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Have you reserved your place for JSPAN's First Annual Meeting on Wednesday, May 25 at 7:30 P.M.?

If not, sign up now by calling 215-635-2554 or sending an email to Sue@jspan.org.

Click here or visit www.jspan.org for more information about the annual meeting.

Please print and distribute flyers to your synagogues and spread the word to your families and friends!

At the May 25 annual meeting, our Church-State Policy Panel will seek your input regarding the priorities described in the following Draft Resolution.
(Excerpt only, click here for full resolution.)

". . . The Prophets were a power in the nation, often more than a match for kings and priests, and kept up, in that little corner of the earth, the antagonism of influences which is the only real security for continued progress.*** Accordingly, the Jews . . . were, next to the Greeks, the most progressive people of antiquity, and, jointly with them, have been the starting-point and main propelling agency of modern civilization". -John Stuart Mill, Representative Government, Chapter 2.

Our individual liberties rest on two "separations" - the constitutional separation of powers, institutionalizing the "antagonism of influences" Mill described, and the "wall of separation" between church and state, as described by Thomas Jefferson and embedded in the religion clauses of the First Amendment. Both principles are currently under attack.

Franklin Roosevelt's attempt to "pack" the Supreme Court was viewed by the leaders of his own party as an attempt to undermine the separation of powers. It failed quickly and overwhelmingly. It is not at all clear that current congressional efforts to assert authority over the courts and to eliminate the cloture rule in the process of approving judicial nominees, will be so easily defeated.

Today the House Majority Leader claims that federal judges (most of whom were appointed by his own party) have "run amok" and demands that "Congress assert authority over the courts." Today the Senate's majority leader seeks to eliminate the filibuster, even though the minority party has approved most nominations made over the past five years. These are serious legislative efforts to construct a judiciary that will interpret the Constitution in conformity with its wishes....

Click here to read the rest of this resolution!

Britain's Leading Higher Education Union Boycotts Two Leading Israeli Universities

The leading union of British lecturers has decided to impose an academic boycott on two Israeli universities - Bar-Ilan and Haifa - on the grounds of what the Association of University Teachers defines as their collaboration with the crimes of the occupation. If the lecturers heed the union's decision, ties between Israeli and British researchers will be cut: Israeli researchers may not receive invitations to conferences in Britain; British researchers could stay away from Israeli conferences and research papers by Israeli scientists may be rejected.

Click here to view the NY Times article on this issue. To view and/or sign an online petition against this boycott, click here. JSPAN opposes this boycott for several reasons.

1. The idea of an academic boycott runs counter to the idea of a university as a center of intellectual debate and reasoned discourse. If the British will boycott Israeli academics because of political issues relating to Israeli society or government, then they have effectively de-legitimized their own academic standing because their research is based on ideology rather than the principles of science.

2. The idea of boycotting Israel is itself hypocritical and evidence of bias given the outrageous human rights abuses elsewhere in the world of which the British academics take no cognizance. Do these same British academics therefore endorse the legitimacy of a boycott of their own work because people in other countries are critical of British government policy toward Ireland, Iraq, etc.?

3. It is time for others, especially those in academe, to stand behind their Israeli colleagues by (1) supporting the funding and promoting the establishment of joint research projects with Israeli academics, (2) inviting Israeli academics as speakers to world-wide conferences, (3) communicating their support through petitions, private letters to Israeli contacts and public letters to the press, and (4) making individual donations to support Israel's universities.

State-Funded Emergency Food Will Be Cut $2.5 Million Under Rendell Plan

Food bankers and emergency food program managers are reacting sharply to the Rendell Administration’s plan to cut $2,450,000 from the State’s emergency food distribution program. The cut – if adopted by the General Assembly – would reduce the state-funded food supply by over 14 percent.

The recommendation to reduce state spending for the State Food Purchase Program is included in the Governor’s budget proposal. During the current fiscal year, the Program provides $17,450,000 to purchase quality food to supplement other inventories collected by pantries and cupboards through community food drives and business donations. Under the Governor’s proposal, funding would be reduced to $15 million in the coming fiscal year despite the fact that the number of households in need is up across the State. This would mean a half million dollar cut to Philadelphia pantries.

For more information on this issue, you can contact the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger at 215-430-0555 or visit its website at www.hungercoalition.org

The Pennsylvania legislature has become the focus of a new national campaign to inject religion into the public schools by encouraging that the motto "In God we trust" be posted in every classroom, school cafeteria and auditorium.

Sixteen members of the Pennsylvania legislature (13 Republicans and 3 Democrats) have introduced a bill that would authorize public elementary and secondary school administrators and teachers to prominently display the national motto "In God We Trust" in each classroom, school cafeteria and school auditorium. The phrase first appeared on coins in 1867 and has been gradually incorporated into the design for paper money beginning in 1957.

Modeled after legislation adopted in 18 states, the bill purports to be for the purpose of introducing students to important American historical documents. It links the motto in importance to such documents as the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and the Mayflower Compact. Despite this attempt to give the bill a patina of secular purpose, one of the bills sponsors, Rep. Bob Bastian, R-Somerset, was quoted in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette as saying, "We're a country that was formed by Christian-thinking people, and we need to continue to have our trust in God." Click here to view a copy of the bill.

The American Family Association, whose mission is to "equip citizens to change the culture to reflect Biblical truth and traditional family values," is the primary mover behind the national "In God We Trust" campaign. The organization says that one of its goals is to put the motto in every classroom in America. In some locales, the association has donated "In God we trust" posters to school districts which can't afford them or think taxpayer money should not be used for that purpose. Read more about the AFA's campaign at its web site. Click here!

In Pennsylvania the prime sponsor of the bill is Rep. Tom Creighton, R-Lancaster. Creighton recently achieved some notoriety by submitting a bill related to the Dover, Pennsylvania (York County) "intelligent design" controversy, which would create a state law allowing "a board of school directors [to] include, as a portion of [biology] instruction, the theory of intelligent design," whenever evolution is also discussed. You can learn more about this issue at the JSPAN Annual Meeting on May 25th, which features Rev. Cedric Harmon from Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which is challenging the Dover School District practices in federal court.

JSPAN Members Remember to Renew your Membership now!

New members, now's the time to join! Make your voices heard!

Renew your membership now! Please mail checks to Ken Myers, 355 River Birch Circle, Elkins Park, PA 19027. Or, you can charge your renewal to a credit card through the Join/Donate page on our website. Every member makes a difference, and we really need your support. Click here to view our Membership Renewal Letter for 2005 and to see what we've done this past year and why we need your support more than ever.


	As an organization for change, JSPAN strives to advance progressive social policies on the critical issues of our time. Help spread the news about us by forwarding this email and the link to our website http://www.jspan.org to your family, friends, and colleagues who might have an interest in joining JSPAN or serving on any of JSPAN's projects. If you haven't joined JSPAN, please join now!