Richard Melson

August 2004

B’nai B’rith World Center: President of Israel Katsav and George Bush

B’nai B’rith is a major Zionist lobbying and influence-peddling group worldwide.

In a recent award to President of Israel Moshe Katsav, the B’nai B’rith official, Richard Heideman, who conferred the award on Katsav, explained:

"His Excellency Mr. Moshe Katsav, President of the State of Israel, received on July 4, the highest honor granted by B’nai B’rith International – its Presidential Gold Medal by the organization’s president Richard D. Heideman. The medal – previously bestowed upon such world leaders as US President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Israeli Prime Ministers David Ben Gurion and Golda Meir – was conferred in recognition of President Katsav’s outstanding commitment to Diaspora Jewry and to its relationship with the State of Israel. The event was held in Jerusalem at the President’s official residence – Beit Hanassi – in the presence of over 300 invited guests, among them US Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer and 30 other members of the diplomatic corps.

"Mr. Heideman credited President Katsav with inspiring the views and actions of President Bush on the Middle East, beginning with discussions during a small working dinner early in the Bush presidency in which he participated."

B’nai B’rith is organized as follows: TELEPHONE EMAIL

President’s Office 202-857-6553 president@bnaibrith.org
Executive Vice President's Office 202-857-6500 evp@bnaibrith.org
Center for Community Action 212-490-3290 cca@bnaibrith.org
Center for Jewish Identity 212-490-3290 cji@bnaibrith.org
Center for Human Rights & Public Policy 202-857-6545 chrpp@bnaibrith.org
Center for Senior Services 202-857-2785 seniors@bnaibrith.org
World Center, Jerusalem 972-2-625-1743 worldcenter@bnaibrith.org
Klutznick National Jewish Museum 202-857-6583 museum@bnaibrith.org
Lecture Bureau 212-490-1170 lecturebureau@bnaibrith.org
Camping Services 202-857-6660 camping@bnaibrith.org
Communications Department 202-857-6527 communications@bnaibrith.org
Media Relations 202-857-6676 press@bnaibrith.org
B’nai B’rith Magazine 202-857-6708 bbm@bnaibrith.org
B’nai B’rith Today 202-857-2701 bbt@bnaibrith.org
Field Services 847-676-0011 fieldservices@bnaibrith.org
Member Services 202-857-6625
1-888-388-4224
members@bnaibrith.org
Donor Development 202-857-2795 fundraising@bnaibrith.org
The B'nai B'rith Foundation 202-857-2795 foundation@bnaibrith.org
Fiscal Operations 202-857-2718 fiscal@bnaibrith.org
Management Information Systems 202-857-2727 website@bnaibrith.org
Human Resources 202-857-6510 hr@bnaibrith.org
Insurance 1-800-723-2624 enrollment@selman.cc



International Districts

B'nai B'rith Argentina
Juncal 2573
1425 Buenos Aires
54-114-824-4625 bnaib@arnet.com.ar
B'nai B'rith Australia/New Zealand
61-2-9361-6035

bbozdist@ozemail.com.au
District & New South Wales Council Office
PO Box 443
Kings Cross, N.S.W., 1340
Location: 22 Yurong St.
East Sydney, N.S.W., 2010




61-3-9527-8249




bbvic@bigpond.net.au
Victoria Council Office
99 Hotham St.
St. Kilda, East, Vic.,3183
B'nai B'rith Brazil
Rua Cacapava, 105
CEP 01408-010
São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
55-11-3082-5844 brasil@bnaibrith.org.br
B'nai B'rith Canada 416-633-6224 bnb@bnaibrith.ca
15 Hove Street Suite 200
Toronto, ON M3H 4Y8 Canada


514-733-5377


bnaibrith@total.net
B'nai B'rith Montreal
6900 Decarie Blvd., Suite 219
Montreal, Quebec H3X 2T8


