News in English - Gusinsky and Berezovsky

Radio Islam´s News Agency

In Russia: The Jewish Media Barons Gusinsky and Berezovsky

Hebrew Press
on Jewish influence in Russia
and Media Baron´s arrest

The Jewish paper Ha´aretz of Israel, reports in its Internet edition, June 1st, 2000, on the rivalry between two fractions of Jews and their rabbis in Russia:

"The background to Blokhin's concern is a continuing conflict between the Moscow's Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt and Russia's Habad rabbi, Berl Lazar. Both factions have financial patrons who are also in conflict. Goldschmidt is supported by the media and banking magnate, Vladimir Gusinsky, while Lazar is backed by businessman Lev Levayev and Putin's powerful friend, Boris Berzovsky."

So the two "Power Jews" Gusinsky and Berezovsky have their own favourite rabbis.

The Jewish paper also admits that Putin has a "powerful friend" in Boris Berezovsky which is in line with other information on Putins career, especially as Berezovsky was behind Putins predecessor, Yeltsin.

As Ha´aretz has admitted that Putin is a henchman of Berezovsky, and that Berezovsky has a dispute with his rival, Gusinsky, it is not very surpising that Gusinsky was recently arrested as part of this internal Jewish power struggle between the mob-bosses. It is not - we repeat - it is not - because Putin has suddenly turned "antisemitic" - although this is what the Zionist influenced Press has hinted at.

A week before the arrest of the tycoon Gusinsky the Jerusalem Post reported on how Jews had rung their "antisemitic" alarm bells as they were alleging that Putin was interfering in their affairs. The Jerusalem Post article of June 6th, 2000 reveals that actually it was a fellow Jew who had acted (underlines added by Radio Islam):

Putin's snub of rabbi 'a misunderstanding'
By Marilyn Henry

NEW YORK (June 6) - The brouhaha over whether Russia's chief rabbi should resign came not from the Russian government, but from a rival rabbi, sources said yesterday in New York. It was Habad that suggested that Rabbi Adolf Shayevich resign, sources said after meeting with Shayevich in Manhattan.

Last week it was widely reported in Israel and the US that Shayevich complained to President Vladimir Putin that the Kremlin was trying to oust him.

Israelis and American Jewish organizations were quick to warn Putin against interfering in the affairs of the country's Jewish community.

The ouster had seemed plausible, given the antisemitic history of the Soviet Union and suspicion about the new government of Putin. "It was a big misunderstanding," said an embarrassed Jewish leader in New York.

The issue apparently arose when Shayevich, the elected communal leader, was not invited to Putin's inauguration, but a Habad rabbi was. Shayevich then wrote a letter to Putin that such invitations might be perceived as an attempt to exert government influence on the community. In the meantime, sources said, a Habad rabbi told Shayevich: "You see you've not been invited. You should resign."

"Of course the president can invite who he wants," Shayevich said in New York. "But they should not make a decision about who represents [the Jewish community]."

After the arrest of Gusinsky, much has been written in the Hebrew press which has not been mentioned in the so-called "free" medias in the West.

Especially interesting about this Jewish mob-boss, who started out as a taxi driver, is his prominent position as president of the Russian Jewish Congress and his involvment in internal Israeli affairs - for example his partial ownerships of the Israeli paper Ma´ariv. His arrest is considerd by some "Israeli" Jews as an Israeli affair, although this Jew is actually indicted as a Russian citizen!

Therefore we now quote from two articles, the first written in Jerusalem Post´s Internet edition, the second from the Israeli paper Ha´aretz´s Internet edition. Underlines by Radio Islam.

Jerusalem Post, June 14th, 2000:

Jewish media baron arrested in Moscow

By Elli Wohlgelernter

JERUSALEM (June 14) - Media mogul Vladimir Goussinsky, the president of the Russian Jewish Congress and an opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was arrested yesterday in Moscow on suspicion of embezzlement.

