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I think that it is time for Amer-
ican Jews to respond to this kind
of shallow dismissive attitude
about politics and politicians,
whether we hear it on talk radio
or read it in The Jewish News. In
truth, of course, we know that is-
sues do matter to the protection
of our religious and political free-
doms as well as to our economic
well being, our access to the
courts and a whole host of other
facets that impact on our coun-
try, our people and our families.
At this point in our history es-
pecially, there is a world of dif-
ference between the political
parties. Beyond significant par-
tisan differences, there are often
enormous differences between
the people within the same par-
ty. In any primary or general elec-
tion, an informed voter who
makes the effort to find out can
discern differences among the
candidates in integrity, intelli-
gence, past accomplishments, val-
ues, and, yes, important
differences on important issues.
Having spent half a lifetime in
politics before retiring from it, I
am anything but naive about the
shortcomings of too many candi-
dates and officeholders. Howev-
er, our democracy depends on an
active citizenry that will go be-
yond lawn signs to learn about
candidates. America will do bet-
ter if we make both informed and
specific criticisms of people who
are willing to serve in public of-
fice, rather than dismiss them all
with a simplistic broad-brush con-
demnation.
Lana Pollack
Ann Arbor
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Peace Process
No College Debate
James D. Besser, the Jewish
News Washington correspondent,
writes of the so-called peace
process as if it were some sort of
college debate. He laments the
fact that the people apparently
against what is happening sim-
ply have better arguing skills and
more persuasive terminology.
What is going on is not a de-
bate. The weekly killing of Is-
raelis with a death toll far beyond
that of the intifada is not debat-
able. The fact that the Rabin gov-
ernment does not have the
support of most Israelis is not de-
batable. The fact that the gov-
ernment refuses to allow a public
referendum on its policies or a
vote in the Knesset relative to its
latest redeployment is also not
Letters Policy
Letters must be typewritten, double-
spaced, and include the name, home
address, daytime phone number and
signature of the writer.
debatable. The fact that Rabin
runs the country like a police
state with hundreds of Israelis
arrested and jailed for political
protest is not debatable. The fact
that Israel's balance of payments
is worse than ever as is its treat-
ment by the European Union —
boycotting the Jerusalem 3000
celebration, continuing to supply
Israel's enemies with the most so-
phisticated of lethal weapons and
imposing awful trade terms on
Israel — is not debatable. The
fact that Israel's ability to deal
with terrorism and that its terri-
torial security has been ir-
reparably damaged is also not
debatable.
What is debatable is the Left's
self-serving trumpeting of the
"peace process" as a success — by
what stretch of ideological imag-
ination?
J.S. Kaufman
Bloomfield Hills
WAGING page 5
battling each other for funds, cre-
ating deep religious, ethnic, gen-
der and racial animosities which
will further polarize our society.
Opposition to any scheme to
fund private schools with public
money is not an abstract exercise
in constitutional absolutism, but
is a defense of a core principle of
American democracy that has
been central to the survival of
every religious minority in this
country.
The war on public schools is be-
ing waged even though polls
show that public schools do a
good job educating most of their
students, and that most parents
are pleased with the schools their
children attend. The attitude of
the general public on this subject
is very similar to its attitude con-
cerning our political institutions.
Most individuals surveyed have
a strong negative attitude toward
Congress and the Legislature, but
have a favorable attitude about
their particular legislator or
member of Congress.
A strong public-school system
has been a fundamental strength
of this country. No one is so naive
as to suggest that there is not
room for improvement in our
public schools. However, we must
be very careful not to establish an
educational system which un-
dermines our traditional notion
of separation of church and state,
and which would send our chil-
dren on an uncharted course
based on untested theories that
sound simple but are simply
wrong. Do not let the so-called re-
formers discard a constitutional
principle and an institution which
have served this country and our
state well. ❑