V-0124-,
The Jewish 'Angle'
Is An Obvious One
Sometimes the demand placed on Jewish news-
papers is to come up with a "Jewish angle" when
covering a story.
There have been articles coming out of Sara-
jevo with Jewish angles. A story recently was writ-
ten of a female refugee who hid Jews in her
apartment during World War II. There have been
stories of evacuations of Jews from the area as
well as efforts by Jewish organizations to provide
relief to the embattled Muslim community.
It's the bigger story, though, that really has
been told to a pretty indifferent world. There are
several "Jewish angles" to this story. First of all,
we know about this indifference intimately. Per-
haps if the world only believed what was hap-
pening in Germany, Poland and elsewhere during
the 1940s, we wouldn't be linked by a modern
commonality of family trees with broken and miss-
ing limbs.
Still, even with gas chambers, concentration
camps, railroad cars and every sense of unbe-
lievable inhumanity that Germany's government
efficiently could conjure, the world didn't react
right away. It just didn't get involved.
Here we are, 50 years later, not a long time in
history, and the scenes we are seeing in our own
living rooms don't move us as Jewish Americans.
Some of us are reluctant to say publicly that the
sort of "ethnic cleansing" used by the Serbs on the
Muslims isn't remotely similar to the Holocaust.
Yes it is, and the words "ethnic cleansing" should
send chills through us all. Let's not get lost in de-
finitions here.
What's happening in Bosnia does not take any-
thing away from our feelings and concerns as they
regard the Holocaust. If there must be "owner-
ship" of the Holocaust, it is something that is part
of the spine of Jewish identity.
Yet, we cannot turn away from what is hap-
pening now in what was once Yugoslavia. As we
click our television sets on to watch young men
and women compete for medals in Lillehammer,
let's remember that 10 years ago Sarajevo was
the center of the Olympic world. That athletes
were going after the Olympic dream on fields that
are now cemeteries and buildings that are now
crumbled by artillery fire should show us how
quickly from good to bad civilization can trip.
The seemingly contented way of life lived by
ethnic groups in Sarajevo in 1984 is replaced by
women running through the streets shielding
their babies from sniper fire.
In 10 years, the word "Sarajevo" has changed
in meaning from downhill skiing and ice hockey
to desperation and death. Serbian gunners have
shown that they are not interested in a peace nor
are they interested in co-existence with the area's
Muslims. What they are interested in is killing,
wiping out the Muslims, and if a bullet smashes
into the head of a baby, that's just as good and
"humane" as if it happened to the baby's mother.
What is it going to take for the Clinton ad-
ministration to send a message that the madness
we're watching on the evening news, the mortar
shells in the markets, the snipers, have got to
be stopped? Nobody can look a Bosnian Muslim
in the eye and tell him that this isn't Holocaust-
like. Nobody can tell a parent who cannot keep
his little children warm at night that their suf-
fering isn't real.
We need to tell our politicians; we need to call
them and write to them. We need to respond to
Jewish agencies organizing relief efforts. It's time
we as Jews join in the outrage. We expected it
from the rest of the world during World War H.
If calling it "Holocaust" bothers you as a Jew,
call it something else. But there is no more time
to waste, no more issues to discuss. The Serbians
need to hear forcefully from the free nations that
this won't be tolerated.
It shouldn't have taken a bomb in a market-
place to affix our attention. Because all along, the
story of Sarajevo has an angle we as Jews can
identify with, a "Jewish angle."
TH E DE TRO IT J E WI SH NEWS
4
When Klan leader David
Duke's campaign for governor
of Louisiana made the front
page of The Jewish News, read-
ers protested the supposed
"honor" given him. I was moved
then to respond in a letter ex-
plaining the need to expose the
David Dukes among us, and
congratulating this paper for
doing so.
Unfortunately, my letter had
no impact. How saddening to
hear of the number of readers
who would cancel their sub-
scriptions and advertising be-
cause The Jewish News alerted
them to the likes of David Cole.
They should know that Mr.
