Opinion
Editorials are posted and archived on IN Online:
www.detroitjewishnews.com
No Whitewash Of Terrorism
I
ndignation among supporters of Israel toward
the incomplete and misleading information
permeating last month's Detroit Free Press
summary of Mideast history is well justified.
Accuracy and fairness should always be the goals
of "unbiased" news reports, whatever the publica-
tion. But as West Bloomfield-based Israel advocacy
consultant Don Cohen.told the Jewish News: "To
describe the history of the Palestine Liberation
Organization and Yasser Arafat without mentioning
the word 'terrorist' or any of the terrorist incidents
they have been involved in over 30 years is a total
whitewash of that history, intentional or not."
In our report (Rage Against 'The Page', April 12,
page 25) on the Jewish anger over the Free
Press' one-page Mideast "primer" published
March 13, Cohen reminded the news
media that there is no substitute for the
truth.
"We want a fair, accurate and as complete as pos-
sible representation of the Arab-Israeli conflict," he
said. "I am confident that a full telling of the story
will come out in Israel's favor."
The same day the Free Press published its primer,
Cohen, who prepares a local Israel Advocacy
Network newsletter for the Jewish Community
Council of Metropolitan Detroit, e-mailed his
point-by-point response to 700 people. A week
later, a delegation from the JCCouncil, including
Executive Director David Gad-Harf, met with Free
Press Publisher Heath Meriwether and several of its
editors to voice objections. Within a week, the
paper published as a "clarification" four points
Meriwether admitted were "additional information
that should have been included in the primer."
But the Jewish indignation wasn't limited to "offi-
cial" representatives. Farmington Hills-based public
relations executive and part-time Wayne State
University journalism teacher Berl Falbaum led a
strikingly successful grassroots petition drive that accu-
mulated 960 signatures and the endorsements of four
Dry Bones
Jewish organizations.
Falbaum's ad hoc committee raised
money through small donations and
purchased space in last week's Jewish
News (pages 30-31) to print its peti-
tion, which requested the Free Press
reprint it and "indicate it is prepared
to be fair and accurate" in its Mideast
coverage. The Free Press responded
with an offer to run a shortened ver-
sion of the petition as a letter to the
editor, but the group declined, with
Falbaum saying that a letter to the
editor would not correct the record.
When asked about the
complaints against the Free
Press, Meriwether told the
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Jewish News that "we try as
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best we can to give people the informa-
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tion in a fair and accurate way."
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We demand no less.
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As war rages in Israel, we cannot let
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our guard down in the war of words
soi.DieRs.
over U.S. policy. With pro-Palestinian
sentiment sweeping so many
European governments, and anti-
Jewish fervor building in so many
parts of the world, we cannot let the
same actions take hold in the United
States.
For starters, the proper Free Press
response to the issues raised in the
Jewish community's April 12 ad would
be nothing less than a full clarification of them.
scribe to Don Cohen's Israel Advocacy Network, an
Beyond that, Jewish readers of the Free Press must
Oakland County-based online newsletter that moni-
be ever vigilant. They must seek other sources of
tors Middle East coverage and suggests ways to
information about the Mideast and not hesitate to
more actively support the Jewish homeland. The e-
challenge the Free Press on factual errors — through
mail address is LAN@jfmd.org.
communal groups like the JCCouncil or grassroots
With diligent defenders of Israel keeping watch,
efforts like Falbaum's committee.
Truth will prove to be Israel's greatest ally in its bat-
If you have online access, we urge you to sub-
tle for survival. ❑
EDIT ORIAL
r esUSH
Dowto
A Special Soul
I
n the midst of turmoil, he sees a chance to
heal and come together. He's committed to
building bridges of understanding, not barri-
ers of discord.
In many ways, Arnold Michlin is metro Detroit's
Mr. Ecumenism — a man who is determined to
promote and build on what brings us
together, not what drives us apart.
We're thrilled that this caring, humble man
received a Legacy Award last week during the
Ecumenical Institute for Jewish-Christian Studies' Dove
Dinner. He was one of four well-deserving honorees.
Slowed by a 1999 stroke and now 81, this handle-
bar-mustachioed giant of ecumenism continues to
fight ignorance, apathy and injustice. He's dogged
but never pompous, resolute but not overbearing. A
former institute president, he now serves on the
board of trustees and the advisory council.
"Arnold is one of the most understated people I
know," said Dove Dinner co-chair Mark Siegel .
"His actions speak volumes."
Indeed, they do.
We're sure the founder of the
Ecumenical Institute 20 years ago, the late
beloved Rev. James Lyons, would be mighty proud
of Michlin's spirited service to the cause of stopping
religious meanness, hated and conflict.
It's no surprise Michlin earned the first World
Sabbath of Religious Reconciliation Peace Maker
Award during a 2000 interfaith call to prayer for the
victims of religious and ethnic persecution.
Michlin has a clearer lens than most in consider-
EDIT ORIAL
Related story: page 35
ing the vast potential of ecumenism.
The Congregation Shaarey Zedek member has
played a hand in student essay contests, adult award
presentations and inter-congregational events
involving followers of various faiths. His celebration
of unity and condemnation of indifference resonate
in his many contributions to peace, social justice
and interfaith understanding.
By any standard, Michlin is a selfless, and self-made,
man who has taught so many how to be respectful
instead of intolerant when religion, ethnicity or belief
threaten to install a wedge between people.
He's not a booming speaker, but few are more do-
quent when it comes to expressing why we should think
diversity in our everyday experiences and encounters.
Like Mark Siegel says, Arnold Michlin is "an incred-
ible soul" — the perfect definition of a rnentsh.111
4/ 19
2002
31