This Week

In this keepsake edition of the
JN SourceBook, you'll find

JN's 60th
Anniversary

Bias Round II

Another international report
will condemn anti-Semitism.

and

Readers' Choice
Awards for
Jewish Detroit

JAMES D. BESSER

Washington Correspondent

A

nti-Semitism is on the
rise, especially in Europe,
but most nations are
reluctant to report the
surge accurately, according to a new
report.
The study by the Lawyers
Commit-tee for Human Rights
(LCHR) could represent a major
shift by the international human
rights community, which has focused
relentlessly on Palestinian suffering
while largely ignoring violence
against Jews in Israel and elsewhere.
The LCHR report comes on the
heels of an unprecedented condem-
nation of Palestinian suicide bomb-
ings by Amnesty International in
July.
Sources say the upcoming report
will show how inadequate data col-
lection and reporting allows
European governments to claim that
anti-Semit-ism is not on the rise.
Independent information, collect-
ed by nongovernmental organiza-
tions, indicates a "severe and intense
problem." The report calls for better
monitoring of anti-Semitism and
better reporting procedures.
The study is being released next
week to coincide with the one-year
anniversary of the United Nations
World Conference Against Racism,
Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia
and Related Intolerance in Durban,
South Africa. That conference was
called to begin the process of creat-
ing an international framework for
combating racism of all kinds, but
Palestinian groups and their support-
ers used it to revive the "Zionism as
racism" canard.
"We hoped the conference would
be a monumental one in terms of
combating racism," said a LCHR
spokesperson. "But it was completely
hijacked by anti-Semitism. The basic
agenda was good, but to move for-
ward, we had to untangle the prob-
lem that arose there — vitriolic anti-
Semitism."
Originally, the group planned to
just issue a press release or formal
statement objecting to the anti-
Semitic outbursts that disrupted the

Also look for the traditional information
SourceBook provides about the Jewish
community you'll use all year:

Contact information for organizations, schools,
synagogues, social service agencies,
entertainment, businesses and much more!

Look for your JN SourceBook in September.

Sharing A 60th With The JN

SUSAN KAHN SOVEL

DOB: 6-5-42
Husband: Robert Sovel, insur-

ance agency owner
City: Orchard Lake
Children (step): Karen Sovel
(married to Chris Dellavecchia),
Laura (Rick) Powers, Jeff and Joann
Sovel
Grandchildren: 3

Occupation: Retired from real
estate management
Jewish affiliations: Adat
Susan Kahn Sovel
Shalom, Hadassah, ORT, NCJW
Other: Volunteer work for the
Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) for 28 years, 12 years on its board,
volunteer at the West Bloomfield Library
Jewish News: "How else would we know what's opening and
closing around town? It keeps us up-to-date on what's going on in
the Jewish community. It's where we find out about a lot of pro-
grams in the synagogues and elsewhere."

8/23

2002

16

Washington Watch

637500

anti-racism conference. "But the
more they looked at it, the more
they realized it demanded serious
study, not just a quick statement,"
said a source familiar with the
report. "The result is a serious study
that begins to treat anti-Semitism as
what it is — a major human rights
problem."
Avi Beker, secretary general of the
World Jewish Congress, said a strong
report by the lawyers group would
be "really encouraging," especially
after the apparent shift by Amnesty
International last month.

INS On Back Burner

The rush to organize a huge Depart-
ment of Homeland Security could
derail long-overdue efforts to reform
the Im-migration and Naturalization
Service (INS), with potential conse-
quences for thousands of Jews now
in the refugee and immigration
pipeline.
That prospect became even likelier
this week with the resignation of
INS Commissioner James Ziglar
after only a year on the job. Jewish
immigration activists credit Ziglar,
the former sergeant at arms of the
U.S. Senate, with working hard to
reform the perpetually troubled
agency.
"He was deadly serious about
reforming the agency, and serious
about improving 'customer service,"'
said Leonard Glickman, CEO of the
Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. "For
the refugee world, he was one of the
few heroes in this administration. So
it will be a huge loss."
Ziglar was reportedly frustrated by
INS resistance to change and con-
gressional apathy. More importantly,
he got caught in the undertow of the
war on terrorism and the hasty effort
to create a massive new federal
department to cope with it.
That effort threatens to shift the
balance at the INS even further in
the direction of law enforcement,
adding to the problems plaguing the
side of the agency that provides a
variety of services to immigrants and
refugees.
Glickman said "INS is struggling
for its identity" in the midst of the