B’nai B’rith International condemns an outrageous anti-Semitic article written by Sawsan Najib Abd Al-Halim and posted on the Ma’an News Agency’s website, a Palestinian news outlet. In the article, the author calls the Jewish people “outcasts in every corner of the Earth,” “evil,” “scheming” and the “root of conflict in the world,” which Allah has “decreed humiliation and degradation upon them until Judgment Day.”

The article was translated from Arabic and exposed by Palestinian Media Watch.

What makes this article even more alarming is the fact that Ma’an News Agency is funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Ma’an also receives funding from the European Commission, the Danish and Dutch governments and UKaid, the development fund of the United Kingdom.

“Apart from the gross nature of these comments, we are most worried about the funding sources of this so-called news agency which publishes blatantly anti-Semitic content,” B’nai B’rith International President Allan J. Jacobs said. “Agencies of the United Nations and governments of Europe, which denounce hate speech on their own continent, are acting hypocritically by funding Ma’an.”

The article—titled “Israel is Trembling!”—has since been removed from the website for “hateful content” that does not “represent the opinion of Ma'an or its editorial policies,” according to a statement from the news agency’s administration.

“This isn’t the first time Ma’an has published something outrageous and hateful directed toward the Jewish people,” B’nai B’rith International Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin said. “The international community must immediately demand accountability from recipients of funding. The U.N. agencies and governments who fund this operation must cut off financial resources to those who traffic in hate. That’s the best way to get their attention and those others who would contemplate publishing anti-Semitic articles.”

B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:

B’nai B’rith International is pleased to learn of the bipartisan effort being taken up by senators to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws. The proposed legislation would include creating a path to citizenship for millions of the country’s undocumented immigrants.

B’nai B’rith has been a staunch supporter of comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level, as the variation of such laws at the state level has proven ineffective. 

B’nai B’rith will continue to advocate for a constructive outcome to the legislative process. We hope that both parties in Congress will work together with the administration to achieve this goal.

B’nai B’rith International mourns the loss of Max Kampelman, whose varied career took him to the heights of international diplomacy on such matters as nuclear arms and human rights.
 
Kampelman was a highly able negotiator who was instrumental in nuclear arms reduction talks and in advancing human rights in central and eastern Europe.
 
“Max Kampelman excelled at seeing the big picture,” B’nai B’rith International Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin said. “A skill that served him well in his decades as a reliable diplomat and international negotiator.”
 
A champion of human rights, who contributed greatly to the effort to obtain free emigration for Soviet Jewry, Kampelman was active in many Jewish philanthropic endeavors.
 
He will be remembered as an exemplary advocate for the growth of democratic institutions and the rule of law worldwide.

B’nai B’rith International is appalled to learn the Argentine and Iranian foreign ministers are reported to have signed an agreement to create the “Commission of Truth,” an independent group that will investigate the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people and wounded 300. B’nai B’rith will monitor the findings of the commission, as we are dubious of Iran’s ability to be a fair partner in the search for justice.

Iran, the world’s largest state-sponsor of terror, is widely acknowledged to be behind the AMIA attack. Officials from the top levels of the government were named by an Argentine prosecutor’s report as being responsible for the bombing. Interpol issued arrest warrants for the attack, but no arrests have been made.

“We are surprised that the Argentine government would team up with the Iranian government to seek out justice,” B’nai B’rith International President Allan J. Jacobs said. “Given Iran’s deplorable judicial track record and its refusal to turn over those previously implicated in the bombings, there’s little reason to believe anything substantial will come out of this commission.”

Both countries’ parliaments must still ratify the agreement that will set up the group consisting of five “international jurists,” according to a post on Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s Facebook page, appointed by each country and one international lawyer “agreed to jointly … with high moral standard and legal standing, who shall act as chairman of the commission.” 

“The creation of this ‘Commission of Truth’ seems like another way for Iran to push its influence on South America,” B’nai B’rith International Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin said. “Iran has never had any interest in bringing terrorists to justice and it’s not going to start here. This suggests an Iranian propaganda move aimed at covering up actions and directives made by senior leaders in the country.”  

One particularly interesting nuance of the agreement is that suspects may only be interrogated by Argentine officials in Tehran. This is the sort of stipulation that makes it difficult to see how anything truthful will come out of this commission.

In commemoration of the United Nations' Holocaust Remembrance Day, B’nai B’rith International held a discussion titled “60 Years of Material Restitution: History and Challenges,” in New York City.

One of the leading experts in the field of material restitution, Arie Bucheister, chief of staff at the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, explained the daunting challenges facing survivors and their heirs to have property returned or material compensation made to them. 

“The crimes of Nazi murderers and robbers resulted in countries profiting from Jewish victims,” Bucheister said.

While Germany has “far reaching compensation and restitution laws,” Bucheister says many other countries are without such legislation. Poland has no compensation laws, and a number of countries, such as Croatia, Romania, Serbia and Lithuania have enacted various restitution laws for victims with mixed degrees of effectiveness. It can be especially challenging in the former Soviet bloc countries where much of the property that was confiscated is now nationalized, he said.

“Despite being more than a half-century removed from the horrors of the Holocaust, it remains ever-important that B’nai B’rith and other Jewish groups press on in our fight for some minimal justice to be made to survivors and their families,” B’nai B’rith International President Allan J. Jacobs said from New York where he addressed the program. “Programs like this open eyes to the uphill battle we continue to face.”

Bucheister, born in Israel and a child of two survivors, has been a principal negotiator for the conference for many years. He says one of the conference’s main functions is negotiating for heirless property that’s been sold. Whatever is returned—whether it be monetary or physical property—goes toward communal and social welfare needs.

