May 10, 1957

Israel Fetes 9th Anniversary; Asks Help in Resettling 100,000 Immigrants

Israel, menaced by belligerent neighbors and threatened by internal difficulties among them, celebrated her ninth anniversary of independence this week with a fervent plea to Jews everywhere to help in resettling the 100,000 refugees expected to look to the state for haven this year.

Sunday was observed as Remembrance Day, honoring the soldier dead whose heroic sacrifices had made the new state possible. Broadcasting to the world on this occasion, Prime Minister Ben Gurion declared that “immigration is the primary and supreme” goal in the year ahead. He pleaded for help from Jews abroad in financing the resettlement of the 100,000 expected newcomers.

As he broadcasted, four immigration ships put into Haifa with 2,600 newcomers, including 450 from Egypt, It was the largest number to arrive in a single day in the last six years.

In New York, Vice-President Nixon sent a message to an Israel anniversary celebration hailing Israel’s efforts to “create conditions of stability and progress” in the Middle East.

May 4, 2007

Jail time for man who triggered pizza melee

The young man who led a group attack that left two San Franciscans unconscious in a pool of their own blood was sentenced to six months in county jail on Friday, April 27.

Andrew Crawford also received three years of probation, was mandated to serve 100 hours of community service — service related to San Francisco’s Jewish community — and will undergo anger management programs.

Prior to the Oct. 15, 2005 assault, Crawford has made several loud, anti-Semitic comments at San Francisco’s Pizza Pino restaurant, where Josh Feinerman and Cameron Matthews were dining, according to an employee and the two victims.

Feinerman took exception to the comments and identified himself as a Jew. When he and Matthews, a non-Jew, later left the restaurant, Crawford and several other men set upon them. Crawford was arrested on the scene, but the other attackers scattered and were never apprehended.

The sentence was lighter than victims would have liked, and also fell short of the severity the Anti-Defamation League had suggested.

“An adequate sentence in my mind would have been a year in jail,” said Marc Feder, a San Francisco mediator and ADL board member present at the sentencing.

On the other hand, he said, “it does sent the message that if you engage in a brutal beating, you will serve jail time. That is important.”

Feder was pleased that Crawford’s service will be directed toward the Jewish community even though prosecutors opted to drop hate crime charges because of lack of evidence.