U.S. asks Israel to extradite ultra-Orthodox Jew accused of child abuse
By Aviva Lori, Haaretz Correspondent
tags: extradition, U.S., Gur Hassid

The U.S. Justice Department has asked Israel to facilitate the extradition of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man suspected of raping and sexually abusing dozens of boys.

Avrohom Mondrowitz was investigated by the New York Police Department in the 1980s and was indicted for sex crimes against four boys in Brooklyn, N.Y., but fled to Israel before he could be arrested.

According to witness reports, 60-year-old Mondrowitz, a married father of seven, would pose as a psychologist specializing in the treatment of children that suffered sexual abuse.
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U.S. asks Israel to extradite Hassidic Jew wanted for molesting minors extradite

One of Mondrowitz's victims, 40-year-old Chicago resident Mark Weiss, who, as a child, was sent by his parents to New York for therapy with Mondrowitz after he had dropped out of several educational frameworks, recounted his ordeal. "[Mondrowitz's] family was at a cottage in the Catskills and I was sleeping at his house. at night he suddenly touched me. I was naive. I thought he was being nice, that he was trying to make me feel better," said Weiss. "It was all a big Fraud," he concluded.

Regarding the way the affair was handled by rabbis within the community, Weiss said: "[The rabbis] paralyzed an entire generation. When one of them destroys another person, they do nothing."

Mondrowitz currently resides in Jerusalem. Over the years he has worked in several educational institutions, but he is now unemployed, and allegedly supports himself by selling forged academic degrees.

A month ago, police summoned him for an interrogation over Web sites that he had visited, and then released him on conditions.

Mondrowitz refused to answer questions regarding the allegations against him.

The full story will appear in the weekend edition of Haaretz newspaper.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/924055.html

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Students clash on 'Kaffiyah Day'

Arab and Jewish students demonstrate at Haifa, Hebrew Universities on self-proclaimed 'Kaffiyah Day.' Chairman of Hadash students' board in Haifa: 'No reason to prohibit an Arab student from wearing his traditional garb on campus'
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Ahiya Raved
Published: 11.14.07, 19:10 / Israel News

Some 100 Arab and Jewish students held opposing demonstrations on Wednesday at Haifa University as Arab students gathered to mark the newly christened "Kaffiyah Day." A scuffle between the two groups was avoided only after campus security guards intervened. A similar protest was also held at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Legitimate Protest?
Leaflets at Haifa U call for Arabs to reoccupy Jerusalem / Moran Zelikovich
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"Kaffiyah Day" was declared by national Arab student organizations following an incident earlier in November in which an Arab student wearing a kaffiyah at the Hebrew University was assaulted by a group of Jewish students.



The Arab protestors in Haifa arrived at demonstration wearing the traditional headscarves. They chanted slogans and waved the Palestinian flag. The opposing demonstration held Israeli flags and sang the national anthem. Campus security was eventually forced to separated the groups or risk an escalation in the tensions.


Chairman of the University's Hadash students club, Rabiyah Shaa'ir, said "there is no reason an Arab student should be attacked for wearing this traditional garb on campus. We reject the racist behavior of the Jewish students who tried to make him take off the kaffiyah."


Freshman student Eva Biton told Ynet she was shocked to see Palestinian flags on a Jewish-Israeli campus: "I come from France where I witnessed many similar demonstrations. I didn't believe that I will see these flags in Israel."


Tension at the Hebrew University

Arab and Jewish students faced off in Jerusalem as well as tensions continue to rise on the Hebrew University campus. Earlier in the week a large-scale fight broke out between the two groups.



"These students are the future of the Israeli-Arab sector," said Ali Baher, chairman of the Arab students' board in Jerusalem.



"We need a generation of people who stand up for their rights and fight for their beliefs. We have a right to express our opinion, study here and confront those who don't want us."



The counter-protest was organized by Haifa University's Student's Union. Shai Panini, Chairman of the Union, said: "I cannot grasp the holding of a rally for the memory of a man (Yasser Arafat, who singlehandedly turned the kaffiyah into an enduring Palestinian icon) whose name brings revulsion to every Israeli citizen. I call on Haifa University not to allow rallies like these from now on for the sake of the fragile coexistance at Haifa University."


Sa'ar Ziv, Spokesperson of the Union, added that "while no violation of freedom of speech took place, raillies of hatred and slander must not take place under the protection of free speech. We are shocked by the presence of such protests, which take place every year. Despite the Student's Right Law, we don't understand how the University allows such a thing. This is not what the law was designed to allow."

Jewish GW Student Admits Putting Swastikas On Her Door

http://www.nbc4.com/news/14516979/detail.html

WASHINGTON -- George Washington University officials said a Jewish student who complained about swastikas showing up on her door put them there herself.

The student lives in Mitchell Hall, where half a dozen swastikas had shown up on her dorm room door in the past several weeks.

University police set up a hidden camera. They said the girl admitted responsibility Monday.

News 4 interviewed the student last week after the fifth swastika was discovered. She did not want to be identified.

"It's a big story," said Jake Sherman, GW Hatchet editor. "Thirty percent of GW students are Jewish"

Reporters at the GW Hatchet newspaper have been following the story since it began. They said they learned on Monday morning that the alleged victim would likely be implicated.

They said they spoke to her twice by phone.

According to reporters at the newspaper, the student said, "I wasn't looking to create this sort of insanity. I wasn't looking to become a media darling. I was just looking for acknowledgment from the university that someone drew a swastika on the door."

The student now faces disciplinary action from the school and could face criminal charges