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What are JAC's Issues?
United States - Israel Relations• We take every opportunity to thank our friends in Congress for their continuous and ongoing support of the special relationship between the US and Israel.
• We are Jewish women and men who are supporters of Israel and we are Americans who support our government in its efforts to facilitate peace efforts
• Israel, the only reliable democracy in the Middle East, is America’s staunch ally and partner in fighting terrorism.
• In the post-Arafat era, our hope is that Israelis and Palestinians will be able to make significant progress toward an agreement that will result in peace and security
The JAC message both respects and transcends the diverse opinions within the Jewish community, while presenting a united front to Congress. No matter what our personal feelings, we will not advocate any measure that could jeopardize the safety and security of Israelis. It is the Israelis who are on the front line and whose lives are lost if diplomatic or military errors in judgment are made. For these reasons JAC takes a hands-off approach to Israeli internal policies and a hands-on approach to sustaining Congressional commitment to the special relationship between the United States and Israel.
Reproductive ChoiceJAC believes in full reproductive freedom for women and opposes legislation that limits a woman’s right to family planning or abortion.
Why should we be concerned about choice, when Israel is in turmoil and Americans and Jews are in peril around the world? It’s a question that is sometimes asked in these tumultuous times. The religious right is leading the opposition to abortion, family planning, sex education, cloning and stem cell research, and more — lumping these issues under their “pro-life” banner. Reproductive choice is more than the right to an abortion. It is about the freedom we enjoy as Jews because of the protections provided by the Constitutional wall that separates religion from state. The religious right has breached that wall by advocating legislation defined by a particular set of religious beliefs. Reproductive choice is also about the right to make personal decisions about our health and life without unwarranted government intrusion. That is why we at JAC take choice so seriously. Yes, it is about abortion. But it is about much more than that.
Separation of Religion and StateReligion-State issues can be divided into two categories. The first is government funding of religion — which includes school vouchers, faith-based initiatives and charitable choice. The second is government promotion of religion — which includes school prayer and posting of the ten commandments in public buildings. Faith-based initatives are also a form of government promotion of religion.
JAC's view, llike that of many Jewish organizations, is that vouchers may threaten religious liberties. Since eighty-five percent of all private schools are religiously affiliated, and three out of five private school students attend Roman Catholic schools, vouchers would require all Americans to contribute to the religious operations that run private schools. These schools can also set their own criteria for who can attend, forcing taxpayers to pay for schools that might not accept their own children.
The Administration is committed to the expansion of faith-based services and government funding of religious institutions to provide those services. While faith-based organizations such as Jewish Federation and Catholic charities have long provided social services with government assistance, the services themselves have been non-sectarian and provided, for the most part, in non-religious settings, without religious messages, without religious discrimination, and with other appropriate safeguards. All that began to change with the inclusion of "charitable choice" in the Welfare Reform Act of 1996. Under charitable choice, introduced by Attorney General John Ashcroft when he was in the Senate, government aid can go to groups that consider proselytizing an important part of their mission, that retain the right to establish their own criteria in hiring and firing employees (i.e., discriminate on the basis of religion) and that establish separate accounts for federal funds to limit the scope of audits.
JAC remains committed to the viewpoint that religion-state separation strengthens religious practice and religious freedom. JAC has serious reservations about charitable choice and vouchers. JAC agrees with Rabbi David Saperstein, executive director of the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism (RAC). “President Bush has bypassed both Congress and the Constitution, promoting government-funded discrimination and engaging the nation in a divisive legal and political battle while there is little evidence to demonstrate that faith-based programs are more effective than government social services."
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