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November 24, 1989 - Image 6

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1989-11-24

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

EDITORIAL

Final Truth

T

he generosity of people sometimes occurs in the most numb-
ing and least expected of circumstances. That is part of
what makes life eventful, surprising and deeply gratifying.
Last week, the wife of an Israel soldier who had been killed in an
ambush by Arab terrorists allowed his heart to be transplanted
into the body of a Palestinian. The 54-year-old recipient, a resident
of East Jerusalem who had suffered two heart attacks, had been
waiting for four months for a donor. The heart was transplanted
during a four-hour operation by Jewish doctors in a Jewish
hospital, the Hadassah Medical Center.
Brenda Krasner Traum, the wife of the slain Israeli and a native
of Baltimore, said that saving a life — anyone's life — was a mitz-
vah. The wife of the Palestinian recipient said, "There is no
difference between a Palestinian and an Israeli in such cases."
Both women spoke the truth, though it should be noted that a
few weeks earlier, in a similar circumstance, the family of a young
Palestinian killed in the intifada refused to donate his heart to a
46-year-old Jewish Israeli, who subsequently died.
Is not all life sacred? The great shame is that it takes death, or
near-death, to convince many in this sad land that there is a com-
mon humanity to the tragedies of the Middle East. One can only
hope that Israelis and Arabs will realize this deep and fundamen-
tal truth in life, as well as in death. Only then will there be a peace
that can satisfy all, and not a death that may satisfy none.

ment without corresponding examples of Arab wars and terrorism
against Israel, hardly present a balanced portrait.
Saturday's Royal Oak Daily Tribune took the propaganda a step
further. Columnist Mike McManus, writing on the Tribune's
religion page under an "ethics and religion" heading, supported
the recent Catholic bishops' statement on the. Middle East, which
called for an independent Palestinian state. In his first sentence,
McManus lays blame: "At a time of impasse in getting Israel to
negotiate with Palestinians, the National Conference of Catholic
Bishops issued a creative, carefully written statement..."
His one-sided treatise quotes Palestinians and Jews who favor
the bishops' position and ignores, except for one mention, the
criticism of mainline Jewish organizations.
Most disturbing is a quote from the Bible, appropriate for a
religion page but not for a political column in the Tribune, in light
of Royal Oak events in the 1920s and 1930s. McManus quotes
Deuteronomy 27:19 to chastize Israel: "Cursed is the man who
withholds justice from the alien..." Using the Bible to attack Israel
in the Royal Oak newspaper brings back memories of Father
Coughlin and his Jew-baiting demogoguery.
Should the News and the Tribune be silent? No, just a bit more
even-handed.

Local Experts

SIMPLE. TIE ISRAELIS
WIVE Gorn 'Via To
TIKE Tn BRAM nu( AND DEAL WITH
AN %DT° Ail US AS YaiR HUMBIX
TIE ViolgENM?
REFREZEKATies!

WHAT WiI•L

\

I

T

he war of words in the Middle East can often fall on deaf
ears. Listeners become numb over the decades-long
disputes. But when local media get into the discussion,
misplaced reverie is often short-lived.
Such is the case with the Detroit News special report on "Intifada
- The Uprising," produced by Tarek Hamada and photographer
James Varon. Hamada made every effort to present a balanced
picture, interviewing Palestinians and Jews in separate articles.
But his full-page chronology Sunday on the history of Ramallah
would leave the uninformed reader convinced that the Arabs have
the prior claim to the Holy Land.
Monday's articles, presenting Palestinian claims of mistreat-

LETTERS

Wiesenthal Center
Seeks Photographs

The Simon Wiesenthal
Center is in the process of
establishing a photo archive
devoted to survivors and vic-
tims of the Holocaust. This in-
formation will be accessed in-
to a computerized photo ar-
chive system in the center's
new Beit Hashoah, Museum
of Tolerance, scheduled to
open in the fall of 1990.
To ensure that your photo
can be used, please identify to
the best of your knowledge
the name of the individual or
individuals, as well as the
date and place of each photo,
and include as much informa-
tion as you can about that in-
dividual. If your photo in-
cludes more than one in-
dividual, please indicate on
the form which person you
are writing about. Please do

6

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1989

not write directly on the
photo as this will prevent us
from using the photo in the
archive. All photos will
become the property of the
Simon Wiesenthal Center
and are not returnable.
If you have a photograph
you wish to donate to this ar-
chive, please contact Adaire
Klein, Coordinator,
Library/Archives, Simon
Wiesenthal Center, 9760
West Pico Blvd., Los Angeles,
Calif., 90035.

Avra Shapiro
Simon Wiesenthal Center

Ethiopian Jewry
Stories Helped

We at Congregation Beth
Abraham Hillel Moses wish
to thank The Jewish News for
printing the story of local ef-
forts to aid Ethiopian Jewry.
It brought much attention to

those whose previously un-
sung labors were vindicated
by the recent establishment
of diplomatic relations bet-
ween Israel and Ethiopia.
It generated much of the in-
terest that resulted in the
high attendance we enjoyed
at our program Nov. 7. I also
am told it helped the turnout
at Congregation Adat
Shalom's program on the
same subject held Nov. 9.
Thanks again for assisting
the Jewish community in
such fine fashion.

Robert A. Levine
Chairman,
Adult Lecture Subcommittee
Beth Abraham Hillel Moses

Mideast Foundation
Does Not Take Sides

While I greatly appreciate
the front-page coverage you

gave to the first two Detroit
workshops sponsored by the
Foundation for Mideast Com-
munication (Nov. 3), I want to
clarify one aspect of the arti-
cle that could be
misinterpreted.
The foundation does not ad-
vocate any peace plan nor
does it take sides. Individual
board members can and do
speak out about the issues,
but in no way do their per-
sonal views reflect the foun-
dation's approach. Our role is
as a catalyst in the process of
conflict resolution, providing
unique opportunities for com-
munication among all
concerned.
The entire range of Jewish
organizational, political and
religious perspectives has
been represented in the foun-
dation's "Re-Thinking the
Middle East" workshop. No

one is excluded. Everyone is
welcome.

Michael Lame
President,
Foundation for
Mideast Communication

Beth El Welcomes
The Handicapped

In response to the letter of
Oct. 20, I wish to point out
that the handicapped are
welcome at all times at Thrn-
ple Beth El. They have access
to all areas of our temple and
there is a ramp up to the
bimah so that a physically
handicapped person may ap-
proach the bimah with digni-
ty to participate in events.
In addition, we have pro-
grams for handicapped
children and adults
throughout the year.

Al Kreindler
President, Temple Beth El

c

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