(Editors Note: recently Shoshana Bryen, special projects director for the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, wrote a Machers Blog item chastising Jewish groups involved in the fight to end the genocide in Darfur for their unwillingness to consider military solutions to the problem. 

Here is a response from Rabbi Steve Gutow, executive director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs – and the board chair of the Save Darfur Coalition.)

Goodness, Shoshana's simple answer seems so easy. Why not walk in with troops and teach those animals in Khartoum once and for all that we mean business and that their genocide must stop? The United States could do that. Our power is great. Thursday, I took a taxi to Reagan in DC and listened to a cab driver from Sierra Leone attack a "bullying" United States in a way so venomous that I had to shout back just to maintain my conscience.

I hate the policies of the Khartoum regime, hate them enough to fill up my days as co-chair of the interfaith, intergroup Save Darfur Coalition---no rest for the weary, particularly when Sudan’s devastation of Darfur is the main genocide in town. I have toyed with, challenged the State Department with, and tried to ingest the idea of unilateral war as the answer. It is not.

Senate Deal on Immunity for Phone Companies

By ERIC LICHTBLAU

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 — Leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday with the Bush administration that would give telephone carriers legal immunity for any role they played in the National Security Agency’s domestic eavesdropping program approved by President Bush after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a Congressional official said Wednesday.

Senators this week began reviewing classified documents related to the participation of the telephone carriers in the security agency program and came away from that early review convinced that the companies had “acted in good faith” in cooperating with what they believed was a legal and presidentially authorized program and that they should not be punished through civil litigation for their roles, the official said.

Day 1: Shopping

I forgot my calculator.

That was my first thought as I walked into Price Low Foods, a discount grocery store near where I live in the economically mixed Cambrian neighborhood, to shop for the Food Stamp Challenge. For the next week, my partner and I were going to live on a dollar per meal, or $21 each. I had planned to carefully scrutinize each can and package, dividing out number of servings and closely estimating price-per-meal. Without a calculator, how was I going to make sure that I squeezed the most value and nutrition out of every penny?

Nevertheless, I plunged forward. While I usually shop at mainstream grocery stores, this store was okay. Not much selection of brand or size, but they did have almost everything I was looking for. Since we only eat kosher meat, and rarely even that, I bought only vegetarian items and tuna. There was no fresh fish, and I’m sure it wouldn’t fit the budget anyway. The produce section was rather dismal, but the prices were indeed low. After an hour of tediously circling the aisles, dutifully comparing grams of protein and price per ounce, I emerged triumphant.

In my cart:

Canned pasta sauce, $.98

2 lbs vermicelli pasta, $1.98

Small peanut butter, $1.99

Oatmeal, $2.98

1 lb. block of pepperjack cheese, $4.99

2 cans of light tuna in water, $1.78

1 lb lentils, $. 99

10 flour tortillas, $2.49

Canned corn, $.69

Canned black beans, $.99

Canned stewed tomatoes , $.99

2 lbs. rice, $1.28

1 dozen medium eggs, $1.69

Decent looking broccoli crowns, $1.45

2 lb. bag of carrots, $1.17

4 hard roma tomatoes, $1.11

1 rather soft cucumber, $.50

1 bundle of green onions, $.50

3 ancient large red apples, $1.29

4 perfectly ripe large bananas, $1.23

5 lb. bag of potatoes, $1.58

Red onion, $.63

Green bell pepper, $.39

TOTAL: $33.68

They don’t have tofu, which I had wanted for a stir-fry, so I plan to use egg instead. I also skipped some things on my list, like bread and milk. Since I have some money left over, I may go shopping again mid-week to get some more produce. There is plenty of food in my shopping bags for boring and repetitive yet nutritious meals, but no snacks or desserts. Sigh.

Day 1 (Friday):

I love oatmeal. Especially with a spoonful of peanut butter mixed in. I should eat this every day. Oh wait, I’m going to.