416-633-6224


arosenblum@bnaibrith.ca
Ontario Region
15 Hove St.
Toronto, Ontario M3H 4Y8


905-678-9691


jaster@bnaibrith.ca
B'nai B'rith Halton - Peel
7330 Goreway Drive, U*nit 01
Mississauga, Ontario L4T 4J2


204-487-9623


bnaiwpg@ilos.net
Midwest Region
123 Doncaster St. Suite C403
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3N 2B2


780-483-6939


bnaibrithed@telus.net
Western Region
Jewish Community Centre
7200-156 St.
Edmonton, Alberta T5R 1X3
B'nai B'rith Chile, Bolivia, Peru
B'nai B'rith Lodge House
Avda Richardo Lyon 1933
Santiago, Chile
56-2-274-2006 bb27@bnaibrith.cl
B'nai B'rith Europe
32-2-646-92-98

direction@bnaibritheurope.org
District Office
36, Rue Dautzenberg/ Bte.
31050 - Brussels, Belgium


44-20-7387-52-78


hayley@bbuk.org
B'nai B'rith Office - London B'nai B'rith
Hillel House
1-2 Endsleigh Street
London, WC1H 0DS



31-1-55-07-85-45



bbfrance@wanadoo.fr
B'nai B'rith Office - Paris
5 Bis, Rue de Rochenhouart
F-75009 Paris
B'nai B'rith Israel
10 Kaplan Street
Tel Aviv 64734
972-3-691-8289 bneibis@zahav.net.il
B'nai B'rith Northern Latin America and the Caribbean
Hogar B´nai B´rith
Novena Transversal de Altamira
Caracas, Venezuela
58-212-2614083
58-212-2621346
bnaibrith23@cantv.net
B'nai B'rith South Africa
P.O. Box 58
Pinegowrie, 2123, South Africa
27-11-648-7607 boomie@iafrica.com
B'nai B'rith Uruguay and Paraguay
District Office
Canelones 1216
11.100 Montevideo, Uruguay
598-2-908-3385 bnaibrit@adinet.com.uy



U.S. Regions

B'nai B'rith Allegheny/Ohio Valley Region
1831 Murray Ave. Suite 204
Pittsburgh, PA 15217
(412) 521-2390 aov@bnaibrith.org
B'nai B'rith Chesapeake Bay Region
PO Box 4488
Silver Spring, MD 20914
(866) 522-4227
(301) 754-2404
chesapeake@bnaibrith.org
B'nai B'rith Evergreen Region
Stroum Jewish Community Center
3801 E. Mercer Way
Mercer Island, WA 98040
(206) 232-3976 evergreen@bnaibrith.org
B'nai B'rith Greater Florida Region
4300 N. University Drive Suite C-101
Lauderhill, FL 33351
1-800-394-8108
(954) 747-8108
florida@bnaibrith.org
B'nai B'rith Great Lakes Region
6735 Telegraph Road Suite 304
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301
(248) 646-3100 greatlakes@bnaibrith.org
B'nai B'rith Golden Pacific Region
91 Knight Dr.
San Rafael, CA 94901
(415)456-0344 pacific@bnaibrith.org
B'nai B'rith Liberty Region
1601 Walnut Street Suite 604
Philadelphia, PA 19102
(215) 564-3333 liberty@bnaibrith.org
B'nai B'rith MetroNorth Region
823 United Nations Plaza Suite 715
New York, NY 10017
212-490-3290 metronorth@bnaibrith.org
B'nai B'rith Mid-America Region
PO Box 13456
Shawnee Mission, KS 66682-3456
(913) 327-5443 midamerica@bnaibrith.org
B'nai B'rith Midwest Region
9933 Lawler Street Suite 355
Skokie, IL 60077
(847) 676-0011 midwest@bnaibrith.org
B'nai B'rith New England Region
34 Washington Street
Brighton, MA 02135
617-731-5290 newengland@bnaibrith.org
B'nai B'rith North Central Region
715 Florida Avenue South Suite 301
Golden Valley, MN 55426
(763) 546-1616 northcentral@bnaibrith.org
B'nai B'rith Southern California Region
14945 Ventura Blvd. Suite 227
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
(818) 380-0730 socal@bnaibrith.org
B'nai B'rith Southeast Region
4204 Hillsboro Pike #107
Nashville, TN 37215
615-297-9510 southeast@bnaibrith.org
B'nai B'rith Texarkoma Region
9660 Hillcroft Suite 240
Houston, TX 77096
(800) 899-7668
(713) 726-0923
texarkoma@bnaibrith.org
B'nai B'rith Tri-State Region
248 Columbia Turnpike
Florham Park, NJ 07932
973-765-9779 tristate@bnaibrith.org
B'nai B'rith Western Frontier Region
350 S. Dahlia Street
Denver, CO 80246
(888) 224-2414
(303) 393-9155
westernfrontier@bnaibrith.org


