WASHINGTON — Actor Sean Penn urged a congressional hearing to pressure Bolivia to release a haredi Orthodox father of five under house arrest in the country.
Penn appeared Monday, May 20, at a hearing on the case of Jacob Ostreicher of Brooklyn, who has been held nearly two years in Bolivia on accusations that he was in business with drug traffickers and money launderers. No proof has ever been provided in court.
US Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), who has gone to Bolivia in an effort to free Ostreicher, held the hearing.
Penn, an Academy Award winner well known for his social activism, told the hearing that he has spoken to Bolivian President Evo Morales and believes that although Morales has the best of intentions, the judiciary is so corrupt in his country that the president is powerless.
NEW YORK — Jewish groups are joining the effort to help those displaced by the tornado in suburban Oklahoma City.
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, announced Tuesday, May 21, that his organization will collect donations and distribute them to the American Red Cross and others on the ground in Oklahoma.
“We are numb with grief, and yet inspired by the heroic resilience of the people of Oklahoma,” Jacobs said. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those impa...
WASHINGTON — Susan Rice said a major part of her work as US ambassador to the UN is defending Israel’s legitimacy.
“It’s a huge part of my work to the UN,” Rice said Sunday, April 21, launching this year’s Consultation on Conscience, an event in Washington for Reform movement social activists organized by the Religious Action Center.
She likened the volume of work to her efforts to coordinate Syria’s isolation and contain violence and abuses in Sudan.
WASHINGTON — He had them until abortion.
US Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) was addressing the Reform movement’s Consultation on Conscience conference about his passion, human rights and success in creating mechanisms to combat human trafficking and shine a light on global anti-Semitism.
The crowd gathered in a large Capitol Hill conference room Tuesday afternoon, April 23, was transfixed, laughing along with Smith’s practiced self-deprecation and applauding his commitment....