I love baked potatoes. Especially with a tiny pile of cheese on top. I should eat this every day. Oh wait…

For dinner, I prepare pasta with tuna, tomatoes, and scallions, and steamed carrots on the side. I also make a big pot of lentil soup to serve tomorrow, and hard-boil four eggs. A friend calls and we invite her over for Shabbat dinner. What will this do to my perfectly measured meals? Should I serve the soup that was going to be for tomorrow? Should I add the second can of tuna to the pasta? But then we’ll be out of tuna and it’s only the first day. I add a little more pasta, but put the second can of tuna back in the cupboard. I’m sure everything will be fine, I reassure myself. She’s not a big eater.

So we serve the pasta and carrots--a perfectly reasonable mid-week meal, but not usually what we would serve for Shabbat, especially when we have a guest. There is enough to go around, but nothing left over.

Day 2 (Saturday):

We usually have a nice breakfast on Shabbat morning, like bagels and lox, but today it’s oatmeal with peanut butter and half a banana. My son claims he wants a hard-boiled egg (the kids are not participating in the challenge, since their favorite foods are Bagel Bites and blueberries, respectively, but I can’t really tell him that he can’t have my egg). He peels it, takes a nibble, and drops it into the sink. “I changed my mind,” he announces. I fish it out from the dishes, rinse it off, and put it back in the fridge.

For lunch, lentil soup, a quesadilla, and the salvaged egg. Filling, but not celebratory. I have an apple later in the day for a snack.

Dinner is peanut butter pasta and Israeli salad. The pasta is delicious—peanut pasta is one of my favorites—but the salad is not a success. The cucumber is almost all seeds and the tomato is mealy and flavorless. I add more pepper. After two more bites I tell myself that it will be better tomorrow and put it away.

Day 3 (Sunday):

Breakfast is the same. It’s been pretty successful so far in keeping me full until lunch. Today lunch is late, so I’m a little grouchy. Lunch is more lentil soup and a baked potato.

So far, I’m feeling pretty self-congratulatory. See, this isn’t so bad, I tell myself. I can live without convenience food. Or meat. Or milk. Or juice. My liberal guilt and my tendency toward smugness battle for victory…until…

I burn the rice.

Dinner preparations are not going well. First I burn the rice and am consumed with self-recrimination as I consider my options. Throw it away and start over? There’s probably enough rice left for the rest of the week….after all, it is a two-pound bag. But I’m nervous about throwing off my meal plans for the next few days. Scrape off what’s still good and just have a little less tonight? I opt for the latter, especially since it would take too long to make a new batch. Luckily the baby seems to enjoy the crispy (read: burned) rice from the bottom of the pan.

Next I am befuddled by the egg that I want to put into the stir-fry. I remember from making egg drop soup years ago that you can drop the beaten egg into boiling water, so I try that. Bad idea. The egg drifts into clouds of nothingness in the water, and now I’m down an egg. The Food Stamp Challenge may call upon a certain amount of creativity, but not culinary risk-taking by an amateur like me. I scramble two more eggs and toss them into the stir-fry.

The stir-fry turns out more like fajitas, perhaps due to the high ratio of onions (cheaper than the other veggies) involved. The abundance of seasoning also can’t conceal the fact that it’s really mostly carrots. Topaz politely compliments the meal, but the baby voices her opinion more honestly. Still, there’s nothing left over.

Later that night, after everyone else is in bed, I’m playing around on the computer and head to the kitchen for some mindless snacking. I grab the half-empty ice cream and a spoon and sail in…I’m several bites in before I even remember the Challenge. This is another important lesson for me in this process—to reflect on the many roles that food plays in our lives. Not only fuel, but community, celebration, comfort, and more. Even though I’ve been spending hours shopping and chopping, I still need to work at bringing greater mindfulness into my daily life. I throw the carton away and go to bed, embarrassed.

Day 4 (Monday):

Our morning routine is going smoothly enough. We remember that it’s Monday and that means our son needs his school T-shirt and his folder. The trash is by the curb, the laundry is in the dryer, we’re out the door with the confidence of another successful morning behind us…

…except that I’ve forgotten about lunch. I rarely pack a lunch, except during the brief fits of financial or nutritional reform that seize us every few months, instead preferring to get out of the office for a quick bite at Togo’s, Noah’s, High Tech, Una Mas, or the JCC café. Now, of course, that’s out of the question. I race back inside. No time for thinking of an inspired meal, much less preparing it. I put more lentil soup (now more like a thick stew) in a Tupperware, grab a raw potato, a tiny wedge of cheese (can that really be an ounce? I must have measured wrong), and half a banana.

