Jewish Genetic Testing Returns to Omaha in May - Free of Charge!

PRESS RELEASE

From: Greater Omaha Committee for Jewish Genetic Testing

Contact: Joanie Jacobson  812 North 66 Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68132

402-554-0500  ohjoan413@aol.com

 

Jewish Genetic Testing Returns to Omaha in May - Free of Charge!

By Joanie Jacobson

FACT: Jewish genetic diseases are devastating, debilitating and fatal.

FACT: Children rarely live to become adults.

FACT: One out of five adults are carriers of at least one Jewish genetic disease.

FACT: If both parents carry the same gene, the child has a 1 out of 4 chance

of being born with a Jewish genetic disease, and a 2 out of 4 chance of being

a “carrier.”

 

FACT: Jewish genetic diseases can be prevented through Jewish genetic testing.

In 2004, Jean Duitch, whose grandson had been diagnosed with Canavan Disease,

decided to bring Jewish genetic testing to the forefront of the Omaha-area community.

With a handful of volunteers, she established the Greater Omaha Committee for Jewish

Genetic Testing. Boys' Town National Research Hospital signed on as the Committee's

medical partner and the Jewish Federation of Omaha served as community partner.

The goal was to provide information, testing, and genetic counseling to 100 individuals

in Omaha, Council Bluffs, Lincoln, Sioux City and Des Moines, 18 years of age or older,

free of charge.

 

An Informational Forum, featuring a panel of physicians, genetic

counselors and Mrs. Duitch, was held at the Jewish Community Center a month prior to

testing. The result: 107 individuals of Ashkenazi decent were successfully tested, and

25% were found to be carriers of at least one Jewish genetic disease -- slightly higher

than the national average of 1 out of 5.

 

An Informational Forum will be held on Monday, April 11, at 7:30 p.m. at the

Jewish Community Center. Once again, physicians and genetic counselors from

UNMC will be on hand to present the case for testing and take questions from the

audience. Attendees will also be able to register for either of the May testing dates.

diseases themselves, the prognosis, the treatment, care, and prevention, you will

understand what's at stake, and testing will become a priority.”

 

“Round #2: Jewish Genetic Testing” is planned for Sunday, May 22 and

Wednesday, May 25, at the Jewish Community Center. This year, the University of

Nebraska Medical Center is the Committee's medical partner, and the Federation is,

again, the community partner. Med Center professionals will conduct the blood draw

and provide genetic counseling. Blood samples will be sent to the Jacobi Medical

Center Laboratory in New York to be tested. Those individuals identified as carriers will

be personally contacted by a genetic counselor from the Med Center, and counseling

will be offered free of charge.

 

“Round #2” will test for the following Jewish Genetic diseases: Tay-Sachs, Canavan

disease, Cystic Fibrosis, Niemann-Pick disease, Familial Dysautonomia, Gaucher

disease, Mucolipidosis IV, Bloom Syndrome, and Fanconi Anemia.

 

“The target audience is not only young Jewish singles and couples,” noted Duitch.

“People of all ages, all ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds need to be tested.

Jewish genetic diseases, including Tay Sachs and Cystic Fibrosis, have been

increasingly diagnosed in children with non-Jewish parents, making it just as important

for inter-faith couples to be tested.

 

“Parents and grandparents of 20- and 30-year olds were also tested in 2004. Those

who were found to be carriers could then inform their grown children and grandchildren

of the necessity for them to be tested.

 

“Knowledge is power,” Duitch concluded. “Identifying carriers allows individuals the

opportunity to make informed and rational decisions regarding the future of their family

-- to be proactive rather than having to be reactive. Testing can save families the

unnecessary heartache and despair when a child or grandchild is born with a Jewish

genetic disease. It can provide the comfort and assuredness every couple deserves

when starting their family.”

