THE JEWISH NEWS
SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS
SERVING DETROIT'S JEWISH COMMUNITY
Suburbs Attract
Southfield Jews
PHIL JACOBS
Managing Editor
F
orty percent of the
Jews in Southfield are
planning to move.
About half are moving
elsewhere within Southfield,
with the other half leaving
the city. Fifty-two percent of
the same population is ex-
pecting a decline in the city's
Jewish population.
These were among the fin-
dings of the 1989 Detroit
area Jewish population
study's recently released
section entitled "Neigh-
borhoods and Mobility:
The Geography of the
Jewish Community of
Detroit."
The study showed that
while there are Jews con-
tinuing to move into South-
field, many more have
moved out. There is a net
loss to Southfield of some
1,300 Jewish families per
year. About four years ago,
MARCH 1, 1991 / 15 ADAR 5751
CLOSE-UP
Southfield's share of the
Jewish community was 44
percent compared to 17 per-
cent in Oak Park and 39 per-
cent in the outer suburbs.
Today, Southfield's share
has been reduced to 35 per-
cent and the outer suburbs
show an increase to 49 per-
cent. Oak Park's 16 percent
share is about the same.
Even with the decline in
Southfield's Jewish corn-
munity, the study shows
that the city, with its 12,000
Jewish households, is still
home, by far, to the greatest
number of Detroit area
Jews. Following behind is
West Bloomfield with 7,000
households and Oak Park
with about 5,400 Jewish
households.
There are several reasons
attributed to Southfield's
Jewish attrition. Of the
three areas, Southfield has
the largest percentage of
adults whose children have
Continued on Page 12
Will World Now
Focus On Israel?
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
and PHIL JACOBS
F
or many Israelis, the
Gulf War offers all the
security of a poker
game.
The question is whether an
American victory means a
winning or a losing hand for
Israel.
While jubilant about the
allied victory over Saddam
Hussein, Israelis are con-
cerned that, in the after-
math of battle, the world
will turn its focus from Iraq
to the Palestinians. And that
change may mean Israel will
be pushed into a peace set-
tlement it does not want.
"Everybody here is anx-
ious and nobody is op-
timistic," said Eva Hertz,
who last year made aliyah to
Jerusalem from Oak Park.
"We're all afraid we will not
be handled very gently."
"Everyone is worried that
the United States is going to
dictate to Israel what to do
rather than have real
negotiations," added Ber-
nard Epel, a former
Detroiter who moved to
Herzliya, just outside Tel
Aviv, in 1971.
"We're ready for peace
with the Arab states. We've
been ready forever," he said.
"But we don't want
anything rammed down our
throats. And we're concern-
ed that (President George)
Bush will go overboard as he
tries to solve the (Palestin-
ian) problem quickly."
Mr. Epel said European
leaders, eager to appease the
Arabs because of oil, also are
likely to push for an interna-
tional conference after the
war. He said most Israelis
reject the idea of such a con-
ference.
Mr. Epel called the coming
days "more dangerous than
ever." He's worried that
Saddam Hussein, facing cer-
tain defeat, will try to
emerge as champion of the
Palestinian cause. Mr. Hus-
sein may adopt a "do or die"
posture and send chemical
Continued on Page 12
Many Israelis now feel they can no longer live
or work with Palestinians in their midst.
PAGE 22