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Al Gore For President

Blood On The Dove

D

protection, health care, protect-
emocracy gives each of
ing Social Security, how to use the
us the high privilege of
deciding whom we
remarkable budget surplus —
Gore's ideas are more likely to be
want to have as our
effective for all Americans than are
leaders. Making that choice should
never be a knee-jerk embrace of this
Bush's. That they also mirror many
historic Jewish views of the role of
or that candidate because he or she is a
it government in society is a happy fact.
Democrat or a Republican. Instead, it ought to
It
But Gore is also the better choice if we
happen after measuring each contender against our
really care about a lot of the things we say we care
own standards and concerns for our society, our
about, like women's rights to reproductive choice or
community and ourselves.
protection from domestic abuse, like meaningful gun
The 2000 presidential election does provide us
control, like a national hate-crimes law. Gore, for
with that opportunity, and as we have surveyed the
example, has long been absolutely committed to federal
field, we see some vital differences between the can-
support for research into breast cancer, which poses
didates, their policies and their likely performance in
such a specific threat to Ashkenazic women.
office. Those differences convince us strongly that
As a community, we understand how vital a
the Democratic ticket of Vice President Al Gore and
strong education system is to making real the
Sen. Joseph Lieberman would be far and away the
promise of equal opportunity for all minorities. The
best choice for all Americans and for Jewish Ameri-
cans in particular.
federal role in public schools has been historically
limited, with the states and cities the key players.
In passing, we applaud consumer advocate Ralph
Bush's record in Texas does nothing to make us feel
Nader's lonely pursuit of the presidency on the
he would actually care about the substance of
Green Party ticket. In an age of triumphant personal
improvement. And Gore's choice of Lieberman
wealth, we need to be reminded that repairing the
assures us that potential federal initiatives, including
world means caring for the environment and mak-
limited experiments with vouchers, at least will be
ing more sensible and informed choices about the
vigorously and honestly debated.
products we buy. Similarly, we note with happiness
Most vitally, the next president likely will choose
the collapse of the Reform Party campaign of televi-
at least two members of the Supreme Court as well
sion commentator Patrick Buchanan, whose shrill
as hundreds of federal appeals and district court
and often offensive beliefs do not merit even a first
electoral glance.
judges. It is crucial that those men and women be
nominated because they truly understand and
Foreign Issues
defend the delicate balance between individual
rights and the needs of the larger society. Gore's
Both Gore and his Republican opponent Gov. George
choices
will be better than Bush's.
W. Bush express the same commitment to Israel and
embrace the same processes in seeking a lasting peace
Character Issues
in the Middle East. We are glad to see, for example,
that Bush has learned from his father's mistakes why
Al Gore would bring to the Oval Office a much
deeper and more complex mind than would George
Israel should not be pressured by America to accept
W Bush. With apologies to Ronald Reagan, that is a
terms that do not reflect its long-term interests.
plus.
We remain concerned, however, that Bush's personal
Gore is also substantially more forceful and
and professional ties to the OPEC-dependent oil
dynamic than his opponent, qualities that will help
industry could affect his judgment at critical times.
him be effective as the leader of the country and of
And, for all the Republican rhetoric, the Gore plan to
the world. He is both deep and disciplined.
maintain our national military might calls for twice the
We have reservations about Gore, of course. Pre-
dollar increase that the Bush plan does, important
tending, for example, not to know that the Buddhist
wherever American strength is needed to combat dicta-
temple event was a fund-raiser and then retreating
torships that are ready to massacre minorities.
into legalistic hair-splitting instead of forthrightly
The most crucial factor that tilts us to Gore is the
admitting error was a major disappointment. We
depth of his experience in foreign affairs. He has dealt
hope
he has learned his lesson.
face-to-face with other world leaders, including Russia's
And we wouldn't be forthright if we didn't acknowl-
Vladimir Putin, and he has studied carefully the wide
edge that Gore's choice of Lieberman as his running
range of choices and consequences for specific policies
mate was exhilarating for the entire Jewish community.
and actions. He already commands a world respect that
Having a modern Orthodox Jew nominated for vice
Bush might never earn. Further, Gore will bring fresh
president lifts our spirits just as former Vice President
ideas to the Mideast peace process without sacrificing
Walter Mondale's selection of Rep. Geraldine Ferraro as
the momentum that President Bill Clinton has built so
energetically.
the vice-presidential candidate in 1984 thrilled millions
of women in America.
Domestic Issues
But ultimately the choice for voters is the presi-
dential one, between Al Gore and George W. Bush.
On all the big topics — education, environmental
By every reasonable criterion, the better choice is
Gore.
Related cover story: page 6

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❑

amal Aldura was not like Abraham. He was
not ready to sacrifice his 12-year-old son
Mohammed. But no ram stepped from a
burning bush to stop the anonymous bul-
lets. The French television crew that recorded the
moment did not have the power of the writer of
Genesis.
And yet, this modern vision resonates in our
souls, as we continue to hear the shofar sound for
5761.
Mohammed's death, like that of at least 58 oth-
ers killed as of Wednesday — including a dozen
Israelis, of whom nine were Israeli Arabs — was a
terrible way to begin a new year. The blood spilled
in Jerusalem and Bidya and Netzarim and Hebron
mocked the efforts of the politicians and the diplo-
mats who talk of "peace partners."
Is it possible that it was only a week earlier that
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat dined cordially at
Prime Minister Ehud Barak's home in Israel, that
only a few weeks earlier the world could have been
watching Camp David with hopes that a real deal
could be struck to end 52 years of armed hostility?
Who tore the wings from the dove?
The most obvious nominee is Ariel Sharon, the for-
mer Israeli defense minister who was relieved of his
command in 1982 after he moved his troops aside and
let the Lebanese Christian militias massacre Palestini-
ans at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. Now
Sharon is leader of the Likud Party and eager to hold
onto the job long enough to challenge Barak in the
elections likely to come later this year.
Sharon marched up to the Temple Mount eight
days ago to affirm, he said, that "Arabs have the
right to visit everywhere in the Land of Israel, and
Jews have the right to visit every place in the Land
of Israel." Even Binyamin Netanyahu had more
sense than that.
Of course, it was a deliberate provocation. The
Palestinian stone-throwers came out to vent their
anger not just at Sharon, who deserved it, but at the
men and women gathered to pray at the Mount's
Western Wall. And then it was out of control.
Sharon shamelessly handed a match to the Palestini-
ans, they lit it without a thought of consequences,
and now both sides can look at embers not yet cold,
at the waste of lives and of years of efforts to bring
stability to Arab and Jew alike.
The immediate challenge is to restore some kind
of tranquility, to let the passions of the moment
cool, to go back to the harder task of ending fight-
ing instead of preparing for it and inciting it. But a
deeper problem remains: how to get Muslim and
Jew, Arab and Israeli to recognize fully each other's
humanity and to quell the extremists who counsel
death.
When Abraham led Isaac up to what is now
known as the Temple Mount or the Haram al
Sharif, the lad was 9. Mohammed Aldura was 12
but already schooled in throwing rocks at Jews.
Both were little boys, shaped by powerful forces. As
Yom Kippur approaches, we should think hard
about how we want little boys to grow up. ❑

10/6

2000

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