Staff Notebook

Success Or Failure?

Local leaders react to Powell's Mideast mission.

HARRY KI RS BAUM
Staff Writer

A

su.S. Secretary of State
Colin Powell announced
the end of his Mideast mis-
sion on April 17, local reac-
tion came from all sides.
Hannan Lis of Farmington Hills
said it's too early to tell how successful
the trip was.
"The mission was successful to the
extent that it helped defuse the expec-
tations that the United States applied
undue pressure on Israel," he said. "It
is clear that Secretary of State Powell
was measured in his attitudes towards
Israeli operations, and has left Israel
with quite a bit of leeway on how and
when to withdraw
"By making the trip, he made a
statement that the United States
remains fully engaged in the Middle
East and therefore maintains the U.S.
position as the only power that could
really bring about a possible solu-
tion," Lis said. "Ultimately, Powell
has done a decent job of maintaining
pressure on the PA [Palestinian
Authority] and [its leader Yasser]

Kosher Eating - .

"You are what you eat," says Miriam
Amzalak of Oak Park, a planner of the
April 24 Kosher Day.
"Now it is easier and more conven-
ient than ever to maintain a kosher
home."
The 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. event at
Farmer Jack at Maple and Orchard
Lake roads in West Bloomfield will
-
highlight that fact.
It will include a miniature kosher
kitchen and a shopping cart filled with
kosher food items. Visitors can bring
home food samples, brochures and
information on a challah-baking class,
while a videotape on the meaning of
kashrut (keeping kosher) will play con-
tinuously.
A free raffle to win a kosher cookbook
will take place, and there will be a signif-
icant incentive offered to anyone inter-
ested in making their kitchen kosher.
"We are offering a 50 percent rebate
up to $200," Amzalak says.

4/19
2002

12

Arafat to turn away from terrorism
and to face their responsibilities."
David Gad-Harf, executive director
of the Jewish Community Council of
Metropolitan Detroit, said the bar was
already set low on success.
'As long as Arafat and the people
around him are committed to fighting
Israel in various ways, whether it's
through terrorism or through resisting
the Israeli army in various Palestinian
cities, there is no hope, and there was
no hope that Powell's trip could be
successful," he said. "Powell invested a
considerable amount of time and pres-
tige and came away without a concrete
agreement."
Arafat will feel even more isolated
now that Powell is gone, he said, but
Israel will remain in a strong position.
"The Palestinians are literally and
figuratively. surrounded," Gad-Harf
said. "They've received nothing but
verbal support from the Arabs, and
they are surrounded by the Israel
army, and Israel will not relent until
they come forward and say they are
ready to hand over those responsible
for the terrorism. I'm not optimistic,
but it's a trend that I see."

This will cover some of the cost of
new dishes and kashering (making /
kosher) old vessels. "We will arrange
for home visitations or consultations
•
with a competent rabbi or teacher to
answer question and provide help."
The program is sponsored by
Lubavitch Women's Organization and
Lieber's Kosher Food Products.

— Shelli Liebman Dorfman

Rally For Peace

In planning a rally Friday, April 26,
members of the Detroit chapter of
Seeds of Peace made sure the stress of
the project was on the word "peace."
"We know that peace is possible,"
says Julia Tapper, 17, of Orchard Lake,
a member of the non-profit, non-
political organization that helps
teenagers from regions of conflict learn
the skills of making peace.
"We are proof of that. We cannot
co-exist in the Middle East before we

Jerome S. Kaufman of Bloomfield
Hills was disappointed at the Bush
administration in general.
"President Bush evidently responded
to elements in his own administration
that think that having a coterie of
Arab allies can definitely be accom-
plished so he can attack Iraq," he said.
"When they come to that frame of
mind, they can throw Israel down the
tubes, figuring that Israel is in the way
when, in fact, Israel should be
embraced as a strong ally against a
common enemy."

The United States should take a
hands-off policy, Kaufman said. "Let
those involved in the conflict duke it
out themselves because the United
States getting in the way will only
contaminate the waters.
"There is such a thing as purity of
arms wherein we let the Israelis take
care of the terrorists. Let the Israelis
throw Arafat and his bunch out of
Israel just as King Hussein in Jordan
threw them out in 1970, and just as
Sharon and the Israelis threw them
out of Lebanon in 1982." ❑

' &Extended_
Va,p,ALGown Domino.

ue to popular
demand, the dead-
line for submissions for
our Cap & Gown sup-
plement has been extend-
ed to Monday, April 22.
Graduating Michigan
high school seniors who
are Jewish and have a
cumulative grade point
average of 3.60 or higher
are eligible. Cap & Gown

L

show that we can live together peace-
fully right here in Michigan," she said. ,
The local teen chapter of Seeds of
Peace includes six Jewish teens and six
teens of Arab descent.
The teen rally, scheduled for 4:30
p.m. at West Bloomfield's Crossroads
Mall, at the corner of Lone Pine and
Orchard Lake roads, is promoted as a
rally "for all people."
The rally's teenaged organizers wrote
and distributed a flyer that read, in
part: "Come as human beings, looking
for the betterment of the world.
Remember how valuable peace is."
Flyers were sent throughout the
Detroit area.
"The group will bring the same
amount of Palestinian and Israeli flags
to the rally," says Seeds of Peace mem-
ber Miriam Liebman, 15, of
Farmington Hills.
"And we'll come with posters with
our slogan: Peace is possible; we are
proof."
— Shelli Liebman Dorfinan

will be published in the
May 10 Jewish News.
To be included, go to
our Web site,
detroitjewishnews.corn,
click on the Cap & Gown
icon to obtain submission
guidelines.
Remember: Final deadline
for applications is April 22.
— Alan Hitsky,
associate editor,

Correction

In the story "No Question About
It" (April 12, page 42), the girl pic-
tured sewing a Passover pillow is
Stephanie Zerbib, 7, of West
Bloomfield.