Ken Myers, vice president of JSPAN and chair of its Program Committee, wrote the following summary of the JSPAN event.

It was November 1956. All home room classes at Abington High School, in keeping with custom and law at the time, opened with Bible reading and unison recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance and the Lord’s Prayer. But in one classroom, one student – Ellery Schempp – chose to read the Koran (although he is not a Muslim) and did not stand up for or recite the Lord’s Prayer. And so began Ellery’s protest, a singular act that concluded in 1963 when the United States Supreme Court ruled in Abington School District v. Schempp that prayer and Bible reading in public schools violate the religious freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Ellery’s protest spawned constitutional doctrine, changed the school day, and caused fifty years of wrangling and resistance from the religious right wing.

Ellery, Ted Mann - the lawyer who wrote the complaint on his behalf that ended in the Supreme Court, and Prof. Stephen Solomon whose new book "Ellery’s Protest" (U. Michigan Press, 2007) has just arrived, provided JSPAN’s latest public program. Moderated by Jeff Pasek, the participants discussed the separation of church and state under the First Amendment, the personal aspects for a student and his family of resisting a long standing practice of prayer in school, the fifty years of wrangling, and the prognosis for the future. Prof. Solomon noted the efforts of the religious right to bypass the constitutional bar against school prayer through any and every means. Yet the courts have stood firm on the proposition that imposing religious observance on a captive school audience is impermissible, however it may be disguised.

A large audience came to Old York Road Temple Beth Am for the program, and offered up lively questions: to Ellery, how has this affected your life? How much hassling did you and your family receive from the religious right? Is the moral decay of the younger generation attributable to 50 years without school prayer? Ellery reassured the audience that he would carry out the same protest again today, if the occasion were presented. Many of the efforts to get religion back into the schools, such as the effort to force schools to teach “intelligent design” as an alternative to Darwinian evolution, are “made up issues” according to Schempp. "These efforts will be defeated if schools stick with sound logic and scientific methods," he said.

Although not available everywhere, the book "Ellery's Protest" is on the shelf at the Jenkintown Barnes & Noble.

Last week, JSPAN sent letters to members of the New Jersey Senate, urging them to vote in favor of Senate bill S-171. This piece of legislation supports the elimination of the death penalty, in agreement with recent recommendations of the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission.

In the JSPAN letter, President Jeffrey Pasek stated that "the death penalty is inconsistent with evolving standards of decency." JSPAN's opposition to the death penalty has been on record since January, 2005. On May 1, 2007, the organization joined with the Pennsylvania Moratorium Coalition in calling for a moratorium on executions in the Commonwealth.

• To read the JSPAN letter in its entirety, click here.
• To read more about JSPAN's lobbying efforts to end the death penalty in New Jersey, click here.
• To read S-171 in its entirety, click here.

On December 3, Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon addressed the Israel Policy Forum leadership. In his remarks, he stressed that the people of Israel must be prepared to make substantive concessions as the nation enters into the next phase of negotiations with the Palestinians. He explained, however, that "this is not about conceding something to the Palestinians. It is rather about trying to secure the Jewish state."

Deputy Prime Minister Ramon went on to emphasize that "the most important thing is to maintain Israel as Jewish and democratic. .... The occupation is a threat to the existence of the State. ...... If we don't bring an end to the occupation, the occupation will bring an end to the State of Israel as a Jewish, democratic state."

Mr. Ramon touched upon all of the major issues concerning a comprehensive settlement, including the future of Jerusalem, borders, refugees and security. He believes that "in the near future a Declaration of Principles, on all four issues, can be reached .... with a clear political horizon with principles that can be adopted." What is needed is "courageous leaders on both sides."

JSPAN has been on record since March 13, 2007 in support of "a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." However, the specific details of the comprehensive settlement, as envisioned and outlined by Mr. Ramon, have not yet been considered by JSPAN's Board of Directors. We urge readers to send in your thoughts so that we may consider them in our deliberations in the near future.

To read Haim Ramon's speech in its entirety, click here.

To record your comments, click here.

December 10, International Human Rights Day, was an appropriate choice to bring several hundred activists from communities along the East Coast to Washington, DC. I was one of those participants, part of a delegation from the Philadelphia Darfur Alert Coalition, of which JSPAN is an active member.

