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June 19, 2013

Peter Grier and Harry Bruinius: In the end, NSA might not need to snoop so secretly after all

Howard LaFranchi: Taliban peace talks hold glimmer of hope, but also unanswerable questions

Warren Richey: Supreme Court: For right to remain silent, a suspect must speak
Meredith Cohn: Leeches are making a comeback as medical helpers

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to pick the healthiest breakfast cereal

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: Spicy Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

June 17, 2013

Rabbi Simcha Weinstein: Black to the Future: American Apparel Gets Biblical

Patrik Jonsson: Minnesota Nazi: How did Nazi hunters miss Michael Karkoc?

Kate Irby, Ali Watkins, Trevor Graff and Kevin Thibodeaux: All the ways you're being watched
Don Lee: G-8 meeting will test NSA leaks' effect on U.S. influence

Patrik Jonsson: Fort Hood shooting: Judge nixes Nidal Hasan defense strategy. What now?

Stacey Burling: Why the stigma for migraine sufferers?

The Kosher Gourmet by Lisa Abraham: Does it work? 5 new kitchen gadgets put to the test

June 14, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: A spiritual budget: Religious economics and being a ruler

John P. Martin: Hitler insider's missing diary found

Matt Pearce: NSA surveillance disclosure could affect court cases
Peter Tinti: US bounties changes strategy on (Wild, Wild) West African jihadis

Daniel Pendrick, M.D.: Memory loss? Old age may be the least of it

Lauren F. Friedman: But it's all natural! Should we have an instinctive preference for herbal remedies?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Streisand and Alicia Keys in Israel; "Girls" Stuff; Mel Brooks, Another TV special; Superman (who is Jewish) returns --- Israeli plays his mom

The Kosher Gourmet by Sharon K. Ghag : Bored with salad? Bling it up a bit (4 effortless recipes that will result in a 'WOW!')

June 12, 2013

Stephanie Hanes: Little girls or little women? The Disney princess effect

Fred Weir: In tweak to US, Russia would 'consider' asylum for Snowden

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: What's so special about Omega-3 supplements?
Morgan Housel: What newspapers were saying when you should have been buying

Pete Spotts: How cockroaches evolved so as to bypass 'roach motels'

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: Deep-dish cookie: Warm, gooey and a little over the top

June 10, 2013

Joseph A. Slobodzian: Faith healing and third degree murder: Thorny legal case
Lindsay Wise: Few options for online users to avoid spying, experts say

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: There are plenty of nutritional food bargains out there
Harvard Health Letters: Can bariatric surgery control diabetes?

Zach Murdock: Superglue helps doctors save infant's life

The Kosher Gourmet by Celebrated chef Mario Batali : As good as grilling gets: Rib eye with dry mushroom spice rub

June 7, 2013

Rabbi David Aaron: Beating jealousy

Caroline B. Glick: Wounded . . . and dangerous

Clifford D. May: Al Qaeda vs. Hezbollah
Harvard Health Letters: Fighting back against allergy season

Kimberly Lankford: Grandparents who use FSA to cover grandkid's braces and other must-know info

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom:J ewish Tony Nominees/Tony Awards; Jewish Teen Actor In Sci-Fi Flick; Jewish singer in "Voice" finals

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: A tart filling so good it might not make it to the crust

June 5, 2013

John Rosemond: Mom, Dad: Talk More and listen less

Kristen Chick: Egypt court sentences 43 pro-democracy workers to prison

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: Mushrooms Have Medicinal As Well As Culinary Value
Morgan Housel: Why you never learn from your investment mistakes

Don Lee: In China, kindergarten rivalry takes deadly turn

The Kosher Gourmet by Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan: 30-Minute Coq au Vin isn't a dream

June 3, 2013

Molly Hennessy-Fiske: Military judge to consider letting Fort Hood shooting defendant represent himself

Richard A. Serrano: Pvt. Bradley Manning's WikiLeaks trial also a test for government

Mark Trumbull: Have degree, driving cab: Nearly half of college grads are overqualified
Kim Lankford: What to do when long-term care insurance premiums rise

Deborah Netburn: Study: Adults' mouth bacteria may help babies

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Contestant on 'The Voice'; Will Smith's 'Jewish movie family'; Bravo Gives Long Island Jews the Jersey Shore Treatment; Magicians and More

The Kosher Gourmet by Bill Ward: How to be as refined as the wines at a wine tasting

May 29, 2013

Andrew Connelly and Helene Bienvenu: The Little Synagogue that Refused to Die

Dennis Prager: The 'Muslims-Killed-by-the-West' Lie

David Clark Scott: Open war on teachers?
Morgan Housel: If you know only five things about investing, make it these

Sara Reardon: AGenome detectives change the donation game

Deborah Netburn: A one-way ticket to Mars? 78,000-plus and counting apply by video

The Kosher Gourmet by Bev Bennett: CHEDDAR AND CHERRY MUFFINS --- your mouth is already watering

May 24, 2013

Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: When I didn't so 'humbly disagree'

Caroline B. Glick: Thank you, Hafez al-Assad

Diana West: From the Brooklyn Bridge to London
Morgan Housel: Why spotting bubbles is so much harder than you think

Environmental Nutrition editors: NuVal labeling to the rescue?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Memorial Day: Jews Serving and KIA in War on Terror; Liberace Bio-Pic; Jew Wins "Survivor"; Shalom, Dr. Brothers; More

The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen: HIDE THESE FROZEN TREATS FROM THE KIDDIES!: Sangria pops; Irish cream pudding pops; mango Lassi pops

May 22, 2013

John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman

John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl

Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide
Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses

Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet

Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang

May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting


Jewish World Review Oct. 16, 2007 / 4 Mar-Cheshvan 5768

Security before belief

By Ed Koch


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | When I was a child, I read "The Forty Days at Musa Dagh" by Franz Werfel, a fictionalized account of actual events, which told the story of how the Turks persecuted and killed Armenians in 1915. From that time on, I was on the side of the Armenians and against the Turks.


