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Opinion

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Editorial

Israel's Self-Destiny

W

hen John Bolton's appoint-
ment as the U.S. delegate
to the United Nations was
not renewed, some Jewish organizations
feared a wavering of America's rock-
ribbed support for Israel would follow.
But the recent U.N. resolution repudiat-
ing those nations who deny the Holocaust
ameliorated some of those concerns. It
was initiated by the United States, which
was joined by 104 sponsors, and point-
edly directed at the blatantly anti-Semitic
regime in Iran.
It was a welcome gesture, but there
should be few illusions about the good
will of the U.N. and the depth of its com-
mitment to Israel's security. A far more
promising opportunity, however, lies in
the ongoing talks between Israel and the
European Union.
It isn't likely that Israel will join the
EU as a full-fledged member in the near
future. It is a possibility that already has
raised considerable opposition in Israel
among those who want no part of any
affiliation with Europe.
But a closer strategic alliance with the
EU is something that is being seriously
explored, in Washington as well as other
capitals. Most of the EU member nations
are very concerned about an Iran that
appears to be expansionist and irrational.

They recognize that an isolated Israel fac-
ing a nuclear Iran could erupt in a night-
mare ,confrontation that would shake the
foundation of their own house.
The EU has more leverage than the U.S.
with the Arab states, which can also be
viewed as a reason for suspicion. A peace
brokered by the EU may turn out to be
less than advantageous for Israeli security
needs.
But Hebrew University's Raymond
Cohen, in addressing those fears at a con-
ference on Israel's integration in the EU,
insisted that "the promise of ... inclusion
in the EU would transform a dishearten-
ing anticipation of national contraction
and vulnerability into a more confident
prospect of incorporation into a wider
community."
There already have been some small
moves towards inclusion in Europe; in
the region's qualifying soccer competition
for a place in the World Cup and in the
annual song contest held by Eurovision.
It would be a lot trickier, however, to
balance the Zionist dream against the
internationalist ethos that defines the
EU. Opponents also point out that such
inclusion would seem to ,validate the Arab
complaint that Israel is actually an alien
presence in "their" region.
In the long term, it seems that growing

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global demands on American power are
stretching this country's military resourc-
es dangerously close to the breaking point.
It is imperative that Israel remain in con-
trol of its own defense.
But the prospect of closer formal ties

with the EU is an intriguing possibility,
and a chance to alter the grim political
equation in the Middle East.

response in the
minds of the
broadcast media.
People really do
have to travel
farther than they
used to, and there
are fewer routes for
them to get there.
That's also why
closing the Lodge
for repairs is such
an upheaval. The freeways have been in
place for so long that younger drivers
— at least, those much younger than 60
— are no longer sure where the surface
streets go as an alternative.
The Jewish community, with the excep-
tion of the North Woodward suburbs, has
grown out along the spine of that freeway.
In many ways, it shaped the patterns of
our lives.
I remember coming home from a car
trip to Colorado with my parents in 1960
and seeing the vast, empty expanse of

the Great Plains for the first time. I went
out the first day back and saw that all
the trees on the grassy median of James
Couzens had been knocked down, prepar-
ing for the extension of the Lodge. The
Plains had come to Detroit.
It was the first tremor of greater disrup-
tions to come. The Lodge slashed through
the neighborhood. Old travel routes were
disrupted. Residents could now move to
newer housing in Southfield and com-
mute easily to their jobs downtown. Soon
the jobs followed.
It changed all our ideas about dis-
tance, time and neighborhood, and there
is nothing that can repave that road or
rebuild those bridges.
That's why it was far more accurate
when we called the Lodge an expressway.
Over the course of time, there was nothing
free about this freeway. It imposed a heavy
cost.

E-mail letters of no more than 150 words to:

letters@thejewishnews.com .

Reality Check

Time And The Lodge

C

ousins just moved from
Farmington Hills to West
Bloomfield; a mere hop and a
skip down the road the way I see it.
I clocked it on the map and it came to
just about six miles.
Out of curiosity I drove back to Detroit
and retraced the route of my family's
move in 1953. It went from Tuxedo
Avenue, across the street from Central
High, to the area around Curtis and
Schaefer.
I drove the route my dad would take
in that era before the Lodge Freeway was
built: Linwood to Doris to Livernois to
Lyndon to Wyoming to James Couzens to
Curtis.
The total distance of the drive was 5.6
miles; or slightly less than my cousins'
incidental move from one suburb to the
next.
It seemed to me back then that we
had moved to the far side of the moon. I
was wrenched from the neighborhood in
which I grew up to a new, strange place

in a far-flung corner of the city, and we
passed several other neighborhoods on
the way.
The move took us from a place where
most of the houses had been built before
1920, where almost no one had a garage
and paved alleys ran behind the resi-
dences as an alternative playground and
bike path.
Everything looked new and different
in Northwest Detroit. It was still being
formed in 1953. Even the section of
Curtis on which we lived wasn't yet paved,
let alone the skuzzy looking alley behind
us.
City distance is so much different than
suburban distance. There we measured
distance by blocks, here by time. Cross
14 Mile Road on Orchard Lake Road,
and, aside from the name on the police
cars, what's different? Same malls, same
look. Changes are miniscule, distances
greater.
That's why two inches of snow becomes
a catastrophe. It isn't all a hysterical

George Cantor's e-mail address is

gcantor614@aol.corn.

iN

February 15 • 2007

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