Alabama has been at the forefront of the national news recently as a result of the passage of the Beason-Hammon Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act, more commonly known as Alabama's immigration bill or HB 56.

Since its passage in June, the bill has been hotly debated by people on all sides of the issue as the people of Alabama struggle to understand the complexities and implications of the different provisions outlined. Some of these provisions have been challenged with varying outcomes, as the new law continues to make its way through the legal process.

The Birmingham Jewish Federation's Jewish Community Relations Coalition, in an effort to help our community better understand our state's new immigration law, has assembled a panel of community leaders who will discuss HB 56 from different perspectives.

This discussion, which will provide the opportunity for questions, will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 22, from 6-7:15 pm at the N.E. Miles Jewish Day School, 4000 Montclair Road. The public is invited.

Panelists will include Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale; Isabel Rubio, Executive Director of the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama; Alabama State Rep. Ed Henry, who voted in favor of the legislation; and John Norris, Managing Director, Head of Wealth Management for Oakworth Capital, who was suggested by the Birmingham Business Alliance. JCRC co-chair Lisa Engel will serve as moderator.

The BJF encourages community members to attend this forum to learn more about the new law and its provisions, effects and implications. We encourage members of the Jewish community to become educated, make up their own minds and voice their opinions to Gov. Robert Bentley and our State Legislature.

The BJF's JCRC will continue to strive to create opportunities for people to learn more about this new legislation, encourage people to express their views to our elected officials, and monitor its implications for the citizens of Alabama.

To RSVP, contact Donna Berry at The BJF at 205-879-0416 or donnab@bjf.org.

American support for Israel remains strong. There is a high degree of sympathy for the Jewish state, and Israel is viewed as a critical ally of the US and as the party most interested in peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a new survey commissioned by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

American Attitudes Toward Israel, the Palestinians and Prospects for Peace in the Middle East, a national telephone survey of 1,754 adults conducted October 13-23 by Marttila Strategies of Washington, D.C. and Boston, found that a clear majority of Americans -- 63 percent -- say Israel is a "crucial ally" and its relationship with the United States does not hurt the US image in the rest of the world.

The findings show that a majority of the American people oppose the Palestinian effort to get the United Nations to support a unilaterally-declared Palestinian state and back direct negotiations between the parties as the correct path to peace.

By decisive margins, the ADL survey found Americans continue to sympathize more with Israel than with the Palestinians when it comes to the Palestinian-Israel conflict. Nearly half of all Americans say they sympathize with Israel, as opposed to only 18 percent who say they sympathize with the Palestinians.

ADL is one of the 32 agencies and programs funded by The Birmingham Jewish Federation Annual Campaign.

Above is from the ADL website.

Update recently highlighted a letter that appeared in the Birmingham News from Birmingham Jewish Federation Executive Director Richard Friedman.

The letter noted that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas recently admitted that Palestinian rejection of the 1947 UN partition plan was a mistake. The UN plan, designed as a compromise, would have created a Jewish state and a Palestinian Arab state. Friedman's letter pointed out that the Palestinians' intransigence ever since is the cause for the deadlock in resolving the conflict. In response, the following email was received from The Rev. Barry Vaughn, Rector, St. Alban's Episcopal Church:

Thanks for sending me the Updates from The BJF, and I am grateful for all that The BJF does for the Birmingham community.

I consider myself a fairly strong supporter of Israel. I believe that the best way to support Israel is to be as accurate as possible about both Israel and the Palestinians.

I read with interest your recent letter to the Birmingham News about Mahmoud Abbas' public acknowledgement that the Palestinians were wrong to reject the UN's 1947 plan to set up both Jewish and Palestinian states in the region between the Jordan and the Mediterranean.

It seems to me that it is important not only to hold up the Palestinians' failings to public scrutiny but also to give them adequate credit when they behave constructively. I believe that Abbas deserves enormous credit for publicly acknowledging the Palestinians' disastrous rejection of the 1947 UN resolution.

Let's give praise where praise is due, and in my view, Abbas' statement deserves a great deal of praise.