summed up Israel's attitude quite succinctly.
Wrapping up the session, he quoted former Israeli
Foreign Minister Abba Eban: "I'd rather be con-
demned than consoled."

girl was secretly brought to HaEmek for an emer-
gency operation. She was brought in and out
through the Arab hospital in Nazareth so other
Arabs would not know her life had been saved in a
hospital whose staff included Jews.
Mare than 450 casualties of terrorist attacks have
been brought to the hospital during the previous 20
months, and Dr. Koppelman and his staff have
operated on both Arabs and Jews injured battling
each other. Dr. Koppelman personally operated on a
would-be suicide bomber who managed only to
severely injure himself.
The mission participants later walk through the
ward where an Israeli police officer guards the
bomber, who shares a room with two other victims,
both Jews.
Dr. Koppelman chooses his words carefully.
"The emotional stress involved is intense," he said.
"You treat the terror casualties as you worry about
your own family's safety. During the fighting in
Jenin, we met the highest medical standards that we
could have. We had soldiers and terrorists treated
the same way, in the same room. Foreign media
came and thought this is special, but I don't see it
that way. It is the way we do things."
Asked about how and why he does what he does,
he admits, "It is not normal medicine. We do it
because we are human beings."
Mission participant Andrea Gonik of West
Bloomfield has seen patients guarded by law
enforcement during her work as a speech pathologist
in inner-city Detroit hospitals. But treating terrorists
is a whole different thing, and she is impressed.
"It is a major emotional struggle. I'd have to come
to terms with it, but luckily 'I don't have to.
Intellectually and morally I understand it, but emo-
tionally," she pauses briefly, "it is very hard."
Many mission-goers mention Dr. Koppelman the
following day when the group meets to discuss their
experiences, impressions and also their commitment
to the Federation's annual and Israel emergency
campaigns. Many use, the word "hero" to describe
the doctor.

Justice, Justice

It was as special as it was billed. It proved there are
definite advantages to traveling with 10 attorneys.
Mission Chairman Peter Alter, a Federation
executive board member and partner at Detroit's
Honigman, Miller, Schwartz & Cohn, LLP,
together with former Honigman attorney Gideon
Toledano, who now practices law in Israel,
arranged a private session with the chief justice of
the Israeli Supreme Court, Aharon Barak. It fol-
lowed a tour of Israel's new Supreme Court build-
ing, a marvel of symbolic and practical architec-
ture, designed by Moshe Safdie.
Justice Barak, the highest-ranking Israeli official
behind Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Knesset
Speaker Avraham Burg, answered questions for
almost an hour: Quite impressive and erudite, and
seemingly candid, he discussed everything from
his four years at the University of Michigan law
school in the 1980s to the application of Israeli
and international law to the land and people Israel
controls beyond the pre-1967 border.
The final question of the session came from
Honigman attorney Herschel Fink, who asked about
freedom of speech and press in Israel. When Barak
asked him if he was an attorney, and Fink answered he
was a First Amendment attorney, Barak seemed
pleased. He launched into a concise, detailed overview
of Israeli law, noting that "free speech" is a common
law right and proudly noting that former American
Supreme Court Justice William "Brennan has said that
free speech is better protected in Israel than the U.S.
because Israel protects better in times of war."
The strength of Israeli democracy and rule of law
again had been made clear, and the group left with a
sense of pride and awe in both the building and the
man who was in charge.

Saying It Simply

Painful Relations

Moderating a panel of Israeli Foreign Ministry
experts on the Middle East, Europe and the United
States on May 23, Dr. Reuven Chazan of the politi-
cal science department at Hebrew University

Mission participants just couldn't stop talking after
their visit to Givat Haviva, a center in the Galilee, to
confront the often painful relations between Israeli
Arabs and Israeli Jews.

Mission participants were challenged to consid-
er the ramifications of any final peace settlement
with the Palestinians on the status of the almost 1
million Arabs who are Israeli citizens. This almost
20 percent of the Israeli population has ridden
the waves of major Israeli issues both external and
internal and, while not often considered by
American Jews, no one denies they will be heavily
affected by any peace agreement as well -as by the
lack of 'one.
Several in the group were wary of the political
focus of the session, and found it odd that a visit to
Givat Haviva was included as part of an Israel soli-
darity mission. Many left the room early in the ses-
sion. Others found the session and discussion
enlightening. It spurred them to think differently
about Israeli Arabs, both in terms of their Israeli citi-
zenship as well as to how it affects the nature and
security of the Jewish state.
But no matter how people addressed this question,
once the group hit the parking lot; everyone was
talking about the sessions and the issues. Those who
had left early were asked by others to explain their
reasons for departing. Those who stayed were asked
if they bought into what was being outlined, and if
so, why.
The lively discussions continued as the group
boarded the bus, and when the mike was opened for
discussion, participant after participant took it to
share their fears and hopes about how Israelis could
live together.
Rabbi David Castiglione of Temple Beth El in
Bloomfield Township told of his transformation
from a left position to one decidedly on the right.
"[The Israeli Arabs] are a conquered people and to
stay they must live by our standards. They are wel-
come to live in peace, but they must support Israel," .
he said.
Dr. David Eisenstein of Ann Arbor explained how
he thought the treatment of Israeli Arabs defined the
Jewish State and cited reports of hardships they
faced and the Israeli responsibility to integrate them.
Guido Aidenbaum of West Bloomfield, who had
been visibly disturbed by the presentation before he
left the session, gave a dispassionate and reasoned
explanation of the issues.
The different perspectives served to solidify the
group as the sharing came easily and they realized
they were a microcosm of the need for unity among
Israel's different factions. 0

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