AN OPEN LEITER To The Jewish Community From the Ain 1913 - 1993 MICHIGAN REGIONAL ADVISORY BOARD FRAN GROSS LINDEN President • CHERYL BLOOM GENE A. FARBER BARRY J. GOODMAN HOWARD GOLDBERG RUTH LANDO LEONARD SAHN SHERI T. SCHIFF Vice-Presidents • PAST PRESIDENTS VICTOR J. BAUM ARCHIE KATCHER' FRANCIS SOLOVICH. MELVIN WEISZ BURTON R. SHIFMAN MARTIN M. DOCTOROFF RONALD M. ROTHSTEIN DAVID L. BITTKER ROBERT H. NAFTALY JOHN E. JACOBS CHARLES H. TOBIAS' ELAINE BLOCK-VICTOR PETER M. ALTER STUART M. LOCKMAN ROBERT I. GORDON LINDA SOBERMAN NORMAN H. BEITNER *deceased • RICHARD H. LOBENTHAL Michigan Regional Director L. JILL BRIGGS Development Director (on leave) NANCY BECHEK SCHONBERG Acting Development Director ADL APPEAL LEONARD SAHN • COMMITTEE OF 5000 MICHAEL HOROWITZ COMMITTEE OF 1000 LEONARD SAHN • NATIONAL COMMISSION MELVIN I. SALBERG National Chair DAVID H. STRASSLER Chair, National Executive Committee IUDI KRUPP Vice-Chair, National Executive Committee LAWRENCE ATLER THOMAS HOMBURGER LUCILLE S. KANTOR IRVING SHAPIRO WILLIAM VEPRIN CARMEN WARSCHAW Vice-Chairs, National Commission ROBERT H. NAFTALY Treasurer ALVIN ROCKOFF Secretary ABRAHAM FOXMAN National Director PETER T. WILLNER Associate National Director DIVISION DIRECTORS BOBBIE ARBESFELD Finance and Administration Michigan Regional Office Anti-Defamation league® Because we believe, as we always have, that an informed Jewish community with strong Jewish agencies is still the best defense we can have, the Michigan ADL Board is republishing our audit of anti-Semitic incidents, covering 1992 (the 1993 audit will be released in January). The facts are inconclusive: while there was an 8% decline in reported anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S., representing the first decline in overall numbers in six years, the statistics are still serious enough to rank 1992 as the second- highest total in the 14-year history of the audit. Further, a major national opinion poll commissioned by ADL shows a decline, since 1964, of Americans holding strong anti- Semitic beliefs, but showing also that 20% of Americans (as many as 50 million) do still hold those beliefs, although they are rejected by younger and better educated Americans. Ironically, however, the audit reveals a marked increase in campus anti-Semitic acts, which have skyrocketed in recent years. And, in 1992, an FBI report on hate crimes in the U.S. showed that Jews were targeted far more often than any other religious group, and that while the largest number of hate crimes were against Blacks, attacks against Jews represented 17% of the total hate crimes - an alarming figure considering that Jews are only about 2.5% of the U.S. population. So the audit, as it often is, remains inconclusive; but contains a grim reminder that anti- Semitism is alive and well in this country, even as there are reasons to be hopeful that it is declining. In Michigan, the ADL continues its counteraction of hate and extremist activities, especially through the only police consortium in the country linking ADL, 80 local police departments, three county sheriffs, three county prosecutors, and every single Federal law enforcement agency in the area. Our Black-Jewish Dialogue group, now in its fourth year, and our Black-Jewish Seder have been joined by an Asian-Jewish dialogue group, and a teen dialogue group - first as a Catholic-Jewish teen dialogue effort, and now joined by a Black-Jewish teen dialogue program. We've initiated a training program for Jewish high school seniors, preparing them for what they'll find on college campuses, and stepped up our college students' programs, training them on dealing with issues and incidents, and servicing them and Hillels with programs, publications and consultation. In May, we're bringing in 6 Israeli teenagers (2 Sabras, 2 Ethiopians, 2 Russians) to spend 2 weeks in 10 local high schools interacting with local youths, and our staffing the Holocaust Education Coalition puts Holocaust curriculum in high schools throughout the state. These are just a few of the ongoing ADL programs; but most important to remember - we're here for you! Use us; join us; support us! We're all in this together. CHARNEY V. BROMBERG Intergroup Relations MARK A. EDELMAN Marketing and Communications KENNETH JACOBSON International Affairs MARK MEDIN Leadership Assistant to the National Director IEFFREY P. SINENSKY Civil Rights g°,12,„ ICam Fran Gross Linden, President Michigan Regional Advisory Board Richard H. Lobenthal, Director Michigan Regional Office STUART TAUBER Development ANN TOURK Community Service "Translating Democratic Ideals Into a Way of Life in Our Time" 4000 Town Center, Suite 420 • Southfield, Michigan 48075-1402 • (313) 355-3730 • FAX (313) 355-9534