The 2007 JCPA Leadership Mission ended on a high note Sunday, October 14 as the delegation met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert less than an hour before the arrival in his office of Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. Discussion with the Prime Minister and his Chief of Staff Yoram Torbovich centered on the upcoming peace conference in Annapolis . The aim of the conference, it was explained to the JCPA leaders, is to reach agreement on the outlines of a two-state vision that would give the Palestinians a political horizon. But nothing will be implemented, it was stressed, unless and until the Palestinians fulfill the first phase of the Roadmap calling for dismantlement of the terrorist infrastructure. Israel , for its part, also will be prepared to carry out its obligations under the Roadmap, including removal of the 26 illegal outposts set up since 2001. Iran also figured prominently in the exchange, as JCPA Chair Lois Frank and Executive Director Steve Gutow underscored the agency's commitment to this issue. Mobilizing Jews and non-Jews to press the U.S. and international community for a robust response to the threat posed by Iran 's nuclear arms program has been and will remain a top priority, they said. In addition, Frank shared with the Prime Minister concerns expressed in regard to Israel's handling of the Darfur refugees arriving in Israel by way of the Sinai. Mr. Olmert observed that many of the people arriving illegally in Israel were not from Darfur and simply sought well paying jobs, and he pledged to make a statement on the subject to the Knesset this coming Wednesday. Earlier in the week, the delegation met with Darfuri activists in Israel at Tel Aviv University .

The issues around the electronic surveillance keep bubbling.  Earlier this week, two Committees in the House of Representatives marked up legislation that revises the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.  This legislation called the RESTORE Act, was sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-TX).  The RESTORE Act aims at rolling back several of the most controversial provisions of the Protect America Act (PAA). 

However, some members of the Progressive Caucus have said that the RESTORE Act does not go far enough to repair the damage of the PAA.  Representatives Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) have introduced their own bill which is significantly narrower.

Here is a list of the key provisions of the RESTORE Act.  (Full Disclosure: this list was taken directly from Representative Conyers’ press release.)

Earlier this month, Jewish communities across the country celebrated Sukkot, a holiday that reminds us not to take shelter and stability for granted.

At a time when sub-prime mortgages are collapsing, 1.35 million children are homeless on America’s streets, and every single congressional district faces an affordable housing crisis, Sukkot’s message is particularly poignant.

Today, however, anti-poverty advocates got some good news.

Earlier this afternoon, the House of Representatives passed HR2895, The National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007 by a vote of 264-148. This bill would establish dedicated sources of funding for the production, preservation and rehabilitation of 1.5 million affordable housing units in 10 years, with 75 percent of the funds for extremely low-income households.

JCPA has been working with the National Housing Trust Fund Campaign, coordinated by the National Low Income Housing Coalition to achieve passage for several years and today marked a milestone in the struggle to get the legislation signed into law.

The House has already passed legislation authorizing funding sources that would provide $800 million-$1 billion a year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The money would come from Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as the expansion of the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) home equity conversion mortgage produce.

The Senate is expected to introduce a bill sometime in November or early December.

Sheila Crowley, President of the National Low-Income Housing Coalition stated today, “Housing is the foundation of thriving communities. In the United States of America, we should not tolerate a housing shortage of the magnitude we now face. HR2895 asserts that this housing shortage is unacceptable and that we as a nation intend to correct this failing at long last.”

The passage of HR2895 occurs in the midst of JCPA and B’nai B’rith International’s Affordable Housing Month, part of JCPA’s national anti-poverty campaign, “There Shall Be No Needy Among You.” Together with B’nai B’rith we are committed to providing you with advocacy and service opportunities that address America’s affordable housing crisis throughout October. Our partnership is based on our shared Jewish tradition:

“If a community lacked a synagogue and a shelter for the poor; it was first obligated to build a shelter for the poor” (Seder Hasidim).

