Tustorn Tluthirr

Taut Cicchini

jo-r cAtett

Teach tolerance, Republicans say, but don't say
"hate crimes" education.

Matter Of
Semantics

Suits • Sportcoats
Tuxedos • Slacks • Shirts
Topcoats • Raincoats
Shoes • Sweaters • Socks

to

SHARON SAMBER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

rW.It

:

Washington

••••-'

Taut Cicchint

or (- Women

Skirt Suits • Pants Suits
Blazers • Slacks • Shirts
Topcoats • Accessories

PERSONALIZED SERVICE
IN YOUR HOME, OFFICE
OR IN OUR SHOWROOM

271 MERRILL
BIRMINGHAM • 48009

(248) 646-0535

One of more than 20 headstones damaged in the vandalism
last September at Westwood Cemetery in Inkster.

AdR 5 64410%;5 4 ,,,

ADL report shows

decline in antisemitic
Incidents, but Internet
still a worry.

HARRY KIRSBAUM
Sttaff Writer

Ur
i hik the Anti-Defamation
WV League cited a slight decrease
in antisemitic incidents across the
country last year, Michigan showed a
sharp decrease.
The ADL's annual audit found
1,547 incidents of antisemitism
nationally in 1999, down from
1,611 or 4 percent.
Incidents in Michigan fell 44 per-
cent, from 57 to 32 last year, according
to the report. Most of the decrease in
Michigan was attributed to a decrease

V S N

4/21
2000

18

372 Oullette Avenue • Windsor, Canada

ederal funding for hate crimes prevention
programs in America's schools, in place
since 1994, is in jeopardy.
Apparently, the problem is with the
phrase "hate crimes."
If those words were not used, some Republicans
say, the funding might not be at risk. For some legisla-
tors, the term has become so taboo that any mention of
it clouds the issue. But supporters of the programs say
the need for prevention should not be ignored.
Parents and political candidates often cite safety as
a top priority for the nation's schools, especially since
last year's Columbine High School shooting, which
some have called a hate crime.
Support for prevention programs is now caught up in
the larger debate on hate crimes legislation, a controver-
sial law that would remove impediments to federal prose-
cution of crimes committed on the basis of race, religion,
color or national origin, and would expand federal pro-
tections to crime victims who were singled out because
of their sexual orientation, gender or disability.

in harassments, threats and assauks.
"The decline in Michigan is real,
but this is not a scientific survey," said
Donald Cohen, ADL director,
Michigan Region. It only gives us
some indication. We continue to see
ar activity. And we also know that
some organizations have consolidated
and some have gone uhderground, but
the survey only tells us so much."
One example of where these
groups have gone underground has
been the Internet, said David Gad-
Harf, executive director of the Jewish
Community Council of
Metropolitan Detroit.
We are becoming increasingly con-
cerned, if not alarmed, with the hate-
filled sites on the Internet," he said.
"While they don't represent acts of vio-
lence or other items that are measured
by the ADL survey, nevertheless it rep-
resents a worrisome trend."
Both agreed that the. Jewish corn-

,

munity should not let its guard
down, here or nationally.
"Certainly, 1999 was known for
some very high-profile hate crimes
targeted at the Jewish community
around the country," Cohen said.
He cited the June firebombing of
three synagogues in Sacramento,
Calif.; the deadly shooting rampage
in Indiana and Illinois in July, when
Benjamin Nathaniel Smith mur-
dered two and injured nine others
before taking his own life; and the
Jewish Community Center shoot-
ings in suburban Los Angeles in
August, when Buford O'Neal
Furrow, then 37, allegedly shot and
wounded five in the JCC before
murdering Joseph Ileto, a Filipino
U.S, postal carrier,
The reality is that the organiza-
tion involved in the Midwest ram-
page has only grown since those inci
dents," Cohen said. 1111