I LETTERS I
Continued from Page 6
Remember the
1 1 th Commandment:
"And Thou
Shalt be
Informed"
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Nc-7
28
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1988
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You've read the
five books of
Moses. Isn't it
time to try the
Fifty-Two Issues
of the Detroit
Jewish News? It
may not be
holy, but it's
weekly! And
such a bargain.
To order your
own subscription
call 354-6060.
writes a proud new chapter in
our history.
To implement this historic
step towards peace and justice
between all nations, the
Reagan-Bush Administration
should order the immediate
withdrawal of all our armed
forces from Texas, New Mex-
ico, Arizona and California —
the occupied area taken from
Mexico in the 1848 Mexican
War provoked by the U.S.A.
Also, immediately a family
reunion plan should allow 15
million Mexicans to enter the
occupied territories while all
further Anglo-Saxon set-
tlements to be strictly
forbidden.
An international peace con-
ference under the U.N. should
be convened to provide a com-
prehensive peace settlement.
Until that conference pro-
vides the disposition of the
U.S.A.-occupied Mexican ter-
ritory, the United Nations
should be invited to ad-
minister that territory of
Texas, New Mexico, Arizona
and California. Certainly
Cuba, China, Russia, Syria,
Libya and Iraq can be ex-
pected to do their duty and
provide troops to maintain
law and order among the
fanatic Anglo-Saxon settlers.
True, there will be some
painful sacrifices, but that is
the price of progress. After
the peace process has been
completed, America will
never have to worry about its
security ever again. The
United Nations will
guarantee the peace.
You can just imagine how
all of us will feel towards
Reagan and Bush at such a
noble liberal policy of giving
back all land acquired by
force as called for by United
Nations Resolution 242
which they so strongly
support.
Karl Ben Joseph
Detroit
Majority, Minority
Rights Probed
In the past few weeks,
"Who is a Jew" has been the
dominant American Jewish
issue. This issue has produc-
ed incomprehensible state-
ments by Jewish community
leaders against the Israeli
political process and Or-
thodox Jews. Shoshana Car-
din, for example, at a recent
general assembly meeting in
New Orleans, said she feared,
"changing the Law of Return
would be equivalent to the
tryanny of the minority in
Israel. A few, by virtue of the
Israeli electorate system, will
coerce the Israeli majority.
That's not what democracy is
all about."
Our American democratic
process has always been
characterized by majority
rule and minority rights. For
example, the majority of
Americans want some form of
gun control, yet, for many
years well-organized and
powerful lobby groups which
represent a small fraction of
our nation's population have
prevented gun control legisla-
tion. Anti-abortion groups
have successfully introduced
anti-abortion laws and reduc-
ed government financed abor-
tions, even though most
Americans consider abortion
a social, political and per-
sonal right. In addition,
several polls since the Israeli
invasion of Lebanon indicate
that the majority of
Americans are not in favor of
$3 billion dollars of annual
aid for Israel. However,
because of a small powerful
group of Jewish lobbyists, in-
terest groups, and in-
dividuals, billions of
American tax dollars have
been directed into the coffers
of the Israeli government.
According to Mrs. Cardin's
illustration, these are ex-
amples of how the tyranny of
the minority controls and
manipulates the American
majority. In other words, even
in the United States, the
minority has been successful
in coercing the American ma-
jority. Is this what democracy
is all about? The answer is
simply and emphatically,
"Yes."
The beauty of the American
democratic experience is
that it allows for minori-
ty representation. Individu-
als, interest groups, and
political parties, regardless of
their size, have the right to
express their views and in-
itiate their own public policy
agenda.
Orthodox parties in Israel
also have the right to flex
their political muscles. They
have the right to express their
views, lobby and politick for
their interests. In fact, the
Israeli form of representation
is considered closer to the
ideal democratic model than
the United States system.
While in America minority
interests are often served out-
side the formal political arena
through interest group
politics, in Israel, each party
receives a public mandate
based on proportional
representation of the Israeli
populace. This mandate gives
each party express overt con-
sent to pursue its own
agenda.
Our understanding of the
mechanics of democracy il-
lustrates the absurdity of
Mrs. Cardin's comments.
Other characterizations that
compare Orthodox Jews to