Today, less than one week after the end of Sukkot, we have moved one step closer to an America where all communities have sufficient safe and affordable housing.

To get more information on JCPA’s anti-poverty campaign, “There shall be no needy among you”, click here or contact Melissa Boteach at mboteach@thejcpa.org or 202-212-6039.

Last week, I began a new series of blog posts on habeas corpus restoration. This has been a big issue in Congress and will soon be addressed by the Supreme Court. Representative Jim Saxton wrote a commentary piece in the Washington Times outlining the arguments against restoring the Great Writ. Following Rep. Saxton’s organization, I am writing three blogs on why habeas corpus should be restored. The previous post addressed the Combat Status Review Tribunals. Today, I will discuss the incentives for terrorists.

In his piece, Representative Saxton, like many proponents of the current detention policies of the military and CIA, argues that giving habeas corpus to detainees would encourage terrorists to disregard the rules of war.

(2) The proposed change in the law would create an incentive for terrorists to not follow the rules of warfare and employ asymmetric tactics. This means, if this legislation is passed, instead of fighting U.S. forces as a combatant according to the Geneva Convention and international laws, it is in a foreign fighter's best interest to not receive enemy prisoner of war status if captured by American personnel. After all, he would receive more due process and protection if eligible for a Habeas Corpus hearing. Why follow the rules if there is no consequence to breaking them... or worse yet... an incentive to not follow them.

This argument has a really large hole. Terrorists are not concerned about using asymmetrical tactics. They already use these tactics, that’s why there are terrorists. Terrorist groups aren’t signatories to the Geneva Conventions and don’t follow the rules of war. Their entire purpose is to hurt civilians and cause fear. These captured terrorists, assuming all detainees held in Guantanamo are terrorists, aren’t terrorists because they are given more due-process by Americans than conventional fighters. Giving habeas corpus to these detainees will not create more terrorists.

So here is the deal. My goal is to be the most prolific blogger on this new website. (Just kidding) The truth is that I am making a concerted effort to blog about different aspects of my work here at JCPA and point out specific items that wouldn’t necessarily make it into our other more formal publications.

Every morning, when I sit down to my computer, my email is filled with Google News Alerts. I have programmed dozens of alerts that send me literally hundreds of articles about different JSBOR issues. This morning, in the “habeas corpus” alert, I found a commentary piece in the Washington Times by Representative Jim Saxton (R-NJ) on the debate regarding habeas corpus rights for detainees being held at Guantanamo. Representative Saxton makes a number points about why restoring habeas corpus for these detainees is a bad idea. JCPA has taken the opposite position. In this series of posts, I will address Representative Saxton’s arguments.

Let me start out by saying that this habeas corpus issue is a single part of a much bigger debate. The question is ultimately, how do we balance individual civil liberties with security in the United States during a time of unconventional threats and terrorism? And truthfully, there isn’t an absolute correct answer. We take our security threats very, very seriously. As a Jewish organization, we know all too well, the pain and fear that results from terrorism. Our community has been plagued by these instances and we must be vigilant and guard against them. Our community also has a strong traditional and ethical commitment to justice, and the rule of law. As our history has taught us the importance of security and self-protection, it has also taught us the benefits of independence, freedom, and liberty. And as Americans, we believe in upholding the US Constitution.

Last week, the Senate passed approved a hate crimes amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill. This amendment, known as the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HR 1592 and S1105) has been in the hopper for over ten years. The passage of this amendment in the Senate was monumental. Over the past decade, this LLEHCPA (as we like to call it for short—maybe not like, perhaps need) has passed been approved by both chambers several times. However, it hasn’t passed the House and Senate in the SAME Congress in way that would send it to the President for his signature. This year, in the 110^th Congress, it finally moves forward.

Back in May, the LLEHCPA passed the House with a vote of 237-180. This was a strong bipartisan showing. We were pleased with this vote. This bill engenders deep passions. Here is a clip of Representative John Lewis' (D-GA) floor speech on this bill.