For all of us, this was an opportunity to demonstrate deep concern about the ongoing human crisis taking place in the Darfur region of Sudan and to keep the pressure on Sudan, China and the United States to stop the genocide there. I could not imagine a more meaningful way to commemorate the 59th anniversary of the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was promulgated in 1947 to remind the world about the importance of human rights and dignity for all.

We were participating in the final leg of the United States Olympic Torch Relay, organized by the Dream for Darfur campaign, which has used a symbolic torch relay to remind the world of the power of international cooperation in bringing about peace. The relay had started in August in eastern Chad, across the border from Darfur. It has since traveled to Rwanda, Armenia and other countries affected by genocide. The U.S. leg of the relay came to Philadelphia on October 7. Events have now taken place in more than 60 cities throughout the United States. They will conclude in mid-December on China's border, as activists build pressure on China, the host country of the 2008 Summer Olympics and a patron of Sudan.

The day was organized around four Washington locations: the U.S. Holocaust Museum, the White House, the Sudanese Embassy and the Chinese Embassy. Carrying placards containing the names of some of the more than 4,000 villages in Darfur that have been pillaged and destroyed, we walked in solidarity with the Darfurian participants from Philadelphia and listened to speakers representing many faith communities, as well as former Olympians, Darfuris now residing in the United States, and even the actress and activist, Mia Farrow. At the conclusion of the organized program, the Philadelphia delegation met with aides of both Senators Arlen Specter and Robert Casey, to thank them for their past support and to encourage them to stay committed to the cause.

The message from Darfur is clear: with over 400,000 women, men and children already killed and 2.5 million displaced from their homes, the genocide must stop. The United States, the United Nations and the international community must focus its energies in three directions to end the crisis: a ceasefire respected by all parties in the conflict, an effective and credible peacekeeping force to protect civilians and a renewed and inclusive peace process.

But why is this current campaign to save Darfur targeting China? China, with strong military ties to Sudan and its largest trade and foreign investment partner, has been its most vocal defender on the world stage. China has used its threat of a veto to water down any potentially tough UN Security Council action and has only minimally expressed unease about Darfur under pressure of international public scrutiny of the 2008 Beijing Summer Games.

China must use its influence on Khartoum. Now is the time for increased engagement. China is deeply image-conscious, especially with regard to the growing possibility that the Games will be marred by Darfur-related activities. In addition, Chinese oil investments in Sudan, which benefit the regime but not the people and help fund military operations in Darfur, are under attack through the growing global divestment movement. All of this leverage needs to be consistently applied by the international community to get China to pressure Sudan's President al-Bashir about ending the genocide.

Dr. Ali B. Ali-Dinar, associate director of the African Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania and president of the Philadelphia Darfur Alert Coalition, summed up the feelings of his Darfurian brothers and sisters who participated in the day's activities in Washington with the following comment: "This was a good civic exercise, an opportunity to express our rights and to voice our opinions. We urgently want our voices to be heard and will continue in our struggle, however long it takes to get others engaged in this issue. And we hope that we will succeed one day."

To learn about the Save Darfur Coalition, which comprises more than 180 faith-based, advocacy and human rights organizations across the United States dedicated to ending the genocide in Darfur, click here.

To view a copy of the letter sent to Senators Specter and Casey, click here.

To read the editorial "Delay, Obstruction and Darfur," which appeared in The New York Times on December 10, click here.

The legislation also provides safe haven for states that have enacted their own Sudan investment policies by protecting their right to divest from these same companies. To date 22 states have already enacted policies to divest from Sudan and divestment bills in at least 15 more state legislatures are anticipated in the coming year.

The House of Representatives passed a similar bill earlier this year. Swift action is now needed by President Bush in signing this bill and implementing the full spirit of the law.

The upcoming year's selection is "What is the What" by Dave Eggers. The book tells the true story of Valentino Achak Deng, who as a child witnessed atrocities of civil warfare in Sudan and became one of the so-called Lost Boys.

To learn more about the series of events around this book which are being planned from January 8 through March 20, 2008, click here.

With the goal of supporting Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas in their joint quest for a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, JSPAN encourages our readers to communicate with President Bush, Secretary of State Rice and Senators Casey and Specter in support of the current peace initiative.

To read MJ Rosenberg's opinion column in its entirety, click here.

As you consider your end-of-year charitable gifts, please remember that JSPAN welcomes your donations to help us continue our important and effective work in Tikkun Olam. You may send gifts via PayPal on www.jspan.org. or to JSPAN, c/o Joel Beaver, Treasurer, 2033 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 19103.