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Tans, the world over, haven't yet
begun to flex our power or influence.
You'll never know where we'll pop up
from. We're represented in every strata
of society, and our ranks are increasing
ten-fold every day of every year.
"For some people, these grotesque
murders and shootings are inspiring,"
Potok said. "They are seen as a great way
of bringing new people into the revolu-
tionary Aryan fold, and in fact it may be
that some people are inspired to the
point that they, too, pick up the gun."
In the wake of last week's shooting,
Jewish officials have been exploring
possible responses to protect against
future anti-Semitic attacks.
At a satellite conference for approx-
imately 55 Jewish federations around
the country, leaders from the United
Jewish Communities and Anti-
Defamation League urged Jewish insti-
tutions to review their security proce-
dures — but not to go overboard.
"We need awareness, rather than
armed bunkers or fortresses," said
Abraham Foxman, national director
of the ADL.
Foxman said he is troubled by the
fact that some Jews around the coun-

try are discussing whether to wear
skullcaps in public or let their children
ride school buses bearing names of
Jewish institutions.
Some concede that there may be, in
fact, little that can be done to prevent
an attack.
"When you're talking about terror-
ism, as we all know from experience
with Israel, if you have a person or
people who have an ideology they're
devoted to and have the training and
the wherewithal to carry it out, it's
going to be virtually impossible to
stop every attack," said Rabbi Cooper
of the Wiesenthal Center.
But some now argue that it may be
time to give law enforcement greater
authority to track hate groups and
root out terrorists before they strike.
In a guest column published in the
New York Times last week that drew
praise from many Jewish leaders,
Foxman argued that the Justice
Department and the FBI are "so ham-
strung" by fear of lawsuits from the
American Civil Liberties Union and by
complaints by conservative lawmakers
about overstepping their bounds that
"they can't act aggressively."

e
n n
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ings lately, and I'm kind of
worried," he said. "It's way dif-
ferent than the situation in
Europe before World War II,
with so much government
involvement, but it still
reminds you of the things of
the past.
He said the incidents were
caused by "sick-minded peo-
ple," with some loose con-
nection to each other. They
"probably like what the
Nazis did to us, and would
like to do it again."

3K, a IN

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OnCh:,

After Granada Hills,

Jews counted the risks to
themselves and their children,

savoured the support of the majority

community — and decided not

to be imprisoned by fear.

Waking Up To What

Buford O'Neal Furrow Jr. shot up the
Los Angeles Jewish center as "a wake-
up call to America to kill all the Jews,
says Jo Hershkowitz, a health care con-
sultant from Lawrenceville, Ga. "Well,
the more you publicize that ... you're
communicating his message for him."
Hershkowitz's complaint was one of
the mixed messages being sent by
Atlanta-area Jews as they tried to corn-
prehend the meaning of this summer's
seemingly unending violence.
"The city too busy to hate" has been
particularly hard hit by hate-driven vio-
lence: a teenage gunman opened fire at

3)

Heritage High School in nearby
Conyers, Ga., last May wounding six;
Mark Barton slaughtered a dozen indi-
viduals at day trading offices in the
heart of Buckhead, the city's most
upscale neighborhood. Three Jews were
among the dead and wounded.
Watching a Sunday softball game in
suburban Alpharetta, Hershkowitz
seemed worlds away from the virulence.
But she and her friends insisted every-
one is at risk these days, not just Jews.
Even if Jewish institutions decided
to beef up security, they said, it would
still be impossible to guarantee safety.

FEAR AND COMFORT on page 10

Photo by AP /Los Angeles Times, Paul Mo rse

same city. Meeting Sunday over dinner
ira Berman has a built-in
at E.G. Nicks in West Bloomfield to
barometer. As a survivor
celebrate their 50th anniversary of
of the Holocaust, she
arriving in Detroit, their conversations
knows when to worry,
covered a host of everyday subjects.
and she's worried now.
But the shootings at the North
The shootings in Los Angeles, the
Valley Jewish Community Center in
shootings in Chicago and the syna-
Los Angeles was on their minds and,
gogue burnings in Sacramento are not
isolated incidents, she says, and even if while they never made it a focal point
for the evening, in private conversation
they are, they are something to be very
they shared their sense of foreboding.
concerned about.
William Weiss, 74, who said he
Before World War II, the Nazis
feels he was born after
were knocking out
his liberation from
windows, killing one
Dachau on April 29,
Jew here one Jew
Opposite page:
1945, said he's worried
there, and take a
Shikela Jackson, right,
not just about hate
comforts Olivia Cohen-Cutler,
look at what hap-
groups, but the lone
center, as Cutler's son Donald
pened," she said.
looks on during a unity rally
wolf copycat.
She worries a lot
on Sunday in the aftermath of
"They want to
because "it gets quiet
the Jewish Community Center
become heroes," he said.
for a short time then
shootings in Los Angeles.
Mira's sister, Rena
it starts up again.
Berman, said the
You read the news
recent violence against
and see what's going
Jews
has
been
bothering
her a lot.
on. It's horrible."
"We
have
strong
memories
about
Berman is one of a group of 10
it," she said. "I think we're more sensi-
Holocaust survivors who have met reg-
tive than anybody else. People who
ularly in Detroit over the last half cen-
tury, since their liberation at the end of didn't go through it don't understand."
Joe Berman, 83, Rena's husband
World War II. Some were brothers and
who worked in a labor camp, said he
sisters who survived, and others were
isn't as worried, but is still concerned.
friends, but they all came to America
"I start thinking of the new happen-
on the same boat and settled in the

"This is too timid an approach given
the current rhetoric of these groups and
its ability to inflame their more unsta-
ble adherents," Foxman wrote.
"The Constitution provides for the
civil liberties of citizens, but it is not a
prescription for suicide; it should
enable us to protect our civil liberties
against those who have no respect for
the nation or would destroy it."
Kenneth Stern, an American Jewish
Committee specialist on anti-Semitism
and extremism, said Congress must do
more to address hate violence and its
core causes.
"These (extremists) are people
who are saying we're going to make
America more American by killing

Los Angeles
police officer
Kelly Artz
paints over a
swastika that
was spray-
painted on a
wall at Temple
Knesset Israel
in Los Angeles
last weekend.

minorities, and we still haven't had
a national discussion and congres-
sional hearings on this, even after
the Oklahoma City bombing,"
Stern said.
President Bill Clinton, for his part,
has appealed to Congress to pass
common-sense" laws tightening gun
control and expanding the federal hate
crimes statute.
But in a private meeting with
Jewish leaders last week, he acknowl-
edged the uphill battle gun control
legislation faces.
The National Rifle Association
"runs the House and nearly runs the
Senate on this issue," Clinton was
quoted as saying. ❑

"

8/20
1999

Detroit Jewish News

7