INSIDE: BACK TO CAMPUS, PAGES 18-26 RISE UP
LOAD UP
Forget the old footprint; AEPi plans a dramatic new house at Georgia Tech. Page 18
UGA students are meeting the needs of the homeless with twice-monthly backpack deliveries. Page 20
STUDY UP
Educational opportunities at the Weizmann Institute offer the chance to change the world. Page 21
Atlanta INSIDE Calendar �����������������������������������4 Candle Lighting ���������������������� 5 Israel News ������������������������������6 Opinion ������������������������������������9 Local News ����������������������������� 13 Education ������������������������������� 18 Sports ��������������������������������������27 Marketplace ��������������������������28 Cartoon �����������������������������������28 Simchas ����������������������������������29 Crossword ������������������������������30 Deaths ������������������������������������� 31
VOL. XCI NO. 31
WWW.ATLANTAJEWISHTIMES.COM
AUGUST 12, 2016 | 8 AV 5776
SOLID CENTER Educators training with the Center for Israel Education learn that Israel is at the crossroads — maybe. Page 8
SHARED PAST Jews and Latinos explore their common immigrant experiences and their current electoral interests. Page 13
IN CONTROL Hadassah hears how the Iron Dome saves Israeli and Palestinian lives. Page 16
90 AT 14,000 FEET Rose Tucker celebrates a milestone birthday with a big leap of faith. Page 29
Photo courtesy of Stacie Graff and Ben Engelman
Face the Rainbow
More than 260 high-schoolers celebrated the Atlanta Council BBYO Color Me Kickoff at the Marcus Jewish Community Center on Sunday, Aug. 7. The theme was a nod to the Color Runs, in which participants are intermittently doused in colored powder. In addition to three color stops, the afternoon featured music, games and catering from Waffle House. “We look forward to building on Color Me Kickoff’s momentum with other chapter kickoff programs and our first convention of the year on Aug. 26 to 28,” Atlanta BBYO Director David Hoffman said. BBYO is open to all Jewish ninth- to 12th-graders in the metro area. Visit atlantajcc.org/bbyo, e-mail bbyo@atlantajcc.org or call 678-812-3970 for more information.
Johnson Pursues Jewish Peace Initiative Rep. Hank Johnson thought he was going to speak just to Quakers, not opponents of Israel, when he talked about his recent trip to the West Bank and compared the settlement process to the work of termites July 25 in Philadelphia. That explanation for how he joined a panel discussion titled “Progressive for Palestine: Is the US Ready to Rethink Policy on Israel?” came during an hour-long interview with the Lithonia Democrat on Wednesday, Aug. 3, amid his effort to repair relations with the Jewish community. The congressman said he didn’t know the Quakers’ American Friends Service Committee and its co-host for
the session, the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, support the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement and do not endorse a two-state solution. “We’ve worked with the Quakers on a number of other issues, and they invited me to speak,” Johnson said. “Quakers are peace advocates,” and he assumed they would back a two-state approach. Johnson said he opposes BDS and is committed to a two-state solution. He said that comparing the growth of West Bank settlements to the work of termites “was an ignorant remark. And now that I know about the history of insects, animals and things like that to describe
Jewish people, I’m mortified by my use of the term, not referring to people, but referring to the settlement process. … It was inappropriate, ignorant, insensitive.” His view of the West Bank was influenced by a May trip with four other members of Congress sponsored by the Humpty Dumpty Institute. “I’m not trying to blame terrorism on the lack of a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” he said. “But it’s clear that the growth of terrorism is aided and abetted by the frustration born out of the establishment of the state of Israel and the failure to solve the issue of a Palestinian state.” ■ • Interview excerpts, Page 14