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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
May 13, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation

David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church

Emily Alpert: Recession dragged down birth rates for less-educated women
Morgan Housel: The deep downside of home ownership

Peter Teffer: Will Dutch police soon be stalking cybercriminals on your computer?

Heidi McIndoo, M.S., R.D.: Meatless 'meat' can have its own set of problems

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate! This must-try appetizer is delicate yet has depth of flavor: Corn-Leek Cakes with Caviar, Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche

May 10, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be

Caroline B. Glick: The dirty little secret about Israel's Arabs

Mona Charen: Hawking's Moral Calculus: The man and the movement he embraces
Morgan Housel: The biggest retirement myth ever told

Sandi Doughton: Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : The Great Gatsby's Jewish Ties; Jews in the "Time 100 list" List; People's Most Beautiful Women

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A sweet-hot meal: Pear salsa spices up salmon

May 8, 2013

Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas

Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate

Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
Amanda Paulson: Study reveals sad truths about community colleges

Harvard Health Letters: Evidence weak that zinc, echinacea are beneficial

The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility

May 6, 2013

Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: Think Israel's objective in Syria is to weaken Assad or embolden the rebels? Think again

Brian Bennett: Israeli airstrikes may show weakness in Syrian defense

Michael Ollove: Millions of ex-felons, parolees and those on probation are about to be entitled to tax-payer paid health coverage
Karen Kaplan: Most men can skip PSA test for prostate cancer, urologists say

Kimberly Lankford: How to track down a lost life insurance policy

Dream of Mars exploration achievable, experts say

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan M. Selasky: EGGPLANT WRAPS are an easy, sumptuous and scrumptious meal

May 3, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Human Courage and the Unavoidable, Disturbing Text

Steven Emerson: Attorney General Fights CAIR in Court, Lauds it in Public

Mediterranean diet helps beat dementia: study
Harvard Health Letters: When to be screened for a hearing problem

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Iron Man's Jewish Connections; Marc Maron's New TV Show; Martin Landau Grows Up with Israel; Shalom, Allan Arbus

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: A sweet surprise for Mother's Day dessert

May 1, 2013

Jonathan Rosenblum: An Improbable Journey to Orthodoxy

Jonathan Tobin: Blame Obama, Not Israel for Syria Push

Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Halena M. Gazelka, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: What you need to know about implanted pain relief devices

Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine

Jessica Shugart: When it comes to math, MRIs may be better than IQs

The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: The celebrated chef on how high-maintenance ASPARAGUS RISOTTO need not be

April 29, 2013

Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust

Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?

Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Morgan Housel: He's rich, smart and old: Listen to him

Thomas Salinas, D.D.S.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: The safety of amalgam fillings

Harvard Health Letters: Tomatoes and stroke protection

Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Swing into spring with lemon cream pie

April 26, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The world is a mirror

Caroline B. Glick: Time to confront Obama

Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Kimberly Lankford: New strategies ease pain of paying for long-term care insurance

Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Too much ibuprofen?

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Major Leaguers, 2013; New Movies and Comedy Show; Shalom, 'Lumpy' (Leave it to Beaver)

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : A bright and cheerful salad to herald the warmer months ahead

April 24, 2013

Steven Emerson: Boston Bomber Exposes Islamist Secret

Morgan Housel Admit it: No one has any idea what's going on
Harvard Health Letters: Can you get headaches from headache medication?

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to easily get more Omega-3s in your diet

Melissa Healy: Pot in a pill: All the pain relief without the smoke

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan Russo: Chipotle Chili Butternut Squash Soup is bold, zesty, hot

April 22, 2013

Ken Dilanian: Counterterrorism's future is unclear

US man departing country arrested on terror charges
Barbara Williams: An unorthodox but growing treatment in a 9-year-old's battle against cancer

P.J. Skerrett, M.D.: How to recognize a good whole grain product

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Teen actor Jonah Bobo in New Flick: Hunky James Wolk on Mad Men; Erich Segal's Daughter Writes Prize-Winning Jewish Novel


Jewish World Review May 7, 2008 / 2 Iyar 5768

Bush wouldn't punish China with his non-attendance

By Jonathan Gurwitz


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | When Greece hosted the Olympic Games in 2004, President Bush sent his father to Athens to lead the American delegation at the opening ceremonies. When Australia hosted the games in 2000, President Clinton sent Chelsea to Sydney to represent the First Family.

It's odd, then, that President Bush has made such a fuss about his intention to personally attend the Summer Olympics in China, including the opening ceremonies. If he does so, according to Olympic historian David Wallechinsky, Bush will become the first American president ever to attend the opening ceremonies of Olympics held outside the United States.

Bush would like to portray his absence from what he calls a "sporting event" as exceptional. In fact, precisely the opposite is true. Other than Bush, Latvian President Valdis Zatlers and Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni are the only world leaders thus far to have declared their plans to be present in Beijing, despite the best efforts of the Chinese government to make the opening ceremonies a sort of diplomatic debutante's ball.

Any world leader who suggests he is making a bold political statement by not going to Beijing is prevaricating. A boycott, this isn't. You boycott something that you might normally consider attending. Remaining absent from the opening ceremonies is the equivalent of a truant pledging not to play hooky on a school holiday.

For the same reason, President Bush's stubborn insistence on going to Beijing and his disingenuous effort to make his absence — rather than his attendance — the issue are exceptionally blockheaded. They are also a stunning betrayal of a basic humanitarian pledge.

In the fall of 2001, a national security aide wrote a memo for Bush about the Clinton administration's reluctance to take steps that would have halted the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. The report detailed how American inaction allowed the slaughter of up to one million people to proceed. In the margins of the memo, Bush wrote, "Not on my watch."

The communist leaders of China deserve the scorn of the international community for so many policies: their cultural and ethnic cleansing of Tibet; their bullying of Taiwan and constant militaristic threats; their support for the military junta in Burma; the forced abortion and involuntary sterilization, political and religious oppression and every other kind of violation of basic human rights of their own citizens.

But nowhere in recent years has Beijing's cynical and immoral policies had more lethal consequences than in the Darfur region of Sudan. Companies owned or controlled by the Chinese government are the biggest players in Sudan's oil industry. Oil revenues fund the Sudanese government's purchase of military hardware for attacks on the civilian population of Darfur. Companies owned or controlled by the Chinese government provide the overwhelming majority of small arms used by the Sudanese military and supplied to the Janjaweed militias doing the killing in Darfur. During five years of mass atrocities — of the rape of women and young girls, of children thrown into bonfires — as the death toll has risen to as many as 400,000 and 2.5 million people have fled their homes, the Chinese government has been the principal patron of Sudan at the United Nations, wielding its veto power on the Security Council as a bludgeon to beat down any meaningful effort to bring international pressure to bear on the genocidal regime of President Omar al-Bashir.

The International Olympic Committee's selection of Beijing to host the 2008 Summer Games has always been understood as a double-edged sword. Yes, the communist government will use the games, especially the opening ceremonies, as a nationalistic showcase of power and prestige. But Beijing's desire for that showcase to run smoothly and successfully also gives the international community unique diplomatic leverage.

By his obstinacy, Bush has forfeited that leverage. At the very least, his presence should be conditioned upon Beijing's behavior.

Going to China and contributing to the communist spectacle without any cooperation on Darfur or amelioration in other troubling areas? No, Mr. President. Not on your watch.

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.

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JWR contributor Jonathan Gurwitz, a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, is a co-founder and twice served as Director General of the Future Leaders of the Alliance program at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. In 1986 he was placed on the Foreign Service Register of the U.S. State Department.

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© 2007, Jonathan Gurwitz

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