20 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, September 7, 1984 BODY SERVICE BUMPING 4 PAINT . MEDIA MONITOR ■ W"\X National Press club \S; Continued from Page 4 Your Car Is Our Specialty Reliable & Experienced Since 1930 All Work Guaranteed! La Salle Body Shop Inc. 28829 Orchard Lake Road, Farmington Hills; -MI 48018 MAX FLEISCHER 553-7111 THE ISRAEL HISTADRUT OF METROPOLITAN DETROIT proudly announces A TRIBUTE TO RABBI RICHARD C. HERTZ Testimonial Dinner Wednesday, October 24, 1984 Sheraton-Southfield Hotel Guest Speaker: HIS EXCELLENCY AMBASSADOR MEIR ROSENNE marking the establishment of THE RICHARD C. HERTZ YOUTH CENTER Safed, Israel General Chairman Honorary Chairman Stanley Winkelman Max Fisher Dinner Chairman Flora Winton Honorary Co-Chairpeople Louis Berry Martin Citrin Marvin Goldman Joseph Jackier Morris Lieberman Leonard Simons Paul Zuckerman Couvert: $100. per person CONTRARY TO AN ADVERTISEMENT PLACED IN LAST WEEK'S JEWISH NEWS, THE YOUNG ISRAEL COUNCIL OF DETROIT DISAVOWS ANY KNOWLEDGE OR RABBI KAHANE'S VISIT, AND DOES NOT WISH TO EXPRESS SOLIDARITY WITH IT. SANFORD EISENBERG PRESIDENT RABBI JAMES GORDON RABBI SAMUEL PRERO RABBI REUVAN DRUCKER RABBI ELIMELECH GOLDBERG and that makes for successful luncheon meetings. I know you criticized one newspaper reporter for quot- ing some unnamed source at suggesting that saleability was the prime motivation. There is some hypocrisy in that complaint as well since using anonymous sources — something lay people com- plain about all the time — is standard media procedure. What other reason could there possibly be that makes any sense? Farrakhan is a man who has no public consti- tuency, he represents only about 15,000 people (accord- ing to the media) in a nation of 225 million, and his only claim to fame is that he wallows in anti-Semitic rhetoric. As you know, Ted White, the prominent journalist and his- torian, has resigned from your club and returned the award you gave him some years ago in protest over the Farrakhan appearance. Barbara Tuchman, the Pulitzer Prize historian, attended the luncheon and later returned a certificate of appreciation she had received from your club. ' Perhaps these protests, the criticism from other club members and segments of the public will prompt deeper re- flection when you invite others to grace your prestigi- ous podium. Farrakhan does not fit the description of the "kings and queens" or even dictators that you cite have been invited to speak at the club since FDR's appearance in 1933. Again, he has no credentials other than his demogoguery which, incidentally, would never have come to the pub- lic's attention had you and your brethren not considered it newsworthy. Indeed, to , equate Far- rakhan with those who have appeared before the club di- minishes the reputation of your former guests. In summary, the choice of Farrakhan reflected gross in- sensitivity not only to the Jewish community but offered some troubling implications about what you consider the interests and values of your members _ . Your test in selecting speakers should not be whether you can fill the house. As columnist Carl Rowan said, a sex show would have done that as well. The test should be whether the guest has something to offer in terms of a constructive political dialogue to the na- tion's foremost press organiza- tion and, through it, to the public. The subject need not be de- void of controversy. Heaven only knows we are a nation with more than enough issues which get the blood boiling. There is no need to abandon sensitivity, good taste, mature judgment and respectability. Perhaps you won't the next time. NEWS Reagan to submit genocide pact for Washington — The Reagan Administration announced this week that it has decided to back ratification of the 36-year-old United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The genocide convention, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, has hen ap- proved by more than 90 countries including the Soviet Union. American opposition to the pact has centered on its provisions to make genocide — the mass killing of national, racial, ethnic or reli- gious groups — an international crime. A number of U.S. officials fear such an agremet would ex- pose Americans to spurious genocide charges before a foreign court without American Con- stitutional safeguards. With the Senate in session for only three more weeks until after the November election, officials acknowledged that the chances Senate approval for early approval were slim. If re-elected, President Reagan would reportedly press for ap- proval of the convention in the next session of Congress. Stern College grad goes for Princeton Ph.D. New York — At the age of 20, Deborah Silver, one of the first graduates of an innovative joint program between Yeshiva Uni- versity's Stern College for Women (SCW) and Columbia University, will begin studying this fall toward her Ph.D. degree in elec- trical engineering / computer sci- ence at Princeton University where she has been awarded a fel- lowship. Miss Silver, of New York, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at SCW and a Bachelor of Science at Columbia.