The arrest came just five hours after Rabbi Berel Lazar, the head of the Habad movement in the former Soviet Union, announced he had been voted chief rabbi of Russia, supplanting Adolf Shayevich, an ally of Goussinsky.

Lazar's election was announced yesterday afternoon after an all-night session by the Lubavitch-dominated Federation of Jewish Communities. Twenty-six rabbis from all over the former Soviet Union, most affiliated with Habad, voted in the election. The final vote was 25-0-1 with one abstention.

Both developments left the Russian Jewish community dazed and confused, pushing a long-standing turf war to a new level, now seen as spiraling out of control.

A spokesman for the prosecutor's office said that Goussinsky was being held for questioning, and that the authorities had 10 days formally to charge him.

Putin, on a visit to Spain, said the arrest came as a surprise to him, but that he would look into it. A White House spokesman said President Bill Clinton's officials would also investigate the incident.

"I hope the security forces and the prosecutor's office have sufficient grounds to take such an action and it has been done according to the law," Putin told reporters in Madrid. "If it was the prosecutor-general's office, that is an independent body and it took the decision."

Several weeks ago, Goussinsky's Media-Most company was raided by the tax police, a move seen as a bid to silence his media outlets, which have been periodically critical of the Kremlin.

Lazar denied there was any connection between his election as chief rabbi and Goussinsky's arrest, saying that "not only did we not have any connection, but we are going to fight anyone who tries to make any connection at all between the two events, or to try to use us in any way against Goussinsky and the Russian Jewish Congress."

Lazar said the fact that the leader of the Russian Jewish Congress is under arrest "is very inappropriate, and puts the Jewish community in a very dangerous situation.

"I am turning to the government officials with a request that they should urgently free Mr. Goussinsky. He has done great things for the Russian Jewish community through his position as president of the Russian Jewish Congress, and I sincerely hope that his arrest is not at all related to that extensive work. I pray that his innocence be proven in the coming days, and he will continue to be a source of blessed leadership in the Jewish community." But many outside observers believe that there is some connection, owing to the ongoing rivalry between two camps: that of Goussinsky, patron of Shayevich and Moscow Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, and that of Boris Berezovsky, a businessman tycoon and close supporter of Putin. Berezovsky is also reportedly a backer of the Federation, though Lazar vehemently denies this.

"It would seem that the juxtaposition of an all-night session by Lev Levayev [the business tycoon who is chairman of the board of the Federation] and Lazar, and the announcement coming out in the morning, with Goussinsky arrested in the afternoon, would make it look very much as if this has been a joint effort, and that Lubavitch is very much hand in glove with what happened to Goussinsky," said one Jewish leader.

Lazar's election comes eight days after he issued a statement saying, "The Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia has no plans to organize an election for chief rabbi of Russia."

His election has not yet been recognized by any Jewish organization or representative body in the world.

Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said of the arrest coming after Lazar's election: "I would hope that there is no connection. I think that it is regrettable that we have this divisiveness, especially given these other developments, and I would hope that the whole community would unite in support of Mr. Goussinsky, and that due process will be afforded him."

Aba Dunner, secretary-general of the Conference of European Rabbis, said that while he recognizes Lazar as chief rabbi of Habad, "We continue to recognize Shayevich as the chief rabbi of the Russian Jewish community, which includes all sections and shades of Jewish life.

"Unless he has the approval of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate and the Conference of European Rabbis, no chief rabbi can announce himself as being chief rabbi, and we don't give him that approval and therefore Shayevich remains chief rabbi."

Dunner also said his group resents "any suspicion or any movement that would deem to look like government interference in Jewish affairs in Russia."

News agencies contributed to this report.

Ha´aretz, June 14th, 2000 (excerpt):

Russian police hold tycoon Gusinsky
Powerful critic of Putin accused of seizing state property

By Yair Sheleg and Isabella Ginor

Ha'aretz Correspondents and AP

Russian media tycoon Vladimir Gusinsky, whose newspapers and television stations have often been critical of the government, was arrested Tuesday on charges of seizing state property.

