EDITORIAL
Sinai's Fate
Have Jewish hospitals outlived their purpose? That is the question
raised by Robert Kanigel's thoughtfully written Close Up (p. 22).
In today's competitive marketplace, where a myriad of health care
options exist—many close to home—Detroit's Sinai Hospital has outlived two
major purposes: providing quality care to a predominantly Jewish clientele
and offering Jewish medical practitioners opportunities unavailable at other,
quota-driven, schools and hospitals. Today's Sinai Hospital is engaged in
battles with other health care providers that threaten its existence. It is no
longer situated in the heart of the Jewish community and relies, in part, on
satellite facilities to reach its former patient base.
While the heart of the Jewish community is elsewhere physically, it
remains at 6767 W. Outer Drive emotionally. Quite simply, Sinai Hospital is
the Jewish community's institutional showcase, a place where the highest
Jewish traditions of morality, tzedakah and care are present and shared with
others.
The Jewish community takes pride in Sinai and the bridge it provides
between Jew and non-Jew, white and black. And donations—of time and
money—demonstrate the personal commitment many have made to the
hospital.
Ultimately, it will be the number of beds that are filled—and not the
amount of volunteer hours logged or chairs endowed— that will allow Sinai to
continue. To that end, the hospital has been forming alliances with other
medical facilities and acquiring private practices. We encourage these steps.
But persons sincere in their support for a Jewish hospital should ask their
family health care providers to align with Sinai, despite the complexities or
inconveniences.
Although these sales would be relatively modest, they indicate the same
fatal flaw that has plagued U.S. policy in the Mideast for years: seeking to use
arms sales instead of diplomacy as the path to peace.
The Administration's previous two attempts to make major arms sales to
Arab states met with strong congressional resistance. Reagan won once,
barely, when the White House overrode a congressional rejection of a $354
million arms package to Saudi Arabia, and lost once, when the President was
forced to withdraw a proposed $1.9 billion arms sale to Jordan because of
opposition on Capitol Hill. In both instances, it was Congress, not Israel or the
pro-Israel lobby in Washington, that carried the fight. And it will take
Congress again to convince the Administration that arms sales to Arab states
have had negligible results in gaining Arab cooperation for the peace process.
King Hussein's bitterness against the U.S. is understandable in light of
the fact that a hostile Iran was provided with American weapons while the
sale to Jordan was canceled. But the monarch has long relied on rhetoric
rather than cooperation. The Reagan Administration must face the fact that
it will only repair its damaged credibility with Hussein and others by keeping
its word and following a solid course rather than throwing deadly arms at
Arab states to pacify their anger.
Courting The Arabs Again
The fallout over the Iran arms scandal (which The New Republic aptly
refers to as Iranamuk), is starting to take its toll on Israel. For proof, consider
Washington's newest proposal to sell arms to several Arab states. The
Administration's rationale is that an arms sale will repair damage done to its
reputation in the Arab world, and it is clear that Israel is in no position to
block such a sale at this time.
The Administration has notified Congress of its intention to sell
advanced electronic gear and missile-carrying helicopters to Saudi Arabia
and F-16 jet fighters to Bahrain and Egypt. It is also considering converting
Jordan's stationary Hawk antiaircraft missile batteries into mobile units.
LETTERS
Poor Hospitality
For Arab Visitor
I am writing in order to
apologize to two young men,
Walid Mula and Ronny
Brawer. Both were guests in
our community on Feb. 15,
when they discussed their
views on Arab-Jewish rela-
tions in Israel. The discussion
was part of a series of lectures
sponsored by several Detroit
Zionist organizations and the
Jewish Community Center.
Walid is an Arab (Druze) Is-
raeli. He has lived in Israel all
his life and served in the Israeli
army. Ronny is a Jewish
American who has lived in Is-
rael for several years and plans
to make aliyah this year. They
have been traveling together
for the past few months to pro-
mote communications between
Arabs and Jews.
The behavior of the audience
(here) was, for the most part,
discourteous and often hateful.
Most questions were rhetori-
6
Friday, February 27, 1987
cal, and were preceded by
lengthy speeches denouncing
what Walid and Ronny were
trying to accomplish. Some
members of the audience ex-
pressed that Arabs do not have
a right to ask for equal rights
in Israel, and many apparently
felt that Walid didn't have a
right to be at the Center talk-
ing to Jews abut these issues.
Walid was told that he was
incorrect to identify himself as
a Palestinian, and that if he
wants equal rights, he should
move to another country. He
was also told that he was
privileged to serve in the Is-
raeli army, even though he ex-
pressed reservations about
serving. He was also told that
his opinions didn't really mat-
ter much, because being a
Palestinian, (therefore a PLO
supporter), he seeks the de-
struction of Israel as a Jewish
homeland.
(Walid never discussed the
PLO nor any affiliation with
the organization.)
After "questions and an-
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
tolerant, hateful attitudes that
were expressed at Sunday's
meeting. There are lots of us
who are encouraged by the
work they are doing, and hope
that they will not be discour-
aged.
swers," Walid left the meeting
room quickly. Ronny said that
Walid felt uncomfortable stick-
ing around. I think that Walid
must have experienced what a
black person would feel like
addressing a meeting of the Ku
Klux Klan. Ronny admitted af-
terwards that this was one of
the most hostile groups the two
had addressed.
What was most disturbing
was the source of this hatred.
Yes, some Kahaneites were
there, with their usual racist
remarks. However, a majority
of the comments came from
members of mainstream
Zionist organizations. These
people call themselves friends
of Israel, yet their attitudes
can only serve to harm Israel in
the end. Israel benefits because
these arrogant people have de-
cided to be "Zionists" safely in
the United States, while Jews
like Ronny have decided to
move to Israel.
I'm sure that Walid and
Ronny know that not all De-
troit Zionists share the in-
_
Sheryl (Silberg) King
Labor Zionist Alliance
Branch 960
Hadassah Tribute
Is Appreciated
The article by Philip
Slomovitz (Feb. 20) describing
the 75th anniversary of
Hadassah, the Women's
Zionist Organization of
America, and Henrietta Szold,
the great lady who created it,
was an exciting commentary
about Zionist and Jewish his-
tory.
I thank you for your words of
praise and admiration and
pledge to you that as the
largest women's volunteer
organization in the world, we
will continue to be a central
force in the continuing growth
- -
of the State of Israel through
our extensive network of pro-
grams in health care, career
education, youth welfare and
land reclamation and de-
velopment. Hadassah women
will always play a vital role in
American Jewish communal
life through our varied activi-
ties.
His wonderful wife, Ann,
was a very active member of
our Detroit Chapter and I re-
member her always standing
up and strongly voicing her
opinion which usually elicited
much discussion.
Annette Meskin
National Hadassah Vice President
Tennis Threshold
We though the article by
Carla Jean Schwartz ("Tennis
Threshold," Jan. 2) was the
best we had ever seen on our
son, Aaron. Congretulations
on a job well done.
Dr. Herb Krickstein
Grosse Pointe