CONTENTS

U.S. Jews Should Join
Peace Process Debate

ANDREW LEVIN

A

s if we needed another
reminder, the fall of
the government of
Prime Minister Yitzhak
Shamir in March and the
trouble both Labor and Likud
have had assembling a nar-
row coalition to replace it are
showing us just what a mess
the Israeli political system
has become. Once again, a few
parties who follow rigorously
Orthodox religious leaders
like Rabbis Eliezer
Menachem Shach and
Menachem Mendel Schneer-
son hold the balance of power,
even though they represent
only a small fraction of the
electorate.
The
interminable
stalemate, and the distorted
role it has afforded the Or-
thodox parties, have resulted
in boisterous calls for elec-
toral reform from an Israeli

American Jews
have contributed
to the stalemate
by showing a
unifed front.

electorate sickened by all the
deal-making. Unfortunately,
as in the case of efforts to
change our own corrupt
system of campaign finance,
those benefitting from the
problem are in a good position
to block significant change,
and any new system is likely
to be a watered down com-
promise, at best.
What is important to
remember in all this is that
the flaws in the Israeli system
have only come into view
because of a fundamental
shift in the nation's politics
since the invasion of Lebanon
(what Israelis call their first
"optional war") and the in-
tifada. After decades of
unanimity on basic security
issues wrought by repeated
external aggression, in the
1980s an Israel which had
made peace with its most for-
midable neighbor (Egypt) had
to decide whether it was
ready to take the next step
towards undermining Arab
opposition to its existence,
namely negotiating some sort
of land-for-peace settlement
with the Palestinians.

Andrew Levin, a Mellon
Fellow in the Humanities
studying Asian religions at
the University of Michigan,
is Midwest coordinator of
the Jewish Peace Lobby.

As we enter the 1990s, it
still hasn't been able to make
that decision. Israeli society
is split roughly down the mid-
dle, unable to resolve whether
it would be taking a bigger
chance by continuing the oc-
cupation of the territories or
ending it, negotiating with
the Palestinians or stonewall-
ing, openly dealing with the
PLO or not. The Shamir
government fell over precise-
ly this issue, after Labor final-
ly demanded a yes or no
answer from Likud on U.S.
Secretary of State James
Baker's modest proposal to
begin to implement Yitzhak
Shamir's own peace plan.
Ironically, American Jews
have contributed to this
stalemate by showing a
unified front in support of
Israeli government policy
even when Shamir and his re-
jectionists have been in power.
In fact, the American Jewish
"consensus" has long been a
fiction. The truth is that we
are as divided as the Israelis
— not on basic support for
Israel and for U.S. aid for
Israel, which remains rock
solid, but on the Israeli Arab
conflict. Indeed, the latest
Israel-Diaspora Institute
study found that over half of
all officials of American
Jewish organizations actual-
ly favor the establishment of
a Palestinian state under cer-
tain conditions, and many are
highly critical of Israel's
handling of the uprising.
So why the thundering
silence in the American
Jewish community, and in
particular among its
organizations, when schools
are closed, bones broken, over
300 houses demolished as col-
lective punishment,
thousands are imprisoned
under administration deten-
tion for months without trial
or sometimes even charges,
159 children under 16 killed
by the IDF in two years?
Why don't we join
thousands of courageous
Israelis in opposing their
government's policy when it
runs counter to Israel's own
interests and denigrates the
Jewish people's centuries of
struggle against injustice?
The problem is that many
American Jews see the world
in black and white, pro- and
anti-Israel terms — indeed,
they often equate criticism of
Israel with anti-Semitism —
and fear that any criticism
coming out of our communi-
ty will erode American sup-
port for the Jewish state.

Continued on Page 10

24

CLOSE-UP

Center Of It All

KIMBERLY LIFTON
Southfield is the Jewish
center. For how long?

FOCUS

Mind Over Malady

39

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
Jewish scientists back
healing with thinking.

CANAL

BUSINESS

46

Prosperity
And Heaven

24

AARON HALABE
An
inge ox op derL sees
s
profits
business ethics.

SPORTS

Diamond Diversity

48

MIKE ROSENBAUM
Prep softball players
fielded a variety.

FASHION

52

Israeli Cabaret

CARLA JEAN SCHWARTZ
Israeli fashions dominate
Adat Shalom donor day.

ENTERTAINMENT

The Write Brothers

65

i} STEVE HARTZ
65 Neal cartoons Detroit
as Mark writes Wonder Years.

SINGLE LIFE

93

All In The Game

ANITA EHRENFRIED
The Co-Ed Softball League
finds love and diamonds.

DEPARTMENTS

15
29
35
40
62
74

Detroit
Inside Washington
Insight
Synagogues
Travel
Fine Arts

76
83
86
91
100
126

Cooking
For Seniors
Engagements
Births
Classified Ads
Obituaries

CANDLELIGHTING

93

Friday, June 8, 1990
8:50 p.m.
Sabbath ends June 9 10:02 p.m.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

7

ONTENT

OPINION