Gusinsky has been locked in a dispute with President Vladimir Putin's administration in recent months. He has claimed the Kremlin is persecuting him because it wants to discourage the independent media from delving into possible problems within the government.

Some Russian journalists and politicians have voiced concerns that Putin is not committed to freedom of the press, charges the president denies.

A part-owner of the Ma'ariv daily, Gusinsky, who also serves as president of the Russian Jewish Congress and vice president of the World Jewish Congress, is considered one of the leading figures of the anti-Putin opposition.
[...]
Russian news agencies, citing the press service of the Russian prosecutor-general's office, said Gusinsky was arrested on charges of swindling and grand larceny.

According to the Interfax news agency, a statement from the prosecutor's office said Gusinsky and several top officials of the Russian state company "Russian Video" are suspected of seizing state property worth at least $10 million.

Media-Most's holding include the newspaper Segodnya, the radio station Ekho Moskvy and the NTV television channel. The media outlets have frequently been critical of the Kremlin and Putin, including the war in Chechnya and allegations of official corruption.

An Israeli official said yesterday, "Despite Gusinsky's stature in the World Jewish Congress, it appears that there is no place for intervention by the Jewish world in this matter, and certainly not for intervention by the Israeli government, since the charges against him have no connection to his Jewish activities."

But MK Abraham Hirchson (Likud) submitted the arrest debate in the Knesset, and demanded that Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister David Levy act urgently on Gusinsky's behalf.

Hebrew press on US administration´s Jews and Israel

The Jews in the US administration are doing their utmost in abusing their influence for the aims of their Jewish state of Israel. This is something Radio Islam has constantly pointed out, and we have repeatedly been attacked for doing this by the Zionist Press, labelling it as "vehement antisemitism" and "neo-nazism".

The funny thing, though, is that a great part of the sources to our conclusions are Jewish ones, whereby it becomes rather ridiculous to call us "nazi" when actually the ones who are talking about "Jewish power" are Jews themselves. Let us remember that just a few years ago a prominent American Jew, J. J. Goldberg, wrote a book about Jewish power in the US, the title of the book being simply "Jewish Power".

We have before published the revealing translation from the Hebrew paper Ma´ariv of Israel and its article about "the Jews who run Clinton´s court". Here will follow a few recent excerpts from the Jewish paper Jerusalem Post on the same theme.

The first text is taken from Jerusalem Post´s Internet edition of 29th May, 2000, and is especially interesting as it reveals the Zionism of two important US administration officials; the Jews Martin Indyk and Daniel Kurtzer. It will be seen below that they are considered by leading Zionists as "among the architects of the special relationship between Israel and the US".

Here follows excerpts from the article. Underlines have been added by Radio Islam:

Indyk, Lipstadt, other luminaries attend HU peace symposium
By Greer Fay Cashman

(May 29) - At a peace symposium marking Hebrew University's 75th anniversary, US Ambassadors Martin Indyk and Daniel Kurtzer, currently serving American interests in Israel and Egypt respectively, were credited yesterday by Hebrew University vice president and former Israel Ambassador to the US Moshe Arad with being "among the architects of the special relationship between Israel and the US."

Both men developed ties with Israel before entering the diplomatic corps. Kurtzer came in 1967 and studied at the University from 1969 - 1970. Indyk enrolled at the University in 1973, and studied Hebrew at its summer ulpan, briefly becoming a volunteer garbage collector for the Jerusalem Municipality during the Yom Kippur War before going off to a kibbutz in the Negev, where he lay awake at night listening to C130s flying in desperately needed supplies. It was then that he realized that the US served as Israel's second line of defense.

He also came to the conclusion that once Israel's Arab neighbors realized that they could not achieve a military victory, they would turn to the US to help them with the diplomatic track.

