FLORIDA DIVESTS FROM IRAN, SUDAN

Florida Divests from Iran, Sudan - Bill Kaczor
Florida's public employee retirement fund will divest nearly $1.3 billion invested with 21 companies doing business in Iran or Sudan, after the State Board of Administration authorized the divestiture Wednesday. The law bars investing pension money in any company doing business in Sudan or in Iran's energy sector because both countries are on the State Department's list of terror-sponsoring nations. (AP)

FLORIDA CHARTER SCHOOL CAN TEACH HEBREW

Board: Charter School Can Teach Hebrew - Matt Sedensky
The Broward County (FL) School Board voted Tuesday to allow the Ben Gamla Charter School in Hollywood to resume teaching in Hebrew, three weeks after the lessons were halted. The school district will work with the school to ensure the separation of church and state, said Schools Superintendent James Notter. "We have asked this charter school to do a lot of different things," said board chair Beverly Gallagher. "As far as I can see, they have done everything that we have asked them." The school can teach about the Jewish faith, but cannot advocate it. "We never considered crossing that line," said school founder Peter Deutsch, a former Democratic congressman. (AP)

FRENCH JEWS FLEE ISLAMISTS FOR FLORIDA

French Jews Flock to South Florida - Alfonso Chardy
French Jews living in South Florida say hostility from Islamic militants in France after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the U.S. spurred them to leave. Departures surged after last year's abduction and death of Ilan Halimi in France. Officials in U.S. Jewish organizations said the number of French Jews could be anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 in South Florida. ''I would say they're in the thousands now,'' said Mendy Levy, a rabbi at The Shul synagogue in Surfside. Jewish Agency figures show that almost 14,000 French Jews have resettled in Israel since 2001. Vanessa Elmaleh, an attorney who specializes in French Jewish immigration, said perhaps more than 50,000 French Jews are moving or actively planning to move to Israel and more than 10,000 are in South Florida. (Miami Herald)