This was back in the days before the word "genocide" had entered our vocabulary. To this day, I still believe the Turks killed 1.5 million Armenians because of tribalism and their hatred of Christians. In 1915, during World War I, the Ottoman Empire was on the side of the German Empire, then led by Kaiser Wilhelm II. At its high point, the Ottoman Empire stretched from Greece to Egypt and everything in between, including Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and the coastal strip of North Africa


When I was in Congress from 1969 through 1977, I joined with Ben Rosenthal (D-NY), who is now deceased, John Brademas (D-IN) and Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) as one of those supporting the Rosenthal amendment which called on Congress to cut off military aid to Turkey unless it removed its invading army from Cyprus. A coup in Cyprus had endangered the Turkish minority on that island and precipitated the Turkish invasion and the establishment of a Turkish controlled area in the north of the island.


Let me digress for a moment and relate a short anecdote which appears in my book, "Politics." "When the Rosenthal amendment was ratified by the House, Rosenthal, Brademas, Sarbanes and me were invited by the Greek Patriarch of North and South America, Archbishop Iakovos, now deceased, to his birthday party held in Manhattan and attended by more than a thousand guests at which Paul Sarbanes and John Brademas were to be honored. Well, the star was Rosenthal. When he came in, the place erupted. You had a thousand Greeks in there. It would be like a thousand Jews on something involving Israel of momentous importance to them. The Rosenthal Amendment had carried at that point, and I've never seen such a response for the size of the group. It was wonderful. And Rosenthal made one of the best speeches I've ever heard. It was a very short one. He said, 'I was wondering what I would say here tonight, and I thought I'd tell you a story. You're probably not going to appreciate it in the way that it's meant, but I'm going to tell you anyway.' He said, 'I had lunch with my mother, who lives in New York, today; and she asked me what I was doing tonight, so I said, 'I'm going to a dinner, Mama, that will honor two of my friends in Congress, John Brademas and Paul Sarbanes. And, you know, Mama, they're probably the two smartest men in Congress.' My mother said, 'Are they Jewish?' and I said, 'No, Mama, they're not Jewish - they're Greek.' My mother said, 'Are you sure they're not Jewish?' I thought a moment and then I said to my mother, 'Mama, I think they're half Jewish' And then he said to this crowd, holding out his hands, 'Tonight I'm half Greek.' And the place erupted in cheers and applause. I think it's the best story I've ever heard for an audience of that kind. It was wonderful, just wonderful."


Now back to the present. Last week, the House Foreign Affairs Committee led by Chairman Tom Lantos, voted 27-21 to denounce the slaughter of the Armenians in 1915 as an act of genocide by the Turks. The Turks have always taken the position that the killing of Armenians on their eastern border - their border with Russia, then on the side of the allies in World War I - occurred because, they alleged, the Armenians sided with the Russians, thereby committing treason against the country in which they lived, the Ottoman Empire. In support of their defense against committing an act of genocide, they point to the fact that Armenians living in Constantinople, then capital of the Ottoman Empire, were not killed.


The Turks now in a newly created country - formed in 1917 — led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who secularized a then theocratic Islamic remnant of the Ottoman Empire, wanting to establish a new Turkey that included all minorities to be equally treated in a democratic state, made it illegal to disparage the new state.


The Turkish government, enraged at the action of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has threatened retaliation if the Congress, both House and Senate, passes a final resolution. The retaliation threatened is to close the port in Turkey which permits the entry of 30 percent of all U.S. fuel used for military vehicles in Iraq and the closure of the Turkish airport through which a large part of U.S. military supplies are airlifted for use in Iraq.


On my Bloomberg radio program, I gave my position on the issue and entered into a dialogue with a young man who identified himself as Armenian. I said that while I still believed what the Turks did in 1915 was an act of genocide, I would not have voted for the resolution, because it endangers the security of American troops and simply provides the Armenians with a political victory and nothing else. Therefore, it is not worth the danger the Congressional action will cause to American troops. While we did not get into it in this discussion, I have on other occasions stated my support for using American troops to defend the people of Darfur in the Sudan from suffering genocide which is occurring today. I also mentioned on the program that during my tenure as a Congressman, I did not sufficiently appreciate how valued an American ally the Turks had become.


I regretted my failure to appreciate their positive role as our ally, particularly at a time when Greece was hostile to both the U.S. and Israel, while Turkey was friendly and supportive to both the U.S. and Israel.


My listener was surprised, he said, at my position on the resolution. I replied that the paramount duty of all Americans is to safeguard the wellbeing of American troops in Iraq. That comes before all other considerations in my judgment. He responded that he did not believe they would be endangered.


I disagree and don't think we should chance it.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Edward I. Koch, the former mayor of New York, can be heard on Bloomberg Radio (WBBR 1130 AM) every Sunday from 9-10 am . Comment by clicking here.

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