Civil Liberties
Limiting the Power of Kings
48. SHOFETIM | Civil Liberties | Seasons of American Sacred Time | War and Civil LibertiesThe Fourth of July, the Torah, and the Presidency
The Fourth of July is a holy day in the liturgical calendar of the American people, and a time of memory and hope for many people in many nations - not for American national reasons, but because it recalls a great modern document and action on behalf of human rights and the calling to account of an unaccountable, irresponsible ruler.
In Jewish custom, special Torah readings and Prophetic passages are set aside to be read and discussed on the Jewish festivals. In the customs of the movement for Jewish renewal, beginning with havurah (fellowship) retreats in the mid-1970s and continuing in the Kallot (gatherings) sponsored every other summer by ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, it has become a joyful custom to honor this festival in a special way:
VOTING OUR VALUES: Nonpartisan Guide to Election Issues
GREEN MENORAH COVENANT (on climate crisis) | Iraq-US War | Israeli-Palestinian Collision | Justice & immigration | Civil Liberties | Environmental Justice | Globalization and Economic Justice | Oiloholic Uncle Sam & Global Scorching | War, Peace, & the Jewish CommunityVOTING OUR VALUES
Judaism & American Life
“To be is to stand for.”
—Abraham Joshua Heschel
RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION:
A JEWISH CALL FOR JUSTICE
Judaism & American Life
Elections offer us the opportunity to reflect upon, and
to recommit ourselves to, our core values. This Jewish
non-partisan election guide is intended as catalyst for
thought and action during the 2008 election season.
The guide includes seven topics that the Righteous
Indignation staff has identified as key election issues
based on our research and in consultation with religious
and political leaders across the country. In addition, the
Flashes of Light from the unkosher dark of Postville, Iowa
Justice & immigration | Civil Liberties | Environmental Justice | Globalization and Economic Justice | Sacred Foods | Spirituality of JusticeBy Rabbi Arthur Waskow
Most of the time, as a society we walk in darkness, wounded by walking blindly into an economic barbed-wire fence here, an environmental open manhole there. Once a generation - if we are lucky, once a decade -- there is a flash of lightning in the dark that lights up the truth of our country's politics.
For some of us, Katrina was such a flash of lightning. And now, for some of us, an allegedly kosher meatpacking plant oddly located, far from Jews, in Postville, Iowa.
Even in the dark, there is usually some prophetic voice warning of oncoming damage.
In this case, prophetic calls to apply "eco-kosher" and "ethical kosher" standards not only to food but also to such consumables as coal, oil, plastics went back to the work of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi in the mid-'70s and my own book Down-to-Earth Judaism: Food, Money, Sex and the Rest of Life in the mid-'90s.
Revered New Jersey Imam, Facing Deportation, Has Interfaith Support
Civil Liberties | War and Civil Liberties | War, Peace, & the Jewish CommunityBy NY Times & Rabbi David Senter
[Rabbi Senter's comments on this case come after the NYT article.] ]
By TINA KELLEY and ELIZABETH DWOSKIN
New York Times April 24, 2008
PATERSON, N.J. — For a dozen years, Mohammad Qatanani has supported the members of the Islamic Center of Passaic County by speaking at funerals, hashing out ethical dilemmas and sometimes opening his home to domestic-violence victims at a moment’s notice.
Mohammad Qatanani, imam of the Islamic Center of Passaic County, faces possible deportation in a dispute over his application for permanent residency.
But now Dr. Qatanani, 44, the imam of the mosque here, requires the support of the members: he has been barred by federal immigration authorities from renewing his driver’s license, and must call on friends to ferry him to hospitals for visits with the sick among his flock. There are fund-raisers for him at the mosque. And after Friday prayers, the hugs the men give him seem to last extra long.
