To Life!

AR) OUND TOWN

Israel
Advocate

Non-Jewish German speaks
out on behalf of Jewish state.

Carey Kalmowitz of West Bloomfield,
Rachel Gottlieb of Birmingham and Marty
Maddin of Huntington Woods

I

lka Schroeder is an unlikely champion for Israel. The 28-year-
old former member of the European Union Parliament grew
up in Germany and is not Jewish; yet, she adopted a political
stance that put her in the minority among her colleagues.
After the 9-11 terrorist attacks on America, Schroeder began
inquiring about the European Union's funding of the Palestinian
Authority — urging the group to investigate and reconsider the
financial support. Her efforts were rebuffed, but by the end of her
five-year term (1999-2005), she had made a name for herself as a
vocal defender of Israel.
"In 2001, the E.U. gave the Palestinian Authority 180 million
Euros [$230 million] — and this was happening while Israel
was accusing Yasser Arafat of financing and leading a terror war
against Israel;' Schroeder said. The European commitment, while
hiding under the cover of peace rhetoric, is directed against Israel
and tries to present Israel as the only culpable party in the Middle
East conflict, Schroeder added.
Schroeder spent this past year in Washington teaching classes
at Georgetown University. She made a stop in Metro Detroit on

Left to right:
Nikki Fayne of Birmingham and Layne
Sakwa of Bloomfield Hills

Stephanie Schiff of Birmingham and
Renee Ralsky of West Bloomfield

Josh Levine and Steven Ingber, both of
Huntington Woods

Left to right:
Jordan Glass and Sharona Shapiro,
both of West Bloomfield, with Andrew
Doctoroff of Huntington Woods

Jodi Millman of Troy and Lauren
Friedman of West Bloomfield

Josh and Rebecca Levin of Ann Arbor

34

January 11 2007

Dec. 11 — sharing her insights with a group of about 40 young
adults at Forte restaurant in Birmingham. The discussion, spon-
sored by the American Jewish Committee's ACCESS group, was the
first in a mini-series on threats to the Jewish world. Schroeder's
future plans include opening a center in Berlin to fight anti-
Semitism and anti-Zionism.
"It was amazing to hear her personal story; she's so young,"
said Sharona Shapiro, Michigan area director of the AJC's Metro
Detroit Chapter."Ilka's concern that the European Union leader-
ship is hiding their heads in the sand while distributing funding
to the Palestinians with no accountability system in place is right
on the money."
Spotted in the crowd were: Event co-chairs Jordan Glass and
Francine Wunder, both of West Bloomfield; Jonathan Goldstein
of Huntington Woods; Rebecca Levin of Ann Arbor; and Rachel
Wright of Birmingham. Also in attendance were: Stephanie
Schiff of Birmingham; Carey Kalmowitz, Rob Kalman, Zaron
Frumin, Jenny Rosenthal, and Renee Ralsky, all of West
Bloomfield; and Josh Levine of Huntington Woods. I

'