RADIO page 3
But their show has never de-
generated into anti-Semitism,
Jeff Kassouf insisted:
"There are some people who
will call it racist no matter what
we say. That's their position,
and they're not going to move
from it. And yet, there are oth-
ers who feel it is solely within
the boundaries of civilized po-
litical discourse. You need to
look at the politics of the people
making the charges.
"It's quite clear to us that the
Jewish community is not a
monolithic community, even on
issues of Israel. I assure you that
I am against racism in all its
forms, and that is the reason for
the show."
Cliff Savren, the head of
Cleveland's ADL, said the Jew-
ish community in Detroit can de-
cide for itself whether the show
is tinged with anti-Semitism.
But he believes it has crossed
the line from rational political
discourse to hateful bigotry.
"They have vilified Jews in Is-
rael and nationally in the Unit-
ed States and locally in
Cleveland, and they appeal to
the worst kinds of religious al-
legiances in calling the Israeli
government the Antichrist and
raising the specter that the `Jew-
ish-controlled' Disney corpora-
tion was out to subvert
American values," he said.
"These are all things that I
think merit the concern of the
Jewish community."
From a 5,000-watt
station to a
50,000-watt station
and 16 states.
It's true that Mr. Savren re-
fused an invitation to be a guest
on "Straight Talk," but that was
after he attempted a one-on-one
conversation with Jim Kassouf,
the original host of the show,
__Mr_Savren said.
"It became apparent to me in
the beginning that there was no
common language," he said.
"Over lunch, he engaged in ac-
cusations of Jewish conspiracies
in Cleveland to persecute Arab-
Americans, and similar rhetoric
surfaced on the air. He engaged
in such inflammatory rhetoric,
I didn't feel it justified respond-
ing on the air."
But the Kassoufs' first show
on CKLW was not quite as vir-
ulent, said both Mr. Savren and
Don Cohen, Detroit's new ADL
director.
"I thought it was within
the bounds of reasonable dis-
course," Mr. Cohen said. "It was
a critical analysis-of-fsrael and
American foreign policy. It
had many gaps and inaccura-
cies, but it was within the
bounds of reasonable discourse.
They didn't talk about Jews as
they have a number of times in
Cleveland."
"Straight Talk," like the
shows before and after it, is "bro-
kered," which means the hosts
pay for the air time. Jeff Kassouf
said it is expensive — "more
than some people's paycheck the
whole week" — but, "it's a cost
that we feel is needed."
A salesperson for CKLW and
its affiliated stations said the
cost of brokered shows between
8 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Sundays
ranges from $240 to $300 per
hour.
Mr. Kassouf noted that De-
troit has the largest concentra-
tion in the United States of
Arab-Americans, a plus for the
show.
The Kassoufs will host
"Straight Talk" from Cleveland,
sending it via 'digital phone line
to CKLW.
Jeff Kassouf is a producer of
corporate media. His brother
James is a real-estate broker.
The following is part of a tran-
script for the Sept. 26 edition of
the show, during which the Kas-
soufs explained why "Straight
Talk" hadn't aired on WERE the
previous two weeks:
Jeff Kassouf: "There's an or-
ganization called the ADL, the
Anti-Defamation League of the
B'nai B'rith, and as you know,
we've spoken about them in the
past. This is an organization
that, under the guise of an or-
ganization that claims to sup-
port Jewish civil rights and
Jewish human rights, they use
this organization as a front to
basically quash any dissent or
any critical words in America
against the Zionist State of Is-
rael and the ADL was responsi-
ble for lobbying this station,
WERE, and for spewing all sorts
of hate ..."
Jim Kassouf: "... we do not, in
any way, shape or form, go into
any type of Jew-bashing, but we
are not afraid to bring up issues
that are against Israel, issues
[such-as]-when Jewish-Ameri-
cans discriminated against us
because of our views on Israel or
because of our ethnic back-
ground ..."
Mr. Cosford said he's received
four to five calls a week since
"Straight Talk" began airing,
mostly from Jewish newspapers
and the Cleveland Anti-Defama-
tion League.
Last week, he said, he re-
ceived a call from a listener who
was concerned that a contrary
point of view would not be al-
lowed on the show.
"I told him, 'You're more than
welcome to call and the calls
aren't screened, so I suggest you
do that. I haven't had any pro-
&r anti- calls. I've had curious
people.' "
DRY
CLEAN
only with us!
Somerset Cleaners
40 Minute Cleaners
Two Times The Size For
Better Service
MI Work Done On Premises
(12 Mile & Evergreen)
r
SAME DAY SERVICE UNTIL 3 P.M.
r
Laundered 1
Absolute
T his
Coupon Shirts
1 Pair Of Worth 85'
Pants
r
FRE E
When presented with any
incoming dry cleaning order
of $7.95. Coupon must be
surrendered when leaving
order for pressing. Somer-
set Cleaners Not valid with
any other coupon. Expires
12/31/96
L
When presented with any
incoming dry cleaning
order of $7.95. Coupon
must be surrendered when
leaving order for pressing.
Somerset Cleaners Not
valid with any other
coupon. Expires 12/31/96
L
With any $7.95 incoming
dry cleaners order. Cannot
be used with any other
coupon Somerset Clean-
ers. Expires 12/31/96
-1 L
ALH5Lgrff
115
-
BIRMINGHAM
794 N. Woodward Ave.
(4 Blks. N. of Maple)
644-6667
BIRMINGHAM
608 S. Woodward Ave.
(5 Blks. S. of Maple)
642-1660
❑
Master Card
SOUTHRELD
TROY
19715 W. 12 Mie
286 W. Mr*
(at Evergreen)
(at Coolidge In
Somerset Plaza)
559-9232
643-0807
P1 751