LETTERS
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Ethnic Pluralism
Worth Having
Having worked with Jewish-Druze-
Arab-Christian groups in Israel for
more than 13 years, I was most
impressed with your article about
the Ann Arbor-based group
Zeitouna: Arab & Jewish Women
Working for Peace & Justice
("Refusing To Be Enemies," July 11,
page 49).
While attending the 50th Detroit
Mumford High School Reunion, I
was asked by my cousin, Shirlee
Bloom, if I would say a prayer at a
monthly meeting of Jews, Chaldeans
and Arabs at Bloom's Kitchen,
owned and managed by Shirlee and
by Ron Asmar, who is Chaldean.
Of course, I did give a
Shehechiyanu prayer and a Modee
prayer for just being able to be part
of this group, which comes together
through an alliance and common
interest of food.
I also talked about workshops for
Jews, Arabs, Druze and Christians
that I have been doing in Israel for
15 years and about the Peace Tents
in north Israel organized by Jews
and Arabs during the most difficult
of times.
The food and buffet at the
Bloom's Kitchen meeting included
Shirlee's Jewish delicacies and
Ronnie's Chaldean and Arabic cui-
sine.
It was a pleasure to sit together:
Heenay mahtov u'manayim shevet
achim gam yachad. How goodly it is
for brethren to sit together (and eat)
... and to realize that we have so
much to share with each other.
Not only in Ann Arbor, but also
in Detroit, we are "refusing to be
enemies."
Rabbi Erwin A. Bloom
Davie, Fla.
Israel Mission
Great Experience
As a former community shaliach
(Israel representative to the Jewish
community), I would like to strong-
ly recommend attending Federation's
Michigan Miracle Mission 4 to
Israel April 18-28, 2004.
I was privileged to take part in the
first such mission in 1993, while
serving as the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan's representative in
Israel. I can attest to the tremendous
8/ 8
2003
6
success of the trip.
Being part of a community mis-
sion has an added value that one
cannot gain any other way. The
Miracle Mission opens the doors to
the most fascinating speakers from
the political, academic, military and
media arenas. Being part of a com-
munity mission creates a unique
sense of togetherness within the mis-
sion and enables participants to
meet Israelis in person.
As an Israeli residing on a small
moshav [farming community] west
of Jerusalem, I would like to add
that visiting Israel these days brings
us a special message of solidarity
from the American Jewish commu-
nity. Over the past two years of the
intifada [Palestinian uprising],
tourists have been a rare phenome-
non in Israel. The economy has been
critically hurt by the disappearance
of tourists; many hotels have closed
and others are struggling to stay
open by laying off employees.
Missions like yours lift up the spirit
and morale of Israelis and inject a
needed boost to the economy.
In recent weeks, we have experi-
enced relative calm and security in
Israel. We are hopeful that the cease-
fire will continue and that the peace
process will progress. However, it is
too early to tell future develop-
ments. It is clear though that Israel
and Israelis need the demonstration
of solidarity that the Miracle
Mission brings to us in good and
hard times.
The mission offers a not-to-be-
missed experience of a lifetime.
L'hitraot (see you) in Israel in April
2004. Contact mission director Sally
Krugel: (248) 203-1485 or
krugel@jfmd.org
Yefet Ozery
Tzfon Yehuda, Israel
Delay Action
On Statehood
Virtually all media reports concern-
ing the issue of a Palestinian Arab
state ("Minding Fences?" Aug. 1,
page 16) have stated that the Bush
road map proposes to create such a
state in the year 2005 — but, in
fact, the plan calls for establishing
such a state within five months, by
the end of this year, i.e., December
2003.
According to the official text of
the road map, "Phase II" of the
plan, which is defined as ending in
December 2003, includes "creation
of an independent Palestinian state
with provisional borders." Those
"provisional" borders are to become
"final, permanent" borders in Phase
III of the plan, which is defined as
ending in 2005.
Erroneous media reports have
lulled some people into a false sense
of security, thinking that there will
be two more years in which
Palestinian Arab actions can be
assessed before the final step of
statehood is taken. In fact, the Bush
plan is to create a state by the end of
this year — long before it will be
possible to determine if the
Palestinian Arabs are sincerely fight-
ing terrorism and ready to live in
peace with Israel.
We urge the Bush administration,
the Israeli government and the
Quartet (U.S., Great Britain, U.N.,
European Union) to postpone any
decision regarding Palestinian Arab
statehood until at least 2005 so
there will be time to see if the
Palestinian Arabs have really given
up terrorism and this regime's offi-
cial promotion of hatred and vio-
lence against Jews and Israel.
Morton A. Klein
national president,
Zionist Organization of America
Philadelphia
Iraq Awaits
Democracy
The issue of weapons of mass
destruction is much simpler than the
thunder that surrounds it. According
to the U.N. inspection team in Iraq,
the technology used to produce such
weapons is not as complicated as it
seems. Once prepared, they are
employed by fairly simple means
and an army can eliminate a popula-
tion or cause illness at will.
The shelf life of these weapons is
short, so that they aren't detected
easily. All that is left is the raw
materials, ready for the next time.
This does not mean that these
instruments of death are less deadly,
but we give more credit to Saddam
Hussein's scientists than they are
due.
Throughout this struggle, there
has been an overkill of information
regarding the Iraqi regime and what
it does. There is a tacit assumption
that the Iraqi regime is wicked and
capable of wreaking havoc on the
world. It might be more likely that
Saddam Hussein is, or was, simply
one of those corrupt dictators who
ruled with the help of a powerful
secret police that put the "fear of
God" into his people. Whatever else
he did was extra.
The U.S., together with its allies,
removed him so that the Iraqis
could find a way to some kind of
democracy.
Zev Davis
Nazareth Illit, Israel
[in Detroit Jewry's
Partnership 2000 region]
Senior Concert
Was A Joy
A beautiful musical production was
presented for seniors on July 20 at
Temple Beth El in Bloomfield
Township.
It was in the main sanctuary; what
a treat. The Michigan Opera
Theatre offered two sopranos, two
tenors, a percussionist and a piano
accompanist. There were solos and
duets with songs of yesterday, which
brought memories.
One of the sopranos was an
Italian woman who sang Jewish
songs. A tenor sang "Yiddishe
Mama" and many in the audience
shed tears.
We recited the famous Statue of
Liberty words of Emma Lazarus and
sang "God Bless America." That
ended a most memorable program.
We want to thank the donors —
temple members Mr. and Mrs.
Harry Nosanchuk. They gave great
pleasure to the folks who attended.
Thanks also to the ushers who
guided us to seats and helped those
with wheelchairs.
Sonia Pittman
Oak Park
Magda Rimai's
Story Told Well
Thanks to Staff Writer Diana
Lieberman for writing such a beau-
tiful story [obituary] about my dear
friend Magda Rimai ("Giving
Back," July 11, page 98).
You captured her beauty an
strength in such a magnificent way.
Thank you for honoring her
memory and her life. It meant a lot
to all of us who loved her.
Cheryl Guyer
Huntington Woods