OPINION
in-House Historical Revisionism
ones struggling desperately to hold on
r. Kenneth Stein, in his
to that — thanks to Arab pressure,
opinion article "Fading
Clinton administration pressure,
Dreams" (Dec. 4), displays
European Union pressure and the dis-
a truly amazing facility with
torted allegiances of some Jews.
numbers and definitions and a keen
Indeed, if the Arabs have their way,
sense of historical revisionism. He
Israel will be made to return to the
speaks of Israel occupying 77 percent
pre-Six Day War lines of 1967 when
of "historic Palestine" while the Pales-
Israel, in fact, occupied only 14 per
tinian Arabs are relegated to only 23
cent of "historic Palestine"! Of course,
percent of "historic Palestine," namely
no realist honestly expects
the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Arab demands to stop there.
Any cursory examination of
Despite the 20 nations and
the history of Palestine from
five million square miles of
ancient times right through to
territory the Arabs gained
the time of the British Man-
after the defeat of the
date defines "historic Pales-
Ottoman Empire in World
tine" as the area on both sides
War I, it is the rare Arab
of the Jordan River. Britain,
that can stomach the
attempting to prolong its
thought of any independent
moribund colonial empire and
Jewish nation within their
JE ROME S.
to pacify the Arabs, immedi-
midst, regardless of size.
KAU FMAN
ately, upon assuming the man-
Somehow, Dr. Stein has
Spe cial to
date, lopped off 77 percent of
decided that a Palestinian
The Je wish News state will not be a threat ro
this territory, forming a new
political entity called Transjor-
Israel. Of course, Israel has
dan. It is thus the Arabs that
to be sure that the Arabs have no army
now have 77 percent of "historic
and no foreign treaties. Israel also
Palestine," not the Jews. The Jews are
must control all borders, the import of
the ones with the 23 percent and the
goods, maintain security over access to
Jerome S. Kaufman is national secre-
tary of the Zionist Organization of
America and president of the ZOA-
Metro Detroit District.
JEWISH HOMELAND from page 26
ern Jerusalem and also visit the Kotel
(the Western Wall of the Second Tern-
ple) as Shabbat nears.
Making friends with Israelis is
something special. "They need and
want us," Rosenthal said. "And we
need them and should want to be
their friends."
He ranks their friendship above the
finest souvenirs. "We're very impor-
tant to them," he said. "We're their
security blanket and they're ours."
Rosenthal assured us we'll have
ample time to do what Jews do best —
shop. "We know you have family and
friends you want to buy things for," he
said. "Besides, our spending will help
stimulate the Israeli economy."
We'll spend most nights in hotels
with a hospitality suite. "There'll be
more sweets than at some sweet tables
at bar mitzvahs," quipped Rosenthal.
What about that great unmention-
able — terrorism? "Things change
daily in Israel," Rosenthal acknowl-
edged. "We'll take advantage of
opportunities and we'll react to things
we can't control. Our safety will be an
utmost concern."
Jerusalem, etc. The fact that Israel,
even dealing with a relatively impotent
Palestinian entity, has not been able to
do any of these things does not
As for shlepping, Rosenthal says
don't fret. Hassle-free arrangements
include advance check-in at the Kahn
Jewish Community Center in West
Bloomfield two days before takeoff
so that all we need to bring to the
airport are our carry-ons. And as we
move from place to place, our bag-
gage will precede us to the next
hotel.
Oh, and don't bring a cell phone.
we're told, because it won't work seven
time zones from home. "But you'll see
more cell phones per person in Israel
than anywhere else in the world,"
Rosenthal said.
"And by the way, it's a local call to
God."
For information about registration
and fees, please call Michigan Miracle
Mission III Director Ruth Broder at the
Max M. Fisher Jewish Federation
Building, (248) 642-4260, ext. 228.
The payment deadline is Jan. 15.
To leave a message for Robert
Sklar, please call (248) 354-6060,
ext. 258, or e-mail
rsklar@thejewishnews.corn
becloud the thinking of Dr. Stein.
The other source of amazement is
Dr. Stein's concern for, and evaluation
of, Yassir Arafat. "President" Arafat is
called an "effective deputy sheriff" for
Israel! Stein chooses to ignore Arafat's
oft-repeated ploy of using Hamas to
play bad cop/good cop. He has turned
Arab riots and terrorism off and on
like a faucet through adept use of his
Hamas ally and his own Fatah terrorist
organization.
As to Arafat himself, he has repeat-
edly declared his intention to have a
Palestinian state from the Jordan River
to the Mediterranean, with "holy
Jerusalem" as his capital. There is no
Israel included in Arafat's thinking, on
his stationery or on the maps of
"Palestine" in his office.
Many Jews evidently like to believe
that Arafat's actions and declarations
are just so much bluster and rhetoric
for domestic consumption. Some of us
are old enough to remember that the
previous generation of Jews evaluated
Adolph Hitler in the same manner.
Unfortunately, judging by the writings
of Kenneth Stein and the actions and
commentary of others in the Ameri-
can Jewish and Israeli communities,
we are currently engulfed in the same
self-deluding misconceptions.
❑
LASTING PEACE from page 26
dam Hussein has left the world no
other choice.
Through UN resolution after UN
resolution, the world community has
repeatedly demanded that Saddam
Hussein destroy his weapons of mass
destruction and the means to deliver
them. Last month, Saddam Hussein
promised anew to comply with these
UN resolutions and to cooperate fully
with UN weapons inspectors. The
Report of the UN Special Commis-
sion made clear that Saddam Hussein
once again broke his word.
Since Saddam Hussein refuses to
comply with the UN resolutions, I
supported the president's decision to
use military force either to compel
compliance or to reduce, to the best of
our ability, Iraq's capability to build
and deliver weapons of mass destruc-
tion and threaten its neighbors.
I regret that the Iraqi people have
suffered for so long as a result of the
actions of Saddam Hussein. But I
believe that in the long term they, as
well as the Middle East and the rest of
the world, will be safer if Saddam
Hussein cannot threaten world peace.
THE TRUTH from page 25
Today, there are national and interna-
tional workshops on Christian-Jewish
relations. There are academic depart-
ments in colleges and universities that
focus specifically on Jewish-Christian
studies. And there are a growing num-
ber of Jewish-Christian institutes
around the country that are connected
to Christian colleges and universities.
There is also the Ecumenical Insti-
tute for Jewish-Christian Studies in
Southfield, founded by the late Rev.
James Lyons. We are not affiliated
with a particular institution but relate
to all the churches, synagogues,
schools and other organizations of
greater Detroit through our research
and educational programs.
The mission of the Ecumenical
Institute is twofold:
• to peel away the layers of history
and expose the truth that Judaism and
Christianity are equally valid ways to
the one God, Judaism for Jews, Chris-
tianity for non-Jews, and, therefore,
have much to learn from each other.
• to communicate what we learn
together in a variety of ways in order
to correct the teachings and attitudes
toward the other so that we can all
obey God's commandment — "Thou
shalt not bear false witness against thy
neighbor." ❑
I regret that the leadership of the
House of Representatives continued
the impeachment debate during the
military operations in Iraq. When the
matter comes to the Senate, I hope
and believe that the Senate will bring
this matter to a close in a way that
heals the wounds inflicted by the
excessive partisanship of the House.
I think it is possible that we can reach
our conclusion in the Senate fairly
quickly. The public desires and deserves
a prompt resolution, regardless of
whether people favor removal from
office, censure or neither. An early bipar-
tisan resolution could close this ugly
chapter and help heal our nation.
❑
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12/25
1998
Detroit Jewish News
27