EDITORIAL
Demjanjuk Justice
After a trial that lasted more than a year and splintered much
of Israel, the verdict was read by a judge on Monday: Death.
Speaking in a Jerusalem courtroom, Judge Zvi Tal said that the
"sheer brutality" of John Demjanjuk warranted the ultimate in
judicial sentences. Known as "Ivan the Terrible;' Demjanjuk ran the
gas chambers at Treblinka in 1942 and 1943. In just these two years,
800,000 Jews died at the death camp. Demjanjuk also beat Jews with
whips or swords.
The severity of Demjanjuk's crimes has been met by the severi-
ty of the punishment. Israel is not a nation that takes the death
sentence lightly. In fact, Demjanjuk's sentence marks only the se-
cond time in Israel's four decades that capital punishment has been
invoked. The first such punishment was the 1962 hanging of another
enthusiastic accomplice in the Holocaust, Adolf Eichmann.
Eichmann was the architect of the Holocaust. Demjanjuk was
an executioner in it, one of many in this unspeakable — and, still,
almost unbelievable — nightmare. That Eichmann and Demjanjuk
should be the only two to be sentenced to death in Israel reveals,
once again, the deepest scars upon which that nation was founded
and its self-image as the defender of Jews — in all places and in all
of these modern times.
16 or so leaflets, have called for nothing but continued violence. They
have not staked out a position toward eventual negotiations with
Israel.
Discussing the recent Beita village incident which resulted in
the death of a 15-year-old Israeli girl, Tsemel said that only fanatics
would have allowed their daughter to enter a potentially deadly situa-
tion. (Two Palestinians also died in the episode.)
We agree. But Tsemel appears blind to the fact that those Palesti-
nian parents who have allowed their children to literally run riot
for five months, throwing gasoline bombs and facing the deadly
Israeli response, show equal fanaticism.
Jews and Zionists should hear about the uprising from the
Palestinian point of view, but the conclusions drawn from an Israeli
who does not support the existence of a Jewish state are necessari-
ly suspect.
Questionable Conclusions
It is unlikely that many Jews came to hear Lea Tsemel speak
this week. This Israeli attorney is the voice of Palestine with a
Hebrew accent. She so strongly identifies with the Palestinian cause
it is doubtful the Jewish community is very interested in her message
(See story on Page 5).
But Tsemel's message is important both because of what she says
and what she doesn't say. She says with pride that the Palestinians
have finally taken their destiny in their own hands, spurning the
PLO leadership, the Israelis and the Arab states.
What she does not say is that the leaders in the uprising, in their
I LETTERS
Domino's Pizza
Israel Market
Your newspaper published
an article (March 11) regar-
ding Domino's Pizza's poten-
tial expansion into the Israeli
market.
While the article accurate-
ly reflects the enthusiasm
and excitement our company
feels about entering such an
interesting, historical and
tradition-laden area, unfor-
tunately it does not state that
our franchising is currently
done from within the
Domino's Pizza system and,
therefore, our franchises are
not available to the general
public. Because of this policy
we are able to install the best-
trained pizza people in the
world into our stores.
Since the article was
published, our office has been
beseiged with telephone calls
asking when our store in
Israel will open: The article
does not make it clear that we
do not h -, ‘Te plans to open in
c
coinev API:111_9Q 14RS1
the near future because we do
not have any qualified in-
house personnel ready to
enter the Israeli market.
We hope to enter Israel
soon, however, we have no
firm plans to do so at this
time.
Molly Motherwell
Domino's Pizza International
Ann Arbor
Israel Visit
Was Beautiful
On April 14, we returned
from a nearly three-week long
visit to Israel. We have been
there many times and loved it
— but this was the best trip
yet.
In a rented car, we traveled
about the entire country:
north through the so-called
territories to Tiberias, south
to Hebron and Beersheba. We
did not encounter the
slightest difficulty. Our
Passover in Jerusalem with
family and friends was
beautiful.
Please, dear fellow Jews, do
not be misled by exaggerated
and biased reports from the
media. Go and see for
yourselves why Israel is right-
ly referred to as "God's coun-
try."
Mr. and Mrs. Bentzion Rosen
Royal Oak
Incitement
For Rioters
Behind the Arab uprising is
the 600 convicted terrorists
set free in May 1985 in Israel,
Gaza, Judea and Samaria in
exchange for three Israeli
POWs held by the Palestine
Liberation Organization.
Those released terrorists
played a major role in
organizing Shabiba, the PLO
youth groups, to recruit, to in-
cite and to arrange the now
daily disorders by thousands
of rock and gasoline bomb-
throwing youths screaming
"kill the Jews."
How did this happen? Did
our State Department order
Israel not to deport those
bloody-handed killers? Or did
Israelis commit that terribe,
stupid blunder all by
themselves?
Karl Ben-Joseph
Detroit
Jackson, Koch
And Divisive
In the not too distant past
Reverend Jesse Jackson acted
in a manner which was offen-
sive to Jews and threatened
vital interests of the Jewish
community. His words and
deeds were divisive to the
long-standing alliance be-
tween blacks and Jews. Dur-
ing the 1988 presidential
primary campaign Reverend
Jackson came to "Hymie
lbwn" where a significant
number of Jews live. Mayor
Koch, a Jew, had three
choices: He could roll out the
red carpet, play dead or ex-
press his displeasure. Mayor
Koch chose not to suffer in
silence. He was promptly
labeled divisive.
This is a strange term to
characterize the response of
someone who has been at-
tacked. It reveals the underly-
ing expectation that the Jews
should be passive scapegoats.
It is equally erroneous to
conclude that Mayor Koch
was ineffective in his
response to Reverend
Jackson. Presumably the
mayor had little interest in
helping Senator Gore. His ob-
jective was to show that a
politician may not attack
vital interests of the Jewish
community with impunity.
Dr. Emanuel Tanay
Detroit
Let Us Know
Letters must be concise,
typewritten and double-
spaced. Correspondence
must include the signa-
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daytime phone number of
the writer.