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.