NEW YORK (JTA) — The poet laureate of New Jersey is ignoring calls to resign after he read a poem insinuating that Israel knew in advance about the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
New Jersey’s Democratic Gov. James McGreevey called for Amiri Baraka’s resignation after the poet read the following at a festival earlier this month: “Who knew the World Trade Center was gonna get bombed/Who told 4,000 Israeli workers at the Twin Towers/To stay home that day. Why did Sharon stay away?”
Baraka, a controversial black poet once known as LeRoi Jones, said he had no intention of apologizing or resigning. He denied he is an anti-Semite, and said that criticism of Israel does not amount to anti-Semitism.
UAHC backs attack with four conditions
NEW YORK (JTA) — The Reform movement’s congregational arm offered qualified support for President Bush’s Iraq policy.
In a policy memorandum, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations said it would support an attack on Iraq if the Bush administration first met four conditions: seek international cooperation; seek nonmilitary means to avoid a crisis; seek international backing for any attack; and receive congressional authorization before using force.
The executive committee of the American Jewish Congress also voted to back military action against Iraq. In contrast, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the umbrella organization for federations’ community relations councils, postponed a decision on Iraq policy.