 

To register or for more information on “Round #2: Jewish Genetic Testing,” contact Jean

Duitch (402-393-1141 or JDUITCH@aol.com) or Joanie Jacobson (402-554-0500 or

 

JCRC Statement: Investigate Fairfield assault as a possible hate crime

Statement from the Jewish Community Relations Commission of the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines

 

March 8, 2011

 

Investigate Fairfield  assault as a possible hate crime

 

The news, as reported in the Des Moines Register, that an Arab American resident in Fairfield has been beaten ostensibly because of his ethnic background cannot be tolerated. Pictures attest to the victim's face being bloodied and bruised.  The victim reports that his assailants kept calling him a racial slur.  This has the earmarks of a possible hate crime and should be investigated as such.   

 

Mark S. Finkelstein,  Director of Community Relations

Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines

910 Polk Boulevard

Des Moines, IA   50312

 

contact:  515 277-6321 x 214

 

 

March 1 Conference Call with Dr. Zudhi Jasser: Developments in the Arab world

Conference Call with Dr. Zuhdi Jasser of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy

 

Dr. Jasser will speak for 30 minutes about the recent developments in the Arab world as well as discussing Islam in America.  He will then take 20 minutes of questions.

                            

        Tuesday,  March 1st   9:00 am  Iowa Time

 

Presented by Rabbi David Kaufman and the Jewish Community Relations Commission Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines.

 

Instructions:

Listen in on the Conference Call at  712 432-1001       Enter access code:  457069072

 

You may submit questions for Dr. Jasser to dkaufman@aol.com. 

Rabbi Kaufman will serve as Moderator for the call.

 

Biography

M. Zuhdi Jasser is a former U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander. He is the President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy based in Phoenix, Arizona. AIFD, founded in 2003, is a think tank and activist Muslim organization which provides a platform for an American Muslim movement to separate spiritual Islam from the political. AIFD seeks to build coalitions of Muslims which not only reject the means of terror as an anathema to Islam but more globally reject the ends of the Islamic state which Islamists seek. AIFD believes that the only way to genuinely wage the contest of ideas and counter the root cause of terrorism is for Muslims to be given ample opportunity for debate between one another-- especially within the mosques. AIFD believes that the outcome of these debates will ultimately be the primary method to defeat the ideology of political Islam which ultimately inspires radical Islamism. Dr. Jasser believes that it is essential for devotional Muslims to lead the ideological war against militant Islamism. This Muslim led effort seeks to establish the synergy of Americanism and our Constitutional democracy with a post-modern, pluralistic Islam.

Dr. Jasser is a respected physician currently in private practice in Phoenix Arizona specializing in internal medicine and nuclear cardiology. His highest military award is the Meritorious Service Medal. He recently served as the President of the Arizona Medical Association (ArMA) until June 2007. Dr. Jasser has served on the Maricopa County Board of Health since 2005. As ArMA President in early 2007, Dr. Jasser formed and now chairs a statewide Disaster Preparedness Task Force whose primary mission has been to inform and engage all Arizona physicians in disaster preparedness. Dr. Jasser chairs the bioethics committee and teaches nuclear cardiology in a major Phoenix hospital. He has been active in a number of interfaith efforts in Arizona including the founding of a Jewish-Muslim dialogue group in 2000 called the Children of Abraham.

He also was featured in the controversial PBS film, Islam v Islamists produced by ABG Films, Inc. This film was initially banned from distribution on PBS stations as originally intended in the Crossroads program but was then aired in a limited distribution to some affiliates. It received national acclaim in its release on the Fox News Channel in October 2007.

Dr. Jasser has also been an advisor on Islamic affairs to the U.S. Embassy in the Netherlands. During his last visit in December 2007, he led an AIFD program on “Citizenship and Democracy” with Dutch Muslim youth, media, and political leadership. The program focused on strategies in countering the threat of political Islam to the west while engaging anti-Islamist Muslims.

Dr. Jasser was honored in October 2007 as a “Defender of the Home Front” at the annual Keeper of the Flame Dinner of the Center for Security Policy.. He was also one of five moderate Muslims who met with Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to discuss the “Contest of Ideas with the Muslim World” at the Hudson Institute on December 5, 2007. In January 2008, Dr. Jasser was presented with the 2007 Director’s Community Leadership Award by the Phoenix office of the FBI.

