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ABU GHRAIB, Iraq — First Lt. Jeff Morgan watched with concern as Soad Jaffar al-Hasan cradled her precious baby girl, the mother's smile masking the inevitable. Morgan, a single father of five from Georgia, knew that in a few months, possibly weeks, Noor, al-Hassan's firstborn, would succumb to a birth defect. "If no one helps us, the baby will die," Noor's grandmother, Iman Sami Abbas, told visiting soldiers with the Georgia Army National Guard. Noor, whose name means light in Arabic, was born with a severe form of spina bifida. Iraqi doctors lack the resources to treat her. They sent...

Ron Martz, Atlanta Journal and Constitution, former embeded reporter with the 48th Brigade of the Georgia Army National Guard wonders out loud why there is a disconnect between the media and the miltiary. "Bed news sells.....we arent traitors"

Pro-Israel Advocate Highlights Growing Anti-Semitism at U.S. Schools By Jim Brown December 2, 2005 (AgapePress) - A pro-Israel advocate is warning of an intensifying anti-Semitic climate on university campuses in the United States. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights recently heard testimony from Jewish groups troubled that tax dollars are being used to fund university Middle East studies programs that have a radical outlook on the U.S. and Israel. Sarah Stern of the American Jewish Congress (AJC) testified at the hearing. She says anti-Semitism is a virus that is spreading on U.S. campuses and seems to be immune to any...

It didn't take long for the e-mails about The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's declining circulation figures to begin this week. "Liberals no longer have a monopoly on news sources," wrote one reader. "Just today, I wanted to do some extra reading so I held my nose, put 50 cents in the box, and bought a copy of the AJC. I detest the thought of my money funding a source which promotes a liberal ideology." And this missive: "Congratulations to you liberal socialists. How does it feel to have your circulation drop . . . People are sick of your diversity and socialist...

The Saudis are at it again, and this time America's school children are the victims. It's no secret that the princes in Riyadh fund anti-American, anti-Israel, and anti-Semitic propaganda in mosques and madrassas across the globe. But now a yearlong investigation by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency exposes that the oil kingdom's virulent tentacles also stretch into America's public school system. The JTA says textbooks used in public schools across the country "are highly critical of democratic institutions and forgiving of repressive ones." The books also "praise and sometimes promote Islam, but criticize Judaism and Christianity and are filled with false...

The Catholic Church should categorically reject any attempts to convert Jews, the American Jewish Committee's Rabbi David Rosen said Thursday. "Even though the Nostra Aetate says that no attempts should be made to convert Jews, many Catholics continue to express a hope for conversion," he told The Jerusalem Post from Rome during the Vatican's 40th anniversary celebration of the Nostra Aetate document, which revolutionized the Catholic Church's relations with Jews. Rosen, the AJC's international director of interreligious affairs, has been involved in Vatican-Israeli negotiations for more than a decade. He and Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, a retired Paris Archbishop and Jewish...

NEW YORK, Oct. 10 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is a statement by the American Jewish Congress in response to the Episcopal Church's recommendation against divestment: Contact: Juda Engelmayer of the American Jewish Congress, 212-360-1540 or 917-733-3561, or Jengelmayer@AJCongress.org, Web: http://www.ajcongress.org The American Jewish Congress lauds the Episcopal Church's Social Responsibility and Investment Committee recommendations against divestment from companies doing business with Israel, and the church's subsequent executive counsel resolution proposing positive investments instead. As the committee's report acknowledges, divestment from Israel does not offer any positive steps toward solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Other churches and organizations promoting divestment-such as the...

American Jewish Committee Honors Poland President Kwasniewski Fri Sep 16, 7:37 PM ET NEW YORK, Sept. 16 /U.S. Newswire/ -- President Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland was honored last night by the American Jewish Committee with the organization's highest award, the American Liberties Medallion. "Mr. President, you are a towering champion of liberty, a steadfast defender of democracy, a staunch advocate of human rights, a courageous protector of memory and a tireless promoter of mutual understanding," said AJC Executive Director David A. Harris as he presented the prestigious award at a dinner at AJC headquarters. "Today, democratic Poland shines bright in...

Pity Larry Lowenthal. His job as executive director of the Boston branch of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) includes finding and training leaders from among the 700,000 Russian Jews who have immigrated to the U.S. in the last 30 years. Mr. Lowenthal has fared well: Today there are Russians helping to guide a number of major Jewish organizations, like the one called Boston for Israel. But now these immigrants turn out to be … oh no! Republicans! To judge by his public statements and writings, Mr. Lowenthal's idea of a faithful Jew is someone who opposes the nomination of Judge...

American Jewish Congress Responds to North American Fiqh Council Fatwa Condemning Terrorism Distribution Source : U.S. Newswire Date : Friday, July 29, 2005 To: National Desk Contact: American Jewish Congress, 212-360-1540 or 917-733-3561 or email: Jengelmayer@AJCongress.org or Web site: http://www.ajcongress.org NEW YORK, July 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- In response to the North American Fiqh Council's fatwa condemning terrorism, American Jewish Congress President Paul S. Miller issued the following statement: Obviously any sincere condemnation of all forms of terrorism by bona fide religious leaders of the Muslim community would be a welcome development. So, we would like to be able to...

