LETTERs
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one letter per 4-6 week period, space permitting.
Letters must contain the name, address and title of the writer, and a daytime
= telephone number. Original copies must be hand signed. Mail to the Jewish News
4 at 29200 Northwestern Hwy., Suite 110, Southfield, MI 48034;
§ fax to (248) 304-8885; or e-mail to: rsklar@thejewishnews.com
Selected news and feature stories
from the Detroit Jewish News.
vvvvvv.detroitjevvislmevvs.cOm/news
) Back In Time
Look for Alexis P. Rubin's -
"This Month in Jewish History"
for October.
vvvvw.detroitjewishnews.com
) What's Eating
Harry Kirsbaum?
wvvw.detroitjewishnews.com/opinion
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-,, ,
) Bush Getting Jewish
Money
Wary of supporting President
Bush in 2000, many Jews
who favor his anti-terror and
Middle East policies now are
eager to leap onto the Bush-
Cheney bandwagon. Read all
about it on www.jewish.com
)
After Auschwitz
On jewish.com, learn about
Elizabeth Rosner's stunning
first novel, The Speed of Light,
which both denies and lays
claim to Adorno and Zeitlin's
admonitions that after
Auschwitz, words lose their
meaning.
in advertisers
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10/24
2003
6
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248-354-6060
Accept Israel
To Spur Peace
No act or word from Israel will make
the slightest difference as to whether
there will be a Mideast peace or any
real change in the "conditions" of
Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza.
There are those who weep for the
"Palestinians," those who would
remove them from the West Bank
and Gaza and those who have other
ideas.
However, the sole requirement for
peace and change and movement to a
solution is for the Arab world to
accept Israel as a nation, to say: "You,
Israel ; have a right to exist and to be
part of our region."
So long as the Arab world main-
tains its preaching and teaching that
Israel and her Jews must die, and "if
she gives us everything but Tel Aviv,
we want Tel Aviv also," then Israel
must do all that is necessary to fully
defend herself and not be expected to
be concerned with "freedom and dig-
nity" for those who hate it.and use
their Arab-imposed condition as a
weapon against it.
Albert Best
Farmington Hills
Keep Arafat
Cooped Up
We hear now that Israel believes that
Palestinian Authority President Yasser
Arafat is an obstacle to the peace
process in the Middle East and it is
best he be deported out of Ramallah
in the West Bank to some foreign
country.
With Arafat already cooped up in
his "boxed in" compound, many
Palestinians have lost respect for him
for getting himself in such a predica-
ment. To go ahead now and release
Arafat to the world would allow him
to travel from one country to anoth-
er, making speeches to inflame the
Arab citizens in these countries.
These speeches would cause more
problems and endanger the Jews of
those countries and make peace
efforts even more remote.
So it is best to leave Arafat where
he is and hope, with pressure from
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
and President George W. Bush, a
more courageous man than
Mahmoud Abbas will show up to
take over the Palesitinian prime min-
ister's job and stand up to Arafat so
that a peace plan can be implement-
ed for the sake of both Israel and the
Palestinians.
Irving Handelman
Oak Park
Look Beyond
Money Issue
In response to the letter from David
Zeman, staff writer for the Detroit
Free Press, ("Jewish News Avoids
Critical Coverage,” Oct. 17, page 6),
he writes: "The Free Press article's
point was that some Jews either don't
have the budget to pay holiday
prices, or are turned off at paying as
a matter of principle ..."
I wonder how many discounted
subscriptions the Free Press gives to
metro Detroiters who don't have the
budget to pay the regular daily,
Sunday or weekly price for the prod-
uct that the Free Press offers? I won-
der how many free subscriptions the
Free Press gives to those people who
are "turned off as a matter of princi-
ple" to paying for news, information
and other articles that are of great
importance to them personally?
I wonder how many unemployed
people are denied the opportunity to
freely obtain all of the job postings in
the Free Press? I wonder how many
small businesses will fail this year
because they cannot afford to pay the
advertising rates that the Free Press
charges?
Everyone wants the Free Press to be
delivered to their doorstep, for which
they have to pay a price. If they stop
paying, they won't receive it. If
enough subscribers stop paying, there
will be no Free Press, and no one will
receive it.
The synagogue is indeed a part of
the life of every Jew. It is just unfor-
tunate that all Jews are not part of
the life of a synagogue.
Marc D. Manson
Farmington Hills
Preschool Key
For Learning
The Early Childhood Department at
the Coalition for the Advancement
for Jewish Education (CAJE) would
like to applaud you on your recent
editorial on Jewish preschool
("Preschool's Worth," Sept. 27, page
43).
CAJE (www.caje.org) also believes
that early childhood Jewish education
provides the foundation for building
a strong Jewish identity in children
and their families.
Our current initiatives are working
to ensure that more Jewish children
attend affordable, high-quality Jewish
early childhood programs with teach-
ers that have both Jewish knowledge
and training in best practices.
Our advocacy efforts are focused
on helping teachers gain respect and
better compensation. Our ongoing
programs and efforts include access
to three conferences, online courses,
an annual early childhood publica-
tion and a full-time staff professional.
We thank you for sharing this
important information on the value
of early childhood Jewish education
with your Detroit readers while we
work hard to get this same message
to Jewish leaders across the country.
For more information about the
CAJE Early Childhood Department
go to our Web site.
Cheryl Wadler Meskin
early childhood chair, CAJE
New York
Interfaith Partners
Refute Bigotry
As a Muslim, I want to distance
myself from the Malaysian Prime
Minister Mahathir's anti-Jewish
remarks last week at the Organization
of the Islamic Conference. They do
not represent Islamic viewpoint, but
misguided reaction to the political
and other realities of the Middle East
and America's involvement around
the world.
I must also point out we have our
own Mahathir, Lt. Gen. William
Boykin, in the military uniform of
the United States, attacked all
Muslims by inference as idolaters and
forces of Satan.
As leaders around the world
indulge in bigotry, hate and intoler-
ance, ordinary Muslims, Christians
and Jews of metro Detroit gather this
Sunday to build a home for Habitat.
There are many who destroy relation-
ships but as Interfaith Partners, we
want to continue to build — against
all odds.
Victor G. Begg
chairman, Interfaith. Partners of
National Conference for
Community and Justice
Bloomfield Hills