PURELY COMMENTARY allmilm8 r"-- THE FANTASTIC KITCHEN Human Rights Contrasts Undermine Existing Amity PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor Emeritus A SALE! 25-50% OFF Tremendous Savings on the World's finest Cabinetry. Please stop by our Showroom. i1 too frequent news reports and commen- taries on human rights conditions, especially in the Middle East, are filled with repetitive critical allu- sions to Israel with condem- nations undermining amity. This was true again re- cently in Amnesty Interna- tional treatments that are on many occasions either condemning of or expecting too much from Israel. It is, therefore, important that the U.S. State Department's report on human rights be treated seriously. It deals with both Israel and its neighbors. In the section dealing with Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq and Iran, the report touches upon democracy, free press, public administration, religious freedom, freedom to form opposition parties and sex- ual equality. As a totality, reaction of every Arab coun- try named was :"NO!" The human rights report provides the following: 355 S. WOODWARD • BIRMINGHAM 645-0410 Roots 13 re Camp Sale R.B.A. & 100% COTTON CREWNECKS R2111 \o 19.95 11111111 • HOODED SWEATSHIRTS Regular Now 44.9 i A n: • _1 •7 • SUEDE DESERT BOOTS Reg u lar Now' 895 .9 . 3 S/S PRINTED T-SHIRTS Rer4t14r5 / Now 12.95 AND MANY OTHER GREAT PRE-CAMP SPECIALS (I \cum lit AND KILN JUNE 15 - JUNE 27 Roots 40 \\ I • I \I \PI I \ , 1+II ■ \11N(;11 \NI 647,,,s; \\UII Ql IIIII • i •1 ■ I • \II •.\II I \ \I FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 1992 • Israel is a parliamen- tary democracy with a multiparty political system and free elections. Public debate on issues of con- cern to Israelis is open and lively. A vigorous free press scrutinizes all aspects of Israeli life and politics. • Israelis representing almost any point of view are free to assemble and associate, and the law and court rulings protect these rights. • Israel citizens enjoy a broad range of civil and other human rights. • Israel is responsive to international and nongov- ernmental interest in its human rights situation. It hosts and works with a delegation of the Interna- tional Committee of the Red Cross. It permits regular visits by a wide range of private and inter- national organizations concerned with human rights. • The right to a hearing by an impartial tribunal with representation by counsel is guaranteed by law and followed in prac- tice. The judiciary is in- dependent, and effectively insulated from political interference. • Israeli law and ad- ministrative regulations bar torture. • Israeli law and practice provide guarantees against arbitrary arrest or imprisonment. • There are strong guarantees of freedom of religion for all faiths. • Women's rights in Israel are protected by the Equal Opportunity Law, which forbids sex discrimination. It requires employers to pay male and female workers equal wages for equal work. The courts in Israel deal firmly with per- sons convicted of violence against women. • Israelis fully exercise their legal right to organize and bargain collectively. Nonresident workers are entitled to the protection of collective bargaining agreements. Palestinians from the territories are represented by Histadrut and covered by its work contracts. The all too frequent un- complimentary references to Israel in human rights commitments need these facts. They should be kept as a reminder every time abuse is leveled at Israel. This statement as a defensive weapon for Israel should never be ignored. Status And Duties Of The Affluent Scores of American Jewish communities are seriously tackling budgets with in- creasing needs for world, na- tional and local causes. While obligations are moun- ting, there are the problems of acquiring the needed funds. There are already difficulties with declines in allocations. This compels awareness of the manner in which contributors confront their duties. A report commissioned by the American Jewish Com- mittee indicates that it is "ex- pensive to be Jewish in America." Under the title "The High Cost of Jewish Living," the facts assert that living a fully-involved Jew- ish life in 1992 will cost a family of five $18 to $25 thousand. The costs alluded to provide for day school tui- tion, the synagogue, the Jewish Center, summer camp and the Jewish Fed- eration. The findings were reported in Philadelphia by the co- author of the report, Lisa Hostein. She stated that, "To generate that amount of discretionary income, a family must •earn $80 to $100 thousand per year." She added an explanatory note that " in. 1990 according to recent statistics, the median annual income for Jewish families was $39 thousand." The facts in this study af- fect all fund-raising ap- proaches. The reality is that a major portion is derived from the more affluent. The studies of existing conditions compel knowledge of the sta- tus of the communities that make up American Jewry. Israel Or Judea: Which Designation? It is fortunate that the well-informed among the historically minded find it obligatory to correct errors by letter writing to news- papers. One such letter ap- peared in the New York Times Book Review May 24 under the heading "Biblical Israel." Even children's books need to be watched for accuracy as this letter by Jonathan Kellerman asserted: Your review of several children's books with Jewish themes refers to "biblical Palestine." That is a historical inaccuracy with unpleasant political overtones. The writer of the letter then provided the correct historiography: The land in question was known, for most of the biblical era, as Israel or Judea. It was renamed "Palestine" by the Romans in A.D. 70 after they conquered Israel, murdered and exiled the Jews and destroyed the second Jewish Temple of Jerusalem. The redesignation was more than victor's bravado. It was a deliberate attempt to de-Judaize the region and to expunge the memory of a thousand- year-old Jewish presence in the land. "Palestine" was chosen with malice recalling the Philistines, a tribe whose vicious and chronic hatred of the Jews was well known and