EDITORIAL
Book Fair 1991
When an event has proven its success
over many years, the tendency is to take it
for granted. A level of expectation is cre-
ated — we almost know in advance that
something is going to be good for the com-
munity.
In this case, we're talking about the Jew-
ish community and its 40th annual edition
of Jewish Book Fair. This is an event that
is planned almost as soon as the previous
one ends. Book Fair professional staff and
volunteers work hours upon hours to en-
sure success at every level. Book Fair
staffers shlepped shopping bags full of ma-
terials through a hot, humid New York
summer book show to get an edge on
speakers and inventory.
When a Henny Youngman cancels at the
last minute, a Joey Russell is found to
replace him. When an author decides he
can't come, a quick schedule adjustment is
made. Even if a computer power source
fails, the volunteers and staff find a way to
make things work.
So it's no wonder that this is perhaps the
largest Jewish book fair in the country.
When it opens Saturday night at the
Maple-Drake Jewish Community Center,
and continues through Nov. 17, 33 authors
will give presentations on their books. The
presentations will accompany the ongoing
book sale.
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Ethnic Joke
Out Of Place
The "joke" referring to the
Rev. Al Sharpton's visit to
Ann Arbor is deplorable and
unfortunate. It saddens me to
think that a Jewish news-
paper would use an ethnic
joke about the murder of a
man as an opening to a front-
page article.
Jews are frequently the sub-
ject of such ethnic "jokes,"
and they are not funny. There
is no humor to be found in
singling out a particular per-
son or group of people and
targeting them for harm, no
matter who they are.
To further state that the
joke is "making the rounds"
6
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1991
•■ ••••••1
VEIL. 'THANK GOD
i LiVE i t■ J AMERicA !
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This is a book fair that last year played
host to 20,000 patrons. It's a book fair that
gets bigger. It's a book fair that gets better.
There are certain gifts that are offered this
Jewish community, and in this case, Book
Fair is a highlight.
will IT if
We urge Detroit's Jewish families to en-
joy what is offered at Book Fair. There is
precious little anywhere else in this coun-
try that compares with it. It deserves our
attendance and it deserves our praise.
Act II
One could have observed the Madrid con-
ference last week and come away seeing
Israel's glass half empty or half full.
Yes, the Syrian delegation seems in no
mood to talk real peace, preferring per-
sonal slurs against Yitzhak Shamir and
protestations that the Jews of Syria live in
peace. Even more disturbing, President
Assad appears unwilling to negotiate until
Israel gives back all of the Golan Heights.
And what, then, would there be left to
discuss?
But the Palestinian-Jordanian part of the
equation seems brighter. There was an at-
tempt at cooperation, and a recognition
that the key to success is to move forward
rather than dwell on past injustices on both
sides.
As Israel's Ambassador to the United
States, Zalman Shoval, told our Foreign
Correspondent Helen Davis, "the process is
irreversible — but it is possible that not all
SAYS HERE
THAT 'THERE mi6i4r
BE atki R)6RDMS
tN EAVERN EUROPE !
of the parties will reach the finish line."
The fact that Israel is engaged in face-to-
face negotiations with the Palestinians and
Jordanians is reason enough for optimism.
It indicates that the Arabs are not all
waiting for Syria before moving forward,
and it places additional pressure on Presi-
dent Assad to join the process.
For all of the media attention on stares
and scowls and who shook whose hand, the
important point is that Israel has begun a
process of direct negotiations without hav-
ing given away the store.
The Bush administration has surprised
many a seasoned Mideast observer for br-
inging the peace talks this far. And it is
clear that little will be accomplished
without a hands-on role for Secretary
Baker and his staff. We can only take pride
in Israel's participation, and hope that its
courage is appreciated and recognized as
the process continues.
I LETTERS
is a distortion. I doubt that
this "joke" is being told by
anyone but the most juvenile
and insensitive among us. In
fact, due to the prominence
given it by The Jewish News,
many thousands more, both
in our own community and in
the parts of the general com-
munity where your news-
paper is read, will now be ex-
posed to this inflammatory
statement.
I sincerely hope that in the
future The Jewish News will
stick to reporting the facts
and refrain from further
spreading such sick humor.
Jeannie Weiner
President,
Jewish Community Council
Sharpton Article
Was Offensive
Since I do not travel in the
same circles as Noam M.M.
Neusner, I was unaware of the
"joke" that he recounted in
the lead paragraph in last
Friday's Jewish News.
It is incomprehensible that
in order to discuss a known
hatemonger such as Rev.
Sharpton, The Jewish News
would choose to begin its
story with a portrayal of our
own capacity for the same. I
held this up to the seventh-
graders that I teach on Sun-
days as an example of a poor
journalistic decision at least,
and a dangerous, offensive
distortion at worst. I don't
LETTERS
know what Jewish communi-
ty Mr. Neusner was talking
about.
To begin the paper with a
paragraph of this kind reduc-
ed all of us to a regrettably
low common denominator,
and substantially devalued
what should have been an im-
portant expository piece.
Mindy Nathan
Bloomfield Hills
Fitting Response
To The Daily
I am writing on behalf of
the Ann Arbor Holocaust
Memorial Foundation to ex-
press our concern over the
content of a full-page adver-
tisement in the Oct. 24 issue
of the Michigan Daily. This
advertisement contained
numerous falsehoods concer-
ning the fate of European
Jewry and their mass murder
by the German military and
its collaborators — in essence
denying that the Holocaust
ever took place!
The Holocaust Memorial
Foundation is a multi-
religious and multi-racial
organization that was
established two years ago by
the Ann. Arbor City Council
to erect a "Place of Remem-
brance" to memorialize the
victims of the Holocaust and
to educate our community
about this tragedy. We are
very pleased that University
of Michigan officials have in-
formally agreed to locate the
memorial on university pro-
perty once the design was
completed and funds were
raised .. .
Therefore, we are deeply of-
fended and stunned that our
own university's student
newspaper would run such an
abhorrent ad, and that in a
subsequent notice the paper's
editors cynically invoked the
First Amendment in defense
of their despicable action.
This ad is reminiscent of
the Nazi "Big Lie" propagan-
da instigated in the 1930s.
That the Michigan Daily
would become a co-conspira-
tor in propagating the "New
Big Lie" and that the editors
would cloak their collabora-
tion in the First Amendment
is simply inconceivable!
It must be recognized that
Holocaust revisionism is yet
another new form of anti-
Semitism. This is apparent in
the writings of the revi-
sionists, who contend that the
Holocaust is a part of Jewish
plots to create sympathy, pro-
mote Zionism, or facilitate
economic and political take-
overs .. .
I encourage individuals
who wish to combat the
deception of the revisionists
to help us in establishing a
lasting memorial to the vic-
tims who were cruelly and
methodically exterminated
by the Nazi Holocaust. Tax
deductible contributions can
be sent to: AAHMF, P.O. Box
8342, Ann Arbor, MI 48107.
Dr. Robert Levy
President, Ann Arbor Holocaust
Memorial Foundation
Jewish Flight
And Beth Achim
We are recognized as first
among marchers for equality
and justice. And first to flee.
What then is hypocrisy?
Community. Education.
Racial tolerance. Flight.
Waste. A commonality exists.
Over the decades we have lost
the sense of real, enduring,
rooted community. We are
less educated about outselves
than ever and more apt to
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