Dr. Jasser was also recently featured in The Third Jihad, produced by PublicScope Films. Dr. Jasser narrates this documentary about the threat of radical Islamism to the West which was recently released and will be shown and featured internationally in 2009.

Dr. Jasser is a regular columnist and contributing editor for FamilySecurityMatters.org and Hudson New York. He appears frequently on the Fox News Channel and CNN appearing regularly on the Glenn Beck Show. Dr. Jasser has been published in the National Review, Arizona Republic, Middle East Quarterly, Dallas Morning News, Washington Times, and Beliefnet. He is a frequent national radio and television commentator and featured speaker about Islam, Islamism, moderate Muslims, and counterterrorism.

 

David Jay Kaufman
Rabbi
Temple B'nai Jeshurun
Des Moines, Iowa
www.templebnaijeshurun.org
www.rabbikaufman.blogspot.com
515-274-4679
dkaufman@aol.com

www.weareforisrael.org
President and Co-Founder

 

 

SWC Report: Exposing Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood: Jihad against Jews, Judaism, & Israel

---

From: Simon Wiesenthal Center [mailto:enewsletter@wiesenthal.com]

CRUCIAL SWC NEW REPORT Exposing Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood: Jihad Against Jews, Judaism, and Israel February 22, 2011

Against the backdrop of the historic changes in Egypt, the Simon Wiesenthal Center is releasing a riveting expose on Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. “Hitler Put Them in Their Place”: Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood’s Jihad Against Jews, Judaism, and Israel, is authored by Dr. Harold Brackman, the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Senior Historic Consultant. This impactful report presents an "unsanitized history of the Muslim Brotherhood," and traces the evolution of its beliefs, goals and tactics. It presents an unflinching look at the Brotherhood's genocidal Jew-hatred and sheds light on The Brotherhood's global reach and its emerging impact on Egypt in the balance. Click here to read the report.  Please forward this to family and friends.   Support the Work of the Simon Wiesenthal Center

© Copyright 2011 Simon Wiesenthal Center 1399 South Roxbury, Los Angeles, CA 90035. (310) 553-9036 Your privacy is important to the SWC. Please review SWC's online Privacy Policy.

Reminder! Feb 15 registration for Birthright Israel summer trip.

Note:   Target date for Registration:  February 15, 2011

 

A free trip to Israel this summer for Jewish individuals ages 18-26  A Guaranteed seat on the Consortium's summer trip to Israel for all who qualify for Birthright Israel/Taglit and have an Iowa connection. For information about Birthright Israel see  www.birthrightisrael.com

    At this stage, applicants should  join the  mailing list http://taglit.israelexperts.com/registration/mailing-list. They should choose the option for the Central Area Consortium trip.

 

       **** Who should apply to this special offer?

• Any Jewish student who studies or works in Iowa, ages 18-26
• Any Jewish student whose family resides in Iowa but who may be studying or working elsewhere.  ( We can even extend this offer to a close Jewish friend or relative of the applicant, if they qualify for birthright Israel!)

For questions, contact  jcrc@dmjfed.org

 

Dershowitz: "The U.N. Gangs Up on Israel- Again"

 

The U.N. Gangs Up on Israel-Again

Only a U.S. veto can prevent the adoption of a resolution that will make
peace harder to achieve.

By ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ       Wall Street Journal  January 26, 2011 

Although I have opposed Israel's civilian settlements in the West Bank since
1973, I strongly believe that the United States should veto a resolution
currently before the U.N. Security Council that would declare illegal "all
Israeli settlement activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory." This
condemnatory resolution is being supported by all members of the Security
Council other than the U.S. So it will pass unless the U.S. exercises its
veto power.

There is a big difference between a government action being unwise, which
the Israeli policy is, and being illegal, which it is not. Indeed, the very
Security Council resolution on which proponents of the condemnation rely
makes it clear that the legal status of Israel's continued occupation isn't
settled.

Passed in 1967, Resolution 242 (which I played a very small role assisting
then-U.N. Ambassador Arthur Goldberg in drafting) calls for Israel to return
"territories" captured during its defensive war of 1967. The words "all" and
"the" were proposed by those who advocated a complete return, but the U.S.
and Great Britain, which opposed that view, prevailed.