“Each year we have a program on International Holocaust Remembrance Day and every year it’s another chilling reminder of the atrocities committed against the Jewish people--atrocities against humanity,” B’nai B’rith International Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin, who addressed the program, said. “Recounting these crimes reminds us, once again, that we all must bear witness.”

This program preceded the official U.N. Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony, which B’nai B’rith representatives also attended. B’nai B’rith played an active role in the United Nations’ adoption of Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2005.

B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:
    
B’nai B’rith International praises President Obama for his plans to introduce a legislative package next week that, among other things, would include reinstating the assault weapons ban, limiting the number of rounds in ammunition magazines, implementing universal background checks for those purchasing firearms and enacting new gun trafficking laws.

B’nai B’rith calls on both parties in Congress to work with the administration to swiftly pass effective gun legislation.

The shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., a month ago and several other gun related tragedies in recent years have demonstrated a growing need for reform of the nation’s gun laws.

Following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, B’nai B’rith was quick to call on the president and Congress to reinstate the assault weapons ban, believing there is no sane, acceptable, reasonable need in a civilian setting to fire off large rounds of ammunition.

On Jan. 14, the B’nai B’rith International Executive Committee passed a formal resolution that called for a ban on assault weapons, as well as a limit on ammunition magazine capacity.

This country needs meaningful, bipartisan gun regulation. B’nai B’rith pledges to work with all political parties, interest groups and coalitions to make these regulations a reality.

B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:

B’nai B’rith International condemns a statement made by Bishop Bernard Fellay, head of the extremist Catholic group Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), calling Jews the “enemies” of the Catholic Church. Fellay made these latest inflammatory comments while addressing Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy last month in New Hamburg, Ontario.

Fellay was discussing the reforms made by the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965, which his sect rejects as heretical, and said Jewish support for those reforms shows that the steps are the Jews’ “thing, not the Church’s.”

With such outrageous claims being made, B’nai B’rith is compelled to speak out against the promotion of old, dangerous forms of anti-Semitism that contravene the historic friendship between the Catholic and Jewish communities. Fellay’s reported statement—and many others like it—demonstrate continued SSPX harboring of precisely such retrograde and hateful views.

We applaud the Vatican for dismissing Fellay’s comments and reiterating the Catholic Church’s commitment to positive engagement with the Jewish people.

B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:

B’nai B’rith International is pleased to learn the U.S. Supreme Court denied a challenge to the expansion of government funded embryonic stem cell research, allowing a lower court ruling to stand. The Supreme Court’s refusal to hear arguments validates the U.S. Court of Appeals’ rejection of a 2010 funding ban handed down by a federal judge.

This is a huge victory for the scientific community as federal dollars will enable researchers to step up efforts to find treatments and cures for such diseases as diabetes and Parkinson’s, and holds the promise of helping those with severe nerve damage regain the use of paralyzed limbs. While waiting for final word from the highest court, researchers continued to operate in the decade-long uncertainty which loomed over this research. By addressing degenerative disorders, embryonic stem cell research has the capacity to transform aging in America.

B’nai B’rith has long been a champion of embryonic stem cell research. With an aging population, we are always concerned with well-being and available medical treatment for these older Americans.

Degenerative disorders make aging a fearful process for millions of people and cost the healthcare system billions of dollars. Curing conditions like diabetes could transform the golden years and, in the long run, end up saving critical health care dollars.

In 2009 the White House revised guidelines initially issued by the Bush administration, who had allowed federal funding for stem cell research on only a limited number of stem cell lines, which, in practice, severely limited federal funding in the field. Federal regulators then issued guidelines to make sure that expanded research would be done in ways that followed strict, stringent ethical guidelines. However, in a surprising turn of events, in 2010 a federal judge ordered funding of embryonic stem cell research cease because it was in violation of a 1996 congressional ban on research in which human embryos are destroyed, essentially stalling progress again while the issue worked its way through the federal courts.

During this time, B’nai B’rith has monitored this litigation. We hope the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear arguments against allowing federal funding going to embryonic stem cell research will put this conversation to rest. B’nai B’rith will continue to monitor the situation in individual states as similar situations have arisen throughout the country.

B’nai B’rith International welcomes the bill to prevent the sequester cuts  passed through the Senate and House of Representatives on New Year’s day, just after the technical fiscal cliff deadline. This measure was imperative to stopping across the board, discretionary spending cuts as well as tax hikes on almost all Americans.

B’nai B’rith is also relieved that the “doc fix” was part of this short-term fiscal package. The one year fix stops a 27 percent reimbursement cut to physicians who treat Medicare patients. Without a deal, these automatic cuts would have threatened Medicare beneficiaries’ access to physicians and health care. 

“Ensuring seniors have access to doctors by stopping a cut in reimbursements to those who treat the elderly is a vital element of this bill,” B’nai B’rith International President Allan J. Jacobs said.

Despite this, B’nai B’rith International still has significant concerns as we look ahead to another sequester—and debt limit—deadline. 

“What will be on the negotiating table next time? Probably the same menu as this time,” B’nai B’rith International Associate Executive Vice President Mark D. Olshan said. “Non-discretionary domestic spending programs that help the elderly, sure, but we’re also going to hear calls for cuts to Medicare and Medicaid again. We certainly hope Social Security would be left out because it is self funded and doesn’t contribute to the deficit but we have reason to be concerned about that as well.” 

B’nai B’rith does not believe cutting funds to earned benefits like Medicare and Social Security, or to poverty programs, are the only or most responsible ways to meet our fiscal challenges. We will continue to urge our legislators to work toward a balanced approach that includes responsible savings in spending programs along with other approaches whenever possible.