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. ---- 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 ! ) r_) 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 Continued on Page 10