OPINION CONTENTS Polite Political Elite Hurts Jewish Cause REED D. RUBINSTEIN p N alestine Liberation Organization leader Mohammed Milhem recently told the New York Times, "The battle with Israel now will be (fought) in the United States!' American Jews are thus combatants in the Arab's war against Israel. American Jewish political leaders, however, are not organized for this fight. Our community's public face is an amalgamation of federation boards, Reform and Conservative clergy, service organizations such as B'nai B'rith, and community coun- cils. This is the American Jewish "political elite." This elite, however, has repeatedly failed to meet im- portant political challenges. Such failure is attributable to There was no politically meaningful reason for retracting the Hillel letter. The retraction made the Arab charges credible. the inherently disfunctional way that the Jewish elite practices politics. As a result of a shortsighted approach to political conflict, Jewish political opportunity has been lost and Jewish political power reduced. Two recent cases — the one involving B'nai B'rith Hillel, the other involving Jesse Jackson — illustrate the irra- tionality of elite politics and the costs as well. B'nai B'rith drafted a solicitation letter for Hillel direct mail fundraising. The solicitation listed campus pro- blems confronting Jewish col- lege students. Arab student groups made the list. Arab-American "civil rights" groups obtained a copy of the solicitation and opened a political offensive. As the centerpiece of a public relations blitz, B'nai B'rith was labeled "racist." lb buy peace, B'nai B'rith apologized and retracted the letter. B'nai B'rith strategists found to their consternation that peace could not be pur- Reed Rubinstein is a Bloom- field Hills attorney and was state coordinator/deputy cam- paign director for Al Gore last year. chased. The Arab attack in- tensified. They pressed for an end to Hillel's federal tax ex- emption. B'nai B'rith re- sponded by claiming that Arab failure to drop the mat- ter after the solicitation was retracted seemed to indicate that Arab groups were more interested in political ad- vantage than in communal coexistence. B'nai B'rith's response was politically unsophisticated. First, absent factual inac- curacy, there was no political- ly meaningful reason for solicitation retraction. In fact, the solicitation letter that triggered this conflict was fac- tually accurate — Arab stu- dent groups have worked for many years to create an anti- Israel/anti-Jewish campus climate which makes life dif- ficult for Jewish students. Due to these Arab efforts, Israel-libel and Jew-bashing now occur at many colleges and universities. For example, on the Univer- sity of Michigan campus, the student newspaper ran an editorial condemning the rescue and resettlement in Israel of starving Ethiopian Jews as part of a "racist" plot to dispossess Arabs. That such poison is published is a testimony to the effectiveness of the anti-Israel intellectual climate Arab student groups have worked for years to create. Absent factual inaccuracy, there was no politically mean- ingful reason for retraction of the Hillel solicitation. Second, by retracting the letter, B'nai B'rith made Arab charges credible. Had B'nai B'rith done nothing, the accusations would have faded away and been dismissed by the public as more rantings from yet another special in- terest group. Refusing to stand by the solicitation, however, was tantamount to an admission that the racism claim was accurate. In one fell swoop, the B'nai B'rith legitimized Arab propaganda and delegitimized Hillel. Third, B'nai B'rith's meek response to the Arab attack cost political opportunity. Had B'nai B'rith counter- attacked and affirmed the solicitation's accuracy, asked for an investigation into - the source of Arab "student group" funding, (widely believed to come directly from the Arab states), or attacked Arab criticism as an infringe- ment of First Amendment Continued on Page 10 PATH TO FREEDOM Halfway To Freedom 20 GARY ROSENBLATT America's policies are causing a Soviet emigre logjam in Italy. LIFE IN ISRAEL 36 `Jiffy Box' 36 DAVID HOLZEL Cartoonist Ya'akov Kirschen gives you a chance to muse. LIGHTSIDE 48 Jewish Blarney MASHEY BERNSTEIN A transplanted Irishman gives the auld sod mixed reviews. SPORTS 50 Hall OF Famers . MIKE ROSENBAUM Yellen, Mazer and Handler will be added to the sports hall. 55 ENTERTAINMENT 55 London's Bridge Entertainer London Lee was named for the city of his birth. 71 FOCUS Frozen In Time ELIZABETH KAPLAN Robert Ettinger wants to prolong your life . . . after death. LIFESTYLES 71 82 Creative Artist CARLA JEAN SCHWARTZ Lynne Avadenka has combined home, life and Jewish themes in her art. DEPARTMENTS 30 39 40 46 52 66 70 Inside Washington Community Synagogues Education Travel Fine Arts For Seniors 74 77 84 88 92 93 118 On Campus For Women Teens Engagements Births Single Life Obituaries CANDLELIGHTING 82 April 21, 1989 8:03 p.m. Sabbath ends April 22 9:09 p.m. THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS.