In Memory - Kristallnacht   November 9-10, 1938

Elections Today in Massachusetts Cities

7 am to 8 pm

Just a week ago, we celebrated a re-enactment of the Selma March that led to passage of the 1965 Civil Rights Act. That statute followed years of effort, hard work, and lives lost. Eloquent speakers led by Congressman John Lewis reminded us of the people who put their lives on the line in order to have the right to vote.

We have races in Massachusetts cities today,  races that determine how school committee decisions get made, city council budget decisions work, and who will lead our cities as mayors. Boston, Somerville, Attleboro, Cambridge, Newton, are among the cities with elections.
                   Urge everyone you know to vote today
        Voting is too important to leave it for someone else.

Urgent:  City of Lawrence voters (and others) who have been determined to be "inactive" may vote by signing an affidavit as to their residence at the polling place. Voters are too easily removed from the rolls in MA. 

Voters in Maine will decide whether to legally prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, credit, public accommodations, and educational opportunities. Earlier this year, the Maine Legislature passed for the third time a law to prohibit discrimination against gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people. For the third time, opponents of equality in Maine are working to undo the law at the ballot.

2. LEGISLATIVE  ISSUES
Nomination of Judge Samuel Alito
Five national and local Jewish social justice groups have announced their
opposition to the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the US Supreme Court.
Other Jewish social justice groups are still moving through their internal
decision-making processes. JALSA has not taken a position on the nomination.

Senate amendment prohibiting torture of prisoners.
The Senate passed the McCain amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill (S 1042)
90-9 requiring all US government employees to interrogation techniques in the army manuel
That amendment, which would effectively prohibit torture, is not in the House version (H.R. 2863).
Members of the Administration continue to work hard to exempt CIA agents from that legislation.
This week (JTA - November 7) Sen. John McCain cited Israel as an example of a nation
that successfully combats terrorism without resorting to torture.
“The people in this world that suffer more threats from terrorist attacks and get them every day
are the Israelis,” McCain said Monday on NBC’s “Today” show. “The Israeli Supreme Court
outlawed torture, outlawed cruel and inhumane treatment. And I have talked to Israeli officials,
and they say they do very fine without it.” McCain made a similar argument on “Fox News Sunday.”
Action Requested: Urge US Senators and Congressmen insist that the McCain amendment on interrogation techniques be in the final conference report. Capitol Switchboard: 202.224.3121

See suggested reading on torture issue:
Cheney Fights for Detainee Policy
As Pressure Mounts to Limit Handling Of Terror Suspects, He Holds Hard Line
By Dana Priest and Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, November 7, Page A01
Over the past year, Vice President Cheney has waged an intense and largely unpublicized
campaign to stop Congress, the Pentagon and the State Department from imposing more
restrictive rules on the handling of terrorist suspects, according to defense, more....
 www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/06/AR2005110601281.html?referrer=email. 

Massachusetts Has A Chance to Influence PATRIOT Act Debate
State Legislative Action
H.B. 1881 -- the Resolution Affirming the Civil Rights and Liberties of the People of
Massachusetts -- received a favorable report from the Committee of Public Safety and
Homeland Security. There is a possibility that it may be voted on by the full legislature
before the mid November recess. Massachusetts could go on record by telling the
members of Congress who are debating the re-authorization of the USA PATRIOT Act
that its excesses need to be fixed, and civil rights and liberties must be protected.
Call your state representative and senator immediately and ask them to support
H.B. 1881 if and when it comes to the floor for a vote. Need help in identifying your rep?
See: www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/myelectioninfo.php. 

After Katrina, are we paying attention?
From Gary Orfield Civil Rights Project, Harvard University.
Every time there is a disaster in the country, people who have been working on the issues
that led to the calamity hope that there will be a breakthrough toward solving the underlying problems.
It takes leadership to recognize the causes and to focus serious energy on solving them.
When the country's energy was focused relentlessly for a couple of weeks on the
stunning images of devastation, destruction, and displacement from poor largely black communities in New Orleans, those of us working on urban segregation and persisting racial inequality hoped that the shock of recognition of the problem would help create a discussion of the
systemic problems of this sort in cities across the nation and the ways they could be addressed.
Instead of that we see a sudden flood of contracts, creation of rural trailer park ghettos,
and very little serious focus on how to use these vast sums of money to create neighborhoods
and schools that will be more diverse racially and economically, and provide better opportunities
for minority families in New Orleans. Worse, there are proposals to finance the reconstruction
of New Orleans by cutting Medicaid and other needed services for poor people across the country
and, instead of seriously thinking about a better public school system - in a huge voucher experiment.
There is almost no serious discussion going on about the underlying causes and solutions
that would be better from a civil rights perspective.
See the newsletter of the Civil Rights Project: www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/news/newsletter.php. 

