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Geri Lester: She
Gave Of Herself
As a member of the -Gilda's Club
Metro Detroit community, I was
deeply moved by Special Writer
Esther Allweiss Tschirhart's obituary
of Geri Lester ("An Inspiring Race
Against Cancer," May 16, page 141).
I have been touched and energized
by the courage that people living
with cancer exhibit each day, no
matter the outcome. Geri Lester was
a role model to everyone whose life
she touched.
While Geri lived with cancer for
20 years, her life definitely was not
defined by cancer. She lived her life
with grace, dignity, compassion and
courage.
Geri understood and embraced
Eleanor Roosevelt's words: "Yesterday
is history; tomorrow is a mystery;
today is a gift."
Geri's life was a gift to all of us
who were blessed to know her. Her
passion for Gilda's Club is an inspi-
ration to all of us in the Gilda's com-
munity; her death is a profound loss.
She has left a remarkable legacy to
the community, her family and her
friends with her smile, her words and
her deeds.
Perhaps her greatest legacy is as a
founder of Gilda's cancer support
community, a place she loved. The
spirit of Geri Lester will remain with
us always.
Lynne M. Aldrich
executive director
Gilda's Club Metro Detroit
Royal Oak
Paradigm Shift
Could Spur Peace
411 N
6/ 6
2003
6
JTA Correspondent Leslie Susser
writes ("Which Way?" May 23, page
20): "Only a major American effort
can save the road map," which,
translated, means pressuring Israel
into making concessions. This was
the strategy of the Clinton adminis-
tration, which ended badly.
One of the road map proponents,
the United Nations, which over the
years could have, has not played a
helpful role in resolving the Arab-
Israeli conflicts. By not condemning
Hamas and Islamic Jihad as terrorist
organizations, the U.N., in turn, has
provided these organizations and
their actions a degree of legitimacy.
As a result, the murder of Jews
because they are Jews has, to an
extent, become acceptable, even
understandable. Similarly, the Nazis,
during World War II, did not con-
sider such actions as crimes; after the
war, the civilized world did.
On the other hand, it could be
argued that the road map makes
sense if the new Palestinian
Authority took unprecedented steps:
arresting the leaders of Hamas and
Islamic Jihad, and turning them over
to the World Court for trial as war
criminals.
If such a scenario seems unrealistic
or even surrealistic, that does not
suggest how distant real peace is even
if Israel makes unilateral concessions.
President George W. Bush,
arguably the most pro-Israel presi-
dent since Harry Truman, has been
under strong and continuous pres-
sure to support a flawed peace plan.
But there is silence on what happens
if the road map, like Oslo 1, fails.
Will there then be a new Oslo-based
peace plan?
Or instead, will there be a new
peace paradigm, one that recognizes
the Palestinians as ungovernable?
Should such a viewpoint gain accept-
ance, it would be reasonable to con-
sider incorporating portions of the
West Bank into Jordan while leaving
Gaza as either independent or incor-
porated into Egypt. At the very least,
such a paradigm shift, or the possi-
bility of it, would give the
Palestinians pause. That, in turn,
could be positive for the peace
process, could it not?
Irving Warshawsky
West Bloomfield
,
Road Map Sells
Out Jewish State
Once again, Israel is being sold out
by her ally, the United States.
According to the so-called road
map to peace, the Israelis are
required to make substantive conces-
sions and put their lives at risk,
while the Palestinians have only to
make, in U.S. Secretary of State
Colin Powell's words, -"100 percent
intent and effort." Of course, "really"
trying is very difficult to distinguish
from "seems to be." No wonder the
Palestinians were so quick to support
the map.
What's worse, however, is that the
Israeli government has to deal with a
Palestinian prime minister who has
no authority, except with the
Americans, who are trying to look
good to the international communi-
ty. Most of the Palestinian people do
not support Mahmoud Abbas;
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has
been quietly telling the policemen of
the P.A. to report direCtly to him,
avoiding Mohammed Dahlan, the
man the prime minister put in
charge of security.
Even if Abbas should somehow
manage to acquire enough power to
crack down on terrorists, he knows
that a tough stance would probably
lead to civil war. What he most like-
ly intends to do is attempt to per-
suade groups like. Hamas to restrain
their violence for a time as an act of
good faith.
As a negotiation--tactic, this would
put Israel in the untenable position
of having to deal, third hand, with
terrorists in what amounts to a
phantom government that won't be
held responsible for any formal
agreements.
If attacks start up again or escalate,
Abbas can simply shrug and accuse
the Israelis of foot dragging, not
making enough concessions, not
really being ready for peace.
Israel will not and should not deal
with terrorists. But Israel would be
better off doing business with them
directly than with the phony setup
contrived to satisfy American (and
Palestinian) public relations. It
would have the advantage of know-
ing where it stands; if its opponents
reneged" on promises, it could take
the moral high ground. As it is, the
road to peace will get everybody
nowhere, with the United States act-
ing, as they say in pop psychology, as
enabler.
Mitzi Alvin
Franklin
.
Why Honor
John Dingell?
When I proudly purchase Israel
bonds, it has been under the
assumption that it is an investment
in the security and promised future
for our Jewish homeland.
I am thus perplexed at the decision
of our local medical division of Israel
Bonds to name U.S. Rep. John
Dingell, D-Dearborn, to serve as
honorary dinner chairman.
Dingell, we are often reminded, is
a career politician whose legislative
record is antithetic to the very well
being of the State of Israel. Dingell
refused to join 414 of his House col-
leagues in signing Resolution 392
expressing solidarity with Israel in its
anguished battle against terrorism.
He also failed to add his name to the
list of 235 of his congressional col-
leagues urging President George W.
Bush to add brutal Palestinian mur-
der machines to the U.S. list of rec-
ognized terrorist organizations.
True to form, this is the same rep-
resentative who condemned an
Israeli retaliation in "the densely
populated area of Gaza" last summer.
"The timing of the strike was most
inopportune," Dingell wrote
President Bush. Has he similarly
cried out at the horrors of homicide
bombings in "densely populated"
areas of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa,
etc.? Were the timings of the
Palestinian massacres any more
"opportune"?
It is indeed a blasphemy to the
memory of our slain brethren in
Israel that we in Detroit feel per-
versely compelled to ingratiate our-
selves with the likes of Congressman
Dingell, who by a long history of
words and deeds has demonstrated
that he is no true friend to Israel. It
is no less than a shande (shame) that
the State of Israel Bonds organiza-
tion would allow Dingell to share in
the glorified limelight, fraudulently
suggesting that he is deserving of the
Jewish community's gratitude and
support.
Linda Brenners
Farmington Hills
Used Book Sale
A Valued Service
The Greater-Detroit Chapter of
Brandeis University's National
Women's Committee congratulates
and expresses its admiration of the
Friends of Literacy and all the
organizations and individuals who
brought the used book sale back to
metropolitan Detroit.
We know what a tremendous
undertaking it was and were so
impressed with the results. The used
book sale is such a valuable service
to literacy and to the community.
It's wonderful having "young blood"
take over and carry on this worth-
while undertaking.
Frances Fisher
Oak Park