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Dry Bones

The Photos Are Ours

he photos on the Memorial Room wall
show the faces of 260 young Michigan
Jews who gave their lives defending the
freedoms we enjoy in America.
The 260 clean-cut servicemen, attired in dashing
uniforms and dressy suits, could have been the poster
. boys of their generation — one that defeated fascism
and communism and built American prosperity.
And the now-aging soldiers at whose sides these
260 died in overseas wars — the Jewish veterans who
lived on to fulfill the destiny of their hallowed gener-
ation — don't want their fallen comrades forgotten.
Neither do we.
As America is again under attack, we can't under-
estimate the value of these photos in docu-
menting Jewish military heroism. It's bad
enough there's the anti-Semitic slander
that Jews are too soft to have fought in
American wars. Later generations need to be
reminded of the sacrifice that it takes to repel big-
otry at home and tyranny abroad.
These 260 cherished photos hang in the
Memorial Room of the Jewish War Veterans-
Department of Michigan Memorial Home in
Southfield. But the J"XTV is merely the custodian.
The photos belong to all of Detroit Jewry.
And they need a permanent home in which our
Younger generations can learn of "the sacrifices of
these young people in their early 20s who were
taken out of school before their lives even started,"
as one veteran put it.
That home should be the Kahn Building of the
Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield, where
the photos emotionally touched the community when
on temporary display in 1995, and where permanent
space has been sought for at least three years.
To expect an aging group of less than 1,000 mem-
bers, few of whom expect to survive another 15 years,

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to come up with a $250,000 donation to the
JCC for the privilege of preserving these photos
is not only shortsighted, but hard to under-
stand. The photos are ours.. The JWV doesn't
own them; we — the Jewish community — do.
The JCC, and by extension the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and its
land management arm, the United Jewish
Foundation, should back off on its request
for that kind of money from the JWV.
In the wake of a $32 million capital and
endowment campaign, and a significant
budget shortfall that brought layoffs this past
summer, the JCC can't be faulted for market-
ing space where it can in the reno-
vated Kahn Building. But surely a
corporate sponsor, or even a grant,
could be found to underwrite mov-
ing the Memorial Room there.

EDIT ORIAL

Related coverage: page 29

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Assuring A Legacy

The issue isn't the future of the JWV and its
Ladies Auxiliary. Their members are content
with the good work they've done helping oth-
ers, honoring the war dead and, like the Jewish
Community Council, doing ecumenical out-
reach. At this stage in their lives, they're more
concerned about the legacy they leave. And the
photos are a tangible expression of that legacy.
It would be a blessing for these photos, and the
stories they tell about believing inn-a cause no matter
what the risk, to adorn a room in the renovated
JCC. There, they could capture the momentary
attention of the young people who go there to
or to
swim, play basketball or schmooze
strengthen their Jewish identity.
To its credit, the UJF has all but assured that the
JCC will house the Memorial Room once renovations
are complete in a few years. But when you're dealing

with people in their 70s and 80s, time is of the essence.
The UJF, on behalf of the JCC and Federation leader-
ship, should commit to finding a funding source to move
the Memorial Room and relieve the worry of a good-
hearted group of war vets and their supporters who want
nothing more than give back a precious part of our histo-
ry that they have safeguarded for us since 1945.
Fifty years ago, the JWV was headquartered in the
JCC on Davison in Detroit. How fitting it would be for
the JWV to again meet at the JCC, the central address
for Detroit Jewry — and see the memorial photos it has
painstakingly gathered make Jews of all ages proud. ❑

Rubin's lawyer naturally suggests that his client
was set up with the help of law enforcement offi-
cers — a pattern of behavior with some prece-
dent. Rubin won an undisclosed amount of
money from Los Angeles in 1987 after suing the
city for planting an undercover agitator in the
JDL ranks.
Furthermore, it would certainly look
good for the government, seeking to
allay fears that its war on terror is actu-
ally a war on Islam, to be able to prose-
cute a terrorism case that has a Jewish suspect and
Arab or Muslim intended victims.
The trial courts will have to sort out who is
telling the truth about what and whether Rubin
and Krugel are guilty of a felony. What is clear,
however, is that — whether they instigated the
pipe bomb plot or were improperly lured into it

— their apparent willingness to be party to an act
of domestic terror makes them the very antithesis
of the goal they profess to serve: defending Jews.
If Rubin and Krugel truly wanted to defend
what Judaism stands for, they would have rushed
to the prosecutor the minute they heard any sug-
gestion of attacking the King Fand mosque and
the offices of U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.
Instead, they have given an opening to those
around the world who want to believe that Jews
would happily injure and possibly kill Muslims.
It is one thing to understand that the peace
process in the Mideast is dead and that the right
wing may be right about Palestinian intransi-
gence. It is quite another to behave like an
Islamist terrorist filled with blinding hatred. Even
before 9/11, that attitude is unforgivable. Shame
on Rubin. Shame on Krugel. ❑

The Shame Of The JDL

he government charges that the chairman
and another member of the Jewish Defense
League plotted a pipe bomb attack on a
Los Angeles mosque and the offices of a
U.S. representative of Middle Eastern descent.
If the charges are proved, Irving D. Rubin and his
associate, Earl L. Krugel, deserve the stiffest sen-
tence that can be meted out. And if the
incident proves yet another nail in the cof-
fin of the JDL organization that Meir
Kahane founded, so much the better.
But it would be wrong to rush to judgment
about the two men's criminal guilt. The case
appears to rest on the testimony of a JDL mem-
ber who has admitted committing other criminal
acts for the league in the past.

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EDIT ORIAL

Related coverage: page 25

12/21

2001

