COMMUNITY VIEWS The Price Of Peace Movingly Questioned JANET ARONOFF Special to The Jewish News I recently accompanied U.S. Sen. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) on a fact- finding mission to Israel. The senator brought along his sis- ter, a Franciscan nun, his daughter and son-in-law. From the start, it became evident that he wanted to keep the visit private because even though the trip was sponsored by the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), and the senator is a seasoned politician and keen supporter of Israel, he refused anyinterviews. But something happened on the trip that moved him so much that when he returned to the United States, he delivered a speech of Churchillian proportions on the Sen- ate floor. His words not only verbal- ized the deep fear that has been grow- ing within me, but they legitimized my feelings as well. Let me back up for a moment. Over the past year, I have been active in MATCKH — Mothers Against Teaching Children to Kill and Hate. The group of mothers and grand- mothers, modeled after NLkIDD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), is committed to exposing that Arab Palestinian children are being raised on a daily diet of hate and terror Janet Aronoff of Bloomfield Township is a co-founder ofM_ATCKI-1 and a member of the ZOA national board. toward Israel and Jews. For example, a scene from a Sesame Street-type TV program called "The Children's Club" portrays a young girl of 6 or 7_reciting a poem extolling the virtues of being a suicide warrior at the entrance of Jerusalem. If there was one thing I was deter- mined to do on this trip, it was to make sure the senator was exposed to these chilling images firsthand. So at our meeting in the King David Hotel with Itamar Marcus, the Israeli chairman of the Anti-Incite- ment Committee set up as a result of the NX7ye agreement, I arranged a viewing of "The Children's Club" program. Everyone in the room was shocked. But this is how Senator Mack put it: "I have a grandson about that age, the age of the little girl. How would I feel if he were being taught hatred on television? How would you feel if your govern- ment was teaching your children to hate? Could you conclude that they were serious about long-term peace with their neighbors?" It was actually Marcus' expose, in his capacity as head of the Center for Monitoring the Impact for Peace, which convinced us at MATCKH to continue with our work, even after the - TV programs were pulled off the air. The monitoring center has examined 140 textbooks published by the Pales- tinian Authority Ministry of Educa- tion for grades 1-12. In these text- books, the maps of the area are called "Palestine" without a trace of Israel; with its aircraft." "Extremely chill- c__ in g" were the words the senator used to describe his reaction to that afternoon in - the King David 4 Hotel. From then on, he did not fail to bring up this senti- ment wherever we went. Whether it was ta.r. a two-hour private reception at the prime minister's residence or at meetings with Israeli political leaders (we met with Anatole Sharansky, Moshe Arens, Ehud Olmert and Limor Livnat), or w later upon his return home when he addressed the presi- dent and his col- Prime Minister Binyamin and Sara Netanyahu with Janet leagues on the Senate Aronoff at her Bloomfield Township home during a Detroit floor, Senator Mack visit following his election in 1996 never failed to raise the issue. Two other meetings had a profound Jews and Israel are delegitimized and impact on Senator Mack and me as the jihad is glorified. well. The first was a private meeting The senator chose this example we had with Arabs who were being from a third-grade grammar lesson to persecuted for their Christian faith. describe the educational material to The details of the suffering and tor- his colleagues in the Senate. "Com- ture of those poor people did not leave plete the following blank spaces with a dry eye in the room. The second the appropriate word: 'The Zionist meeting was with a group of parents enemy . . . (blank) . . . civilians with of American children killed by Pales- its aircraft.'" The correct answer is, PRICE OF PEACE on page 30 "The Zionist enemy attacked civilians 4c. — Et 4k „ .e° •1! 0k LETTERS surprise — that the Conservative and Reform movements, with comprehen- sive, active and well-funded educa- tional divisions, had yet to meet the challenge presented by their own Schools' new media" needs. Further, the overall tone of the arti- cle was rather negative, while the prognosis (for using Judaic software in the classroom) is actually quite good. There are many new, exciting software packages, produced by independents and mainstream companies, reaching the market. There are more and more trained professionals entering the field, more and more talented individuals and companies pooling their energies and resources with interested institu- tions, more funding sources being identified, more on-line annotated databases of products and programs being made available, more emphasis 3/26 1999 28 Detroit Jewish News being placed on effective and realistic integration techniques and training, and more serious ongoing forums and conferences addressing the key issues. Finally, as a clarification, I was the initiator and a founding partner of the enterprise that created the CD- ROM edition of the Encyclopaedia. Judaica. Irving D. Goldfein, Ph.D. President, Infomedia Judaica Ltd. Southfield Sinai Quality Is Remembered It is with much sadness that I realize that Sinai Hospital, the very hospital whose groundbreaking I remember, is actually closing its doors ("Goodbye Construction began on Sinai in 1951. 6 Sinai; Hello Sinai-Grace" March 5). How can a hospital close its doors? From the time Sinai opened in 1953 until his untimely passing in June 1970, my father, Rabbi Dov Bakst, was its rabbi, supervising the operation of the first kosher kitchen, which prepared between 150 and 200 meals each day for patients who observed the laws of kashrut. He was also a counselor, teacher, conductor of religious affairs, translator and part- time psychologist at the hospital. His loyal professionalism on the com- munal scene and his warm yiddishe feel- ings of honor for each and every human being elevated the hospital and helped make it into the model of what a Jewish hospital should strive to be. Those v,rho had to spend time at Sinai Hospital during the nearly 50 years of its lifetime knew they were provided not only with the highest level of medical care, but also the highest level of spirituality. When the Jewish neighborhood moved five miles north, there was still a rabbi who con- tinued to walk those five miles to ensure each patient's comfort on Shab- bat and Yom Tov.