Town won't put 'Jesus' in prayers Wiccan's suit to keep words out of Great Falls council's pre-meeting prayer upheld By Andrew Dys The Herald The town of Great Falls lost its four-year legal battle to keep the name "Jesus Christ" in its council meeting prayers Tuesday. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the Chester County town's appeal of a lower court decision that it improperly favored one faith with its prayers. The decision ends an often contentious case that pitted the Town Council against a resident who is a Wiccan high priestess. "This sends a message that this behavior...

Democrat Denise Majette's campaign on Tuesday blasted The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for supporting Republican Johnny Isakson in the race for U.S. Senate. "The AJC didn't even bother to give Denise a chance to talk to them" before publishing an endorsement of Isakson on Sept. 27, the Majette campaign charged in a statement sent to reporters and posted online. Rick Dent, campaign spokesman for Majette, said the congresswoman is also upset that the newspaper's editorial board would not publish her reply to the Isakson endorsement. "Our contention is that the general election is a different election [from the primary], between two people...

Take polls with a grain of salt By MARLON MANUEL The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 09/02/04 The big names of the campaign aren't limited to Bush-Cheney or Kerry-Edwards. Add Gallup. Zogby. Harris. Roper. They're among the pollsters trying to answer the question everyone asked, even before President Bush wrapped up the GOP convention Thursday: Who's in front? But like all savvy consumers, voters should scrutinize the polls before buying into the findings. Some surveys are more scientific than others. Some take account of those more likely to vote, some quiz anyone who's registered to vote. And some results carry the...

In today's Atlanta Journal Constitution, the newspaper (is it one? I guess it reports on the Atlanta Braves...) goes to great lengths to defend Sin Ketchup ( or is that Senator John Kerry) as a Baby killer, and attack Christians. A professor is quoted as being a better "church authority" than part of the Magisterium of the Church, according to this article. And then the Kerry campaign claims that since John Kerry is a Catholic, this is a private matter. Except that the single largest religious group is Roman Catholics in the United States. Only by looking at this through...

Mass Moslem immigration into America combined with world-wide Moslem Jew-hatred poses an unprecedented threat to American Jews-a "perfect storm" that is forcing at least some Jews into an agonizing re-appraisal of their traditional support for open immigration. So says Stephen Steinlight in his hard-hitting essay, "High Noon to Midnight: Why Current Immigration Policy Dooms American Jewry," published by the Center for Immigration Studies. A former director of national affairs at the American Jewish Committee and now an outspoken advocate of immigration reform, Steinlight tells his fellow Jews that they, along with the rest of America, face a momentous choice. If...

WASHINGTON, May 14 (JTA) – A U.S. Supreme Court ruling barring prayer at public school graduations has been on the books for 10 years, but the issue remains a source of controversy. A number of situations arise each year that test the matter anew. School boards are willing to risk litigation and school officials are looking for a way to include some kind of prayer in the end-of-year ceremonies. “A school board that is hell-bent on having prayer at graduation has means available to do it,” said Marc Stern, the co-director of the American Jewish Congress’ legal department. Just this...

Republican Jewish Coalition -- www.rjchq.org WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) is encouraged by a new poll that shows an indisputable shift in the trends of Jewish voting. Commissioned by the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the poll reveals that if the presidential election were held today, President George Bush would win significantly more of the Jewish vote than he did in the 2000 elections. “We are still in the early stages this election cycle, but there is much reason for optimism,” said RJC Executive Director Matthew Brooks. “It now undeniable that there is a major shift taking place...

President Bush has proposed reforms that would turn millions of undocumented migrants into honest workers. It is about time. Arguments by critics that the proposals reward crime are utterly without merit, especially in an economy that depends on the labor of such low-paid, hardworking people. Rather than being soft on crime, a Bush administration that legitimizes the economic system that benefits us all acts morally. The Bush proposals, which face a divided Congress, essentially would permit undocumented immigrantsto work for three years, with an option to extend for a maximum of three additional years. And then, unless the worker has...

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 11/23/03 Thank God for democracy It's no wonder we're having a hard time teaching Jeffersonian democracy to the Iraqis. It's still controversial in America. Take the precincts where Roy Moore holds sway. Moore, recently ousted as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, has become the standard bearer for Christian conservatives who believe that the United States is a "Christian nation." He has inspired hundreds of thousands of followers. Never mind that Moore insisted on placing a 2 1/2-ton Ten Commandments monument in the courthouse rotunda. Never mind that he argued that he's above civil law and...

When a conservative priest stood in an Atlanta cathedral Saturday to denounce the Episcopal Church, hardly anyone noticed the man sitting alone on the front row. The crowd at the public meeting had turned to hear the Rev. David Anderson warn Episcopalian leaders that they had shattered their church by voting for the acceptance of an openly gay bishop. Few noticed Christopher Miller, who crumpled over in his chair and covered his eyes as Anderson spoke. That changed when a red-faced Miller took the microphone and turned to face the crowd. "I keep hearing about the pains of what other...