Special Report
• 70.110.-
`Israel Under The Lens'
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U-M academic conference probes Israel's prospects for peace and beyond.
DON COHEN
Special to the Jewish News
T
he morning after 13 Israeli
civilians were murdered
and more than a hundred
wounded on the streets of
Netanya and at a cafe in Jerusalem,
200 people came together to put
"Israel Under the Lens" at a daylong
conference at the University of
Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Organized by three pro-Israel
campus organizations with the assis-:
tance of the University of Michigan
Hillel, the March 10 conference pro-
vided a productive way to channel
angst into learning and community.
Even the 20 or so anti-Israel protest-
ers, who came in from the cold,
mostly mingled and participated
appropriately. Numerous security
officers with their bomb-sniffing dog
were very visible.
Organizers took pride in their
approach to the event, which was
billed as the only conference on
Israel scheduled in the United States
this year. They drew an audience
mostly of students, but with sizeable
participation from general commu-
nities in Ann Arbor and Detroit.
"Our job as Israel activists and
Jewish students is to educate our
campus and community on Israel in
general, not just on current issues,"
explained Eric Bukstein, a confer-
ence organizer. "We chose to engage
in an academic conference instead of
a rally. I think we chose well."
David Roet, Chicago-based Israeli
deputy consul general for the
Midwest, set a somber tone as he
related Israel's deep desire to end the
violence and live in peace. He told
of a friend killed the previous week
while on an ambulance run, and
read the names of those killed in the
Jerusalem cafe the previous night,
which included a colleague.
Conference participant Bob
Rollinger of West Bloomfield was
pleased that Roet "made clear that
Israel does not view what is going on
as a 'military solution.'
"They see it first and foremost as
one that should be negotiated peace-
fully," said Rollinger, whose daugh-
ter, Samantha, a U-M junior, was a
conference planner. "If there was a
partner — and right now there isn't
— the violence could quickly come
to an end."
of the conflict, U.S.-Israel relations,
the Israeli peace movement, the war
on terrorism and the influences on
Israeli policy making.
Dr. Raymond Tanter, professor
emeritus of political science at the
University of Michigan, pointed out
that both Bush and Sharon believe
"those who harbor terrorists are ter-
rorists" and declared "the Palestinian
Authority is to Israel as al Qaida is
to the U.S." He also charged that
some Islamists are "corrupt politi-
cians using religion on mixed-up
kids." He was regularly challenged
by some of the students who had
been protesting earlier.
University of California's Dr.
Steven Spiegel noted, "It used to be
that Congress was strongly for Israel,
the State Department was run by
Arabists, and the Administration
leaned one way or the other." But
when the Cold War ended, "all of
D.C. began to divide between parti-
sans of Likud and partisans of Labor
... Today everyone, even the State
Department, says they are pro-
Israel."
Ellen Hershkin, a national vice
president of Hadassah, addressed the
full conference on the status of
women in Israel. Her critique
focused on the issues of education,
sexual harassment and poverty, and
.
Other Voices
An impressive group of academics
and researchers from across the
nation led breakout sessions dealing
with the United Nations, the history
0 Weeks Of Terror- •
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
10 WEEKS OF TERROR from page 16
March 5 — A
Palestinian terrorist
opens fire on two Tel
Aviv restaurants, killing
three Israelis and
wounding dozens. He
also stabs passers-by
w-o?
3/15
2002
16
Left An unidentified man
prays over the body of
Didi Yitzhak during his
funeral in the coastal city
of Netanya, March 4.
Yitzhak was killed after a Palestinian gunmen
opened fire on Israeli soldiers and civilian cars at an
army checkpoint in the West Bank near the Jewish
settlement of Ofra.
before being shot and'killed by a man in the
restaurant and a police officer. In Afula, a suicide
bomber blows himself up on a bus at the central
bus station, killing one person and wounding 10.
Near Bethlehem, an Israeli woman is killed and her
husband wounded when shots are fired at their car.
March 7
Five Israeli teen-agers are killed and 23
others wounded by a Palestinian terrorist in a Gaza
settlement. Earlier that day, at least six people are
injured when a suicide bomber strikes in a West Bank
hotel at the entrance to the settlement of Ariel.
March 9
In Jerusalem, 11 Israelis are killed
and at least 54 injured in a suicide bombing at
Cafe Moment. In Netanya, two terrorists shoot dead
two people and injure about 50 others in the city's
seaside hotel district. ❑
—
ows.ew
s;i i !'k e4 i Nftez:
Mk
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Above: Police officers examine the scene near a
damaged bus in the central Israeli town of Afula
March 5. A suicide bomber blew himself up on the
bus in the main station in Afula, killing also an
Israeli passenger and wounding 11 people.
sought to explode the "myth" that
"Israeli women are equal in all
areas."
Brigadier General Relik Shafir, a
fighter pilot who served as the head
of Israel's largest and most important
Air Force base before his retirement,
gave a decidedly non-military and
upbeat keynote. Shafir, who was
sponsored by the Caravan for
Democracy, spoke of the importance
of democratic values, Jewish values
and compromise as the basis for
peace.
"The Jewish nation should limit
the use of military power as much as
possible, but it must not be seen as
weakness," he explained, underscor-
ing that Israel would fight to survive
and would not be defeated. But "if
we unleash force indiscriminately we
will no longer be Jews, and why have
your own state if you are not going
to act like Jews?" he challenged the
audience.
Sarah Sawilowsky, a Wayne State
University student from West
Bloomfield, was pleased with the
conference. "For college-age stu-
dents, now is the time to get
involved. Conferences are very
important; they are amazing oppor-
tunities to educate yourself."
Even Ala Saket, an Eastern
Michigan University student from
Jordan, gave the conference a passing
grade. "They were trying to present
a somewhat different view of Israel,
and there were no extremists. But it
would have been nice to have had
more of the Palestinian perspective
of the extent of our suffering, our
urgency and our life under occupa-
tion."
David Livshiz of Birmingham, the
U-M student who headed the plan-
ning committee, was satisfied with
what the students had done.
"It was wonderful to have so many
members of the community come
together to seriously discuss a topic
that is often reduced to shouting and
slogans," he said. "Hopefully, \ye can
translate it into more active support
for Israel." ❑
Related editorial: page 33