Cole also would rather we didn't
hear about him, so he could do
his damage without our inter-
ference. What I said before still
holds: an appearance on page
one is not necessarily an honor;
sometimes, it is an alarm.
Elliot Shevin
Oak Park
Children Of Divorce
Are Offered Help
As director of Space For Chang-
ing Families, a non-sectarian
community project of National
Council of Jewish Women
Greater Detroit Section, I was
interested in your article, "Par-
enting The X Factor" (Jan. 21).
Our goals at Space are to meet
the needs of families in our corn-
munity who are experiencing
loss through death, divorce or
No Divisions
Over Pollard
Home For Aged
Embarrassment
Regarding the Pollard article
by James D. Besser (Feb. 4):
There are no bitter divisions
within the Free-Pollard move-
ment; the divisions are between
people who perceive the Pollard
My thanks go out to Joanne
Zuroff for her well-stated words
regarding Borman Hall (Feb.
4).
How appropriate that on the
opposite page was Rabbi Ger-
shon's article on 10 reasons to
be Jewish.
I, too, agree with Mrs. Zuroff
that funds should be allocated
to Israel and elsewhere. But not
before the needs of our own are
met.
Rabbi Gershon writes, "He
who neglects or refuses to car-
ry his share to help the needy,
let it be known that he is not
considered a descendant of
Abraham."
Working at the Jewish Home
for Aged on two occasions forced
me to stop giving money to the
Allied Jewish Campaign be-
cause of how the dollars were
allocated. The Jewish Home, in
my opinion, was always misled,
and this came from the well-
paid administration that led the
Home.
My continued experience
working with the elderly for 10
years allowed me to see how
well-run other homes were and
the disgrace of Borman Hall
and Prentis Manor. The Jew-
ish community should not only
be embarrassed, but should not
let this go on.
These people are our parents,
our leaders, and they deserve
to end their lives with the same
dignity and respect they
showed us.
Rabbi Gershon writes about
the miracles of life and Ju-
daism, and a blessing for every-
thing. Our seniors deserve
better and we as Jewish people
should not only expect this, but
demand it.
Jonathan Pollard
separation by providing educa-
tional peer support groups.
Sadly, one of our most suc-
cessful programs is Rainbows
for All Children. This program
has two components; a peer
support-group activity for chil-
dren 5-15 and a parent educa-
tion group.
How children come through
a divorce is due in large part to
the relationship of their par-
ents. Parents' attitudes and ac-
tions, especially toward one
another, make a big difference
in how children adjust .
This year, Rainbow is being
offered at our offices, 30233
Southfield Road, at Hillel Day
School, and at the Jewish Par-
enting Center - Congregation
Shaarey Zedek site.
affair from the point of view of
"My country right or wrong..."
and those who stand up against
a flagrant violation of due
process by the United States
government under the Bush
and Reagan administrations.
I demand the immediate re-
lease of Jonathan Pollard be-
cause:
1. The executive power in-
fluenced the judicial system to
sentence Pollard to life in
prison, even when it offered le-
niency if he cooperated, which
he did, reneging on its promise.
This is the behavior of a totali-
tarian government, not a
democracy.
2. Pollard's spending 10'/2
months in an asylum for men-
tally insane is the same prac-
tice we condemn from the KGB.
3. Jonathan Pollard was nev-
er tried by a jury.
4. In the appeals process,
judges were "asked" to condemn
Pollard. Two judges did, one did
not.
In the name of Justice, Free
Pollard Now! This call is what
unites the Free-Pollard move-
ment.
Irma Starr
Space for Changing Families
Aaron Swirski
West Bloomfield
Letters
`Good News' Stories
Vs. Sounding Alarms
Letters
Linda Silverman
Southfield
Whose Bigotry?
As a person who regards my
sexuality as a gift and blessing
from God, I must express my
pain over the homosexist title
of the event, "Twice Blessed:
Jewish and Gay," co-sponsored
by SIMCHA, PFLAG, The Jew-
BIGOTRY page 20