Editorials

Much More Than
Bricks And Mortar

D. Dan and Betty Kahn have made a mar-
velous gesture to the Jewish community and
the Jewish Community Center of
Metropolitan Detroit. Their multi-million dol-
lar gift has jump-started the JCC's capital cam-
paign to raise $15 million for major renova-
tions to the Maple/Drake Building.
As of June, it will be the Kahn Building,
but it won't be a fitting tribute to the donors if
the JCC does not address one of the major
needs highlighted in the Kahns' gift: Jewish
programming.
The Jewish community constructed a mas-
sive building in the early 1970s at
Maple/Drake, added to it with the Rosenberg
Athletic Complex and the Janice Charach
Epstein Museum-Gallery, and has had difficul-
ty filling it since the beginning. Part of the
problem is the sheer size of the structure and
the interior design. The JCC wants to address

those needs with plans to move entrances clos-
er to the parking lots, moving the health club,
making other interior renovations and
upgrades designed to make the 350,000-
square-foot structure more user-friendly.
Amid all the talk of bricks and mortar, how-
ever, D. Dan and Betty Kahn remembered a
fundamental issue: The building won't attract
the people. What goes on inside will be the
attraction. Detroit Jews have numerous
options today to exercise, to eat, to socialize. If
the JCC doesn't offer top-flight services and
Jewish programs, its members and others with-
in the Jewish community will go elsewhere.
The only way the JCC will become the cen-
tral address for the Jewish community is to
serve that dual mission with excellence. Service
alone won't be good enough. The Kahn -family
has acknowledged that dual mission with an
uncommon gesture of generosity. ❑

Smithsonian Silenced

Last week's cancellation of the Smithsonian
Institution's lecture series "Israel at Fi
Yesterday's Dreams, Today's Realities" was a
serious blow to democracy and the inalienable
right to provide forums for open discourse.
Sadly, the group largely behind the program's
demise knows better than anyone about the
chaos and tragedy that arise when the
exchange of thoughts and opinions is curbed
or thwarted: the Jewish community.
Co-sponsored by the New Israel Fund, the
seven-week speakers series, scheduled for this
spring, was intended to offer objective views of
Israel's history and provide opportunities to
examine the future of the Jewish state. Besides
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman
and an Arab Knesset member, the series was to
feature an Orthodox rabbi, several professors
from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and a
pair of political players from the right-of-cen-
ter Likud movement.
While Mr. Friedman is far from being a
darling of the right, and having an Arab politi-
cian might ruffle feathers on both sides of the
aisle, nothing on the preliminary draft of the
program indicated that an extremist agenda
would be foisted upon audience members.
Furthermore, the topics to be discussed —
the Middle East peace process, Arab life in
Israel, religion's role in the Jewish state —
hardly stand as an affront to Israel's supporters
who expect a non-biased attitude from a
Smithsonian series.
The group behind the program's cancella-
tion is Americans for a Safe Israel, which
described the series as "analogous to celebrat-
ing a U.S. centennial by inviting [Nation of

1/16
1998

30

Islam leader Louis] Farrakhan, [former Ku
Klux Klan leader] David Duke, Branch
Davidians and other extremist critics of
American society to be the spokesmen."
AFSI's statement went on to say that the
Smithsonian fell prey to the left-leaning New
Israel Fund and had been "duped" into "being
used to attack an American ally."
To borrow from Yiddish, that's narrishkeit
— nonsense. Let's give the folks at the
Smithsonian a little more credit than that. And
let's give the American public and political
intelligentsia a little more credit than to think
that by merely hearing from speakers whose
views on Israel might not be through rose-col-
ored glasses, they will discontinue their sup-
port for the Jewish state.
One of the hallmarks of Israeli society is its
citizens' penchant, and insistence, on dialogu-
ing about the country's greatest challenges,
even if it means tackling matters in a con-
tentious manner.
Eventually, the pressure from the right
forced the Smithsonian into making a highly
political decision to drop the series, much in
the way in which the institution was forced to
drop its Enola Gay exhibit last year. That's a
shame, because it deprived Jews and non-Jews
from considering this momentous occasion in
Israeli history in a scholarly, impartial manner.
The next time an American institution
wants to host an event delving into matters rel-
evant to Jewish life and culture, let's hope that
the squabbles within our own community
don't prevent serious academic exploration
from taking place. ❑

Muslims pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan, Islam's
holy month of fasting.

LETTERS

Give Land,
Get War

The photograph (Jan. 2,
p.24) shows a Hamas sup-
porter in Nablus and the cap-
tion asks, "Can Israel rule
him?"
While Israel cannot predict
what Hamas will do, the Jews
can rule Nablus when they
have the courage to take con-
trol and re-establish its Jewish
community. Sadly, the gov-
ernment of Israel, especially
Ambassador Eliahu Ben-
Elissar, enthusiastically surren-
dered the hills of Samaria to
the Arabs, but the fury of the
PLO and Hamas continues
unabated. He doesn't compre-
hend Arab enmity and hatred
of Jews. How can Arabs have
respect when Israel retreats?
Arafat refuses to accept
Israel's "surrender." Despite
Israel's release of hundreds of
Arab prisoners and turning
over Hebron, in addition to
Ramallah, Tulkarm, etc., to
the Muslims, the Arabs,
nonetheless, demanded the
Palestinian Authority control
of an airport, industrial parks
and safe passage between the
territories. Is there no end to
the Arab desire to become a
state of "Palestine" on Jewish
soil? Still, there is no peace

A Hamas supporter at a
demonstration.

from Arab terrorist attacks —
but why should there be?
Does Israel have the right
to expel traitorous Arabs from
its land? During the Gulf
War, Saudi Arabia expelled
750,000 and Kuwait some
275,000 Arabs to make its
land more secure. But Israel
in 1992 expelled 415 leaders
of Hamas into Lebanon and
the United States and the
United Nations screamed.
Israel revoked the deporta-
tion.
Clearly and unmistakably
the United States is attempt-
ing to have Arabs take eastern
Jerusalem and occupy the
Judea-Samarian hills so as to

WAR on page 32