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Dry Bones
Concede The Reality
A
Furthermore, some Israeli actions have
made it easier for Arafat to plead his case
internationally.
The military incursions into six
Palestinian cities following the assassination
of Tourism Minister Avraham Zeevi were
probably necessary. But they certainly
heightened Palestinian anger as they
dragged on to no apparent security gain.
Israel has not loosened its economic stran-
glehold on the West Bank and Gaza, giving
the appearance of imposing aunilateral col-
lective punishment on a people whose
greatest misfortune now is their immoral
leadership. And, as Powell
noted, Israel continues to allow
expansion of housing iri settle-
ment areas that would almost
certainly have to go over to Palestinian con-
trol under any long-range agreement for a
Palestinian state with well-defined borders.
EDIT ORIAL
Related coverage: page 14
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o n es. or
riel Sharon has made his point about the
indifference of the Palestinian leadership
to stopping organized terrorist acts. Now,
the Israeli prime minister needs to recali-
brate his strategy and open the door a little wider to
the Mitchell-Tenet process that could actually
reduce the levels of violence on both sides.
For months, Sharon has insisted that a prescribed
six-week cooling off period cannot begin until seven
consecutive days pass with no Palestinian attacks on
Israelis. That period of abating tension is integral to
the plan put forward by former CIA director
George Tenet as a way to start the negotiation
process suggested last spring by a committee that
former Senator George Mitchell headed.
The reality, of course, is that hardly an hour
has gone by without such violence. In the
period from Nov. 10 to Nov. 18, according to
Sharon, Palestinian terrorists launched 268 attacks,
killing five people and injuring 59. That is a rate of a
bit more than one attack every hour, every day.
Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat has said
that he has been trying to stop the incidents by arrest-
ing terrorist leaders. But many in the Sharon govern-
ment say the arrests are a sham and that the terrorists
are released within hours to resume their dirty work.
In his Mideast policy speech Monday, U.S. Secretary
of State Colin Powell implicitly agreed, saying the
Palestinians must "arrest, prosecute and punish the
perpetrators of terrorist acts" and that he wanted to
see "real results, not just words and declarations."
Many of the terrorist factions privately harbor hopes
to take over if and when Arafat's leadership ends, so
they have a lot of incentive to delay any peace process.
Sharon's insistence on absolute tranquility — "com-
plete calm, no terrorism, no attacks, no incitement and
no violence. Seven days of testing, no less," he said
Sunday — effectively gives the terrorists a stranglehold
on achieving any meaningful truce.
Sense Of Urgency
The Powell speech was an acknowledg-
ment that the U.S. cannot continue to sit
on the sidelines and expect Sharon and
Arafat to make progress by themselves.
But his tough approach to Palestinian
violence affirms that Israel holds the
moral high ground and can afford to take the risk of
negotiating before gaining 100 percent quiet.
In a similar vein, delegates to the European Union
told Arafat that to earn EU recognition of a Palestinian
state, he must keep the terrorists in jail, possibly under
international supervision. Given the EU's previous carte
blanche endorsement of Arafat's leadership, the criti-
cism suggests that Sharon's message has gotten throu
But unless Sharon acts promptly and decisively, he
risks missing an opportunity for de-escalation. Given
that the Palestinians have spent the years since Oslo
teaching themselves to hate Jews and to murder them
when they can, Israel cannot realistically expect an
absolute end to the terror. But Sharon needs to show
the world that he is sincere in working for a meaning-
ful armistice, a breathing period in which both sides
can step away from a daily expectation of violence.
Perhaps he could settle for 95 percent tranquility.
It is galling the Israel must repeatedly demonstrate
that it is not the aggressor, that it truly does want to
live with its neighbors, that it does not fear a
Palestinian state based on assured recognition of
mutually acceptable borders. But it is a fact of glob-
al life. By easing the "seven days of quiet" rule just a
bit, Sharon would risk little and could gain a lot. ❑
Nurturing Jewish Identity
II
American Jews are swimming happily in that main-
stream, adds Steven M. Cohen, a Hebrew University
ow effectively are Jewish institutions
professor and demographer in Jerusalem,_ because we
reaching American Jews?
have found "widespread social acceptance."
Not all that well, according to three
And that means we don't have to live near one
experts who led a discussion of the issue
another to feel secure.
at the United Jewish Communities' General
"We're spreading across social and geo-
Assembly in Washington, D.C., Nov. 11.
graphic maps regionally and nationally,"
In the past, said Hayim Y. Herring, assis-
said Cohen. "Jews live further apart in the
tant executive director of the Minneapolis
suburbs, [which leads to] less affiliation."
Jewish Federation, "we created magnets that
Cohen was speaking in general terms, but
pulled Jews closer to the core institutions of
he could have been talking about Atlanta.
Jewish life."
When Eli Evans wrote his wonderful book
But today, only 25 percent of us are "core
on Southern Jewry, The Provincials, in the
Jews" who are closely tied to synagogues and
BOB
early 1970s, he noted Atlanta's thriving
other Jewish institutions — and the magnet
MENAKER
Jewish
community of some 16,000 people.
metaphor just doesn't work anymore. "Most
Today,
100,000 Jews call Atlanta and its
Contributing
of us live beyond the metaphor and in the
burgeoning suburbs home, according to
Editor
mainstream," Herring said.
Atlanta
most estimates. But, by the most optimistic projec-
tions, about 40 percent of Atlanta Jews are connect-
ed with "something Jewish," according to Jewish
Federation officials.
And the number of people-connected in some
fashion to a Jewish institution is not likely to grow
very much — in Atlanta or nationally — without
significant changes in the ways our organizations
hated, warn Cohen and-
reach out to the unaffiliated,
Herring.
Making A Connection
Judaism has never accepted the "one size fits all"
rubric, but Jewish organizations will have to work
harder to deal with what Cohen calls the era of the
MENAKER
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11/23
2001
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