National Call-In Week to Save Our Social Services (From the RAC)
Prevent Congress from Cutting 300,000 Americans Off Food Stamps
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, millions of Americans are beginning their lives anew
- rebuilding homes, schools and communities. For Americans living outside the Gulf Coast,
Katrina exposed long-ignored problems of domestic poverty. The hurricane revealed a vast
population of Americans left behind by an economy that all too-often rewards the privileged
and disadvantages the poor; left behind by tax cuts that benefit America's wealthiest citizens;
and abandoned by social services that are currently under attack. Between 2001 and 2004,
the number of Americans in poverty jumped by more than four million, to 37 million people.
The number of Americans without health insurance has increased by 6 million since 2000,
bringing the number of uninsured to 46 million. Poverty is a continuing problem in America-but
it is no longer invisible. Over half of New Orleans' private sector workers are now without
a steady income and 160,000 Mississippi residents face unemployment.

MORE JALSA ACTION ITEMS
Each week, following the CLSA meeting, a list of action items is circulated to
those JALSA members who have not been able to attend the meeting.
Add your name to the CLSA notification list to receive special CLSA announcements
and the weekly list of possible CLSA projects. No follow-up calls. You just receive
the list and if you can and want to work on one of the projects, you let us know.
Write decter@jalsa.org.  and indicate you want the "weekly CL:SA action list"

3. IMPORTANT COMMUNITY EVENT
Super Sunday Telethon
Combined Jewish Philanthropies
Sunday, November 13, 9 am - 5 pm; Young Leadership Div: 5:30-9 pm
Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center
333 Nahanton Street, Newton
or Sunday, November 13, 9 am - 12 pm
Striar Jewish Community Center
445 Central Street, Stoughton

For more information contact CJP
at 617-457-8581 or rachelr@cjp.org. 
Training will be provided for all volunteers.
Super Sunday, CJP's biggest annual one-day fundraising event,
is always important. But this year, its essential! As unemployment rises,
more and more families fall on hard times. Children who went without new clothes
now go to school without breakfast. Seniors who survived the Holocaust now
must endure terrible hardship in their declining years. The programs your generosity
funds are in trouble and the people they serve are increasingly desperate.
Please consider volunteering so that CJP can continue to thrive and support
important programs. Beginning with our very first year of existence,
CJP has made an allocation of funds annually to JALSA.

4. WORTH READING OR VIEWING
"Wal-Mart: the High Cost of Low Prices"
Director Robert Greenwald; earlier films include: "Uncovered: The War on Iraq" and "Outfoxed"
Buy your copy of the movie: http://www.walmartmovie.com/watch.php?track=moveon. 

Massachusetts Dropout Rates Rise in 2003-2004:
Recommendations for Action November 2005
Anne Wheelock
Massachusetts dropout rates rose in 2003-2004, according to a report released by the
Massachusetts Department of Education in October 2005. The report, "Dropout Rates
in Massachusetts Public Schools, 2003-04," is posted on the Massachusetts Department
of Education's website at www.doe.mass.edu/infoservices/reports/dropout/0304/report.pdf. 
As in the past, Latino and African American students, students with disabilities, students
learning English as a second language, and students from resource-stressed districts,
both urban and rural, are most vulnerable to current policies and practices that put them
at risk of leaving school without a diploma.
Public Education Advocate Anne Wheelock has provided "action recommendations"
to respond to this report.
http://massparents.org/news/2005/mass_dropout_rates_rise.htm. 

FRONTLINE - "The Last Abortion Clinic" (60min.),
Tuesday, Nov. 08 at 9pm on WGBH - Channel 2    (Repeated on Channels 44 and 2 early hours Nov. 9)
Inside FRONTLINE: Venturing into the abortion thicket
 www.pbs.org/frontline/.. 
With the nomination of Samuel Alito to replace Sandra Day O'Connor, the
long anticipated battle to determine the direction of the Supreme Court
for the next generation appears to be underway. One of the litmus test
issues for interest groups is abortion. While some believe Alito might
vote to overturn Roe v. Wade if given the opportunity, most think it is
more likely that Alito will join others on the court in upholding state
regulations designed to restrict access to abortion. The success of such
state regulations in many parts of the country is the story FRONTLINE
tells this week in "The Last Abortion Clinic." In Mississippi, for
example, only one abortion clinic remains in operation.

