Jewish News Roundup - Sunday, December 18, 2011

Bachmann to Huckabee: I don't hate Muslims but Iran hates Jews & Americans


In an interview airing Saturday at 8pm EDT on FOX News' "Huckabee", GOP presidential contender Michele Bachmann said she does not "hate" Muslims as her Republican primary opponent Ron Paul charged on Friday.

" No, no," Bachmann replied to the show's host, former Gov.Mike Huckabee, when he asked about Paul's comments. "I have never said anything that foolish. What I believe is that I love the American people and I love this country and I want this country to be safe, sovereign and free. "

Instead Bachmann used the opportunity to pivot and point to Iran and Iran's leaders as possessing "the real hate" towards Israelis and Americans.

"The real hate that you hear is coming from the President of Iran," Bachmann said in reference to the Middle Eastern country's controversial head, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad." He hates Jews. He hates Jews in Israel, and he hates the American people, and so do the Mullahs in Iran who have expressly stated that it is their goal to kill Jews in Israel and also to kill Americans." Read More.

New York City is full of Jewish history

Museums and historic sites, the world’s largest menorah, and a trendy new Tribeca restaurant inspired by an old-school Catskills resort. They’re all part of Jewish New York, with a heritage that stretches back 400 years.

Visitors with an interest in Jewish New York will want to explore many parts of the city, from the Jewish Children’s Museum in Brooklyn to a 17th century graveyard on a Chinatown sidestreet.

An obvious place to start is Ellis Island, where the ancestors of so many American Jews first set foot on U.S. soil. Boats run from Battery Park – schedules at www.statuecruises.com – to the National Park site in New York Harbor.

From where the boat lets you off on your return to Manhattan, you can walk to the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park City.

The museum was created as a memorial to those who perished in the Holocaust. Read More.

British Government Lawmaker Fired for Attending Nazi-Themed Party

A Conservative MP has been sacked as a parliamentary private secretary over "offensive and foolish" behaviour.

Cannock Chase MP Aidan Burley was pictured in the Mail on Sunday last week with a man dressed as a Nazi SS officer at a stag party in France.

Mr Burley said subsequently he "deeply regretted" what had happened.

But the Conservative Party said the MP was being removed from his post and it was launching a fuller investigation "in light of information received".  Read More.

Jewish soldier in World War I expected to receive Medal of Honor

Elsie Shemin-Roth fought for years for the Medal of Honor she believes her father was denied in World War I because of his Jewish faith.

On Thursday, her goal came one step closer to reality when the Senate approved a $662 billion defense bill that includes a provision that would allow for a review of cases like those involving Shemin-Roth's father. President Barack Obama is expected to sign the measure into law before year's end.

"A wrong has finally been righted," said Shemin-Roth, 82, of Labadie. The William Shemin Jewish World War I Veterans Act authorizes the secretaries of the Army and Navy to review records of other World War I Jewish veterans to determine whether they should have received the Medal of Honor.

Retired Army Col. Erwin Burtnick of Baltimore, who will present Shemin's case to the Army, thinks Shemin, without question, is deserving. Read More.

Jewish US Army vet recalls lessons learned in Iraq

As the last convoy of US troops left Iraq on Sunday, bringing the nine year conflict which cost the lives of 4,500 Americans to a close, Jewish war veteran Ilya Bratman reflected on the time he spent in the country.

The former Armored Corps serviceman, who is currently in Israel taking part in a Limmud FSU leadership summit, remembered the highs and lows of his military career and his near brush with death.

“We were taking off from Baghdad International Airport in a Hercules C130 when the pilot began maneuvering wildly,” he said. “It’s a cargo plane –there are no seats- so we were thrown around inside hitting the walls. Some people were knocked out and many others were screaming.”

Bratman held on tightly to a net and through the window saw two bright lights narrowly miss the plane. They were surface-to-air missiles fired by insurgents and had they hit the plane which carried 150 soldiers it would have been the worst US military disaster in Iraq. Luckily, the pilot managed to evade the missiles by releasing flares. ReadMore.