Shalom Ctr as Amicus in Torture case
Civil Liberties | Torture | War and Civil Liberties | Yom KippurThe Shalom Center was invited to join in an Amicus (friend of the court) brief in the case of Yousuf v. Samantar, involving whether survivors of torture by other governments can, in the US, sue officials of those governments as provided in US law. We agreed to join in the Amicus brief, along with other religious groups, and submitted an explanation of our stake in supporting the argument on appeal. For our explanation, see below. First, the essence of the argument we support is this:
When Congress passed the Torture Victim Protection Act (“TVPA”), 28 U.S.C. § 1350 note (2000), it intended to allow survivors of torture to sue former officials of foreign governments in U.S. courts, on the understanding that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”), 28 U.S.C. § 1602-1611 (2000), would not bar suits against former officials accused of torture.
Rabbis for Human Rights Natl Conf: Turning Dark Despair into the light of Change
Civil Liberties | Home Demolitions | TortureDear Friends,
On Sunday December 10, International Human Rights Day , 200 rabbis / rabbinical students gathered in the first-ever conference on Judaism and Human Rights, brought together by Rabbis for Human Rights / North America. Let me share with you a few glimpses into that meeting -- five moments:
1) Sister Dianna Ortiz, an American Catholic nun who went to Guatemala to serve the poor, was kidnapped in 1989 by a unit of the Guatemalan military commanded by a US CIA officer. She was tortured and repeatedly gang-raped. Her own hands were used by her torturers to torture a friend of hers. She survived; her friends and co-workers were tortured to death.
ARE HUMAN RIGHTS ACTUALLY PROTECTED IF WE CONFINE OUR WORK TO "HUMAN RIGHTS"?
Civil LibertiesSOME QUESTIONS TO ASK OURSELVES:
Can human rights be effectively protected when power is being exercised from the top down without public accountability or challenge, and when the society – Israeli or American – is defined by the culture and institutions of permanent war?
Specifically, in our situation today in the US, is it possible to prevent --
the use of torture;
the indefinite imprisonment of various kinds of captives (including US citizens and immigrants) with no counsel, charges, trials, or any other redress;
the warrantless searching and surveillance of millions of citizens;
ARE HUMAN RIGHTS ACTUALLY PROTECTED IF WE CONFINE OUR WORK TO "HUMAN RIGHTS"?
Civil LibertiesSOME QUESTIONS TO ASK OURSELVES:
ARE HUMAN RIGHTS ACTUALLY PROTECTED
IF WE CONFINE OUR WORK TO "HUMAN RIGHTS"?
Can human rights be effectively protected when power is being exercised from the top down without public accountability or challenge, and when the society – Israeli or American – is defined by the culture and institutions of permanent war?
Specifically, in our situation today in the US, is it possible to prevent --
the use of torture;
the indefinite imprisonment of various kinds of captives (including US citizens and immigrants) with no counsel, charges, trials, or any other redress;
Letter to Congressmembers: "A republic -- if we can keep it"
Civil Liberties | TortureTHE SHALOM CENTER
A Prophetic Voice in Jewish, Multireligious, and American Life
6711 Lincoln Drive, Philadelphia PA 19119
215/844-8494 www.shalomctr.org office@shalomctr.org
NOVEMBER 1 , 2006
The Honorable xxxxxxxxxxxxx,
Member of Congress [or
United States Senator]
Dear Congressman/ woman/ Senator:
I am transmitting to you a set of petitions signed by Philadelphians who gathered at the Federal Courthouse in Philadelphia on the day President Bush signed the Military Commissions Act.
We gathered to mourn the signing of the Act, which is a betrayal of the principles of the Constitution and of several of its specific passages.
CNSNews on Waskow Interview, Torture, & Military Commissions Law
Civil Liberties | TortureBy Kate Monaghan
CNSNews.com Correspondent
October 17, 2006
(CNSNews.com) - President Bush Tuesday signed into law the much contested Military Commissions Act of 2006, the law aimed at defining how suspects in the war against terrorism will be interrogated and prosecuted. Despite much criticism, the president insisted that the act would provide a just response to those accused of terrorism.
"These military commissions will provide a fair trial in which the accused are presumed innocent, have access to an attorney and can hear all the evidence against them," said Bush.
"These military commissions are lawful, they are fair and they are necessary," he added.
