I World Interfaith Partners Religions stand together to condemn vandalism. Don Cohen Special to the Jewish News A rash of vandalism at mosques and Muslim-owned businesses — wherever they come from and for whatever reason — are wrong and must stop. This message was delivered by Interfaith Partners (IFP) on Jan. 25 as 30 hardy and committed souls gathered in single-digit weather at the old Detroit home of the Islamic Center of America, which had been defaced with anti-Muslim graffiti the previous day. "As a community, we come together today to support in spirit the cleansing of this site from brutality and to move ahead with our efforts to strengthen inter- faith understanding," the IFP statement said. The IFP is a project of the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion (MRDI). Jewish participants among the reli- gious, civic and law enforcement leader- ship included IFP executive committee members Robert Cohen, executive direc- tor of the Jewish Community Council of Metro Detroit, and Jewish co-chair Rabbi Josh Bennett of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield. Also participating were Betsy Kellman, executive director of the Michigan office of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), JCCouncil vice-president Gail Katz and Dave Henig, director of the Michigan Board of Rabbis. "It would have been unconscionable for us not to stand with the Muslim commu- nity, after Interfaith Partners, at the urging of their Muslim co-chair [Eide Alawan of the Islamic Center of America], stood with us last month at the Holocaust Memorial Center to condemn Holocaust denial;' Cohen said. "We want to stand up and say this kind of behavior is unacceptable' "If you really believe in civil rights, you have to believe in civil rights even when its uncomfortable' said Kellrnan, alluding to continuing divisions with elements of the local Muslim community. "After all, it's civil rights for everybody" Part of the 30-person chain symbolically protecting the former home of the Islamic Center of America in Detroit are, Robert Cohen, Jewish Community Council; Dave Henig, Michigan Board of Rabbis; Gail Katz, JCCouncil; Rev. Felix Lorenz, St. Paul's United Church of Christ, Dearborn Heights; Rev. Barbara Clevenger, Church of Today West, Farmington Hills; Rev. June Smith, Mt. Olivet, Dearborn Heights; and Ramaz Bazzi, member of the Islamic Center of America. Blaming The Occupation Combatants for Peace search for a non-violent solution. Don Cohen Special to the Jewish News S madar Elhanan, 14, was shop- ping for school supplies when three suicide bombers struck Jerusalem's Ben-Yehuda pedestrian mall on Sept. 4, 1997, killing five and wounding 181. Smadar and her best friend were killed instantly, and another friend was critically wounded. Elik Elhanan is certain he knows what killed his little sister: The culprit was the "Occupation:" Elhanan, 29, and Sulaiman Al Hamri, 42, leaders of the Palestinian/Israeli dia- logue and anti-occupation activist group Combatants for Peace, spoke Jan. 22 at Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park before an audience of 100 as part of a 22-city speaking tour sponsored by the Chicago-based Brit Tzedek V'Shalom (Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace), which works to bring American support for a two-state solution in Israel. Struggling to make sense of the situa- Sulaiman Al Hamri and Elik Elhanan of Combatants for Peace tion took much time and tears, but Elik came to the conclusion that "it was not a clash of civilizations, historic conflict or a clash of religions that caused her death. She died, very simply, because there is an occupation and there are 3 1/2 million people living without any human rights. I decided that if I want to save the children, I should fight the occupation rather than the Palestinians:' Elhanan was already rethink- ing his Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) service when his sister was murdered. He went from thinking his army service was "not only was a responsibility, but also a privilege" to believing "it is a vicious circle we can't break out of. Every attack was simply an excuse for the next attack. Everyone we arrested or killed, somebody took their place. Violence only leads to violence and blood only leads to blood. "The abstract questions became very concrete: no more violence, no revenge. It won't save any other children, just give them another excuse to come after us again." He decided that the occupation was "immoral, illegal, and more than anything, it doesn't protect Israelis and puts them in harm's way:" He joined the newly formed Courage to Refuse, comprised of Israeli soldiers who refused to serve in the IDE The new group began with 52 members and eventually grew to 700. Now a student at Tel Aviv University, Elhanan, together with Al Hamri and oth- ers, helped found Combatants for Peace last April. He is its Israeli coordinator. Group members travel Israel and the ter- ritories talking about their experiences and urging non-violence, an end to the territo- rial occupation and a negotiated two-state settlement based on the 1967 borders. On A Mission Al Hamri, the Palestinian coordinator of the group, told the audience, "We are not politicians; we will not deceive anybody; we will tell it as it is. We will talk to you from our hearts." He joined Fatah, the PLO faction headed by Yasser Arafat and now led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, when he was 16 years old in the mid-1980s. "It was a privilege to join the movement Blaming on page 24 February 1. 2007 23