If an agreement is struck between Israel and Syria, said Indyk, "the US stands ready to provide substantial support" needed for making far-reaching territorial concessions.

Kurtzer said that "[there is] a conviction that it [a comprehensive Middle East peace settlement] will happen," and that such a settlement will provide an opportunity for all the nations of the Middle East to think of channelling possibilities for regional economic growth and regional economic trade.
[...]

Comment by Radio Islam:

So we can see how these "American" Jews consider that the US can be misused to serve as "Israel´s second line of defence" and how they indeed plan to use US resources to help finance the Zionist state´s schemes, the so-called "peace process".

A second excerpt comes from the Jerusalem Post´s Internet edition of February 4th, 2000. It tells more on Martin Indyk:

"William Quandt, a former member of the US National Security Council under presidents Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon, agreed that Ivry [i.e. David Ivry, Israels new ambassador to the US, Radio Islams comment] will probably focus on the Pentagon and intelligence.
[...]
He points out that outgoing Undersecretary of State Martin Indyk's return to Tel Aviv to take up his former post as US ambassador to Israel gives Barak a direct line back to President Bill Clinton and makes the ambassador in Washington less essential to diplomacy."

Having a Jew act as "American" ambassador in the Jewish state of Israel is thus considered as "a direct line" to the US president.

To complete the picture we will quote from a third article, also published in Jerusalem Post´s Internet edition, and dated 22nd May, 2000. It tells how Sandy Berger, United States National Security Affairs advisor, the day before had made a speech "to Tel Aviv University's board of governors". The Jewish Newspaper wrote that "Berger [...] is in Israel to received an honorary doctorate from the University".

So here we have an American Jew in a top sensitive position in the US administration even getting a honorary doctorate in the university of the Jewish state.

Jews can thus write about Jewish power and influence, but outside the closed Jewish circles, the subject is taboo. The Jew Philip Weiss writes quite honestly about this in The New York Observer, 3/15/1999. Under the heading "Power Soup for the Soul: Jews and the President", he writes:

"Jewish support is actually more important than black support, and not just because Jeffrey Katzenberg has a house in Deer Valley, Utah. Jews are more powerful. Not one black person voted to acquit President Clinton of impeachment charges. But 11 of 100 Senators are Jewish and they each cast two votes on his side (22 of 105 acquittal votes).
No one talks about Jewish support for Mr. Clinton. For one thing because denial of the obvious is now the central mode of intellectual discourse when it comes to the Lipbiter-sorry, alleged lip biter. More important, because a discussion would require an acknowledgment of Jewish power. The Establishment is now heavily Jewish, from Alan Greenspan and Robert Rubin on down. There are unprecedented numbers of Jews in the White House and in Congress, Mr. Clinton's two appointees to the Supreme Court have both been Jewish, and, out from there, Jews are among the big winners in the economic boom and are all over the Ivy League and the status jobs of the information age, the news media. [...]"

Again the Jewish hypocrisy: The Jew Weiss writes that its "obvious" that there is considerable Jewish influence in the US, he even writes that "the Establishment is now heavily Jewish". But then he admits that this topic is not discussed with the pretext that "a discussion would require an acknowledgment of Jewish power".

Actually the fact is that Jews like Weiss and J. J. Goldberg have the privilege to mention Jewish power in the Establishment and its invocations, while a non-Jew - a goy - will go to prison doing the same thing!

Radio Islam´s Ahmed Rami was sent to prison for just saying that the King was naked and for quoting from Establishment and Jewish sources.

Marlon Brando had to crawl to the cross, or rather to the Magen David, and crying ask forgiveness from a rabbi for his "antisemitism" as he had mentioned Jewish influence in Hollywood. But just a while thereafter the Jews themselves wrote a lengthy chutzpah article named "Jews Run Hollywood - So what?" on the very same subject, where they now were bragging about their influence in the "Dream Factory"!

ADL strikes a mine!

