Obituaries

We Get Questions

: We chose not to bring my five-year old son
to my father's funeral. He misses his grandfather
and constantly asks about him. Should we take
him to the unveiling this spring?

A: Before bringing him to the unveiling, take

Thai Worker's Death
Raises Questions

him to the chapel and I can walk him through it,
explaining what happens from the time of death
to the funeral. The unveiling itself will have little
meaning. A better understanding of the process
is far more important than attending an event he
can't possibly comprehend.

SAJE Kickoff presents
The 6th Annual Shiffman Family
Lecture featuring Richard M. Joel,
President of Yeshiva University,
"Know the Story-Own the Story,"
7:30 pm, Tires, Jan 11, 2005,
Jewish Community Center,
D. Dan & Betty Kahn Building,
6600 West Maple Road,
West Bloomfield

Richard Joel discusses how
many Jews today lack sense of
identity, yearn to belong and
find meaning in their lives.
Says if Jews know their history,
they will be more likely to
participate in writing its next chapter.

DINA KRAFT
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Shiffinan Family Lecture co-
sponsored by Anti-Defamation
League, Morris & Beverly Baker
Foundation, Sophie Pearlstein &
Maida Frank Portnoy. SAJE is
endowed by gift from Cis Maisel
Kellman

T

Tickets: JCC members: $5;
non-members: $8.
All welcome.

To make reservations, or more info,
contact Joan Freedman at
(248) 432.5470.

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Bringing Together Family, Faith & Community

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248-569-0020 • Facsimile 248-569-2502
www.iralcaufinan.com

When we planned our Southfield location, we

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1 1/2 blocks East of Woodward

Glatt Kosher

Ganei Tal, Gaza Strip
he blood-soaked denim shirt
did not immediately catch
fire.
But Jitrada Tab-a-sa's husband and
friends wanted to help release her
soul to heaven, so they poured a
stream of lighter fluid onto the shirt
she had been wearing when a
Palestinian mortar shell exploded
next to her, killing her.
Soon, the blue lump burned into a
blaze of shreds and smoke.
The 20-year-old Thai woman died
Dec. 14 from shrapnel wounds to
the chest while she was washing din-
ner dishes in the small workers'
kitchen of a Jewish settlement in the
Gaza Strip.
Tab-a-sa was one of some 350
workers from Thailand who work in
the greenhouses and fields of Gush
Katif, the Jewish settlement bloc in
Gaza. Thai workers have become a
mainstay of the agricultural industry
in Gaza's Jewish community.
Tab-a-sa was the third Thai work-
er to be killed in Gaza since the
intifada erupted in September 2000,
and her death prompted new calls
from the Thai government for the
workers to leave Gaza.
On Sunday, the Thai labor minis-
ter, Uraiwan Thienthong, visited
Israel and demanded that Thai
workers not be sent to Gaza settle-
ments.
Tab-a-sa's death also raised ques-
tions about the dependence of so
many Jewish settlements on their
labor. The Thai workers who come
to Gush Katif are part of a larger
pool of some 26,000 Thai workers
in Israel and the territories, most of
whom work in agriculture at kibbut-
zim and moshavim.
Complaints of substandard work-
ing conditions for these Thai labor-
ers are widespread. But some work-
ers in the Jewish settlements in Gaza
say they are both paid better and
treated better by their employers
here than their counterparts are
inside Israel.
Seventy-six mortars were fired last
week at army posts and Jewish set-

Since 19811

tlements in the Gush Katif area. In
addition to the death of Tab-a-sa,
two civilians and 11 soldiers were
injured in the attacks.

Narongsak Suh-Goi, a Thai laborer
working at a Jewish settlement in Gaza,
holds a photo of himself and his wife,
Jitrada Tab-a-sa, who was killed by
Palestinian terrorists.

Many Thai workers say they have
no alternative but to stay. Some are
still paying back large debts owed to
job placement companies that
helped bring them to Israel, while
others want a chance to earn back
the money they invested to get here
to help support their families back
home.
Butham Namsoonboon, who
works at a greenhouse in Ganei Tal,
a moshav-style settlement in Gush
Katif, said he is pleased with his
$ 1,160 a month salary and has no
desire to leave. The death of his
friend, Tab-a-sa, did, however shake
him and his fellow workers deeply. I I