World Center Jerusalem

worldcenter@bnaibrith.org

The B'nai B'rith World Center is central to B'nai B'rith International's Israel-related activities and agenda, serving as the organization's permanent and official presence in Israel and Jerusalem its capital. The World Center is the major link between Israel and B'nai B'rith members and supporters around the world.

Established in 1980 by decision of the International Convention acting upon a resolution proposed by B'nai B'rith Israel, the World Center is an ongoing expression of B'nai B'rith's active commitment to Israel, enabling B'nai B'rith to maintain a high degree of visibility and contact in Israel and reaffirm Jerusalem as its spiritual capital.

Operating under the aegis of the BBI Center for Public Policy, the World Center:


Among its responsibilities, the World Center develops and maintains close relationships with B'nai B'rith International departments, International Districts and United States Regions, providing crucial assistance in implementing their Israel-oriented agenda.

The World Center's annual activities include its Award for Journalism, which recognizes excellence in Diaspora reportage in the Israeli media. Now in its tenth year, the Award for Journalism encourages the publication of more quality reportage on the Diaspora in Israel, which exposes Israelis to the Jewish reality around the world. Other programs include the annual "Fraternidad Award" in cooperation with B'nai B'rith Uruguay, and the "Jerusalem Address," the World Center's most prestigious public forum for raising crucial issues on the contemporary Jewish agenda.

The World Center consists of an International Board of Trustees, an International Board of Governors, and Israel Council.

Israel President Moshe Katsav receives highest B’nai B’rith honor

Confers B’nai B’rith World Center Journalism Awards

"His Excellency Mr. Moshe Katsav, President of the State of Israel, received on July 4, the highest honor granted by B’nai B’rith International – its Presidential Gold Medal by the organization’s president Richard D. Heideman. The medal – previously bestowed upon such world leaders as US President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Israeli Prime Ministers David Ben Gurion and Golda Meir – was conferred in recognition of President Katsav’s outstanding commitment to Diaspora Jewry and to its relationship with the State of Israel. The event was held in Jerusalem at the President’s official residence – Beit Hanassi – in the presence of over 300 invited guests, among them US Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer and 30 other members of the diplomatic corps.

At the same event, President Katsav, Mr. Heideman and World Center Chairman Naor Yerushalmi conferred the tenth annual B’nai B’rith World Center Award for Journalism in Memory of Wolf and Hilda Matsdorf. Since its inception in 1992, the B’nai B’rith World Center Award for Journalism has recognized excellence in reportage on contemporary Diaspora Jewish communities and on the state of Israel-Diaspora relations today in the Israeli print and electronic media. The award, which carries a cash prize and certificate, seeks to generate greater public interest and knowledge in Israel about the current condition of Jewish communities in the Diaspora and Israel-Diaspora relations.