Even partial return of captured territories is conditioned on "termination
of all claims of belligerency" and "acknowledgment of the sovereignty . . .
of every state in the area and their right to live in peace within secure
and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force."

Resolution 242 does not mention the rights of nonstates, such as the
Palestinian Authority, Hamas or Hezbollah, the latter two of which do not
accept the conditions of the resolution. (Nor do Iran and several other
states in the region.) It would be wrong for the Security Council
retroactively to rewrite Resolution 242, which is the foundation for a
two-state solution-Israel and Palestine-44 years after it was enacted.

But the real reason the U.S. should veto this ill-conceived resolution is
that it is inconsistent with U.S. policy, which has long advocated a
negotiated resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli dispute. As Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton has put it: "We continue to believe strongly that New
York is not the place to resolve the longstanding conflict."

A negotiated resolution will require the Palestinian Authority to
acknowledge that some of the land captured by Israel from Jordan, after
Jordan attacked Israel, rightfully belongs to Israel. These areas include
the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem and the Western Wall-which were illegally
captured by Jordan in its aggressive and unlawful 1948 war calculated to
undo the U.N.'s decision to divide the area into Jewish and Arab homelands..
Additionally, there will have to be land swaps that recognize the realities
on the ground. Areas such as Ma'ale Adumim and Gilo, for example, have
become integral parts of Jewish Jerusalem.

Finally, Resolution 242 explicitly requires that Israel have "secure and
recognized boundaries," an implicit recognition that its pre-1967 boundaries
were neither secure nor recognized. Some territorial adjustments will be
essential if Israel is to remain more secure than it was in the lead-up to
the 1967 war.

The Palestinian Authority seems to understand at least some of these
realities, as reflected in the recent disclosure of 1,600 internal documents
by Al Jazeera. In one 2008 document, Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurie is
quoted proposing that Israel annex all settlements in Jerusalem, with the
exception of the Jewish areas of Har Homa and part of the Old City of
Jerusalem. Some on the Security Council, however, clearly don't understand.

The current draft of the proposed resolution condemns "all Israeli
settlement activities." Read literally, this condemnation would extend to
the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem, the Western Wall, and those areas that even
the Palestinian Authority concedes must remain under Israeli control. Israel
will not, and should not, return "all" such territories. The U.S. does not
believe it should, nor do reasonable Palestinians.

So what then is the purpose of the utterly unrealistic resolution now under
consideration? It simply gives cover to those Palestinians who do not want
to sit down and negotiate directly with Israel. It is also a stalking horse
for the Palestinian effort to secure a further U.N. resolution unilaterally
declaring Palestinian statehood-a result that neither Israel nor the U.S.
would recognize.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered to negotiate without
any preconditions. He promises generous proposals, which could lead to
Palestinian statehood relatively quickly. The Palestinian Authority,
however, has set preconditions to any negotiations, most specifically a
second freeze on all West Bank and East Jerusalem construction. While I
favor such a freeze, I do not believe that it should be a precondition to
negotiations.

Let serious discussions begin immediately about the borders of the two
states. As soon as the borders are decided, Israel will stop building in all
areas beyond them. This is the only way toward peace. A Security Council
resolution unilaterally deciding the central issue of the negotiations will
only make matters worse.

Mr. Dershowitz is a law professor at Harvard. His latest novel is "The
Trials of Zion" (Grand Central Publishing, 2010).

Dershowitz: "The U.N. Gangs Up on Israel- Again"

 

The U.N. Gangs Up on Israel-Again

Only a U.S. veto can prevent the adoption of a resolution that will make
peace harder to achieve.

By ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ       Wall Street Journal  January 26, 2011 

Although I have opposed Israel's civilian settlements in the West Bank since
1973, I strongly believe that the United States should veto a resolution
currently before the U.N. Security Council that would declare illegal "all
Israeli settlement activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory." This
condemnatory resolution is being supported by all members of the Security
Council other than the U.S. So it will pass unless the U.S. exercises its
veto power.