The ADL of B´nai B´rith are having troubled times. Here the Jew J. J. Goldberg reports in the Jerusalem Post´s Internet edition, in a Jewish World Article published on May 29th, 2000. The subject is a recent verdict against the ADL:

AMERICAN BEAT: Defamation Row - We've all been put on notice
By J.J. Goldberg

(May 29) - Anti-Defamation League director Abe Foxman likes to tell stories about people he meets while traveling. They ask him what he does. He says he runs an agency that defends Jews. Their response, typically, is astonishment: "Really? Jews need defending?"

Foxman's point is that Jews are losing their underdog image as they win increasing acceptance in America. This is one of those good news/bad news messages, particularly for the folks charged with wielding the machinery of Jewish power. It's easier than ever to throw your weight around, but harder to elicit sympathy. These are new, uncharted waters. Proceed with caution.

That lesson came back to bite Foxman with a vengeance last month, when a federal jury in Denver delivered an unprecedented $10.5 million verdict against the Anti-Defamation League for, of all things, defamation.

The jury found that ADL's Mountain States chapter had defamed a non-Jewish couple, William and Dorothy Quigley, by unjustly accusing them of antisemitism. The Quigleys were caught up in a backyard feud with Jewish neighbors, Mitchell and Candace Aronson, in the affluent Denver suburb of Evergreen. The Aronsons produced tapes of the Quigleys' private conversations, picked off a cordless phone by police scanner, containing what they called antisemitic threats. The ADL backed them up.

The jury decided the alleged threats sounded more like private venting.

Thanks to the tapes, though, the ADL was also found guilty of violating the Quigleys' privacy.

Altogether, the jury levied $1.5 million in compensatory damages against the ADL - $1 million for William Quigley's suffering, $500,000 for Dorothy's - plus a whopping $9 million in punitive damages, to teach the league a lesson.

Curiously, no fines were levied against the Aronsons, who initiated the antisemitism charges and taped the conversations, nor against the Jefferson County district attorney, who charged the Quigleys with criminal ethnic intimidation before backing down and apologizing.

Both the Aronsons and the DA's office, it seems, had long since settled with the Quigleys - the DA for $75,000, the Aronsons for a handshake.

ADL officials say they tried to settle too, but were rebuffed.

The Aronsons first approached the ADL in October 1994, complaining of antisemitic harassment. They had moved to Evergreen that summer and been befriended by the Quigleys. But the friendship soured fast, going from complaints about dogs to shouting matches over who trod on whose lawn.

In October, things turned ugly when Candace Aronson claimed William Quigley tried to run her over. Soon after, Mitchell Aronson picked up the Quigleys' cordless phone on his police scanner, and overheard Dorothy Quigley complaining to a friend about Aronson's wife in language he considered antisemitic.

Among other things, she reportedly suggested that an "oven door" should be painted on the Aronson house, evoking the Holocaust.

In late October, the Aronsons brought their fears to ADL regional director Saul Rosenthal. They also went to District Attorney David Thomas, claiming they were victims of ethnic intimidation, a felony in Colorado.

In consultation with prosecutors, sheriff's deputies and ADL lawyers, the Aronsons proceeded to tape another 100 hours of phone calls. Nobody - neither the Aronsons, the ADL, sheriff's deputies nor prosecutors - realized a new federal wiretap law outlawing such surveillance had just taken effect.

In December, the Aronsons filed a federal civil suit against the Quigleys.

Three days later, Thomas filed criminal charges. In between, the Aronsons appeared at a press conference with ADL's Rosenthal. He accused the Quigleys of waging "a vicious antisemitic campaign." Later, in a radio appearance, Rosenthal described the feud as the worst case of antisemitism in Denver since the 1984 murder of radio talk-show host Alan Berg by neo-Nazis.

Then the case began to collapse. DA Thomas, learning the tapes were illegal, dropped his intimidation charges. In a public apology, he admitted the tapes showed no evidence of "antisemitic conduct or harassment." Soon after, the Quigleys sued everyone involved for ruining their reputations.

