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Dry Bones

Responding To War

Mr

1 ith each suicide bombing, with each
sniper attack, Israelis tend to their
dead and wounded, then regroup for
another day.
They're physically and emotionally battered. But
they vow to press on, despite the dangers imposed
by Palestinian extremists tied to Yasser Arafat.
But as the casualties mount on both sides from
the 18-month-old intifada (uprising), Israel is begin-
ning to show heavy wear in its emotional armor.
The graphic, wrenching reports from the scene
whenever a human bomb goes off in a cafe, market
or bus reinforce why Israelis need us now — desper-
ately.
No longer can we idly watch.
Detroit Jewry is one of America's great
Jewish communities, a respected leader in
the way we actively live and learn as Jewish
Americans. That's why we, as a community, need
to step up to the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit's emergency call to increase
what we give in support of Israel. No gift is too
small during these critical 30 days of the
Emergency Campaign.
The situation in the Mideast is volatile. It's clear
that Arafat would rather die as a self-proclaimed
martyr than acknowledge the Jewish homeland in
the heart of the Arab world.
We need to stand with Israel, ,unconditionally, in
this tenuous time of unremitting slaughter stoked
by aggressors with a shockingly strong hatred for
Jews.
Federation's "Thirty Days of Solidarity Israel
Emergency Campaign" is focused and timely. The
intent is to tell the story of Israel's reeling economy

and stressed social service projects — and to
seek our help.
The Emergency Campaign is in addition
to Federation's Annual Campaign, which
ranks fourth nationally in per-capita giving
among North American federations. The
one-time gifts made to the Emergency
Campaign will be earmarked for Israelis vic-
timized by terror.
The Emergency Campaign runs parallel
to Federation's 2002 Annual Campaign,
which formally closes April 28. The
Emergency Campaign's goal is to raise
$6.4 million: $5 million to lift the
Annual Campaign to $30 mil-
lion and $1.4 million to lift the
Emergency Campaign to $5
million.
Meanwhile, Federation's Berman-
Handleman Israel Solidarity Challenge
makes a dollar-for-dollar match for each
new or increased gift to the Annual
Campaign. Money raised via the Challenge
is earmarked for Israeli social service proj-
ects in areas with acute economic need or
hard hit by terrorism.
Detroit Jewry has been a fervent sup-
porter of Israel over the years. Our mis-
sions have taken adults, teenagers and fam-
ilies. We've built an economic, educational and
social partnership with the Central Galilee region.
And roughly 46 percent of our Annual Campaign
goes overseas, largely to Israel. Moreover, many
Detroit natives have made aliyah or are frequent
visitors.
In the midst of our busy lives here in metro

EDIT ORIAL

M artyrs And Victims

I

srael is at war on multiple fronts. On one of
them, its military power should prove eventu-
ally decisive. But on another front, only its
moral power can prevail.
The military struggle is under way, with Israel
Defense Forces moving to take control of the dens of
terrorists who have for far too long been allowed to
breed among ordinary Palestinians on the
West Bank and in Gaza.
Their mission is clear — to cripple Hamas,
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Al Aqsa Martyrs
Brigades and the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine by incapacitating their leaders.
Just as America had the duty to crush Osama bin
Laden's Al Qaida and its Taliban supporters, so must
the IDF crush Marwan Barghouti and Sheik Ahmed
Yassin and the successors to Abu Ali Mustafa and all
their forces.
Ultimately, Israel will have to confront squarely

what to do with Yasser Arafat. Despite his Nobel
Peace Prize, the Palestinian leader has never for a
moment given up his willingness to use terror and
now seems even more intent on inflaming passions.
Within hours of the. vicious Passover massacre at
Netanya and the subsequent suicide bombing of an
Arab-Israeli restaurant in Haifa, he was on Arab televi-
sion imploring "Allah give me martyrdom," and cry-
ing out for "martyrs by the millions" to
march to Jerusalem.
Israel has said it does not intend to kill,
harm or arrest him, which is consistent
with President Bush's position and seems to keep open
the only sliver of hope for a political agreement.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who recently
said he regretted not having Arafat killed 20 years ago
in Beirut, should not settle for anything less than exil-
ing him permanently from the West Bank and Gaza.
Having promised "an uncompromising war to uproot
these savages, to dismantle their infrastructure,"
Sharon cannot do less.
In the crucial battle for world opinion, the terrorists

EDIT ORIAL

Related Israel coverage begins on page 13

Detroit, Federation's Emergency Campaign is a god-
send for our distraught Israeli brethren.
Give to the Campaign however much you can. ❑

Federation's PledgeLine is (248) 205-2550.

have again shown that Israel is the injured party.
Despite the United Nations' meaningless Security
Council resolution urging Israel to withdraw — and
the Bush administration's almost incomprehensible
backing for the measure — peace-loving nations must
realize that movements that send suicide bombers on
Passover and Shabbat deserve whatever punishment is
inflicted upon them.
Which brings us to the question of morality.
In coming weeks, Israel will repeatedly be tested to
observe the fine line between active self-:defense and
the rage for revenge. The military effort will necessari-
ly force the IDF to confront innocent Palestinians —
at a time when suicide bombings make it a challenge
to trust even them. Many will die and others will be
wounded, and homes and other property destroyed.
Senior military leaders must make sure that troops
inflict only the minimum, unavoidable harm.
In the fog of combat, mistakes will surely be made.
Israel must show that it is carrying out a military mis-
sion with as much compassion and humanity as it
can.
As the Jewish state, Israel has a continuing respon-
sibility to be a model to the world. We pray it will
be again in this agonizing moment of its history. fl

TN

4/5
2002

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