EDITORIAL

Oak Park Playground

A little toddller, no more than 20 months
old, was scampering on the beautiful new I-
696 deck playground behind the Oak Park
JCC on a sunny Monday morning.
She squealed as she played on the sliding
board and the swings. And who below the
age of 10 wouldn't find something fun
about an area meant to slide and swing on?

But in between the orange and yellows of
the playscape was the color of hate. The
little girl's sneakers padded across the
green and silver spraypainted words, "I
Kill Jews" and "Jews Die Tonight." In-
deed, the words did injustice to the colors.
Though she was too young to read or to
even understand the meaning of these
words, it's important that we as Jews read
them carefully and understand them fully.
At what point do we realize that a prank
has to be taken seriously? Do we realize it
when personal property is destroyed in the
name of hate? Do we realize it when the
property is public? Or does the message

finally hit home when the injury is per-
sonal?
For all Jews and for all civilized human
beings, the spray paint at the Oak Park
deck, an area where many Jewish children
play, the message is loud and clear.
There's a cruel joke told in the South
about two "good old boys." One says to the
other, "What do they call Supreme Court
Justice Thurgood Marshall 'around these
here parts?"' The other answers, "Nigger."
For every Jew that tries hard to assimi-
late himself or herself in this free society of
ours, the spray paint on the playground
reminds us that as long as we have a Jew-
ish nishama, or soul, we can never really
be the same as everyone else, be it in the
Nazi Germany of the 1940s or in the 1990s
"around these here parts."
They spray paint synagogues and we
yell. They . spray paint cemeteries and we
yell louder. They are spray painting play-
grounds now. This deserves the loudest
yell.

The Court's Future

The squabble over Supreme Court nomi-
nee Clarence Thomas is about more than
just about who will replace Justice
Thurgood Marshall. It's about the end of an
era, one in which liberals dominated the
court and in which there was a reasonable
certainty that the court contained some
justices who championed the rights of in-
dividuals and minorities.
It was obvious that Justice Marshall
knew what the jurisprudence future held.
In his last decision, he railed against his
colleagues' "far-reaching assault" on the
Bill of Rights that would "squander the au-
thority and the legitimacy of this court as a
protector of the powerless."
Justice Marshall knows too much about
courtly etiquette to comment about the
man with whom President Bush wants to
replace him. But it takes no great stretch of
the imagination to assume that he is none
too pleased with him. Judge Thomas'

writings and speeches indicate that he is
hostile toward big government and the
need to protect economic freedoms, opposed
to abortion, friendly toward the idea of
prayer in schools, and, unlike many of his
fellow blacks, critical of affirmative action.
The conservative court that is now
reaching its full fruition will usher in a
new vision of America, a vision that will
last at least one or two generations, since
Supreme Court decisions have a life of
their own. One can reasonably say that by
the end of that time, the rights of
minorities, including Jews, may be
significantly more diluted than they are
today.
Given the nature of the two men who
have been nominating Supreme Court
justices for the last decade — Ronald
Reagan and George Bush — this is not sur-
prising. But it is highly worrisome to the
future of the nation.

Not Time To Leave

The New York Times coverage of the
Lebanese army's bloody takeover last week
of Palestine Liberation Organization
strongholds near Sidon included a telling
quote from Yassir Arafat:
"We are cooperating with the Lebanese
government on this question and would
like to open a fraternal dialogue with them
so that all the arms will be directed toward
the Israeli enemy," the PLO chairman said
from his safe-haven in Tunis.
Mr. Arafat was, of course, trying to put a
positive spin on yet another PLO debacle.
However, in doing so he underscored the
truth of two arguments.
The first is that as long as PLO forces
stay in Lebanon — as they will despite the
Lebanese army action — they remain a
potential threat to northern Israel's

civilian population. Despite public rela-
tions pronouncements to the contrary, the
PLO remains committed to an armed
struggle rather than a peaceful com-
promise with Israel.
Chairman Arafat's statement makes
that abundantly clear.
The second truth to which Mr. Arafat in-
directly referred is the status of Lebanon,
which has been reduced to a puppet-state of
Syria, Israel's most dangerous foe now that
Iraq has been temporarily sidelined.
Should Israel withdraw from south Leb-
anon, Syrian and Lebanese proxy forces
would then be smack on its northern
border. Given Syrian President Hafez
al-Assad's hatred of the Jewish state, that
would be tantamount to tempting the fox to
enter the chicken coop.

LETTERS

The Health Club
And Singles

Just for the record, we
would like to point out an er-
roneous statement made
about the Jewish Communi-
ty Center's Health Club in
your July 5 issue.
The Health Club has been
co-ed and serving women and
men together in the fitness
center for many years. This,
along with our singles pro-
gram, offers Jewish singles in
the community a wide varie-
ty of social activities.

Al Pearlstein,

Director, Men's Health Club

Carol Wolfe,

Director, Women's Health Club
Jewish Community Center

Getting Physical
At The Center

After reading your article
on local health clubs ("Get-
ting Physical, July 5), I was
displeased that the Jewish
Community Center was men-
tioned so briefly — and in my
opinion — so inaccurately. It
is far from the truth that "the
Jewish Community Center
has men and women working
out separately!' as quoted by
Ms. Aaron. The fitness center
includes Nautilus machines
stairmasters, treadmills, a
versaclimber, free weights,
and is connected to the
aerobics room — all of which
are utilized by male and
female members.
The Jewish Community
Center provides a place for a
serious workout as well as an
opportunity for members to
socialize. I am currently a
member of the Health Club
and enjoy the facilities a great
deal. Being a member allows
me the opportunity to work
out and run into friends at
the same time.
The people at the Jewish
Community Center, members
and staff included, are very
friendly accommodating,

I

fostering a family atmosphere
which makes going to the
Jewish Community Center a
truly enjoyable experience.
While informing the
readers about Franklin and
One on One, your article
neglected to give the Jewish
Community Center the atten-
tion it deserves, an absence I
truly missed.

Leslie I. Kollin

Bloomfield Hills

Iraqi Kurds
As A Warning

The Kurds are a warning to
Israel.
The Bush Administration
announced that it would
vigorously pursue an Arab-
Israel peace based on "land-
for-peace," suggesting U.S.
"guarantees" would replace
Israel's defensible borders.
But a president could an-
nounce that "precious
American lives" won't be
"sucked into" defending
Israel, as the Wall Street Jour-
nal quoted President Bush as
saying about the Kurds. Or, a
future president could fall
back on Mr. Bush's concern
for a "lack of mandate" from
the United Nations to help
Israel, as he did in the case of
the Shiites and the Kurds
while for five months the Ira-
qis and their henchmen
raped, pillaged and
murdered.
As Golda Meir said regar-
ding Israel depending on
"guarantees": "By the time
you're here, we won't be!'

Karl Ben Joseph

Detroit