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Sept. 5, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: What does 'doing the right thing' entail?

Caroline B. Glick: The master strategist

Sept. 4, 2008

Ron Kampeas: Biden, Palin take lead in clash on Mideast issues

Bruce Dancis: With humor as their weapon, the Three Stooges took on Hitler

Sept. 3, 2008

Rabbi S. Binyomin Ginsberg: Productive school years don't just happen

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Quick lamb stew serves up flavors of India

Sept. 2, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Costly Advice

Caroline B. Glick: Calling Israel's bluff

JWisdom: Wandering in Wonder by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

August 29, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: 20/20 sightlessness

Caroline B. Glick: When history is not repeated

JWisdom: Blessed or Cursed: It's Really Up to You by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 28, 2008

Steve Lipman: A Comeback for the 'Jewish Jordan'

Jeffrey Weiss: Researcher reports 'intriguing' diabetes breakthrough

August 27, 2008

Rabbi Zecharya Greenwald: Removing the perfectionist's mask

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Nunn: Summer harvest linguine

JWisdom:: The Missing Link in Spiritual Life by Rabbi David Aaron

August 26, 2008

Yaffa Ganz: Grandma gets lessons in staying cool

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: The Dems' 'soft' jihadist

JWisdom:: Today: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Plague of indifference

August 25, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: A friend is bearing a silly grudge from a supposed wrong. What recourse do I have?

Daniel Pipes: Barack Obama through Muslim Eyes

JWisdom:: The knowledge you need to overcome your insecurities by Malka Schulman

August 22, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: Life's essential ingredient

Caroline B. Glick: Dominos anyone?

JWisdom:: Actually, Do Sweat the Small Stuff! by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 21, 2008

Today in Biblical History by Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Popularization of Kabbalah: 20 Menachem-Av 1558 CE

Jonathan Rosenblum: Lessons from the Beyond

JWisdom: : The Olympian within is rooting for you -- yes, you! –- to go for the gold

August 20, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Misleading Platform Platitudes

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Chicken Salad with Asian Dressing

JWisdom: The Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith: America's Defense of the Jews --- Until WWII by Rabbi Nosson Scherman

August 19, 2008

Dennis Prager: If the Almighty doesn't exist

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Obama's Islamist problem has nothing to do with his upbringing

JWisdom: Think your life is messed up? by Rabbi David Aaron

August 18, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Business with Friends

Diana West: Roars About Russia, Bare Whispers About Islam

JWisdom: Relationship agony: The real cause by Malka Schulman

August 15, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: To love the Divine

Caroline B. Glick: Georgia, Israel, and the nature of man

JWisdom: The Truly Righteous Don't Demand Entitlements by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 14, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Confessions of broken spirit

Libby Lazewnik: The Numbers Game

JWisdom: Six Questions You'll Be Asked in Heaven? - Uh - Let's Just Take One for Now! by Gavriel Aryeh Sanders

August 13, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Georgia should be on their minds

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Go Greek: Pair flavorful lamb kebabs with a hearty salad

JWisdom: Human hybrids aren't science fiction by Rabbi David Aaron

August 12, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Bless us

Daniel Pipes: The West's Islamist Infiltrators

JWisdom: From Sadness to Gladness: The Route from Tisha b'Av to Rosh Hashana by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

August 11, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: A Jewish view on fair pricing

Caroline B. Glick: Ignoring failure in Gaza

JWisdom: 'Communication' Is Not The Answer! by Malka Schulman

August 7, 2008

Rabbi David Gutterman: A Continuing Story With a Sustaining Goal

Rabbi Berel Wein: Mourning and morning

JWisdom: Yes, we are still in exile by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 6, 2008

David Ashenfelter: Government made military engineer's life a living hell because of his faith, Defense Department report documents

Jonathan Tobin: Speak the Truth; Defeat the Lies

JWisdom: Jewish Spirituality: Fusion or Confusion? by Rabbi David Aaron

August 5, 2008

Chris Leppek: Church/state wall beginning to crumble?

Paul Greenberg: Exit Olmert (no encore, please)

JWisdom: Serenity: Make the commitment by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin (Read by Gavriel Sanders)

August 4, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Am I taking advantage of another's psychological quirk?

Andrew Silow-Carroll: A black and a Jew walk into the White House…

JWisdom: The Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith: Edward R. Morrow visits the ‘living dead’ by Rabbi Nosson Scherman

March 22, 2007

J-Rhythms with Avraham Rosenblum: JWR's cutting-edge music program showcasing performers -- singers, song writers, musicians, and bands -- who learn and live the Torah lifestyle (OUR NEWEST IGODCAST !)

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

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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