Review on Suzie Davidson book
Local author pays tribute to Holocaust survivors, soldiers who liberated them
By Ed Symkus/ Senior Staff Writer
Thursday, November 3, 2005
We all want to do good deeds, maybe even be remembered for some of the positive things
we've done. Susie Davidson was quite satisfied with writing feature stories for the Jewish Advocate,
promoting other people's events and causes, getting exposure for the things they were doing.
Then two things happened. Davidson, a Brookline resident, got to thinking about doing
something bigger, perhaps a project that would pay tribute to a deserving people
on a larger scale. Around the same time, she attended the groundbreaking ceremony
for the Liberating Soldiers Monument at the New England Holocaust Memorial. more...
 www.townonline.com/brookline/artsLifestyle/view.bg?articleid=360629.   Stories of survival. 

Proposition 73 in California bodes problems for Stem Cell Research
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 26, Special Election 2005
Abortion issue's opponents wary of the fine print
The principal debate over Proposition 73 is whether doctors should have
to notify a pregnant teen's parents before performing an abortion. But other
controversies are lurking in the fine print.
One little-discussed provision of the Nov. 8 ballot measure would create a
public scorecard for judges who rule on minors' abortions. Another would
define abortion in the state Constitution as the killing of "a child conceived
but not yet born.''

Foxman now joins those concerned at efforts to Christianize America
ADL's Foxman warns of efforts to 'Christianize America'
By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent
NEW YORK - Institutionalized Christianity in the U.S. has grown so extremist that it poses a tangible danger to the principle of separation of church and state and threatens to undermine the religious tolerance that characterizes the country, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, warned in his address to the League's national commission, meeting in New York City over the weekend.

"Today we face a better financed, more sophisticated, coordinated, unified, energized and organized coalition of groups in opposition to our policy positions on church-state separation than ever before. Their goal is to implement their Christian worldview. To Christianize America. To save us!" he said.

Foxman proceeded to describe the process and to name names: "Major players include Focus On Family. Alliance Defense Fund, the American Family Association, Family Research Council and more. They and other groups have established new organizations and church-based networks, and built infrastructure throughout the country designed to promote traditional Christian values."
The ADL, considered the largest Jewish organization in America, has in the past spearheaded campaigns against religious preachers and Christian elements deemed unusually extreme. But this is the first all-out media assault by an ADL head on the U.S. Christian establishment."In 2002, leaders from 10 conservative Christian organizations formed the `Arlington Group,' an alliance of over 50 of the most prominent Christian leaders and organizations. Their Web site documented in considerable details the agenda of a wide range of issues, including judicial nominees, stem-cell research, same-sex marriage, abortion restrictions and the faith-based initiative - and their expectation of success on these issues [was high] because of their perceived political strength," Foxman said. 

He noted that churches and organizations of this sort have always been active in America, but they had never before been so aggressive and determined. "They intend to Christianize all aspects of American life, from the halls of government to the libraries, to the movies, to recording studios, to the playing fields and locker rooms of professional, collegiate and amateur sports; from the military to SpongeBob SquarePants," Foxman charged. "No effort is made to hide their goals or their ambitions, and their vision of America is far different from ours." Foxman traced the growing spread of Christian extremism to a crisis in values among large segments of the American population and a corresponding yearning for religious content, along with the presence of President George Bush as an encouraging ally. However, Foxman identified the central cause as a sense of persecution and the perception that religion, in general, and Christianity, in particular, are under attack from the liberals in the U.S.

In his speech, Foxman presented the as yet unpublished results of an opinion poll commissioned by the ADL. The survey found that an overwhelming 75 percent of Americans who attend church once a week believe that religion is under attack in America. Among evangelicals, that figure rises to 80 percent. Among those who attend church regularly, 70 percent think that Christianity is particularly threatened; 76 percent of evangelicals agree. The poll also revealed that 60 percent of church members, and 69 percent of evangelical favor instituting organized prayer in America's public schools.

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