750
Celebrating 50 years of growth with the Detroit Jewish Community
THE JEWISH NEWS
10 CHESVAN 5753/NOVEMBER 6, 1992
It's
Clinton's
Turn
What the turnover at the White House means to Israel
and domestic Jewish concerns.
JAMES B. BESSER/WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
ill Clinton's deci-
sive victory on
Tuesday repre-
sents the end of a
long and contro-
versial era in
American politics
and the beginning
of a wrenching pe-
riod of national
readjustment that
will severely test the president-
elect's mettle.
Few presidents have entered
office with so many daunting
crises ready to boil over, with so
many conflicting demands for his
attention.
For the Jewish community,
Mr. Clinton's busy agenda in the
next few months holds enormous
promise for progress on a wide
array of domestic concerns, in-
cluding critical religious freedom
and church-state issues. At the
ANALYSIS
But continuity could prove a
tall order.
With rising violence in the re-
gion posing a clear challenge to
the negotiations, Mr. Clinton
needs to act quickly to make it
clear that the peace process will
be a top priority for him, accord-
ing to Middle East experts.
"The challenge here is to pick
up the negotiations quickly," said
Martin Indyk, director of the
Washington Institute for Near
East Policy, a Middle East think
tank. "The danger is, if you leave
the process to languish during
same time, economic problems at
home and the distractions of a
world on the brink of a dismay-
ing variety of po-
tential disasters
may make it hard-
er for the incoming
administration to
concentrate on a
leading priority for
many American
Jews — the ongo-
ing Middle East
peace talks.
Mr. Clinton has
repeatedly ex- Bill Clinton lost his voice, but won the presidency.
pressed his strong
support for the
the transition, you have the
Middle East peace negotiations,
Hezbollah and others taking the
which began with such promise
a year ago in Madrid. His closest initiative, undermining the ne-
gotiations from the ground up."
advisers insist that continuity
The Clinton transition staff is
in the negotiations will be a ma-
being advised to work closely
jor goal of the new administra-
CLINTON / page 24
tion.
aside
NATIONAL
The Landslide
What the U.S. election
means to Jews and Israel.
Page 23
SPORTS
Center Of It
Cranbrook's rise
mirrors Farbman.
Page 57
CLOSE-UP
So Now What?
Religious right looms on Michigan horizon.
KIMBERLY LIFTON/STAFF WRITER
loomfield Hills par-
ent Mindy Nathan is
ready for battle.
She's been preparing
for this fight for five
years, when a group
of fundamentalist
Christians, called TORCH, un-
successfully tried to include
Christmas celebrations in the
Bloomfield Hills school curricu-
lum.
A parent of two school-age chil-
dren, Ms. Nathan knows all too
well that a Democratic victory
nationally will not protect Mich-
igan from active religious ex-
tremists.
"We have to start talking to
each other about the reality of
this," Ms. Nathan said. "It is
right here in our own back yards.
We are seeing it everywhere,
even in Birmingham, where
13
Clinton supporters In Greektown cheer
his victory.
some parents are fighting over
implementing teaching about ho-
mosexuality."
Michigan election results
showed the GOP emerging vic-
torious in local, county and state
races. In addition, the Repub-
licans now have control of both
state houses. This, GOP and
Democratic leaders suggest,
widens the prospects of a power
struggle between the moderate
and far right factions of the
Republican party.
"This leaves free reign for
Michigan right-wing fundameiv-
talists to put their policies into
action," said Democratic pundit
Larry Owen, who ran President-
elect Bill Clinton's Michigan
fund-raising campaign.
Oakland County GOP
Chairman Jim Alexander said
SO NOW WHAT? / page 25
Walking to feed 600 families
for a month.
Hunger
Pangs
Page 32
ALTERNATIVES
Crossing The Line
Sparks fly when Jews
and gentiles interdate.
Page 100
Contents on page 5