Taking Peace Personally

Incoming state ADL official talks of Arafat and local hate.

'Mt•'`‘‘',, •••-0,4,-4

From lefi• Howard Berkowitz (ADL national chair),
Yasser Arafat, Richard Nodel, Marcia Nodel,
Shelley Parker (chair of the NY ADL regional board).

HARRY KIRSBAUM
Staff Writer

ichard Nodel was under-
standably excited after the
meeting with Yasser Arafat
laSt month and eager to talk
about it with his brother in Netanya.
But, Nodel recalled, his brother, a
22-year Israeli army veteran, "wasn't
happy about it at all — it was dis-
turbing to him."
"This was a microcosm of the
whole conflict that many of us have in
sitting down with the Palestinians,"
Nodel said, now back in his Southfield
office.
Nodel, a 51-year-old real estate
entrepreneur, the incoming chairman
of the Michigan region of the Anti-
Defamation League, talked about
being in Israel for 10 days with other
national and regional ADL leaders as
well as about the issues facing
Michigan and the ADL itself.
"Arafat, who's a great politician,
knows the audience to whom he's
speaking and knows where our mes-
sage is going to be carried," he said.
"He admitted that peace will benefit

Harry Kirsbaum can be reached at
(248) 354-6060, ext. 244, or by email
at hkirsbaum@thejewishnews.com .

8/20
1999

16 Detroit Jewish News

the Palestinians more than the Israelis,
and told us they are suffering more.
"Arafat also recognizes that Israel
holds him responsible for controlling
all the elements within the Palestinian
political spectrum," he said.
The group of 25 leaders from half
of 30 ADL regional offices also met
with officials of the new Israeli gov
ernment, the King and Queen of
Jordan, and former Prinie Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu.
Nodel called his meeting with Bibi
interesting.
"He did not waver one inch from
his previous positions in spite of the
statement that the Israeli electorate
had made," Nodel said. "He said,
`The job of Israel is to lower the
expectations of the Palestinian. And
that's how you negotiate with them.
Once you lower the expectations as to
what they're going to get, then you
have an easier job.'"
"I think that approach is one that
hasn't worked in Northern Ireland,
Serbia, and it won't work with the
Palestinians," said Nodel. "We need to
be more pragmatic, and Ehud Barak
appears to be."
According to Nodel, the Israeli peo-
ple are willing to give up the land the
Palestinians want "as long as it's not
irresponsible."

-

Almost Unacceptably Polite

Wfa.rcia Node]. had very ambiguous feelings when Yasser Arafat
iffiliwished her happy birthda y and kissed her hand.
As the wife of Richard Nodel, soon-to-be chairman of the Anti-
Defamation League/Michigan Region, she was part of the 25-mem-
ber delegation of ADL leaders visiting Israel last month. The tour
included a trip to Palestinian headquarters outside of Ramalah.
"On one hand, you get caught up in the moment that you're
meeting this world figure, and you're kind of in awe of him and
you're smiling," she said. "Then I'm thinking look who he is Here is
a man at one time, he claims he's not one now, who was a terrorist
responsible for thousands of Israeli lives. It was a very uneasy feeling."
Driving home in the bus, the group was talking about their ,
experience with the Israeli guide who said a few things to put it
all in perspective, she said.
"He doesn't want to trust, he doesn't want to believe, that the
Palestinians are any different than they were 20 years ago," she
said "But you have to believe that, if you want peace, you've got
31
to start at some point. I 1

"They're saying 'The reason we're
giving it to them is because we're
totally confident that we are strong
enough that if the Palestinians take
advantage of what we give them, we
have the strength to take it back or
deal with it.'"
Nodel has always taken a more per-
sonal view of Israel; his brother and
parents made aliya in 1970.

As a graduate ofDetroit's Mumfor--1 /
High School in 1966, he studied his-
tory and psychology at Michigan State
and Wayne State universities.
He married his wife Marcia 22 years
ago. In 1984, as part of what he called
"the great migration to the southwest,"
they moved to New Mexico.
When the ADL opened its New
Mexico office in the late 1980s in