In presenting the medal to President Katsav, Mr. Heideman paid tribute to the President’s leadership, vision and his willingness to continue to count himself as one of the Jewish people. Noting that the State of Israel was created out of the belief, passion and commitment that never again will the Jewish people suffer indignities and humiliation, or have its hopes and lives extinguished, Mr. Heideman said that "We come not only to honor the President but to stand with Israel and the Jewish people as one people and toe express how much we appreciate and support the State of Israel." Referencing American Independence Day and September 11, Mr. Heideman praised US President George W. Bush as "the outstanding and superb leader of the entire free world who provided great leadership to all of us who love freedom and democracy who remember why the world created the State of Israel." Mr. Heideman credited President Katsav with inspiring the views and actions of President Bush on the Middle East, beginning with discussions during a small working dinner early in the Bush presidency in which he participated. Mr. Heideman also noted that President Katsav’s early public career began as a leader in B’nai B’rith Israel, where he served as chairman of its youth division and lodge president.

In accepting the medal, President Katsav paid tribute to B’nai B’rith, saying that its success lies in the fact that it has absorbed Jews from all religious streams to work in harmony, setting a model for all organizations in Israel and the Diaspora, proving that co-existence is possible. Turning to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, President Katsav said that prior the outbreak of the current wave of Palestinian terror in September 2000, Israel had made difficult concessions at the negotiating table – the only place where Israel is ready to make concessions. He added that the 20 intervening months have been a period of regression for the Palestinians and that forces within the Arab world which support Palestinian violence do so cynically, knowing that there will be no Palestinian state while the bloodshed continues, since they actually reject the establishment of such a state.

Daniel Ben Simon, a writer for Ha’aretz Hebrew daily, was this year’s award winner. The jury chose Ben Simon from among twenty contestants in recognition of an expertly written and in-depth series of articles entitled "Travels Among the Jews" on the Jewish communities of France, Belgium, Italy, Germany Azerbaijan, Ukraine and the Czech Republic - part of a significant series which has spanned three years. The articles, which appeared also in the paper’s English edition, also examined the problem of resurgent anti-Semitism in these communities.

A Certificate of Merit was conferred on Itamar Levin, news editor at Globes business daily, for an article about lost Jewish property in Poland and in recognition on his original and consistent reporting on Holocaust-era restitution. A Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred on veteran Israel Radio correspondent Sara Frenkel, in recognition of many years of outstanding reporting on developments in the Jewish world, especially the struggle for Soviet Jewry.

Speaking on behalf of the Award winners, Ben Simon, who immigrated from Morocco at the age of 16 in 1968, said that in his recent travels to different Jewish communities that served as a basis for his stories, he found emotions similar to those that bore him and many others to Israel following the Six Day War. Like then, the crisis has united Jews on the right and the left, and has compelled Jews back to their Jewish identity. However, Ben Simon observed the difference between the Six Day War and the current situation is that, whereas in 1967 Jews exposed the Jewish stars they wore out of pride in Israel’s achievements on the battlefield, today Jews in the Diaspora are concealing their Judaism out of fear as Jewish institutions are burned and Jews are in danger once again. Ben Simon said he detected many concerns and worries among Diaspora communities during his travels. The Jewish situation, particularly in Europe, is dependent on what happens in Israel although Jerusalem is not always sensitive to this, exemplified by repeated simplistic calls by Israeli leaders on Diaspora Jews to resolve their problems through emigration to Israel."

The B'nai B'rith World Center Award for Journalism is named for the late Wolf Matsdorf, a founding member of the B’nai B’rith World Center Executive Committee and a journalist who published articles of Jewish interest in the Jerusalem Post and in Australian Jewish newspapers, and his late wife Hilda Matsdorf, a pioneer in the field of social work in Israel.

The Award is made possible through donations from Prof. Daniel Schydlowsky, a member of the B'nai B'rith World Center International Board of Governors (Lima, Peru and Washington D.C.), and the Matsdorf family.

The event was sponsored by B’nai B’rith International , B’nai B’rith Israel and the B’nai B’rith World Center in Jerusalem. News of the event was carried in the print and electronic media.