jtnews | february 12, 2010

vol. 86, no. 3 n friday, february 12, 2010 n 28 shevat 5770 n jtnews.net s i d e Baking own t Im Titz pot on Nw Isal Fn Ron Kampeas JTA World News Service ANALYSIS NEW YORK (JA) — For years, the New Is rael Fund has been battling with critics who accuse it o unding groups working to delegitimize the Jewish State. A new report rom the Israeli grass-roots student group Im irtzu appeared to raise the stakes, however, as part o a campaign to blame NIF or the Goldstone report on the 2009 Gaza War. In a controversial ad appearing in Israeli newspapers ea- turing a caricature o NIF President Naomi Chazan sport- ing a horn, Im irtzu stated, “Fact! Without the New Israel Fund, there could be no Goldstone Report, and Israel would not be acing international accusations o war crimes.” In act, according to Im irtz u’ s own study, 16 NIF-ali- ated groups comprise just 14 percent o all the sources or the Goldstone report. Another analysis in the Im irtzu report alleges that 92 percent o a ll Israel-based negative reporting in the Goldstone report comes rom t he NIF groups. Some reporting has conused the two gures, and incorrectly casts Im irt zu as blaming the NI F or 92 percent o the entire Goldstone report. Im irtzu co-ounder Ronen Shoval is careul to correct the mistaken impression in interviews, but says the overall take-away is correct — the Israeli-based reporting is much more damaging than that coming rom other sources. “When Hamas accuses Israel o war crimes, you u Page 9 Cs JDS Wen mat and scence jn teter wt plantrp, a lt unr peple can be ed. Tat’s wat appened wen parents and students at te Jews Da Scl measured and weed ranc bulk d and prduce rm PCC Markets t create 100 small bas ur, rasns, atmeal and rce t be dstrbuted t clents Jews Faml Servce’s Eastsde Fd Bank. Rabb Stuart Lt, JDS’s prncpal Judacs, wrks wt parent Bnne Cape and students Carln and Anelse t ba and we te ur. h vi jwih whingn e s J T Joel Magalnick Editor, JTNews Tose attractive Israelis you may see at the mall, hawk- ing colorul beauty and hair products rom the Dead Sea, may not be as innocuous as they seem. Many are in the U.S. illegally, working in violation o their touris t visas, and the Department o Homeland Secu- rity has taken notice. In early December, 12 Israe lis were rounded up in Kennewick, in Eastern Washington; one, Yuval Oran, remains in detention and has been charged with harboring illegal aliens while the other 11, including Oran’s sister, have posted bond and are expected to tes- tiy against him. A ew, citing nancial hardship, will be able to return home once they provide video depositions, according to court documents obtained by JNews. “hey’ve turned the workers into witnesses,” said Chaplain Gary Friedman, executive director o Seattle- based Jewish Prisoner Services International, which has been providing services to the Israelis while in custody . Around the same time, a smaller number o Israelis in the Seattle/acoma area were also arrested by ederal agents. Tey are being held at the U.S. Immigration and Cus- toms Enorcement’s Northwest Detention Center near acoma, and will ace a judge at the immigration court who will decide i they should be deported. Lorie Dankers, a public aairs representative at the regional ICE oce conrmed that “some individuals have been taken into custody,” but did not release their names. Te Israelis who manage these mall kiosks — most are here legally as dual citizens or resident aliens — say they are running ranchise businesses. However, Friedman believes they are a network o con men who entice young Israelis resh out o the army or school with the promise o making a lot o money in a short amount o time — and Wy a Isalis bing ast in Wasington Stat? minimal consequences i they ’re caught. “Some o these guys are really bad, some o them are just bad, there might be a handul o them who are decent people,” Friedman said, “but by and large they’re con men.” Te consequences , as the arrested Israelis are nding out, are not as minimal as advertised. “I a person was ordered removed, which is a depor- tation order, there’s a 10-year ban rom returning to the United States legally, with very, very ew exceptions,” Dankers said. Should anyone arrested choose to leave the country voluntarily, the penalty can be much lighter, but every case is dierent, Dankers cautioned . Te Israelis working at the kiosks know what they’re getting themselves into, and the situation is ar rom any- thing resembling human tracking, Friedman said. Te ringleaders who bring them in rent comortable apart- ments and supply computers and cars. Tey have the ree- dom to move around and — most important ly — can leave whenever they wish. Te problem, Friedman said, is that they don’t want to. “Tey can make in three months here what they can make in three years in Israel,” Friedman said the orga- nizer o one such group told him. “It’s real easy or them to recruit these people,” Fried- man said. “Te ones that got arrested in Kennewick, most o them were rom one moshav…. Tey’ll see all the money [others are] wiring back, [and ask], ‘How do I get in on this?’ — and it is a lot o money.” He said that in addition to employing illegal workers, some have been implicated in drug dealing and credit card raud. Friedman spoke to one o the kiosk managers earlier this month as they cleared out a ukwila apartment that u Page 28 a Viw rm h u 9 M.o.t.: Mmbr h trib 12 ar & enrinmn 19 C e l e b r a t e K i d s P A g E 1 3

jtnews | february 12, 2010

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