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A Breakneck Pace
In The Middle East

Consider all that has and will happen in less than
a two-week period in the Middle East:
* Israel achieved a cease-fire with Hezbollah.
* Yassir Arafat convinced the Palestine Lib-
eration Organization to change its charter, strik-
ing references that call for armed struggle to
destroy Israel.
* Israeli Prime Minister Peres changed his La-
bor Party platform, dropping opposition to the
establishment of a Palestinian state.
* Mr. Peres met with congressmen to encour-
age the loosening of purse strings on funds for
the Palestinian Authority.
* Israel and the United States signed an agree-
ment to share intelligence and develop reliable
defense systems against short-range missiles.
* Israel prepares for the withdrawal of Israeli
forces from Hebron on May 4 or 5.
* The final status talks on the future of
Jerusalem begin:
Just a handful of years ago, all or almost any
of these events would have been considered "un-
thinkable."
It's not too difficult to remember the time
when the possibility of the Israelis meeting with

the Palestinians was, at best, far-fetched. There
were many who thought that a peace process —
any peace process — was something they'd nev-
er see.
Getting people to the peace table — even agree-
ing on the location of that table, not to mention
the physical shape of that table — was up for de-
bate.
Peace was slow in coming
Terrorism, striking like lightning in the dark,
claiming the lives of innocents on both sides, was
the only action that could be defined as happen-
ing quickly.
With the Israeli elections just four weeks away,
the speed with which the very political, social
and economic landscape of the Middle East as
we know it could change is dramatic. Significant
events happen almost every day.
It is our hope that if any events in the imme-
diate future take on a breakneck pace, they are
in the interest of regional prosperity and the se-
curity of Israel. It is our hope that this is a place
in history that will be remembered as a time
when the momentum was powerful. And the re-
sults were positive.

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T HE DE TRO IT J E W.ISH N E WS

Acts Of Hate Seesaw
A Playground's Image

When the playground decks were opened in
Southfield and Oak Park during the past hand-
ful of years, it was seen by many as a real op-
portunity to bring children of different cultures
and backgrounds together. If we weren't talking
with each other a great deal, maybe we could at
least learn to swing and to slide as neighbors.
There have been some disturbing incidents
over the short lifetime of these playground parks
that concern us. Some of these incidents could
be called minor, as long as they weren't hap-
pening to any one of us personally. But there has
been a strain in the air since the users of these
playgrounds have hit adolescence and above.
Sometimes that strain bubbles over into racist
or anti-Semitic remarks. And sometimes, it be-
comes physical harassment.
That's what happened last Shabbat at a deck
park in Southfield, located near the Yeshiva Beth
Yehudah, when two Jewish men were accosted

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by youths with harassment and hate on their
minds. The result is a neighborhood association
meeting that will include the Southfield police
later this month.
These playgrounds were built with the idea
that fun is cross-cultural and has no color. Ob-
viously, to some, it does. And it's got to stop. Jews,
blacks, Chaldeans and anyone else who desires
should be able to escape the "real world" on a jun-
gle gym.
A walk through a park on the way to shul
should be something pleasant, something spir-
itual in itself. Our parks cannot be places of in-
timidation. If it's necessary, the Southfield police
department should, for now, keep an extra eye
on these locations.
It's a shame that it has to come to this. When
the 1-696 deck playgrounds were constructed,
they were seen as a real tool in the Jewish so-
lidification of neighborhoods.

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Letters

Pollard Would
Be Free Today

The bottom line is: Jonathan Pol-
lard would be free tomorrow—no
— today if the American media
and most of the Jewish press
would inform their readers of laws
violated; integrity compromised;
and untruths disseminated —by
persons involved in keeping Pol-
lard incarcerated.
When Pollard is martyred and
truths revealed, we will then
lament to "never again" allow this
to happen to one of us.
Does "never again" sound fa-
miliar?

merstrong as saying, "Indepen-
dent pharmacies fill 89 percent of
all outpatient drug prescriptions."
This, of course, is nowhere near
true. If it is an accurate quote, I
feel that the representative meant
non-hospital pharmacies fill 89
percent of all prescriptions from
prescription-drug programs.
Your article also goes on to state
that Dilantin costs independent
pharmacies $15 per 100 tablets.
It actually is a capsule, and it re-
ally isn't possible to purchase it at
that low a price. The actual cost to
an independent pharmacy would
be a high of $21 with a low of
$18.50, depending on the discount
category one is in.

Dr. Sidney Leitson

Stuart J. Bergstein, R.Ph.

Midland

West Bloomfield

Already Missing
ADL's Lobenthal

Support
For Pollard

We write to supplement the arti-
cle noting the retirement of a great
community leader, Richard H.
Lobenthal, Michigan director of
the Anti-Defamation League. Mr.
Lobenthal helped create an ever-
important relationship between
the Anti-Defamation League of
Michigan and the Jewish student
community of Michigan State Uni-
versity.
When hate speakers, such as
Louis Farrakhan, Leonard Jeffries
or Kwame Ture, came to campus,
Mr. Lobenthal was quick to offer
his support. When violent acts oc-
cur on our campus, it is Mr. Loben-
thal who has sought to ensure our
safety. The Jewish students and
faculty of MSU are indebted to
Richard Lobenthal for his advice,
counsel, wisdom and friendship.

I was extremely gratified to see
the article you published regard-
ing Jonathan Pollard.
After years of feeling pretty
much neglected by the Jewish es-
tablishment as a whole, as well as
by the State of Israel — something
which especially hurt — the Jew-
ish establishment, as well as the
State of Israel, took on his cause
with the vigor it deserves.
Unfortunately, though, he still
languishes in prison after 11
years, and at the moment there is
no light at the end of the tunnel.
Nothing seems to help his cause,
not even the fact that through the
relentless efforts of his wife, Es-
ther, the State of Israel awarded
him Israeli citizenship.
All we can do as a community
is to continue pressing for release,
and also let him know that he is
not forgotten.

Jason A. Miller,
Jonathan Koenigsberg,
Ken Waltzer

Jewish Students at MSU

A Clarification On
Pharmaceuticals

I recently received a copy of an ar-
tide you ran about fair drug prices.
The article was well-done and cer-
tainly reflects the problems in the
prescription-drug industry, espe-
cially relative to customers who
do not have insurance coverage.
I would call your attention to an
error where you quote Rep. Ham-

Rachel Kapen

West Bloomfield

Letters Policy

Letters must be typewritten,
double-spaced, and include
the name, home address, day-
time phone number and sig-
nature of the writer.

Brief letters (less than a
page), arriving by noon Tues-
day, will be given preference.

