Britannia Radio

Daily Briefing

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

FEATURED STORY Did Israel, gay marriage or the economy make the difference in GOP's win in N.Y.? The Republican victory in Anthony Weiner’s heavily Jewish congressional district has political partisans debating what it portends for the Jewish vote in the 2012 presidential elections. Read more » EDITORS' PICKS Shalit takes Gilad's case to the U.N. The father of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit wants his son's plight to be part of the discussion of Palestinian statehood at the United Nations in September, Dan Klein writes for JTA. Meditating with Roseanne Barr The TV star is slated to host a women's spirituality and meditation weekend at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center later this month, Dvora Meyers reports for JTA. Jon Stewart's 9/13 commemoration JTA's Adam Socloff in an essay says the Comedy Central host fell short on his Sept. 12 show, the post-apocalyptic "day after yesterday," with a misplaced focus. Why Obama is losing the Jewish vote (Wall Street Journal) The president doesn't have a 'messaging' problem, writes Dan Senor, he has a record of bad policies and anti-Israel rhetoric. Israel surrounded (Bloomberg View) The Atlantic columnist Jeffrey Goldberg says that Israel's problems are because it keeps relinquishing territory, not occupying it.

BREAKING NEWS A Palestinian man was sentenced to five consecutive life sentences for the murder of five members of the Fogel family in a West Bank Jewish settlement. Bill Richardson is leaving Cuba after failing to secure even a meeting with imprisoned American contractor Alan Gross. A made-in-France iPhone app called "Jewish or Not Jewish?" is under fire for stigmatizing Jews. A measure that would withhold military assistance from nations that endorse Palestinian statehood at the United Nations is the latest congressional bid to head off the effort. A committee within the Presbyterian Church USA has reopened controversy by recommending that the church divest from three companies doing business with Israel. The Obama administration lifted sanctions on an Israeli shipping firm it had charged with dealing with Iran. An Israeli-Arab couple can live in a Jewish town in the Galilee after being rejected by its admissions committee, Israel's Supreme Court ruled. Egypt reportedly has extended by 45 more days its detention of Ilan Grapel, the dual U.S.-Israeli citizen arrested in Egypt on spying charges. The Jewish Federations of North America criticized how President Obama proposes funding his jobs bill, although it has praised other elements of the bill. President Obama said Israel would harm itself if it cut off security ties with the Palestinian Authority in the event of a U.N. vote on Palestinian statehood. Christians United for Israel activists lavished President Obama with rare praise for pledging to veto any Palestinian attempt to secure statehood recognition at the United Nations. A reference by U.S. Rep. Ron Paul to unfair treatment of Palestinians as a cause for terrorist attacks on the United States received the loudest boos at a Republican Tea Party debate. A Jewish organization in Iowa pulled out of a multifaith prayer service commemorating the 9/11 attacks because the event did not display an American flag. A small Florida museum was ordered to hold onto a painting on loan from Italy because it may have been looted by the Nazis. Jewish clergy and educators lobbied Congress to maintain food aid to foreign countries. The traditional Shabbat dinner might be coming to American television.