YINZ/YIDZ

We just received  a lengthy statement by Beatrice S. Mandel, chair of the Hillel International Board of Directors and Wayne L. Firestone, president of Hillel International, regarding Effie Eitam's recent appearances in Pittsburgh and a separate  program  with a ZOA official Philadelphia. It is posted here in its entirety:  

Hillel at the University of Pennsylvania and the Jewish University Center of Pittsburgh have been in the news. The events that have taken place on these campuses underscore our commitment to engaging the broadest range of Jewish students and to creating inclusive Jewish communities within campuses of civility.

On Wednesday night (Feb. 3) an event was held at the Rose and Ed Berman Center for Jewish Student Life, the Hillel Jewish University Center in Pittsburgh featuring former Knesset Member Effi Eitam. That event was protested by different groups, including individuals who are members of J Street, although they did so as private citizens and without approval from J Street. That same evening at Steinhardt Hall, the home of University of Pennsylvania Hillel, students who work under the banner of Penn Zionist Freedom Alliance and ZOA presented Daniel Pollak, co-director of Government Relations for the Zionist Organization of America, who engaged students in discussion about American-Israel politics.

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The Israeli Consulate in Philadelphia just sent us this story from Spiegel Online , the Internet version of the German magazine, Der Spiegel. For everyone concerned abut Iran's nuclear program, it's worth a read.

As an addendum, we note that the Iranian government this week offered to exchange three American hikers, who stumbled into Iranian territory months ago, for unnamed Iranians held in the West. We wonder if those Iranians could be the defectors named in the Spiegel Online story? 

A Jewish woman from Wheeling, W.Va., is running for Congress.

Patricia VanGilder Levenson is seeking the Republican nomination for the U.S. First Congressional District seat, which is currently held by the incumbent, U.S. Rep Alan B. Mollohan.

If Levenson is elected, she would be only the second Jewish Republican currently in either the House or Senate, the other being Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia.

We'll have more on this story for the Feb. 4 Chronicle.

The U.S. Senate unanimously adopted the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act of 2009 (S. 2799) on Thursday.

The bill passed by voice vote Thursday evening hews closely to a companion bill passed last month in the U.S. House of Representatives; White House requests to roll back some of the harsher provisions were unheeded.

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We just received this email message being passed around the internet asking people to boycott Mel Gibson's latest film, "The Edge of Darkness." We post the letter here, not to endorse or criticize its points, but to start a dialogue about whether such online campaigns are a good idea, if they achieve their intended goals. Please let us know what you think.  

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This story about human rights abuses by Hamas just moved on the Associated Press wire. We think it's of interest to all American Jews who care about Israel.

With J Street Pittsburgh, the local chapter of the nation’s liberal Zionist organization, set to kick off its operations here next week with a celebration, now is a good time to talk about common ground in American Zionism.

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We just learned that a caption to a photo posted on Yinz/Yidz of a protestor at the October 2009 J-Street convention in Washington misidentified a man holding a sign critical of the pro-peace Zionist organization. The protestor was not Lenny Ben David. Both the photo and the caption have been removed. The Chronicle regrets the error.