The Quigleys' suit claimed the allegations of antisemitism rested entirely on a handful of statements - all by Dorothy Quigley, none by William - in private phone conversations with friends. They said the statements had been intended ironically, as Quigley made clear in asides like "that's so sick." The accusation of antisemitism, by contrast, was highly public. Covered extensively in the press, the accusation allegedly had a devastating effect on William Quigley's career as a film executive.

A native New Yorker, Quigley had been chief financial officer at Paramount Pictures and president of Vestron Pictures, producing such movies as Dirty Dancing and John Huston's The Dead. He moved to Denver in 1993 to head up United Artists' theater chain.

After the ADL called him an antisemite, Quigley alleged, he found himself shunned by his mostly Jewish friends and colleagues.

ADL officials insist they did nothing wrong. They're asking the judge to set aside the jury's verdict. "We did in this case what we're all about, which is to pursue issues of antisemitism, prejudice and discrimination," said Foxman. "We will continue to do so."

Privately, some ADL officials say they were hung out to dry when the Quigleys settled with everyone but them. Their accusations of antisemitism simply followed the district attorney's lead. They didn't listen to the tapes first, but neither did the DA. A few ADL staffers suggest they've been singled out because the league's deep pockets make it an irresistible target.

ADL officials don't say so, but there's something unsettling about the relish with which the jury punished the ADL, awarding triple the damages the Quigleys had asked. The judgment carries echoes of past crusades against the ADL, which often seemed less about correcting wrongdoing and more about cutting ADL - and the Jews - down to size.

In the end, though, the ADL was caught in Denver with its pants down. It re-broadcast an accusation of antisemitism before investigating. That's foolish.

More disturbing, it attacked private citizens for opinions voiced at home among friends. That's chilling. "This was a case of converting private speech into behavior," says the Quigleys' attorney, Jay Horowitz.

The case's most important lesson, though, is precisely the lesson the jury intended. The accusation of antisemitism is an awesome weapon, because of the public revulsion it generates. The power to lodge that accusation carries grave responsibilities.

In a world where Jews are as powerful as their enemies, the Jewish community is accountable for its actions. We're all on notice.

A Revealing Survey on US Jews

In another Jerusalem Post Jewish World Article, published on the Internet on May 29th, 2000, the Jew J. J. Goldberg writes about a new survey which comes to some revealing conclusions about the American Jews.

Here follows the article in its full length. Quotes judged as especially interesting by Radio Islam, have been underlined.

Ethnic poll finds US Jews increasingly rooted in society
By J.J. Goldberg

WHIPPANY, N.J. (May 29) - Jews are more likely than members of any other American ethnic group to purchase a hardcover book or attend a live musical performance in the coming year, but they're much less likely to buy a car, truck, recreational vehicle or major home appliance.

Their earning power outstrips any other ethnic group, yet they continue to vote very much the way blacks and Hispanics do.

These statistics may sound like the setup to some tired ethnic joke or chicken soup homily, but they're actually the latest in social-science research.

They are part of an intriguing new portrait of American Jews that has emerged from a groundbreaking study of ethnic America. Conducted last winter by Zogby International in cooperation with the New Jersey Jewish News, the studies, the Zogby Culture Polls, attempt to shed new light on a variety of American ethnic groups by examining them side by side.

The study consists of a series of identical surveys administered simultaneously to six different ethnic groups: Jews, Hispanics, and Asian, African, Arab and Italian Americans. The result is perhaps the first fully rounded statistical snapshot of America's ethnic mosaic, or an important chunk of it.

By mapping the contours of individual ethnic subcultures alongside one another, the researchers hoped to produce a sort of relief map of the broader society, as well as a more rounded profile of each individual group.

The surveys were all conducted between Dec. 14, 1999 and Feb. 7, 2000.

Sample sizes varied, as did margins of error. The Jewish sample numbered 589 people, with a 4.1 percent margin of error.

