COMMUNITY VIEWS
Terrorism, Fanaticism
Require A Strategy
T
Afghanistan, the extremists are in
errorism is terrifying no
charge. Each of these places is a
matter how many times it
haven and training ground for terror-
occurs.
ism. The only saving grace is the
The bombings of the
intense hostility between Sunni
American embassies in Kenya and
Afghanistan
and Shiite Iran and the
Tanzania, with the wanton destruc-
diminishing
hostility
between Arab
tion of innocent life, were
Iraq and Persian Iran. No
another assault on world
other cultural region has
order.
such a concentration of
The choice of the embassy
religious fanaticism.
in Kenya was not only its
Containing this fanati-
vulnerability; it was also
cism
needs to be one of the
because the perpetrators
important
goals of Ameri-
resented the close relation-
can
foreign
policy and of
ship between Kenya and
America's
unavoidable
role
Israel. For Muslim fanatics,
as
the
policeman
of
the
there is no distinction
RABBI
world. The containment
between America and Israel.
policy has to be two-fold.
SHERWIN
In their minds, America is
One strategy is to mobilize
WINE
the tool of Jewish and Israeli
all
the nations of Europe,
Special
to
interests. The arrival of an
Asia
and Africa who feel
The
Jewish
News
Israeli team to rescue the
threatened by Muslim mili-
wounded and to recover the
tancy. The second strategy
dead only confirmed for them the
is
to
support
the moderates in the
hated connection.
Muslim
world.
There is little doubt that the ter-
This summer, I traveled to both
rorists were Muslims who see Israel
India
and Uzbekistan. India is pri-
and America as their chief enemies.
marily
a Hindu nation that fears
They were, most likely, infiltrators
Muslim
expansionism. In recent
from the terrorist haven of Arab
months, the controversy over the
Sudan. But their actions are a fright-
explosion of nuclear weapons has
ening reminder of the widespread
soured the relationship between
presence of extremism that threatens
America
and India. The reality is that
world stability. Muslim moderates are
India
is
one
of the few Asian coun-
having. a hard time asserting their
tries
that
still
embraces democracy
control over Muslim affairs. In Alge-
and
the
British
parliamentary system.
ria, Libya, Sudan, Iraq, Iran and
It is also, by virtue of population and
Sherwin Wine is rabbi of the Birming-
economy, a great power. America
ham Temple.
needs India as a resistance against the
Muslim world as a counterforce to
Chinese expansionism. America needs
more than China and Japan to pro-
mote the global economy in Asia and
to maintain world order. The nuclear
issue will be resolved if Iridia is treat-
ed by America as a great power and is
admitted as an equal partner to the
councils of the major nations.
Uzbekistan is a nation in Central
Asia that was formerly part of the
Soviet Union. The people of Uzbek-
istan, like most people of Central
Asia, are mainly Turkish. They are
related ethnically and linguistically to •
their brothers in Turkey. They are
also Muslim. Seventy-five years of
Communist rule have secularized
them. Like their "relatives" in Turkey,
they are either non-religious or mod-
erately religious. With the departure
of the Muslim world, Afghanistan is
on the border of Uzbekistan. Already,
infiltrators from the Afghan worlds
and even from Saudi Arabia have
brought militant Islam to this secular
nation.
The Uzbekis are coping with the
threat by developing connections
with secular Turkey and with India,
China and the United States. Pak-
istan is friendly, but it is a major sup-
porter of the extremists in
Afghanistan. For America, the sup-
port of Muslim moderates in Central
Asia is crucial. Cultivating the con-
nection between the United States .
and all the nations of Turkish origin
is a very important step into a con-
tainment policy that will offer effec-
tive resistance to Muslim fanaticism.
Israel is also part of the contain-
ment. Like America, it has cultivated
cooperative and friendly relations
with both Turkey and India. Its coop-
eration with Turkey is fairly intense,
especially on the military level. That
cooperation needs a rational Israeli
government that does not allow its
own Jewish religious fanatics to pro-
voke the Muslim world.
Before 1991, the major threats to
world peace came from the Commu-
nist world. Today, they emanate from
the world of Muslim extremism. All
the secularized nations of our global
economy have a vested interest in
resisting all religious fanaticism, espe-
cially the Muslim world. America,
Europe, Russia, China, Japan, and
even Israel and India, share the dan-
ger that fundamentalism brings.
Nuclear weapons have no reasonable
place in a world devoted to promot-
ing the global economy. In the hands
of religious extremists — whether
they be Muslim, Hindu, Christian or
Jewish — they spell disaster.
The Kenya tragedy dramatized the
important bonding between America
and Israel. It also dramatized the con-
tinuing necessity of forging global
alliance against the sources of outra-
geous terrorism. In creating these
alliances for a safe world, we must
always be aware that the extremists'
temperament is not only Muslim. It
exists wherever religious dogma
becomes more important than peo-
ple. El
Ms. Sorkin and the JCCA missed
the essence of the opening cere-
monies and of the Maccabi Games.
As important as their theme is, this
was not to be a celebration of a per-
formance by a group of talented and
hard-working artists, but rather a fes-
tival of the gathering of teen athletes
from around the world. The moment
did dictate courtesy, not, however,
for performers who would dominate
the festivities, but rather of athletes
and their families celebrating the
purpose of the gathering: the begin-
ning of the Maccabi Games.
Thank You For
Hospitality
LETTERS
athletes were beginning their compe-
titions, in many cases, at 8 a.m. the
next day. They would be rising at the
crack of dawn to get to their trans-
portation sites.
Ms. Sorkin's initial concern "that
the opening ceremonies would run
long and the athletes would have dif-
ficulty sitting through it" was well
placed. That was equally the appre-
hension of the Maccabi Club of
Detroit; each dignitary was, thus,
directed to limit his or her remarks
to two minutes or less. The JCC
coordinating staff was, likewise,
asked by the Maccabi Club to limit
their performance to 10 minutes.
Although well meaning, the JCC
presentation was short sighted for
the effect that their extended prefor-
mance would have upon a mass of
tired teenagers and their host fami-
9/4
1998
30 Detroit Jewish News
lies. The reaction by the audience,
characterized as "rude" by Ms.
Sorkin, was not at all rude. It was.
known, based upon the experience of
14 previous opening ceremonies, that
brevity, is paramount. It was not
merely young athletes leaving their
seats but also hundreds of host fami-
lies who invaded the various delega-
tions to collect their young athletes
for the beginning of a long week of
competition and social events. That
was indeed unfortunate. Gone from
the opening celebration was the tra-
ditional rush to the floor by thou-
sands of athletes to greet one anoth-
er, to trade their Maccabi clothing
and pins and to establish a bond for
the competition ahead. Sadly, only a
few were in attendance to witness the
lighting of the torch and the declara-
tion, "Let the games begin."
Jill D. Spokojny
Vice President, Maccabi Club of
Detroit
Tony Spokojny
Chair, JCC Maccabi Games Organiz-
ing Committee
My wife and I would like to thank
greater Detroit's Jewish community
for its wonderful hospitality
exhibited during the recent JCC
Volunteers Mimi Markofiky (right) and
daughter Laura ladle the lunchtime
soup at the Kahn ICC.