There is a big difference between a government action being unwise, which
the Israeli policy is, and being illegal, which it is not. Indeed, the very
Security Council resolution on which proponents of the condemnation rely
makes it clear that the legal status of Israel's continued occupation isn't
settled.

Passed in 1967, Resolution 242 (which I played a very small role assisting
then-U.N. Ambassador Arthur Goldberg in drafting) calls for Israel to return
"territories" captured during its defensive war of 1967. The words "all" and
"the" were proposed by those who advocated a complete return, but the U.S.
and Great Britain, which opposed that view, prevailed.

Even partial return of captured territories is conditioned on "termination
of all claims of belligerency" and "acknowledgment of the sovereignty . . .
of every state in the area and their right to live in peace within secure
and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force."

Resolution 242 does not mention the rights of nonstates, such as the
Palestinian Authority, Hamas or Hezbollah, the latter two of which do not
accept the conditions of the resolution. (Nor do Iran and several other
states in the region.) It would be wrong for the Security Council
retroactively to rewrite Resolution 242, which is the foundation for a
two-state solution-Israel and Palestine-44 years after it was enacted.

But the real reason the U.S. should veto this ill-conceived resolution is
that it is inconsistent with U.S. policy, which has long advocated a
negotiated resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli dispute. As Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton has put it: "We continue to believe strongly that New
York is not the place to resolve the longstanding conflict."

A negotiated resolution will require the Palestinian Authority to
acknowledge that some of the land captured by Israel from Jordan, after
Jordan attacked Israel, rightfully belongs to Israel. These areas include
the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem and the Western Wall-which were illegally
captured by Jordan in its aggressive and unlawful 1948 war calculated to
undo the U.N.'s decision to divide the area into Jewish and Arab homelands..
Additionally, there will have to be land swaps that recognize the realities
on the ground. Areas such as Ma'ale Adumim and Gilo, for example, have
become integral parts of Jewish Jerusalem.

Finally, Resolution 242 explicitly requires that Israel have "secure and
recognized boundaries," an implicit recognition that its pre-1967 boundaries
were neither secure nor recognized. Some territorial adjustments will be
essential if Israel is to remain more secure than it was in the lead-up to
the 1967 war.

The Palestinian Authority seems to understand at least some of these
realities, as reflected in the recent disclosure of 1,600 internal documents
by Al Jazeera. In one 2008 document, Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurie is
quoted proposing that Israel annex all settlements in Jerusalem, with the
exception of the Jewish areas of Har Homa and part of the Old City of
Jerusalem. Some on the Security Council, however, clearly don't understand.

The current draft of the proposed resolution condemns "all Israeli
settlement activities." Read literally, this condemnation would extend to
the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem, the Western Wall, and those areas that even
the Palestinian Authority concedes must remain under Israeli control. Israel
will not, and should not, return "all" such territories. The U.S. does not
believe it should, nor do reasonable Palestinians.

So what then is the purpose of the utterly unrealistic resolution now under
consideration? It simply gives cover to those Palestinians who do not want
to sit down and negotiate directly with Israel. It is also a stalking horse
for the Palestinian effort to secure a further U.N. resolution unilaterally
declaring Palestinian statehood-a result that neither Israel nor the U.S.
would recognize.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered to negotiate without
any preconditions. He promises generous proposals, which could lead to
Palestinian statehood relatively quickly. The Palestinian Authority,
however, has set preconditions to any negotiations, most specifically a
second freeze on all West Bank and East Jerusalem construction. While I
favor such a freeze, I do not believe that it should be a precondition to
negotiations.

Let serious discussions begin immediately about the borders of the two
states. As soon as the borders are decided, Israel will stop building in all
areas beyond them. This is the only way toward peace. A Security Council
resolution unilaterally deciding the central issue of the negotiations will
only make matters worse.

Mr. Dershowitz is a law professor at Harvard. His latest novel is "The
Trials of Zion" (Grand Central Publishing, 2010).

--
Posted By Mark Finkelstein to F-Y-Eye at 1/26/2011 04:35:00 PM