THE PORTRAIT of American Jews that emerges from the poll is at once familiar and surprising. Jews are increasingly rooted in America, the survey confirms. Fewer than one-third are immigrants or children of immigrants, a percentage similar to that of Italian Americans, but far less than the numbers for newer arrivals such as Hispanic, Asian or Arab Americans.

Moreover, Jews have achieved an extraordinary measure of success.

Six out of 10 Jewish adults have a college degree, more than any group except Asians.

More than 41 percent report a household income of $75,000 or more, far above any other group surveyed.

Fewer Jews than members of any other group reported worrying about losing their jobs or going without a meal. Far more reported investing in the stock market and shopping via the Internet.

And yet Jews still view themselves as a minority, and that self-image clearly shapes their view of their world.

Close to 90 percent say their ethnic heritage is "very" or "somewhat" important to them, comparable to blacks, Hispanics or Arab Americans, but far beyond Italian Americans.

And nearly 60 percent report having experienced discrimination because of their ethnic heritage, more than any other group except blacks.

Fully half of Jews report having a "strong emotional tie" to their "country of ethnic heritage" - less than Hispanics, at 62 percent, or Arab Americans, at 56 percent, but much more than Asian Americans, at 43 percent, or Italian Americans, at 37.5 percent.

WHAT IS particularly striking is that unlike the other groups, the country to which Jews are attached is not one their grandparents came from, but Israel, one which for the most part they have only read of in books or heard of in synagogue.

The researchers pointed to the very distinctiveness of the Jews as an identifiable community, with its own patterns of behavior and values, as the most striking finding of the poll of Jews.

"Jews have retained their own identity," said John Zogby, president of Zogby International.

"I'm not an expert in Judaism, and as an Arab American I wouldn't claim to be, but the findings suggest that there's plenty within the context of Judaism as a spiritual force that generates a commitment to community spirit and communal values." Zogby, who is of Lebanese Christian descent, is best known as a New York-based Republican pollster. He is the brother of Arab American lobbyist James Zogby.

"You have to look at what appear to be subtleties," added Belio Martinez Jr., Zogby's director of international marketing and research. "When you look at issues of persecution, or at their involvement in international affairs, it's clear that they really don't view themselves as part of the traditional Anglo American majority culture." That minority self-image may help explain why Jews remain more liberal than any of their neighbors, despite their material success and the fading of the immigrant experience.

Both Zogby and Martinez cited that liberalism as the most important finding in the Jewish survey.

"They're more conservative than they were in the 1920s and 1930s," said Zogby, "but within the larger context, they remain more liberal than others." This liberalism shows up in a variety of contexts: party identification, voting patterns and positions on issues.

NOWHERE, though, is it clearer than in the simple fact that Jews are more likely to identify themselves as liberals than any other group. Some 49 percent of Jews called themselves "liberal" or "very liberal," compared to 42 percent of blacks and about one-third of every other group.

By contrast, about 19 percent of Jews called themselves "conservative" or "very conservative," compared to 25 percent of blacks and about one-third of every other group.

The lopsided liberalism is reflected in party identification: About two-thirds of Jews are registered as Democrats and 15 percent as Republicans. That makes Jews slightly less partisan than blacks, who are 78 percent Democratic and 6.5 percent Republican.

Among Hispanics, 57 percent are registered Democratic and 21 percent Republican. Italian and Arab Americans, like the nation as a whole, are about 37 percent Democrat and 34 percent Republican. All the groups' presidential votes in 1996 closely matched their party registration.

The lopsided liberalism of the Jews shows up in their responses to issues on the public agenda, particularly on abortion.

Jews are overwhelmingly pro-choice, with 61 percent saying the decision should always be left to the mother. Among other groups, the figure ranged from 40 percent of blacks and Asian Americans to 29 percent among Italian and Arab Americans and 24 percent of Hispanics who were fully pro-choice.

