News Watch
The Big Picture
Ann Arbor conference focuses on Israel's attention
to human rights.
KAREN SCHWARTZ
Special to the Jewish News
Ann Arbor
D
oris Miller attended the
University of Michigan's 3rd
Annual Conference on
Israel to hear Ann Arbor's
own Amos Guiora — now Lt. Col.
Amos Guiora, commandant of the Israel
- Defense Forces School of Military Law.
Miller, a longtime Ann Arbor resident
who remembers watching Guiora grow
up, said it was interesting to see the
direction his life has taken. She said
while she did not leave the conference
with more hope for the situation in
Israel, she was glad to know people like
him are involved in the process.
"I found it extraordinarily rewarding
to see such a mature and compassionate
human being working in such an
incredibly frustrating and difficult area,
she said.
Guiora spoke about international law
and military ethics Sunday afternoon.
"I thought his answers were mature ...
I think they're in a very difficult position
but I was very happy to see that Israel is
emphasizing enforcing the international
codes of military conduct because we do
get bad press in the United States."
The daylong academic conference,
tided "Israel: The Successes, the
Setbacks, the Road Ahead," welcomed
about 300 community members and
) 3
students to the Michigan League for a
day of Israel education focused on the
"big picture," said conference co-chair
Samantha Woll, 20.
"From my perspective, it's important
to educate the community about the
bigger picture so that in discussions you
have a context from which to draw your
arguments and speaking points," said
Woll, a U-M junior from West
Bloomfield.
Guiora spoke about the software he
developed to teach Israeli soldiers an 11-
point code of conduct based on interna-
tional law, Israeli law and the Israel
Defense Forces' ethical code.
Visit Is Special
"Obviously, for me, there is something
on a very personal level about being
back in Ann Arbor, to show and talk
about the software with the Ann Arbor
and Detroit communities," he said. "I
come from here, I am of this place."
Guiora, an avid U-M football fan,
claims to have the largest collection of
Michigan football tapes outside of the
United States.
His software, which took a year to
create, uses clips from Hollywood
movies and animation to address codes
that relate to the interaction between
soldiers and Palestinians. Six scenarios
based on real-life events followed by
questions also contribute to teaching the
Sharing Shabbat
Ann Arborites open their homes to Israeli
Philharmonic musicians.
KAREN SCHWARTZ
Special to the Jewish News
Ann Arbor
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3/26
2004
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fight-year-old Jonathan
Hamermesh added two new
signatures to his Disneyland
autograph-book Friday night.
Holding out the small blue book, he
flipped past pages signed by Goofy and
Eeyore and asked Israel Philharmonic
Orchestra members Gabriel Vole and
Yoram Alperin, guests at the
Hamermesh home for Shabbat dinner,
to sign their names in both Hebrew and
English.
"I think it's cool because they're really
famous and it's really rare to have
famous people in your house,"
Hamermesh said.
Vole and Alperin joined Jonathan and
his sister Miriam, 5, their parents Amy
and David, and family friends Michele
Leshan and Steve Rubenstein for a
Shabbat meal as part of an Ann Arbor
home hospitality evening organized by
Lt. Col. Amos Guiora stands with Doris Miller and Helen Amine; Ann Arbor
residents who remember him growing up.
11 codes.
"Our hope is this software will serve
as another tool in the 'toolbox' for the
commander in how he prepares his
troops for their responsibilities in the
West Bank and the Gaza Strip," he said.
While the software was designed as a
tool for commanders and soldiers, it was
later translated into English and has
recently become part of how Israel is
presented in the media — Guiora has
appeared on the BBC as well as French
and Russian television. Articles about
the software have been published in
Canada and other countries around the
world.
Guiora said he hopes people came
away with knowledge regarding "the
great emphasis we place on the twin
issues of international law and morality
in armed conflict and how it is we go
about training our soldiers for this
armed conflict, how much we under-
stand our soldiers' need to understand."
Adam Soclof, 18, a U-M freshman
from Ann Arbor, knew he wanted to
join the conference planning committee
team after attending last year's event. "I
was very impressed with the level of pro-
fessionalism with which the conference
was approached," he said.
This year's conference, Soclof said, in
addition to presenting Israel as a nation
with a diverse population that gives due
consideration to human rights issues,
had an additional personal pull for him.
Guiora graduated from Soclof's high
school.
"To see someone from the Ann Arbor
area move to serve Israel in such a pos-
itive way was really inspiring for me,"
Soclof said.
the Jewish Federation of Washtenaw
County.
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
visited Ann Arbor as part of a three-
week American tour, performing
Saturday night at Hill Auditorium.
Vole, who plays double bass, and
Alperin, a cellist, were among the
approximately 40 orchestra members
who accepted Shabbat dinner invita-
tions. An outpouring of responses to a
Federation e-mail generated spots for
nearly five times that many, said
Federation executive director Jeff Levin.
Levin said he was not surprised by the
outpouring of invitations.
"This is Ann Arbor; I knew people
would roll out the red carpet," Levin
said. "That's our community ethos, we
reach out, we welcome the newcomer
— most of us are from somewhere else
so we know what it's like to be a stranger
in a new place and we respond in kind
when we have the opportunity."
Vole and Alperin said they recalled
opportunities to spend time with local
families when they were involved in a
youth orchestra, but now they play pro-
fessionally and their schedule is more
rigorous.
Having arrived on Wednesday with a
concert Saturday evening, there was
more time to relax and enjoy the town,
Vole said. Members from the 105-musi-
cian orchestra also traveled to the
Hebrew Day School of Ann Arbor for
three educational concerts.
"It was nice watching and being part
of lighting the candles and making kid-
dush, seeing a young family that raises
two children," Vole said. " They speak
some Hebrew, they eat kosher — the
atmosphere was very pleasant and
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