ANN ARBOR
TRENDS-THAT'S MY BOY
I'
APPLEGATE SQUARE
352-4244
County Democratic Party
Tackles Arab-Israeli Dispute
VISIT OUR ENLARGED
SUIT AND SPORT
COAT DEPARTMENT
TO . BETTER SERVE
YOUR NEEDS
Always 20% OFF
SLIMS
REGULARS
HUSKYS
FEATURING THE
LARGEST SELECTION
OF WOOL AND
WOOL-BLEND SUITS
AND SPORTCOATS
alvin Clothing Corp.
FIRENZA
1700 ‘.Dt.Liti. DriVe,
, 04-
1v1icieligon D esign C enter
oy. fkAlchiqon 48084
649-9635
90
FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 1988
SUSAN LUDMER-GLIEBE
Special to The Jewish News
W
ith the Republicans
in the White House
and the November
election heating up, the last
thing the Democrats need are
impassioned quarrels within
the party. But that's what
happened this past weekend
when about 100 Washtenaw
County Democrats held their
local convention.
"It was a very ugly conven-
tion from my viewpoint,"said
party County Chairwoman
Suzanne Shaw.
The meeting took a conten-
tious turn on whether the
local party should support a
modification of the state par-
ty's current "Statement on
Middle East Policy!"
Stan Mendenhall, who was
instrumental in bringing the
proposed resolution before the
Washtenaw County Democra-
tic Party, said the resolution
was simply an affirmation of
self-determination for both
Israeli and Palestinian
human and national rights.
Others felt that this was not
the moment to discuss the
issue, whatever its merits.
"My concern is that I want to
get people in the White
House to make a difference,"
said Shaw. "I want everyone's
efforts into getting that ac-
complished!'
The Michigan Democratic
Party's current statement
basically reaffirms its com-
mitment to Israel as express-
ed in United Nations Resolu-
tion 242.
The proposed resolution,
which was supported by
several groups including the
Arab American Democrats of
Michigan, the Palestine Aid
Society and the Southeast
Michigan Political Commit-
tee of Americans for a Pro-
gressive Israel, was
simultaneously brought be-
fore four other Democratic
district/county conventions.
The resolution added and
subtracted certain language
in the present Middle East
policy statement. For exam-
ple, whereas the present
policy requires, "the Arab
states to accept Israel's right
to live in peace . . . and re-
quires Israel to withdraw
from some of the territories
occupied during the 1967
war," the proposed amend-
ment deletes the words "some
of." Mendenhall called the
language "constructively am-
biguous."
The original Middle East
policy statement reaffirmed
the Democratic Party's com-
mittment to Israel. A propos-
ed amendment included the
wording, ". . while at the
same time we affirm our com-
mitment to insure the human
and national rights of the
Palestinian people."
The original statement re-
jected "the unacceptable
violence inflicted on Palesti-
nians in the West Bank and
Gaza." The modified state-
ment would have referred to
the territories as "occupied!'
According to supporters of
the resolution, the proposal
has already been passed by
the Democratic parties of 10
states,including California
and Illinois. "It's ironic that
here, in Michigan, with the
largest Arab-American com-
munity in the U.S., we have
the largest row to hoe!' said
Mendenhall.
"The Palestinians
are not going to
have a nice day
because of the
Washtenaw County
Democratic Party."
Benjy Ben-Baruch of the
New Jewish Agenda, who
supported the resolution, felt
that there was sympathy for
the amended proposal. "If the
old rhetorical framework
doesn't change we'll become
prisoners of our own rhetoric,"
he said.
After almost two hours of
heated, emotional repartee,
which a number of observers,
including Shaw, said includ-
ed bigoted and anti-Semitic
remarks, the resolution was
referred to the state party
platorm committee. Some,
like Mendenhall, thought
that the resolution or the
issue of Palestinian/Israeli
relations will be brought up
at the state Democratic con-
vention which will be held in
Cabo Hall this weekend.
Others weren't so sure.
"It will be received but
that's about all," said Kevin
McCormick, an Ypsilanti
Democrat, who added, "The
Palestinians are not all of a
sudden going to have a nice
day,or Israel leave the oc-
cupied territories because the
Washtenaw County Democra-
tic Party said they should or
shouldn't."
If Washtenaw County
Democrats disagreed about
the particular issue at hand,
they did concur that members
of the Jewish and Arab com-
munities should begin talk-
ing to — and not merely con-
fronting — one another. "It
pointed out that there isn't
much communication bet-
ween Jews and Arab
Americans here," said
McCormick.
mmil EDUCATION h•m•
UHS Holds
Registration
United Hebrew Schools is
holding registration for all its
branches throughout the
Metropolitan Detroit area.
Classes will begin Sept. 6.
Branches are located at
Mat Shalom synagogue, Con-
gregations Beth Achim, and
B'nai Israel, and in Troy and
Novi.
For students who are
developmentally disabled,
learning disabled, emotional-
ly impaired or multiply han-
dicapped, a special program
has been developed by Bayla
Landsman. These classes
utilize a multi-media ap-
proach and the latest
teaching techniques to focus
on the Jewish holidays, cur-
rent events and Jewish life.
Teachers are certified in
special education.
Classes and private instruc-
tion for bar and bat mitzvah
preparation are held at all
branches.
For information, call United
Hebrew Schools, 354-1050.
Nursery Plans
Open House
The United Hebrew Schools
Nursery School will host a
"Getting To Know You" par-
ty for new and prospective
pre-school students and their
families featuring Bruce
Franco, the "Balloon Man," 7
p.m. Tuesday at UHS.
For information and to
RSVP, call Carol Gale, UHS
nursery director, 356-7378.
Akiva Hosts
Melave Malka
Akiva Hebrew Day School
will welcome new parents and
faculty to the school at a
melave malka 9:30 p.m.
Saturday at the United
Hebrew Schools building. Of-
ficers of the PTA board and
the executive board of the
school will be installed. The
melave malka is sponsored by
the Akiva PTA.