The JN
Market
Place

accounting

Explore
the
Classified
Market
Place and
get in touch
with some
of the best
resources
your
community
has to offer!

H W P tg t !

Y/ 04 /1 A

2 Complete

Show Rooms
of Floor Safes,
Wall Safes,
Gun Safes &
Drop Safes.

TL 15 & TL 30 Safes in Stock

WE CAN PROTECT YOU!

248-858-7100

UNLIMITED
S 1991
FEES ORCHARD
LAKE RD

SYLVAN LAKE, MI
Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri 9:00 - 5:00

Wed 9:00-2:00 • Sat 2:00-5:00

SPECIAL COMMENTARY

Child Sacrifice

or tolerance for, such practices.
Ramat-Gan
That the Palestinian leadership
ccording to the Palestinians,
could encourage such behavior as part
more than 40 children have
of their political and military cam-
been killed in the waves of
paign against Israel, or for any other
violence and confrontations
purpose, is beyond belief or explana-
that began at the end of September.
tion.
They have been killed in the front
After first buying into the Palestin-
lines, providing cover for the armed
ian propaganda, the forces of morality
Palestinian militias with machine guns
in the world are beginning to confront
and other weapons seeking to over-
this horrible reality.
whelm isolated Israeli guard posts.
Sweden's Queen Silvia was among
The outnumbered Israeli soldiers,
the first voices of conscience
defending the civilians
outside of Israel to raise this
behind these outposts, can-
issue. In a meeting of the
not see the children through
World
Childhood Founda-
the small slits and openings
tion that took place at the
(as was clearly the case at the
United Nations, she strongly
Netzarim crossing in Gaza).
criticized Palestinian parents
The tragic images of these
for abusing their children in
young victims provide first-
this way. "As a mother, I'm
rate propaganda to use
worried about this. I'd
very
against Israel.
like
to
tell them to quit.
Interviewed by journalists
GERALD M.
very dangerous. The
This
is
after these tragedies, some
STEINBERG
children should not take
parents of these young vic-
Special to
part."
tims refer to their children as
the Jewish News
Queen Silvia's is not the
martyrs whose
shaheeds
only voice to be raised
lives were given willingly and
against this practice. A few
proudly to the Palestinian
journalists
have begun to ask difficult
cause in fighting the hated Zionist
questions
to
the Palestinian spokes-
enemy.
men
whose
presence
on interview pro-
In a scene that was unbelievably
grams in newspaper reports is so ubiq-
shocking, one mother boasted that she
uitous. There are, of course, no good
bore her son precisely for this purpose,
and the father proudly claimed credit
for providing the training. (The par-
ents will also receive a sizeable finan-
cial "reward" from the Palestinian
Authority.)

A

—

The Lesson Of Isaac

ARNOLD

Automotive Group Ltd.

LINCOLN

Mercury vie

Gil Pratt

LEASING MANAGER
Your West Side Specialist

(810) 445-6000

Gratiot Ave.
(at 12 Mile Road)
Roseville, Michigan 48066
Fax (810) 771-7340

For a people who count Abraham (or
Ibrahim) among their ancestors, this
willful child sacrifice violates the fun-
damental tenets of morality and
ethics. The message of Abraham's non-
sacrifice of Isaac was, and remains,
first and foremost, the absolute rejec-
tion of such practices.
This prohibition, for the children
of Abraham — Jews and, later, Chris-
tians and Moslems — stands in sharp
contrast to the pagan and religious
idolatry that existed at that time, and
apparently still exists in some cultures.
Child sacrifice was the most funda-
mental expression of idolatry, and
forms the basis for the central biblical
message, prohibiting any contact with,

Professor Gerald M. Steinberg is

director of the Program on Conflict Res-
olution and Negotiation Political Stud-
ies at Bar Ilan University in Ramat-

DETROIT

3 10727

2000

46

jig
s
=

Classifieds

GET

Results!

(248) 354-5959

Gan, Israel. His e-mail address is:
gerald@vms.huji.ac.il

Children on the
front lines will
haunt Palestinian
society.

answers, and the questions themselves,
as well as the very visible discomfort
of the Palestinians, speak for them-
selves.
The dispatch of children to the
front lines, in a brutal war that has no
purpose or justification, will haunt
Palestinian society for generations.
Indeed, an increasing number of
Palestinians are upset by the high
price of Yasser Arafat's adventures
and, in particular, the cynical
exploitation of their children. As
these young victims are buried, and
the war produces only more suffer-
ing, primarily for the Palestinians
themselves, the promise of martyr-
dom seems less appealing.
Suddenly, the game of provoking

the Israeli soldiers and playing before
the news cameras, while Palestinian
gunmen fire from behind, has become
deadly.

The UN Could Help

Eventually, enough of these parents,
and the children themselves, will bring
the sacrifices for Arafat's war to a stop.
They will need the support from
many other parents and voices of
morality around the world.
Instead of investigating politically
based charges of Israeli human rights
violations, Mary Robinson, the com-
missioner responsible for human
rights for the UN, can save the lives of
Palestinian children by.following the
lead of Queen Silvia.
When Arafat was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize, it was not for send-
ing children to be sacrificed as part of
a wider war of terrorism and brutality
against Israel.
By revoking this award, the Norwe-
gian prize committee would reverse
some of the damage it caused in the
first place, and send a powerful mes-
sage in support of basic human moral-
ity. It would also help to save Palestin-
ian children. LI

LETTERS

Gore-Lieberman
Ticket In Doubt

In your editorial ("Al Gore For Pres-
ident," Oct. 6, page 41), you
endorse the Gore-Lieberman ticket.
You claim certain differences
between the presidential candidates
tilted in favor of your endorsement,
but you say nothing about the vice
presidential candidates, nor why
_Joseph Lieberman is Al Gore's
choice. Isn't this important?
How can you endorse Lieberman,
when:
1. He has respect for avowed anti-
Semite Louis Farrakhan.
2. He remained silent, as Gore, in
his populist pandering, obliterated
Lieberman's political positions on
school vouchers, affirmative action,
and media violence and sex.
3. He has now abandoned those
previously held positions, callously
ignoring that he is still Conntecticut's
senator and that his constituents elect-
ed him because of those positions.

LETTERS

on page 48

