Living Well

Saute florets in batches until golden
brown on all sides. Drain on paper
towels.
5. Salt and pepper florets and serve
immediately with lemon wedges.
Yield: 4-6 servings

OVEN-FRIED SMOKED
SALMON CROQUETTES
3 /4 c. matzah meal
About 1 pound canned salmon,
drained, bones and skin removed
2 large eggs beaten
2 T. chopped fresh dill
1 /4 c. finely minced onions
5-6 oz. smoked salmon, cut into
fine shreds
1 /4 c. flour
Freshly ground black pepper to
taste
Coating:
3 T. mayonnaise
2 T. Dijon mustard
1 T. fresh lemon juice
Olive oil for frying
Lemon wedges
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a
baking pan, warm some olive oil. Add
matzah meal. Season with salt and
pepper and toss to combine. Spread in
an even layer. Toast in oven until
golden. Stir occasionally to avoid
burning. Reserve.
2. Raise oven temperature to 450
degrees.
3. In a large bowl, flake the canned
salmon well. Add eggs, dill and onion,
smoked salmon, and flour. Combine
thoroughly. Season with pepper. Form
mixture into 4-6 hamburger-shaped
patties.
4. Prepare coating. In a shallow
bowl, whisk mayonnaise, mustard
and lemon juice. Put reserved
matzah meal on a plate. Using your
fingers, spread each croquette on all
sides with mayonnaise mixture. Roll
each in the meal to coat well. Pat
coating firmly on croquettes.
Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
5. With the oil, generously grease a
baking sheet large enough to hold cro-
quettes without touching. Heat it in the
oven until oil sizzles. Gently shake off
excess meal from croquettes. With a
spatula, arrange them on the hot baking
sheet. Bake until the bottoms are crisp
and golden, 5-7 minutes.
Turn and bake until golden on the
other side, 3-4 minutes longer. Serve
immediately with lemon wedges.
Yield: 3-4 servings ❑

Recipes adapted from "The Gefilte
Variations" by Jayne Cohen, Simon and
Schuster.

Teens

Whose Land Is It?

Teens winning essay presents the case
for Israels claims.

MIRA SAMET
Special to the Jewish News

I

Jew, I feel that having a homeland is
important. Even if I cannot make
aliyah to Israel, I feel that it remains
my spiritual home. Israel provides a
sense of community and solidarity for
the Jewish people, and for all people
who have religious ties to the area.
My family also has ancestral ties to

srael's future is as unclear and
questionable as the root of the
Middle East conflict itself,
which stems from the question,
Whose Land Is It? Palestinians and
Israelis have radically different
views on who has more right to
the land, in a dispute that has
been going on for decades.
Through the peace process,
led by assassinated Israeli Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin, many
thought that the conflict would
finally be resolved, but the lat-
est incidents of violence seem
to indicate that the two peoples
have not yet reached an agree-
ment about whose claims to
the land are more valid. Thus,
before the Israelis and
Palestinians can coexist peace-
fully, a conclusion must be
reached: To whom does Israel
Contest representative Shelly Komer Jackier
rightfully belong? In my opin-
awards prizes to essay writers Mira Samet, John
ion, Israel belongs to the Jewish Sloan, Ariella Lis and Benjamin Siegel.
people.
The land of Israel belongs to
Israel, which gives the land personal
the Jewish people because it is the
significance. My mother is a fourth-
only Jewish state in existence, whereas
generation Israeli, and my ancestors
the Arabs control approximately 99
were among the pioneers who built
percent of the land in that area. As a

••••,Z44.,

•

The winners of an essay contest in memory of Yitzhak Rabin were
announced by the Michigan/Israel Connection of the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit during last month's program commemorating the fifth
anniversary of the late Israeli prime minister's assassination. Rabin was killed
after a peace rally in Tel Aviv on Nov. 4, 1995.
First place in the contest went to Mira Samet, 14, of Oak. Park.
Benjamin Siegel, 1.5, of Bloomfield Hills took second. There was a third-
place tie: Ariella Lis, 14, of Farmington Hills and John Sloan, 14, of
Huntington Woods. Mike Glazier, 16, of West Bloomfield was a finalist.
Prizes of $3,000, $1,250 and $750 were given to the top three winners
for use toward an Israel program approved by the Jewish Federation's
Michigan/Israel Connection.
The contest was sponsored by the Jewish Federation's Women's
Campaign and Education Department and the Michigan/Israel Connection.

and fought for the creation of the
state.
In addition to spiritual claims, the
Jews have legal rights to Israel. The
Jewish National Fund purchased the
land with contributions from Jews
around the world; therefore, it right-
fully belongs to the Jews. In addi-
tion, much of the disputed territory
was gained during wars, which were
instigated by Arab nations whom the
Palestinians supported, with the
intent of destroying Israel.

Weaker Claims

Although there are many people that
support the position of the
Palestinians, I feel that their claims
are much less substantial than those
of the Israelis. An argument made
for the Palestinians is that they want
Israel, their homeland, back. In
truth, Palestine never really existed.
In 70 C.E., the Romans conquered
Israel, destroyed the Temple and
exiled the Jews by force. It was the
Romans who first used the name
"Palestine," which they derived from
the Philistines, a people that had
been conquered by Israel earlier, to
further insult the people they had
just exiled.
Also, "Palestine" has always been
ruled by another country, never by
Palestinians. One of these countries,
Great Britain, gave the land to the
Jewish people to become their home-
land. How can the Palestinians sud-
denly want back "their" land, which
never existed in the first place?
In fact, the territory in dispute was
captured from Jordan's King Hussein
in the [1967] Six-Day War. To date,
Jordan has not requested the return of
these territories. Whereas Israel has
made many concessions by returning
captured territories to Arab nations,
Israel has never asked for repayment
of lands confiscated by the Arab
nations, unlike the Palestinians who
are constantly demanding more and
more land.
In conclusion, I firmly believe that
Israel belongs to the Jewish people. It
has always been the Jewish spiritual
homeland for Jews everywhere, includ-
ing me. The Jewish people have and
always will have a spiritual bond to the
State of Israel. The Jews also possess
legal claims to the area and most of the
Palestinian arguments to the contrary
are insubstantial.
Hidden in a haze of violence,
hate and wishful thinking lies the
truth: Israel belongs to the Jewish
people. ❑

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