ANN ARBOR
Anti-Israel hostility
has Jewish students
on the defensive
Scared in A
STEVE BLONDER
Special to The Jewish News
1111 he atmosphere on the
University of Michigan
campus is beginning to
scare some Jewish stu-
dents.
Many Jewish students and facul-
ty members at Michigan feel that
their positions on issues including,
but not limited to, Israel are not be-
ing heard because a small group of ac-
tivists are effectively stifling their
right to free speech.
For example, during a speech
given on campus by Israeli Consul
General Zvi Brosh in mid-January,
nearly 200 pro-PLO supporters
disrupted the speech and chanted
slogans including, "Why don't you
(Jews) go back to Europe?" and "Why
didn't Hitler finish the job?"
The anti-Israel feelings have
grown into anti-Jewish sentiments,
and many Jewish students are upset
by it.
"I see the PLO groups or the
Palestinian Solidarity Committee
and the Association of Arab-
American University Graduates
becoming increasingly active on cam-
pus. I don't like what they have to say,
but comments like 'Jews go back to
Europe' — that upsets me:' said
Southfield native and TAGAR Zionist
Organization leader Debbie
Schlussel.
Equally distressing is that much
of what is said is out of ignorance; and
some simply wish to keep others in
the dark about the Mideast situation.
"A lot of the people here who are
anti-Israel, both Palestinian and
Jews, do not know all of the facts:"
said sophomore Lynn Blaustein.
"These people are making it even
more difficult for others to learn the
facts. Ambassador Brosh tried to pre-
sent some facts, but there were the
PLO supporters screaming and inter-
rupting him. It was very discourag-
ing."
Neil Beckman
Michael Steinlauf, who is a
visiting associate professor at
Michigan this semester, sees the
unrest as potentially beneficial. "No
learning is possible without a certain
amount of awareness," he said.
Todd Endelman, chairman of the
University of Michigan's department
of Judaic studies, noted that much of
the anti-Israel "bashing" is actually
covert anti-Semitism.
"What's disturbing to me is the
rampant Israel bashing that easily
spills over into attacks on American
Jews. The letters about Jewish power
just smack of classic fantasies
brought up by the resentment of Jews.
There is an assumption here that it's
wrong to try and influence govern-
ment policy," he said.
Endelman added, "The popular
assault in the media is used to mask
anti-Jewish sentiment."
He attributes many of the attacks
on Israel, even on campus, to "Closet
anti-Semites, polite anti-Semites."
Recent events in Israel have made
people more aware of Jews
everywhere.
"I feel anti-Semitic sentiment is
very high right now. Everything in
Israel has pushed being Jewish into
the spotlight;' according to Phyllis
Glick.
Particularly upsetting to many
students is a series of cartoons which
ran in the student newspaper, The
Michigan Daily. The first of the two
cartoons depicted a Jew dressed in
stereotyped religious garb, standing
on top of a hunched over Palestinian,
while holding a sign to free Soviet
Jews. In the second cartoon, Israel
Premier Yitzhak Shamir is seen
dancing on the graves of Palestinians
while holding a sign supporting
human rights.
Glick seeks these as examples of
the growing anti-Semitism on
campus.
"The cartoons are very anti-
Jewish. They are a comment against
American Jews and their response to
Israel. Anti-Israel sentiment has
grown to be increasingly anti-
Semitic:' she said.
Students also feel that their let-
ters are not being published in the
Daily, and that the paper's editorial
page is serving as an Arab
mouthpiece.
"We've had problems with the
Michigan Daily in terms of getting
our points of view heard. We try and
respond to anti-Israel letters, but the
Daily doesn't publish them;' said
Marc Berman, president of Union of
Students for Israel.
"We were told (by a former Daily
opinion page editor) that because
most other publications in the coun-
try tend to support Israel, (the Daily)
is going to be a place the Arabs can
express their point of view."
Current Daily opinion page editor
Jeffrey Rutherford says, "We don't
censor letters by subject, only by size"
and disputes the claim that letters
about certain subjects, notably sup-
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