US-PRO-ISRAEL RALLY
Hundreds rally for Israel outside White House
WASHINGTON (AP) β Hundreds of supporters of Israel have declared their support for the Jewish state in a rally outside the White House.
Jewish activists, rabbis and several members of Congress on Thursday pledged U.S. support before learning that Israel had mounted a ground invasion to stop missile attacks from Gaza.
A parade of speakers rejected any moral equivalence between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers. Ron Halber, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council in Washington, said, “We Jews, Israel, value life, and Hamas thrives in death.”
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, said that when Israelis are attacked, “Their fight is our fight,” and “their enemies are our enemies.”
A small group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators chanted anti-Israeli slogans from the sidelines.
Sound:
278-w-31-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with Rabbi Doug Kahn, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, and U.S. Representative Trent Franks, R-Ariz.)–Hundreds of supporters of Israel have declared their support for the Jewish state in a rally outside the White House. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. ((cut opens with sound)) (17 Jul 2014)
< 270-a-07-(Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, at pro-Israel rally outside White House)-“are our enemies”-Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, says Israel deserves America’s full support. (17 Jul 2014) < 269-a-10-(U.S. Representative Trent Franks, R-Ariz., in AP interview at pro-Israel rally outside White House)-“right to exist”-Arizona Congressman Trent Franks says the U.S. must support the Jewish state. (17 Jul 2014) < 267-a-14-(Rabbi David Saperstein (SAP’-ur-steen), director of the Union for Reform Judaism’s Religious Action Center, at pro-Israel rally outside White House)-“neither will we (applause fades)”-Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Union for Reform Judaism’s Religious Action Center, says Israel deserves America’s support. ((note sound quality)) (17 Jul 2014) < 268-a-05-(Rabbi Doug Kahn, executive director, Jewish Community Relations Council, at pro-Israel rally outside White House)-“thrives in death”-Rabbi Doug Kahn, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, says there’s no moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas. ((note sound quality)) (17 Jul 2014) < 271-r-17-(Rally participants singing, at pro-Israel rally outside White House)–Sound of rally participants singing at pro-Israel rally outside White House. (17 Jul 2014) < COLORADO GAY MARRIAGE-CAKE Baker appeals order to provide gay wedding cakes DENVER (AP) β A suburban Denver baker has appealed an order from the Colorado Civil Rights Commission that requires him to prepare wedding cakes for gay couples. Jack Phillips on Wednesday asked the Court of Appeals to reverse the May ruling by the commission. Phillips was sued by a gay couple after he refused to make a cake to celebrate their marriage in 2012. Phillips has said he is deeply religious and that making the cake would violate the Christian principles by which he runs his Lakewood business, Masterpiece Cake Shop. An administrative law judge ruled against Phillips and the commission upheld that decision, finding that Phillips’ refusal violated the state’s public accommodation law that requires businesses to serve customers regardless of their sexual orientation. Phillips’ attorneys say he’s an artist who should not be forced to use his talents in support of a message he opposes. Sound: 241-a-04-(Jeremy Tedesco, senior legal counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom, in prepared statement)-“to their convictions”-Attorney Jeremy Tedesco with the Alliance Defending Freedom says baker Jack Phillips is a Christian who believes marriage is only the union of a man and a woman. (17 Jul 2014) < 240-a-06-(Jeremy Tedesco, senior legal counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom, in prepared statement)-“provide its message”-Attorney Jeremy Tedesco with the Alliance Defending Freedom says baker Jack Phillips shouldn’t be forced to use his talents to endorse something he believes is wrong. (17 Jul 2014) < CATHOLIC CHURCH-GAYS Lesbian sues Kansas City diocese over firing KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) β A parish food pantry worker who was fired over her marriage to another woman is suing the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. Colleen Simon says the Roman Catholic diocese and parish knew before Simon was hired that she was married and her wife was a well-known community leader. She was fired when the couple was mentioned last April in a newspaper article. Diocesan officials hadn’t yet seen the lawsuit, but said in a statement, “As a church, we have the right to live and operate according to our faith and church