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Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, despite no response from the leadership of the Palestinian Authority, continues to press onward with his peace efforts and desire for direct talks. Netanyahu, according to a story in the Jerusalem Post this week, went to Amman to meet with Jordan's King Abdullah.

Israel and Jordan enjoy a peace treaty, proving that accommodations can be reached between Israel and its neighbors if both sides are willing to try. Netanyahu (at left) is pictured here meeting with the Jordanian king. (Photo is from Israel's Prime Minister's Office.)

The story was written by Jerusalem Post diplomatic correspondent Herb Keinon, who visited Birmingham recently to speak at a program co-sponsored by the Birmingham Jewish Federation. The BJF, through Update and other venues, will continue to provide context and commentary to help our community better understand Israel's difficulties and continuing search for peace. Here is an edited excerpt from Keinon's story:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid an unannounced visit to Jordan, meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah II for two hours before the Arab League meets in Cairo Thursday to discuss whether the Palestinians should enter direct talks with Israel.

A statement by the Prime Minister's Office said that the meeting in Amman was "in depth," and that the leaders discussed ways to conduct "direct, effective and serious" negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians "on all issues, in order to reach a "stable, secure and sustainable" agreement based on "two states for two peoples."

Ohio State Buckeye Jack Tatum, bottom right, on the cover of Sports Illustrated in November 1970.

By Richard Friedman, Executive Director

I was saddened to learn that former Oakland Raiders and Ohio State football star Jack Tatum died Tuesday after a heart attack. Tatum is best remembered for delivering a hit to the New England Patriots Darryl Stingley in 1978 that left Stingley paralyzed. He also played a role in "The Immaculate Reception," one of pro football's most famous plays.

I have a different memory of Tatum. I played against him in high school, when he was a star running back and ferocious middle linebacker for New Jersey's Passaic High School. His team trounced our high school, known then as East Paterson and later Elmwood Park, 44-0, largely on Tatum's running and defense.

Tatum went on to become an All-American defensive player at Ohio State and was a member of the "Super Sophomores" team that won the national championship in 1968. Images of Tatum have always stuck with me. I remember clearly him waving his huge arms, almost in my face, as I came in to center on punts for my high school team. I was nervous seeing him about a yard away though thankfully he mostly backpedaled after I snapped the ball.

Right after the Stingley hit, I mentioned my Tatum connection to my editor at the Birmingham News, where I was working as a reporter at that time. He encouraged me to write a story about playing against Tatum, which I did. I got lots of comments on the story -- far more than I ever got about stories I wrote about Birmingham City Hall and other topics I was covering that I naively thought were more important.

BRINGING BACK MEMORIES

My daughter has been attending Ohio State the past three years which has brought back many memories for me of Tatum. His feats are still remembered and glorified among the Ohio State faithful. My visits to Columbus motivated me not too long ago to pull out my Birmingham News story and re-read it. I had tucked it inside the bookjacket of my copy of Tatum's autobiography "They Call Me Assassin."

Tatum's death has touched me and made me think about a few things. "You never know what you're going to find in Update," readers often tell me, and many seem to especially like our periodic sports stories with their own special twists. Thus, I wanted to write about Tatum.

However, that is not all that is on my mind as I write this. Tatum sadly was not poet A.E. Housman's "athlete dying young." He was a diabetic who several years ago had a leg amputated. When I found that out I mused at life's bitter ironies. Jack Tatum, the high school running back no one could stop, losing a leg.

So there is sadness in me as I write this. I feel sad for Tatum and his family. His death also is a poignant reminder to those my age -- people in their 60s who were teens in the 60s -- that the passage of time is both inexorable and elusive, much like Passaic High School's Jack Tatum was as he ran down the field on that 44-0 day more than 40 years ago.

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