0 inion

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The Issue Is Us

Dry Bones

CO

ver the last decade, we American Jews
have been in the vanguard of the move-
ment seeking a permanent, negotiated
peace in the Mideast. In doing so, many
of us became almost complacent about the
inevitability of peace, convinced that the
Palestinians and the mass of Arabs in
neighboring countries — Egypt, Jordan,
Lebanon and even Syria — were ready to concede
Israel's right to a secure existence.
Yes, Israel would have to give up its control of
security in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, but
that would be OK because, ultimately, Palestinians
and Israelis were going to be partners in building
strong, stable nations.
The violence that began last Sept. 28 put an end
to all that. And now American Jews are going to
have to decide if they have the will to stand up for
what Israel will have to do over the coming years,
because some of it is not going to be pretty.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, elected on a promise
of restoring security, clearly took the gloves off 10 days
ago with the strong air attacks on Syrian military
emplacements and the massive tank assault that tem-
porarily cut the Gaza Strip into three pieces. Even after
the tanks withdrew — following U.S. Secretary of State
Colin Powell's criticism of the foray as "excessive and
disproportionate" — the message was clear that Israel
will reply to attacks with far more strength and imme-
diacy than was the norm in the eight years since the
Oslo accords were signed.
One question for American Jews is how they can
now support actions that six months ago many of
them would have condemned. Another is whether
they, too, are prepared to take off the gloves in the
coming battle for public opinion and, if they are,
what they will say?

To the first question, we answer that the Palestinians
and their supporters in the Arab world rewrote the

Related coverage: page 20

1
Lime.
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rules by launching their new intifada (Palestinian
ORIGINAL
souot-AoK)
uprising). It was an intentional slap in the face to
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! 114E
an Israel that had made an incredibly generous
offer at Camp David. The subsequent actions,
wATER IN ThIE m4 NEW
that have included shootings, bomb-
t-INE -
KiK)E12.6 -1
ings and mortar attacks cannot go
DRew
As A
BELOW
unanswered. If Israel does not respond
strongly, it will give the Arab world
ME
more reason to believe that the state
has lost the will to defend itself.
We may not agree with every action that
Sharon and his military advisers take, but we
are in favor of carefully planned and executed
strikes at the people and sites initiating terror-
ist attacks. Sharon must do what is necessary
to protect the security of Israel's people and
vital interests. At the same time, he needs to
MeA) RED 1,1 K)6-
realize his actions, and reactions, are magnified
DR6 03
by the region's general instability.
To the second question, we believe that
America's Jewish community must raise its
voice in Washington and in cities around the
country to explain why the Palestinian actions
must not be tolerated. Some major Jewish
organizations have been silent or timorous,
saying they wanted to give the Bush adminis-
tration more time to formulate a Mideast poli-
cy. What they really meant was that they val-
ued access to the administration more than
they valued honesty.
ardly subhumans.
Outside the Beltway, Jewish activism has taken
This isn't an attack on Israel — it is an attack on
a back seat while the emergent Arab-American
us.
We must respond with exactly the same mix of
leadership tries to seize the driving wheel. Lulled
force
and intelligence that we hope Israel itself uses.
by the apparent progress since Oslo, we failed after
Israel
isn't perfect — it hasn't always dealt fairly
the al-Aqsa rioting to look for local opportunities
with
its
own
Arab populations, for example, and its
to explain who had been the aggressor and who
continued expansion of many West Bank settle-
the peace-seeker.
ments is stubbornly wrong — but its flaws do not
We have to realize that the Arab Muslim world is
include teaching its population to hate and kill Mus-
trying not just to delegitimize Israel, but to deny
lims. And if we now sit comfortably idle, assuming
Judaism. Its mullahs say there is no Temple Mount,
that our fellow Americans will automatically under-
no Holocaust. Arab children go to camp for training
stand
the rights and wrongs of the Palestinian attack
as Paradise-bound suicide bombers. Arab govern-
on
human
decency, we will have only ourselves to
ment-controlled media promote the most vile
blame
if
that
attack succeeds. ❑
descriptions of Jews as avaricious, treacherous, cow-

t-1 1 r-

EDITO RIAL

A Strong
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Israel Needs Us Now

I

sat quietly as my fellow synagogue board
members spoke of Detroit Jewry's January
solidarity mission to Israel, a short four-day
visit designed to lend support to our belea-
guered brethren.

Allen Olender is secretary of the American Jewish
Committee/Michigan Chapter and serves on the boards
of Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills and
Congregation Beth El in Traverse City. He serves on the
Great Lakes and Rivers Regional Board of the United
Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. You can reach
Allen at (248) 737-8459 or AD79@aol.com

ALLEN
OLENDER

Community
Views

At 5 1 , although active since
high school in Detroit's Jewish
community, I was one of the 80
percent of American Jews who
have never been to Israel.
Admittedly, I hate to fly ...
let alone halfway around the
world into a "war zone."
We had it planned, though.
Our daughter would be bat
mitzvah in September of 2002
and perhaps we would go to
Israel "next" summer.
Then came the final com-

ments from my colleague sitting next to me; a pas-
sionate plea to visit Israel "now." Empty airports,
closing hotels, a country abandoned by its tradition-
al tourists — Israel needs us now.
I came home feeling down. I should have been
on that short mission. It was my chance. As I
relayed my feelings to my wife, Amy, the inspira-
tional light she is, her response was a surprising,
"Then let's go for Passover." And that, my friends,
begins our tale.
We met with Adat Shalom Synagogue Rabbi
Daniel Nevins, who spent a generous morning with

ISRAEL continued on page 29

4/27
2001

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