Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 100, No. 53, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 19, 2009 Page: 7 of 40
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World
Page 7
Jewish Herald-Voice
March 19, 2009
Germany may drop Durban II Groups laud Obama stem cell order
BERLIN (JTA) - Germany appears
to be preparing to ditch the Durban
II anti-racism conference for being
an attack on Israel. A spokesman
for German Foreign Minister Frank-
Walter Steinmeier said, however,
that Germany wants joint European
action, as well. That may come after
foreign ministers have a chance
to review a revised conference
resolution.
Sources at the chancellery
confirmed to JTA that Germany was
on the verge of dropping its effort
to influence the draft resolution.
The Durban Review Conference is
scheduled to take place at the end of
April in Geneva.
Steinmeier said, March 16, in
Brussels that he would call for a joint
European Union withdrawal from
the event, if the resolution document
retains its one-sided critique of the
Middle East conflict, the German
Foreign Ministry spokesperson told
JTA in a telephone interview from
Belgium.
EU foreign ministers are due to
meet again in Brussels, and a German
decision on Durban II will come
soon afterward, the spokesperson
predicted.
“Our basic position is that we
don’t want to have a world conference
on racism be misused as a platform
to make one-sided judgments
on the Middle East conflict,” the
spokesperson said, adding that Dutch
Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen
and others were supportive. “With
our own history, this is the most
important point. And, if that is not
changed, it will be difficult to take
part in an event like this. We won’t do
it.” The United States, Israel, Canada
and Italy have said they would not
attend the review conference, a
follow-up to the United Nations’ 2001
World Conference Against Racism,
held in South Africa. The conference
was widely seen as having turned
into an anti-Israel and anti-Jewish
forum.
Meanwhile, a group of German
political activists issued a statement
saying it had given up hope of a
rescue for the resolution, which they
said demonizes Israel while ignoring
discrimination in other countries.
The group includes the Caucus of
Jewish Social Democrats, the Federal
Working Group “Shalom” of Left Party
Youth and JUSOS, the youth branch of
the Social Democrats. □
WASHINGTON (JTA) - Jewish
groups applauded U.S. President
Barack Obama’s decision to lift the
executive order restricting federal
funding for embryonic stem cell
research. “We wholeheartedly thank
President Obama for his action on this
important issue,” Hadassah national
president Nancy Falchuk said of the
March 9 decision.
“Those suffering from debilitating
diseases and disorders for which stem
cell research holds great promise now
have a renewed sense of hope, and
we are optimistic for the future of
embyronic stem cell research,” she
added. Falchuk urged Congress to
“continue working on this issue,” so
that federal funds are “completely
accessible” for such research.
The Orthodox Union and B’nai
B’rith International also praised
Obama. Nathan Diament, the OU’s
public policy director, said that
“the traditional Jewish perspective”
emphasizes that “the potential to save
and heal human lives is an integral
part of valuing human life. Stem cell
research is consistent with and serves
these moral and noble goals.
“We urge the president and the
leadership of the National Institutes
of Health to ensure that robust ethical
guidelines and oversight bodies are
put in place to ensure this important
research is conducted in the most
appropriate fashion, balancing science
with ethics,” he said.
“Scientists have had to devote
much of their time to figuring out how
to do their research while complying
with the restrictions,” said Rachel
Goldberg, B’nai B’rith’s director
of aging policy. “Unlocking federal
dollars for research will knock down
critical barriers our top researchers
have faced and allow them to go
back to what they do best - making
discoveries.”
In 2001, President George W. Bush
said federal funding for embryonic
stem cell research could be used only
on a small number of stem cell lines in
existence at the time. In 2007, he vetoed
a bill that would have allowed frozen
embryos to be used for research.
Proponents of embryonic stem cell
research believe it can be used to find
cures for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s
diseases, among other illnesses.
Critics believe that destroying
embryos while performing such
research is equivalent to destroying
human life. □
The Jewish Federation of Greater Houston cordially invites you to the Seventh Annual
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Business casual attire • Dietary laws observed
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to (713) 729-7000 or
aseigle@houstonjewish. org.
PRESENTED BY
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Jewish Federation of Greater Houston
Make a difference in Jewish lives.
Live Generously.”
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Samuels, Jeanne F. Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 100, No. 53, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 19, 2009, newspaper, March 19, 2009; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth544331/m1/7/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .