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Israeli statesman Abba Eban is known, among
other things, for saying that the Palestinians
have never missed an opportunity to miss an op-
portunity for peace. As this past week's actions
show, a similar claim can be made of Iraqi Pres-
ident Saddam Hussein: He never misses an op-
portunity to miss an opportunity to end his
people's suffering.
Mr. Hussein seeks a lifting of U.N.-sponsored
sanctions against his country. The move, his gov-
ernment argues, would let Iraq purchase emer-
gency medical and humanitarian supplies. Such
an argument ignores that the Iraqi people suf-
fer because of Mr. Hussein's actions. He has
somehow convinced French and Russian offi-
cials that he's correct. Yet, Iraq's government re-
mains a danger to the world community and
should be shown no leniency from the United
Nations.
Iraq's latest folly came on Saturday when it
sentenced two Americans to eight years in prison.
They were convicted on charges of entering the
country illegally. The Americans, William Bar-
loon and David Daliberti, are civilians employed
by the McDonnell Douglas Corp. They report-
edly were visiting friends in the demilitarized
411
zone between Iraq and Kuwait. Iraq apparent-
ly feels the two men can be held until the Unit-
ed Nations accedes to its demands. This is not
diplomacy; this is hostage-taking.
Mr. Hussein is a dangerous man. At home, he
continues to be a ruthless hunter of political op-
ponents. He battles Kurds in the North, Shiites
in the South. He makes a hobby of violating the
agreements he signed to end the Persian Gulf
War. He stockpiles weapons, refuses inspections
by U.N. officials and maneuvers troops through-
out his country in clear violation of the agree-
ment that ended the Gulf War.
In foreign affairs, he remains incapable of con-
templating peace with his Arab neighbors, let
alone Israel or the United States. Few doubt that
if he felt it possible, Mr. Hussein would again
strike at U.S. and Israeli interests, much as he
did in August 1990, when his army occupied
neighboring Kuwait and then, a few months lat-
er, when he lobbed missiles into Israeli cities
during the Gulf War.
Before even discussing the lifting of sanctions,
Iraq must show the United Nations that it can
be a responsible member of the family of nations.
That day has yet to come.
Fixin' To Run You
In the Jewish News:
Go Ahead, Draw!
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So, you were the one in class who phased in and
out of Ancient Greek History 101 with
lively drawings of the teacher in
toga and laurel leaves gracing the
inside covers of your notebook.
Everyone you know thinks you are
funny, not funny looking. And, you're
also politically knowledgeable. Let's see
now. You can draw, you're funny and you
know what's going on in Jewish Detroit
and the world. That can only mean one
thing. It's time to get a life. Just kidding. You
open up your local newspapers, and when you
see the editorial cartoons or comics say to no
one in particular, "I can do that."
But you never have.
Here's your big chance. The Detroit Jewish
News is looking for one or two people to take part
in an editorial cartoon rotation. But first you must
pass the supreme test. No, it's not a Greek His-
tory 101 exam, it's even more difficult: the ap-
proval of our readers. When we receive significant
numbers of entries, we'll run them on our edi-
torial page and we'll ask our readers to vote.
We'll take the
popular decision along
. with those of our editors
' and art team and who
knows, maybe the stuff on
your notebook cover wasn't such
a waste of time after all.
We're looking for editorial cartoons that in-
clude local subjects. While a likeness of Rabin,
Clinton or Arafat is fine, we want you also to
illustrate local people and issues you might see
in The Jewish News.
Go ahead and give it a try. Send three nonre-
turnable entries to Phil Jacobs, Editor, The De-
troit Jewish News, 27676 Franklin Rd.,
Southfield, MI. 48034. No phone calls, please.
Just send us your stuff.
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Letters
Collective
Responsibility
Henry Starkman, a Holocaust
survivor, wonders whether the
designation "Nazis," rather than
the all-inclusive "Germans," is a
manifestation of political cor-
rectness or ignorance ("Blame
Germans, Not Just Nazis," Feb.
17). He notes that by emphasiz-
ing a designated subgroup, the
remainder of the group is excul-
pated. This "sanitized" treatment
of the German people during the
Hitlerian period, he notes, be-
comes especially obvious when
contrasted with the treatment of
the Japanese. The rape of
Manchuria, the death march at
Bataan, or the treatment of Al-
lied POWs are always described
as "Japanese war crimes" with-
out attempting to carve out some
subgroup such as "Japanese mil-
itarists."
Likewise, I would add, Poland
as a nation or Poles collectively
are called anti-Semitic. Indeed,
Auschwitz and other camps built
in Poland are called "Polish con-
centration camps." They were lo-
cated in Poland, but they were
not built by the Poles. The ex-
pression "Polish concentration
camp" is another exculpation of
the German nation.
Whenever Germany is blamed
for the Holocaust, the guilt is in-
variably limited to Nazi Germany.
A study carried out in a New York
high school found that students
do not link "Nazis" to Germans —
as though the "Nazis" are people
from outer space. And when one
travels in Germany, one never
meets a Nazi or anyone ac-
quainted with a Nazi.
Elie Wiesel, the well-known
survivor of the camps, rejects the
notion of collective responsibility
and favors the use of the adjective
"Nazi" so as to limit the responsi-
bility. Others may agree, but there
is no counterpart in speaking
about the Japanese or the Poles.
Collective guilt is forbidden in
the Bible. Abraham begged God to
spare Sodom if there were 50 just
men, or 10. Collectively, the Jews
through the ages have been blamed
for the crucifixion of Christ and
they have suffered for it.
The "sanitized" treatment of
the German people does not stem
out of a concern about collective
responsibility, however, but was
a result of the enlistment of the
Germans against the Soviet
Union during the Cold War.
The vast majority of the Ger-
man people supported Hitler.
They should bear collective re-
sponsibility, as Mr. Starkman
says, and we should forget about
the references to the wrongdoers
as "Nazis" rather than as Ger-
mans.
Ralph Slovenko
Professor of law and psychiatry
Wayne State University
Monitoring Change
At The JCCs
I am writing in response to your
March 24 article about the Jew-
ish Center. There is some addi-
tional information that I believe
will enhance all of the informa-
tion presented.
The elevation of Morton Plot-
nick to vice president of the
agency is in recognition of his
many years of successful and in-
novative service. We fully expect
that he will be directing his years
of experience toward fund rais-
ing, endowment enrichment and
forward planning. He is truly the
dean of center directors and we
are privileged that he is our Cen-
ter director.
Bruce Landgarten continues
as our assistant executive direc-
tor in charge of the health clubs,
all sports and physical fitness ac-
tivities and the camp program.
He brings years of experience to
this job and he is our force in
moving our Maple-Drake Health
Club forward to meet the new de-
mands set by our members.
Our new director of marketing
is Sandi Kline. In the few weeks
she has been at her job, she has
proven to be a valued asset to our
Center. Her knowledge of cus-
tomer relations, staff training and
public relations/marketing is al-
ready being felt in the Center.
We are grateful to The Jewish
News for reporting many of our
recent changes so accurately. At
the Center, it is our daily task to
improve. Your complete coverage
of these changes helps to promote
this process. I hope the above in-
formation is helpful in fully un-
derstanding some of the
improvements we've made.
Douglas Bloom
President
LETTERS page 12