Vandalized St. Louis Cemetery Rededicated
Nearly six months after more than 150 headstones were vandalized, Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in University City, Mo., was rededicated on Aug. 6, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The Jewish Federation of St. Louis raised nearly $250,000 for the cemetery, and Philadelphia-based Tarek El-Messidi’s organization Celebrate Mercy raised another $160,000, the Post-Dispatch reported.
“Our help had no barriers, no hate. Simply care, compassion and hope,” Rabbi Roxanne Shapiro, vice president of the St. Louis Rabbinical Association, said to the rededication crowd. “While God could not guard this sacred place from harm, God did send so many to repair, reclaim and rededicate.”
The incident in St. Louis occurred shortly before more than 100 gravestones were vandalized at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Philadelphia’s Wissinoming neighborhood. Nobody has been arrested in either incident.
Jewish Camp Apologizes for Flying Palestinian Flag
Camp Solomon Schechter near Olympia, Wash., apologized for raising a Palestinian flag on July 28 in what it called a gesture of friendship and acceptance for visiting campers, the The Jerusalem Post reported.
The camp hosted 14 campers from Israel and Seattle that day from the organization Kids4Peace. A third of that group was Jewish, a third was Muslim and a third was Christian.
The camp sent out a letter apologizing for raising the flag and declaring “unwavering support for the State of Israel as the Jewish homeland.” The letter also said the flag was raised “for the sake of a teachable moment.”
Survey Shows Drop in Support for Two-State Solutions by Both Israelis and Palestinians
Support for a two-state solution has dropped to 53 percent for Israelis and 52 percent for Palestinians, according to a new survey, JNS.org reported.
That compares to 71 percent for Israelis and 57 percent for Palestinians when a similar poll was conducted in 2010.
The survey included interviews with 1,200 Palestinians and 900 Israelis, and was published by the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research at Tel Aviv University and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah.
