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NEW YORK (JTA) — The Orthodox Union is supporting the Boy Scouts of America in a U.S. Supreme Court case involving the Scouts' decision to fire a gay rights activist as a scoutmaster.

In a friend-of-the-court brief, the O.U. is backing the Boy Scouts' claim that a New Jersey Supreme Court decision in the case violates the group's First Amendment rights.

Teacher accused of Holocaust denial

NEW YORK (JTA) — A teacher in Baltimore has been suspended following student allegations that he made remarks denying the Holocaust in class.

Stanley Naj, a Russian-language teacher at Western High School, was quoted in the Baltimore Jewish Times as saying that a few "vicious, terrible girls" are trying to harm his career.

Jewish activists blast verdict in police trial

NEW YORK (JTA) — A group of Jewish activists expressed "deep shock and outrage" after four New York police officers were acquitted last week of all charges connected to the shooting last year of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed West African immigrant.

The group, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, said it is "appalled at the miscarriage of justice in this historic trial."

Black and Jewish leaders in New York are considering joining together to push for a special prosecutor to review the case. The idea was suggested at a meeting Monday night on black-Jewish relations by the brother of Gidone Busch, a mentally ill Orthodox Jewish man killed by police last year in Brooklyn.

Is group's assistance just a funding ploy?

NEW YORK (JTA) — A leader of the American affiliate of Israel's first-aid society is charging that the American Jewish Committee is using his group's campaign for international recognition as a fund-raising ploy.

Gary Kenzer, executive director of the Magen David Adom Midwest Region, told the Atlanta Jewish Times his organization is losing potential funding since the American Jewish Committee took up the issue of having the International Red Cross recognize Magen David Adom.

AJCommittee officials say they are campaigning for the cause not to make money for themselves but to use their clout to resolve an issue that has dragged on for half a century.

Legislator's office defaced with graffiti

CHICAGO (JTA) — Anti-Semitic graffiti was scrawled on the door of a U.S. legislator's district office this week.

"Acts of hate directed against Jews, Catholics, Protestants, Muslims or any other group or person in this country are unacceptable and will not be tolerated," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), who is Jewish. Police are investigating Tuesday's incident as a hate crime.