teachings.” The Missouri lawsuit is among a growing number of clashes over gay rights between Catholic leaders and their employees. Dioceses in Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio; Honolulu; Oakland, California, and elsewhere have added morals clauses to their teacher contracts barring public support for gay rights. As a result, more than 15 employees have lost their jobs or resigned since 2010. PRIESTS ATTACKED Man pleads not guilty in priest’s shooting death PHOENIX (AP) β A homeless ex-convict has pleaded not guilty to charges that he beat a Catholic priest with a metal rod and fatally shot another clergyman last month during a burglary at a Phoenix church. Gary Michael Moran was brought to court in a wheelchair Thursday for his arraignment on charges that he badly beat the Rev. Joseph Terra and fatally shot the Rev. Kenneth Walker in the June 11 attack at the Mother of Mercy Mission. Moran’s comments during the minutes-long hearing consisted of stating his name and age to Maricopa County Superior Court Commissioner Casey Newcomb. He was arrested four days after the attack after police say his DNA matched forensic evidence collected from the scene. Authorities say Moran has acknowledged his involvement in the crime, though he initially didn’t remember what happened. VATICAN-POPE Pope schedules back-to-back trips to Naples area VATICAN CITY (AP) β Pope Francis is planning rare back-to-back trips to the city of Caserta near Naples, one official and one private. The Vatican said Thursday that the pope will hold an open-air Mass on Saturday July 26 to celebrate the city of Caserta’s patron St. Anne. He returns two days later for a private meeting with a Protestant pastor who is a longtime friend. Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the pope organized a return trip “to distinguish” the public event from the private meeting. Lombardi said Francis knows the pastor, Giovanni Traettino, from ecumenical gatherings in Buenos Aires. Francis is scheduled to deliver the traditional Angelus blessing in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday β a regular appointment with the faithful. ALBANIA-CREMATION Albanian tackles cemetery overcrowding with new law TIRANA, Albania (AP) β Albania’s Parliament has passed a law aimed at tackling the overcrowding of the Eastern European country’s cemeteries by allowing cremation and the opening of private and religious cemeteries. Albania has had only public, secular cemeteries since 1967, when the then communist regime outlawed religion. The ban lasted until the regime’s fall in 1990. Religious signs are now allowed on tombstones, but all faiths are buried in the same area. The law that Parliament passed on Thursday also allows alternate forms of burial such as putting coffins in tombs above ground. Earlier this year the Tirana municipality and Albania’s central government accused one another of blocking the expropriation of land so crowded public cemeteries could expand to allow for new graves. UNITED STATES-CHINA-TERRORISM US defends counterterrorism dialogue with China WASHINGTON (AP) β The United States is defending holding a counterterrorism dialogue with China this week. Human Rights Watch criticized the discussions, saying it could be viewed by Beijing as acceptance of its repressive treatment of minority Uighur (WEE’-gur) Muslims. A State Department statement said senior U.S. and Chinese officials met in Washington on Tuesday and committed to “address the shared threat that terrorism poses to both countries and the international community.” Spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters Thursday the U.S. raised with China the need to protect human rights, and concerns over treatment of Uighurs, who claim discrimination by Chinese authorities. China blames a spate of knife and bomb attacks in its Far West on Uighur separatists with ties to Islamic terror groups abroad, but foreign experts say they see no evidence. NIGERIA-KIDNAPPING German abducted by suspected extremists in Nigeria LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) β A German development worker and two children of a Muslim cleric have been kidnapped this week by suspected Islamic extremists in northeastern Nigeria and neighboring Cameroon, according to a Nigerian police spokesman and Cameroon state radio. The kidnappings come as both Nigeria’s military and Boko Haram extremists have been claiming victories on the battlefield in a rapidly spreading Islamic insurgency in Africa’s most populous nation and biggest oil producer. Boko Haram has attracted international condemnation for the abductions of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls who have been in captivity for 3 months. Nigeria’s military and government have been criticized for failing to quickly rescue the schoolgirls and curb the uprising that this year has spread to other areas from the extremists’ stronghold in the northeast of the country.
