Bill
Urge Your State Senator to Vote for AB 221

The California Divest from Iran Act (AB 221) is expected to come before the State Senate as early as TOMORROW, Thursday, September 6. Introduced by Assemblyman Joel Anderson (R-El Cajon), AB 221 will prohibit the state's public pension funds from investing in companies with business ties to Iran's petroleum, natural gas, nuclear, or defense sectors. Depriving Iran of investment in these sectors of their economy will send a clear message to Tehran that they must give up their nuclear weapons program.

Current co-authors of AB 221 in the Senate include Senators Roy Ashburn (R-Bakersfield), James Battin (R-Riverside), Dave Cogdill (R-Fresno), Jenny Oropeza (D-Long Beach), Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), George Runner (R-Santa Clarita) and Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento).

The bill, which passed the State Assembly 75-0 earlier this session, passed unanimously out of the Senate Public Employee Retirement (5-0), Senate Judiciary (5-0) and Senate Appropriations (15-0) Committees.

ACTION

Please call your State Senator in Sacramento and urge him or her to vote for the California Public Divest from Iran Act (AB 221). Click here to look up your State Senator's contact information.

KEY PROVISIONS OF THE BILL

The California Public Divest from Iran Act:

• Requires the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) to review their holdings in companies investing in Iran's petroleum, natural gas, nuclear, or defense sectors.
• Mandates pension funds divest their direct holdings from companies invested in Iran's petroleum, natural gas, nuclear, or defense sectors.
• Calls on the pension fund managers to review their holdings in mutual funds, index funds, or other commingled investments, and identify ways to create alternative funds without holdings in these companies.
• Requires a report of all state pension holdings and actions taken to be submitted to the state legislature on an annual basis to ensure the full implementation of the legislation.
  

TALKING POINTS

Time to Act

• Iran is accelerating its nuclear development program in defiance of mandatory U.N. Security Council resolutions.
• Combined with its support for international terrorism, a nuclear-armed Iran would pose an unacceptable threat to the United States and its allies.
• CalPERS and CalSTRS are the largest state pension systems in the country. Californians can ensure that our state's financial holdings are not invested in companies that provide Iran critically-needed capital it uses to advance its nuclear program.

Investments in Iran Pose a Financial Risk to California Shareholders

• The SEC has determined that there is a special risk associated with investments in terror-sponsoring states such as Iran.
• Additionally, companies that have invested more than $20 million in Iran's petroleum and natural gas sector are liable to sanctions under U.S law.
• Moreover, economic sanctions, embargos and loan restrictions imposed by the U.N. Security Council further increase the financial risk associated with investments in this rogue state.
• As members of the largest public pension systems in the country, we are deeply concerned that the state's holdings in companies with investments in Iran pose a financial risk to the shareholders. It is both morally wrong and financially irresponsible for the state to invest funds in these companies.
• The California Public Divest from Iran Act will safeguard Californians from such risky investments.

CALIFORNIA VOTES TO DIVEST FROM IRAN

AIPAC ACTION ALERT:

June 7, 2007

Thank California Assembly Members for

Voting for Bill to Divest State Funds From Iran

Thanks to your outreach, the 'California Public Divest from Iran Act' (AB 221) passed out of the State Assembly on Tuesday, June 5, by a vote of 75-0.

ACTION

Please call California Assembly Members in their Sacramento offices and thank them for supporting AB 221, the California Public Divest from Iran Act. A complete list of Assembly members who supported the measure is below.

The legislation now moves to the State Senate and will likely be referred first to the Public Employment and Retirement Committee. If you are a constituent of any of the 5 members of the California Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee (Ashburn, McClintock, Migden, Negrete McLeod, or Wiggins), please call your Senator to encourage his or her support for the bill. Click here to look up your state officials and their contact information.*

KEY PROVISIONS OF THE BILL

The California Public Divest from Iran Act, introduced in the California State Assembly by Joel Anderson (R-El Cajon), with 26 co-authors, including principal co-authors Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), Sally Lieber (D-San Jose), Ted Lieu (D-El Segundo), Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco) and Jose Solorio (D-Anaheim), will prohibit the state's public pension funds from investing in companies with business ties to Iran's petroleum, natural gas, nuclear, or defense sectors.

The California Public Divest from Iran Act:

• Requires the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) to review their holdings in companies investing in Iran's petroleum, natural gas, nuclear, or defense sectors.
• Mandates pension funds divest their direct holdings from companies invested in Iran's petroleum, natural gas, nuclear, or defense sectors.
• Calls on the pension fund managers to review their holdings in mutual funds, index funds, or other commingled investments, and identify ways to create alternative funds without holdings in these companies.
• Requires a report of all state pension holdings and actions taken to be submitted to the state legislature on an annual basis to ensure the full implementation of the legislation.

TALKING POINTS

Time to Act

• Iran is accelerating its nuclear development program in defiance of mandatory U.N. Security Council resolutions.
• Combined with its support for international terrorism, a nuclear-armed Iran would pose an unacceptable threat to the United States and its allies.
• CalPERS and CalSTRS are the largest state pension systems in the country. Californians can ensure that our state's financial holdings are not invested in companies that provide Iran critically-needed capital it uses to advance its nuclear program.

Investments in Iran Pose a Financial Risk to California Shareholders

• The SEC has determined that there is a special risk associated with investments in terror-sponsoring states such as Iran.
• Additionally, companies that have invested more than $20 million in Iran's petroleum and natural gas sector are liable to sanctions under U.S law.
• Moreover, economic sanctions, embargos and loan restrictions imposed by the U.N. Security Council further increase the financial risk associated with investments in this rogue state.
• As members of the largest public pension systems in the country, we are deeply concerned that the state's holdings in companies with investments in Iran pose a financial risk to the shareholders. It is both morally wrong and financially irresponsible for the state to invest funds in these companies.
• The California Public Divest from Iran Act will safeguard Californians from such risky investments.

ASsembly Members who voted for ab 221

Adams, Aghazarian, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Benoit, Berg, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Brownley, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeSaulnier, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Evans, Feuer, Fuentes, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Garcia, Garrick, Hancock, Hayashi, Hernandez, Horton, Houston, Huff, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Karnette, Keene, Krekorian, La Malfa, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Lieu, Ma, Maze, Mullin, Nakanishi, Nava, Niello, Parra, Plescia, Portantino, Price, Richardson, Sharon Runner, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Smyth, Solorio, Spitzer, Strickland, Swanson, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Walters, Wolk, Nunez

ANTI-SEMITIC PROFESSORS AT CAL. STATE, LONG BEACH

Promoting hate
Given its diverse student body, California State University, Long Beach is the last place you'd expect to find a tried and true anti-Semite and white supremacist lecturing. But that's where Kevin MacDonald, who developed a deep-seated mistrust for Jewish activists while protesting the Vietnam War, is employed as a psychology professor. (Southern Poverty Law Center)

CALIFORNIA PHOTO STORE FINED FOR REFUSING TO ENLARGE PICTURES OF JEWS

PHOTO STORE FINED FOR DISCRIMINATION (HonestReport)
A California camera store refused to enlarge a dozen photographs from the turn of the century of Mitchell Cutler's relatives in Eastern Europe and pre-state Israel because the store owner assumed that the photos' subjects were "Jewish terrorists". Cutler pursued this case in court as a matter of principle, winning $4000 in addition to his attorneys fees.