Similarly, fewer than 50 percent of Jews believe in notifying parents when a minor seeks an abortion, compared with nearly 80 percent in every other group.

Jews are also the most supportive of letting the federal government set education policy, the most supportive of campaign donation limits and the least supportive of increasing the military budget. In general, Jews showed a greater faith in the power of the federal government to do good than any other group.

For Zogby, the specific characteristics marking American Jews - attachment to Israel, distinctive political values, mistrust of the United Nations - all point to the enduring influence of Judaism on the Jews' inner lives.

Others might dispute that conclusion. But one thing is certain - wherever it comes from, they're not getting it in synagogue.

Jews attend worship services less regularly than any other group surveyed. That, in fact, was one of the most striking differences the survey found between Jews and the others.

Just under one-quarter of the Jews polled said they attend services at least once a week, while more than half said they attend on "special occasions only." In every other group those numbers were precisely reversed, with about half saying they attend services at least weekly and 25 to 30 percent saying they attend only on special occasions.(Between 9 and 20 percent of each group said they "never" attend services, with Asian Americans scoring highest.)

At the same time, Jews had the highest proportion - 5.2 percent - who attend services daily, suggesting the continuing influence of Orthodoxy. Combined with 18 percent who attend weekly and more than 6 percent who attend "once or twice a month," a total of nearly 30 percent attend synagogue with some regularity. This matches other surveys that show 25 to 30 percent of American Jews maintain a deep, ongoing involvement in communal Jewish practice.

What keeps the others identifiably Jewish? The Zogby Culture Poll doesn't say. All it does is state the facts: One way or another, something is keeping them Jewish.

(New Jersey Jewish News)

A Zionist plan for relocating Palestinians to Iraq

The absolute cynicism of the Zionists is revealed in their latest scheme. Iraq, a country "bombed back to preindustrial times" by a Zionist advocated and organised war, with hundred of thousands of casaulties as a result, is now - after almost ten years of murderous sanctions - given a proposal, according to Zionist sources: If the destroyed Iraqi nation, victims of the Zionist scheme for the Middle East, promises to absorb hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians, made stateless by the very same Zionist state and its policies of ethnic cleansing, the Zionists will work for a lifting of the stranglehold on Iraq!

This is Jewish chutzpah in its most murderous manifestation.

We will here quote from the Zionist paper Jerusalem Post´s Internet edition of May 22nd, 2000, which writes about this. Here follows excerpts from the article. Underlines have been added by Radio Islam.

Iraqi opposition: Palestinian refugee deal would cause civil war
By Douglas Davis

LONDON (May 22) - A leading Iraqi opposition activist yesterday expressed bitter disappointment over reports that Israel will consider dropping its support of sanctions against Iraq if Saddam Hussein takes in up to one million Palestinian refugees from Lebanon and other Arab states.
[...]
It is understood that the United States and some Western European governments oppose such a deal, in which Israel would help end Iraq's diplomatic isolation in exchange for Iraq's absorption of Palestinian refugees now in Lebanon and toning down of its hostile anti-Israel rhetoric. Lebanese politicians blame the Palestinians for triggering the civil war there and are alarmed at the prospect of any peace agreement that leaves them in place in Lebanon. Furthermore, even if Hizbullah ceases its attacks after Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon, armed Palestinians, who oppose any deal that does not involve their return, are expected to pose a major security threat to Israel. Their relocation to Iraq, say sources, would remove that danger.

A report in yesterday's Observer of London stated that Israeli and Iraqi representatives have met four times over the past 15 months. The paper also quoted intelligence sources in Jerusalem confirming last week that discussions between Israeli and Iraqi representatives are continuing. It also stated that official sources in Washington, London, Amman and Jerusalem confirmed the contacts between the two countries, and the Iraqi proposal. Senior US State Department sources reportedly told the paper, "We know that this is being talked about. No agreement has been finalized but we are pretty confident it is going to happen."

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