itorials

Editorials and Letters to the Editor are posted and archived on JN Online:
vvww.cletroitjewishnews.com

IN FOCUS

Rescue Without Politics

L

ate Sunday night, an Israeli rescue crew
expert at finding people in collapsed
buildings pulled a 3-year-old child out
of the rubble in Cinarcik, Turkey. The
child didn't know about politics. And the Israeli
crew that performed the near-miraculous event
didn't care if the child's family was Islamic funda-
mentalist, secular or anything else. Such efforts in
the aftermath of Turkey's devastating earthquake
are reminiscent of ones Israelis performed in
Kenya a year ago, which followed the bomb
attack on that country's U.S. embassy.
The State of Israel, to be certain, gains politi-
cally in the eyes of the world through such mis-
sions. But for the rescue workers and the people
they have helped in recent years — in Managua,
Armenia, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Rwanda,
Nairobi, Kosovo, Albania and now Turkey, that's
irrelevant. What they care about is that compe-
tent, willing professionals have come to provide
relief, rescue and comfort following natural or
manmade disasters. This help is an application of
the Jewish values of which we are proud. And it
graphically shows that maintaining peaceful rela-
tions — Israel and Turkey have a growing mili-
tary and economic relationship — can bring ben-
efits in unexpected ways. We wonder: If a similar
tragedy struck Syria, would Israeli crews be

D

allowed to help?
The Middle East, of which Turkey has always
been a hulking giant on the periphery, is, to be
certain, a powder keg of emotions, ethnicity and
conflict. Yet, the events of this past week show
that such characteristics need not define the
region. As the Mid-east peace talks progress, we
hope the leaders in Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere
again see that Israelis are far from being land-
obsessed ogres, a stereotype often promoted in
their countries state-run media. Israel, a perma-
nent citizen of the Middle East region, is dedicat-
ed to using its democratic framework to address
significant regional problems.
Even in a world numbingly accepting of mas-
sacre and disaster, the devastation of Turkey's
earthquake is excruciating in its depth. Reports
said that more than 40,000 people ultimately
could be found dead and another 200,000 made
homeless by the disaster.
Turkey's millions of families will live with
this tragedy until the end of their days. We
offer our prayers and assistance. The American
Jewish World Service and Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit are two of many agencies
coordinating relief supplies and funds. We urge
synagogues and other Jewish agencies to do
likewise. Li

Shaping Mideast Diplomacy

ear Richard Holbrooke:
Congratulations on your confir-
mation as our country's new United
Nations ambassador. You bring to
the job years of diplomatic experience and a
proven talent for solving difficult international
conflicts. We hope you will use those skills to
press for a change in the anti-Israel bias that has
kept the United Nations from playing a con-
structive role in the quest for Mideast peace.
That bias includes a long and discouraging
history of U.N. resolutions that seek to delegit-
imize Israel — resolutions so one-sided that most
dovish American Jews vehemently reject the
international body's involvement in the region.
Mr. Holbrooke, there is simply no excuse
for Israel's continued exclusion from the
regional groups that do much critical U.N.
business. Because Israel cannot win admission
to the Western Europe and Others Group
(WEOG), it is denied a rotating slot on the
Security Council and other important U.N.
bodies. Shamefully, Iraq, which even today is
being bombed by U.S.-led forces because of its
violation of terms of the Gulf War cease-fire, is
eligible for that Security Council seat honor, as
a member of the Asian regional group.
A new government in Israel is pressing for-
ward with the peace process; now would be an
appropriate time to change Israel's indefensible
exclusion.

Mr. Holbrooke, you are no doubt aware
that settlements are a controversial subject
among American Jews. But the blatant unfair-
ness of the U.N. action — this is a body that
is loathe to condemn Palestinian terrorism,
but routinely uses its various forums to casti-
gate Israel — points to the need for a funda-
mental realignment in the way the United
Nations looks at the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The bias extends even to simple respect for
the Jewish people. U.N. bodies refuse to
schedule important sessions on Christian and
Moslem holidays. Jews get no such considera-
don; the General Assembly is holding the
opening session of this year's debate on Yom
Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.
American Jews are internationalists; our
community has long supported the goals of
the United Nations. And Jewish groups have
been among the few that supported appropria-
tions to pay this country's U.N. arrears.
But we also have become discouraged by
decades' worth of overt hostility to Israel and a
long succession of U.N. policies, statements
and actions that only make peace in the region
harder to attain.
Mr. Holbrooke, you defied the experts and
brokered a successful cease-fire in Bosnia. We
sincerely hope you will have the same success
in undoing 50 years of misguided and coun-
terproductive U.N. Mideast policy. [_I

JARC Wave Rider

Supporters raised money for the Southfield-based Jewish Associa-
tion for Residential Care on Aug. 14-15 at The Wave Auto Spa
in. Commerce Township. JARC offers community-based residen-
tial services for adults with developmental disabilities. Auto spa
owners Marc and Karen Rosenzweig, left, of Wolverine Lake
donated more than $4,000 in proceeds to JARC's Harris Chil-
dren and Family Division for assisting families with a special-
needs child. Hawking food on JARC's behalf were Joey Hodges,•
12, of West Bloomfield and his cousin, Austin Hodges, right.

LETTERS

Museum
Of Unity

Thank you for your Commu-
nity Views column, "Holo-
caust Museum Visit: A Trip of
Remembrance" (July 30).
• Like Stephanie Citron, I,
too, had the opportunity to
visit the U.S. Holocaust
Memorial Museum while in
Washington, D.C. I was both
educated and persohally
moved by my experience
there. I was especially interest-
ed in all the photos I saw —
pictures of men, women and
children, ordinary families,
who were discriminated
against simply because they
were Jewish. I thought that as
I studied their faces, they
could be my family, my
ancestors.
What a wonderful place
this is-for all people to learn

about hatred, love and hope. I
urge everyone to visit and
support the U.S. Holocaust
Memorial Museum as well as
the Holocaust Memorial Cen-
ter in West Bl000mfield.
As one survivor said, we
have to teach the world not to
hate, but to get along.
Sharon Fishman

Bloomfield Hills

Arab Relations
Are Strong

Your article on Richard
Nodel's visit to Israel and his
ADL background ("Taking
Peace Personally," Aug. 20)
was very interesting and infor-
mative. However, his visit
with Yasser Arafat could have
had better results if he had
only been better informed

LETTERS ON PAGE 40

8/27
1999

Detroit Jewish New

37