LBar g ent

For State Representative

COURTING

Syria Relations Looking Up?

Washington/JTA — U.S.-Syria relations
may be taking a turn for the better, a
top diplomat said. "We've had discus-
sions in Damascus, and our own rela-
tionship with Syria is not what we'd like
it to be," a deputy secretary of state,
Richard Armitage, said Monday in an
interview with a Kuwaiti news agency.
"We'd like it to be in better shape.
There may be the beginning of signs
that it will be."
He did not elaborate, but U.S. offi-
cials have noted slight movement in
Syria's deployment of some of its troops
out of Lebanon and on securing Syria's
border with Iraq. The Syrian leadership
also has said it wants to renew peace
talks with Israel.

Reform Rejects Cash

New York/JTA — The Reform move-
ment urged its U.S. congregations not
to take federal funds to secure syna-
gogues. The government set aside $25
million earlier this month to assist
"high-risk" nonprofits with their securi-
ty needs.
In a letter last week to congregations,
the Reform movement said accepting
such money would open it up to charges
of hypocrisy for battling for church-state
separation on the one hand and accept-
ing federal money with the other.
"This is a critical moment for the sur-
vival of religious freedom and church-
state separation in America," the letter
from the Union for Reform Judaism
and Reform's Religious Action Center
said.

Israel Ingle'

THE ISSUE

As Israel's parliament, the Knesset,
considered Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon's Gaza disengagement plan
this week, fears increased that some
opponents would turn to violence.
The settler council is trying to rein in
militants to prevent this

BEHIND THE ISSUE

Media reports notwithstanding, all
settlers who are ideologically or reli-
giously committed to their cause are
not uncivil. The Yesha settlers' coun-
cil publicly warns its members against
physical or verbal abuse against the
army and strongly rejects any actions
that may lead to civil war in Israel.

Allan Gale, Jewish Communiol
Council ofIVIetropolitan Detroit

from. page 41

ENDORSED BY:

At the same time, the Kerry cam-
paign sought to reassure Jewish voters
that he will alWays be guided first by
Israel in pursuing an international
coalition to resolve the situation in
Iraq.
Such pitches on Israel defy two
recent major polls that showed Israel
dropping as a priority for U.S. Jews.
Yet the pitches may make sense for
the Republicans in the sense of the
party having little else to offer the
Jews, said Theodore Mann, a former
chairman of the Conference of
Presidents of Major American Jewish
Organizations.
"It's a card they had to play, know-
ing as they do — correctly — that
Israelis prefer Bush and thinking as
they do — incorrectly — that Jews
are one-issue voters," said Mann, who
is on the board of the Israel Policy
Forum, a group that supports U.S.
engagement in the peace process.
Republicans, of course, reject that,
noting that some Jews share the
Republican agenda on economic and
social issues as well.
Republicans also may have had in
mind the Jewish vote in Florida, a
state Bush cannot afford to lose. The
community is weighted to the elderly,
and older Jews rank Israel higher
among their priorities.
"Israel looms much larger among
the elderly," the AJCommittee's Harris
said. "If I were appealing to Jewish
voters in Greenwich Village, I would
approach them differently than I
would in Palm Beach County."
Bush's apparent inability to crack
the traditional three-to-one Jewish
support for Democrats is frustrating
some Republicans. The latest polls,
taken in late summer, show Kerry
winning anywhere between 69 and 75
percent of the Jewish vote, with Bush
getting between 22 and 24 percent.
"Why is it that so many American
Jews appear unconcerned about
Israel's parlous condition?" asked an
editorial in a pamphlet distributed to
Jewish voters by a conservative group,
the Jewish Political Education
Foundation.
"When judging a candidate, they
prefer focusing on health care, Social
Security, abortion rights, funding of
stem-cell research, gun control,
deficits, etc. What can one say to
complacent Jewish souls suffering
from cognitive dissonance?"

❑

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U.S. Congressman Joe Knollenberg
State Rep. Marc Shulman - State Rep. Shelley Goodman Taub

Aldo Vagnozzi is a nice man who means well. However, he hasn't been
able to get results on the issues important to our community. We've
endorsed Bill Largent for State Representative because he'll have a seat
at the leadership table and will be able to deliver for us. On
November 2nd, please vote for Bill Largent for State Representative.

Paid for by Friends of Bill Largent for State Representative, 28331 Forestbrook, Farmington Hills, MI 48334

903920

We Wait&
the BEST for
our Kids.

We Need
the BEST on
our State Board
of Education.

NANCY DANHOF

For State Board of Education

SEES9riecacee

aVNancy Danhof was trained as a teacher.

.110,ea /5ES7-1r,e 4:144fe. `.

ye/ Nancy Danhof served on a local school board for nearly a decade.

S'

646 BEY- rt6e,eiee,

y Nancy Danhof served as Director of the Michigan Foundation for

Education Leadership.

4 rd to gtrrigveee,

lAs a parent, Nancy Danhof knows she has something in common

with other Michigan parents ...commitment to providing their
children with the best education possible.

"Nancy Danhof is a solid choice ..Articulate and knowledgeable
We believe Danhof will be a needed knowledgeable voice on the board.

Lansing State Journal OPINION, October 20, 2004

10/29

www.cianhofzistateboard.com

Pin, far frf th*CY

Nfiird 63:51 P:tte

:13kw Cove, Eirg ,rctins tvi Alft23

903140

2004

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