The World:
,Blestr4,
Yes And No On Wye
•
nd
gars
:M aker
ors
Vizitor
Notorious
Higher Ground!
he Contou
Mey
en ft
.,.
Summit agreement
gave local Jewish and
Arab groups little cause
for dancing in the
street.
Band
JULIE WIENER
Sue' Writer
Largest Selection Of Rockers and Gliders
$10.00 OFF
WITH THIS AD
Wood Rockers fr.,
$98.00
'168.00
Gliders
Child's Rockers Iran
$48.00
Rodter Cushions & Accessories
FREE LAYAWAY
WE SHIP ANYWHERE
21325 Telegraph
(Between 8 & 9 Mile)
Southfield
(248) 948-1060
36539 Gratiot Ave. 3337 Auburn Rd.
(South of 16 Mile)
Mt. Clemens
(810) 790-3065
(Between Auburn It Squirrel)
Auburn Hills
(248) 853-7440
Inc.
248-948-9885
wk3..ca.zzige
Herbs • Vitamins • Supplements • Sports Nutrition
Homeopathic Products •Essentials Oils • Natural Cosmetics
Professional Nutritionist & Herbalist with 25 Years Experience
iNiagam:
Northwestern Highway, Between 12 & 13 Mile Roads
IR
-
M A ST E R
NM/
HEATING
& AIR CONDITIONING CO
RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL• SERVICE • SALES • INSTALLATIONS '
YOUR INDEPENDENT DEALER FOR
Michael Levey
H AVM OLIN ,
10/30
1998
MAAR" E R
LENNOX &O WANE
BERKLEY W. BLOOMFIELD
788-9073
399-1800
54 Detroit Jewish News
Rs Hard 7b Stop A Tune:
N. OAKLAND ' GROSSE POINTE
882-4870
682-9090
ven the supporters of the
Wye River agreement
aren't quite ready to cele-
brate.
And its opponents are positively
despondent.
For example:
Metro Detroit District Zionist
Organization of America President
Jerome Kaufman's reaction to the
Wye agreement was "one of disbelief
and then a feeling of despair and
utter defeat."
"Netanyahu has just given over to
the Arabs 40 percent of Judea and
Samaria [the West Bank, acquired in
the Six Day War], land that was to
begin with, an integral part of the
Jewish homeland," he wrote in a
faxed letter. "What is worse, he gave
up the land for absolutely noth-
ing...for the same old promises that
Arafat has failed to remotely keep in
the five years since the so-called
peace process was initiated."
On the other hand, the Jewish
Community Council of
Metropolitan Detroit issued a press
release stating that "Detroit Jewry is
hopeful, yet cautious, about the fur-
ther movement toward peace" and
expressing support for the Clinton
Administration's involvement in the
process.
Ken Knoppow, a member of the
left-leaning Labor Zionist, Alliance
•(LZA) and Americans for Peace Now
and one of the organizers of the
local "Break the Silence Campaign"
of advertisements promoting the
Oslo accords, is pleased with the
new accords, but taking a wait-and-
see approach.
"Much of what came out of Wye
was Oslo with a few added nuances,
but Netanyahu didn't implement
Oslo and I'm concerned he will seize
on terrorist actions by Hamas, using
that as an excuse to avoid doing
what he's promised to do," said
Knoppow. "I'll only believe this is
reality once it's been implemented."
Despite his skepticism and his
belief that Netanyahu has done "a
lot of unnecessary foot dragging,"
Knoppow noted the agreement was I
"better late than never."
Marc Bernstein, a University of
Michigan professor of Near Eastern
studies, agreed. "I'm not sure what
Netanyahu achieved by dragging this
out for 19 months," he said, adding
that "the overwhelming majority of
Israelis want an accord."
Bernstein, who is confident that
the 12-week plan will be implement-
ed, likened the accord to the 1977
Camp David accords between Israel
and Egypt in that they were signed
by Likud prime ministers, earning
more credibility with the Israeli pub-
lic than a Labor-brokered agree-
ment.
"I think those who are more right
wing will kick and scream, but they -
don't have much choice," said
Bernstein.
Local LZA President Jeremy
Salinger is worried about backlash
from extremists on, both sides, but is
pleased with the accord and the role
the United States is playing, both as
a broker and an enforcer.
.11,4
"The oversight will be good; it
will encourage the Palestinian
Authority to be more consistent and
also might reduce some of their
infringements on civil liberties," said
Salinger.
Local Jews like Kaufman who
opposed the Oslo accords expressed
disappointment in Netanyahu.
Rabbi Yitschak Kagan, the
Lubavitch Foundation of Michigan's
associate director, called the Wye
agreement "dangerous" and said he
hoped it would fall through.
Lubavitch is a stream of Orthodox
Judaism that places a high premium
on religious outreach to Jews around
the world. Lubavitch activists in
Israel promoted Netanyahu in the
1996 elections with a campaign
declaring him "good for the Jews."
He said that Menachem Mendel
Schneerson, the deceased rebbe who
was the spiritual leader of Lubavitch
Jews, "would have been very disap-
pointed that the prime minister —
under tremendous pressure from
Clinton and others — signed away
something concrete for something
insubstantial." Kagan added that the
agreement violates Jewish law
because he believes it endangers
Jews.
Rae Ann Sharfman, who has
demonstrated with Women In
Green, an Israeli group opposing the
Oslo accords, also is not pleased