1 Letters On The Mark Kudos to Reality Check Columnist George Cantor for expressing my thoughts. i.e., crime and punishment stories that are turned into national carnivals ("Shape Up, Celebrities:' March 8, page 29). In the movie Freedom Writers, the kids complain that inner-city residents are killed almost every day, and they get a couple of lines in the newspaper. And tragic as it was, Tara Grant's disappear- ance and murder in Macomb County got 2-3 pages every day for a few days and was featured on cable TV by Bill O'Reilly and Fox Cable News. Marty Diskin Farmington Hills In Search Of Dialogue If the Muslim community were truly interested in interfaith dialogue as Special Commentary writer Victor Begg claims they are ("Building Constructive Dialogue March 1, page 24), they would not be so quick to label Rabbi Joseph Klein's preconditions to dialogue as "unre- alistic." Neither would Mr. Begg throw around terms like "islamophobic," a word used to stifle debate. Rabbi Klein merely demanded the same respect for Judaism that Muslims demand for Islam. Had that respect been forthcom- ing, there would have been no need for any preconditions. Had there not been demonstrations by members of the Muslim community in Dearborn last summer condemning Israel, comparing Jews to Nazis and hailing Hezbollah's Nasrallah as their leader, there would be no need for preconditions. Mr. Begg also says, "Scriptures should be studied as a whole — not taking indi- vidual passages out of context!' He then proceeds to take individual passages out of context in order to make his argument. In his attempt to blame members of the Jewish community for the lack of interfaith dialogue, Mr. Begg would do well to remem- ber that people may doubt what you say, but they will always believe what you do. Harry Onickel Ferndale Examining CAIR As current and former members of Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and concerned members of the Detroit Jewish community, we were stunned to read Council's statement regarding the Council on American Islamic Relations ("Interfaith Harmony;' Feb. 15, page 6). We cannot understand why the official voice of our community would publicly confer respectability upon a widely repu- diated organization whose ties to ter- rorism are well documented and whose objectives are not at all consonant with the mission of our Jewish Federation and the interests of Jews. Proper due diligence is warranted before the welfare of our community is jeopar- dized by misguided outreach without a quid pro quo of mutual respect and recog- nition of the international sovereignty of the Jewish State of Israel. CAIR has been denounced by the likes of Daniel Pipes, Steve Emerson, Abe Foxman and politicians on both sides of the political aisle. Sen. Chuck Shumer, D-NY, stated that CAIR "has ties to terrorism" and that prominent mem- bers of CAIR have "intimate links with Hamas." Former FBI counterterrorism chief Steven Pomerantz averred, "CAIR, its leaders and its activities effectively give aid to international terrorist groups." In Michigan, Bassem Khafagi, former CAIR community affairs director, pled guilty to immigration and bank fraud. He was indicted and deported after federal agents raided the Ypsilanti offices of the Islamic Assembly of North America of which he was a founding official. Federal prosecutors described IANA's objective as the "dissemination of radical Islamic ideol- ogy, the purpose of which was indoctrina- tion, recruitment of members and the insti- gation of acts of violence and terrorism!' Local CAIR figure Rabih Haddad, an assistant imam of the Islamic Center/ Muslim Community Association in Ann Arbor, was deported to Lebanon after being arrested and held by federal agents during a raid on the Global Relief Foundation. According to the Treasury Department, the organization "has con- nections to, has provided support for, and has provided assistance to Osama bin Laden, the Al Qaeda network and other known terrorist groups." JCRC Executive Director Robert Cohen and President Wendy Wagenheim praised local CAIR Director Dawud Walid for acknowledging the Holocaust. Yet after llamas won the Palestinian Authority elections, Walid urged recognition, coop- eration with and conciliation toward Hamas, sworn to the destruction of the State of Israel and designated by the State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. The ADrs Foxman noted: "CAIR was founded by leaders of the Islamic Association for Palestine, an anti-Semitic organization that, according to several gov- ernment agencies, was a llamas front ... However, its failure to unequivocally disas- sociate itself from support for terrorism and the hatred that breeds it impedes CAIR's ability to achieve the legitimacy it craves!' We couldn't agree more. The JCRC should not use its good name to condone organizations like CAIR unless and until they unequivocally disassociate them- selves from terrorism and recognize the Jewish State of Israel. Mike Kahan, Marc Weinbaum, Alan Olender, Rae Sharfman, Yehuda Tatelbaum, Barbara Moretsky, Shira Drissman, Isaac Barr, M.D. Oakland County and 15 other co-signers Davidson's Reach It was wonderful to see our friend Bill Davidson recognized in your pages as a generous supporter of the Jewish commu- nity ("Continuing The Legacy:' March 8, page 15). His substantial gift to Hadassah Hospital will change the face of healthcare in Israel. It is also, as mentioned in the article, "a show of support for Israel and Jerusalem!' To your list of Mr. Davidson's significant "imprints" on the Jewish community, we should add his $20 million gift to the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel — a gift that created the Davidson While blood is avoided in most Jewish ritual, for instance meat is drained and salted prior to cooking, there are two prominent ceremonies which involve blood. Can you name them? —Goldfein 6 i., ,, larch 007 Daphna Ruby national vice president Michigan executive director American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science Bloomfield Township Don't Sacrifice Israel Thank you so much for the succinct and informative editorial "Essence Of The Absurd" (March 8, page 29), which reveals the nonsense underpinning much of cur- rent thinking about peace in the Middle East. Given that Israel is a very small part of the problems afflicting the countries of the Middle East, we are left to wonder once again why "highly intelligent people" believe that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an obstacle to peace. Could it be that there are influential people who believe that Israel's interests must be sacrificed in order to get Israel out of the picture and force her enemies to get around to settling the regions's real problems — numerous other border dis- putes that have nothing to do with Israel? Margot Gardner Bloomfield Hills Correction In "Continuing The Legacy" (page 15, March 8), the story should have read that the Sarah and Ralph Davidson Hadassah House was donated by Dorothy and Byron Gerson, sister and brother-in-law of Bill Davidson. How to Send Letters We prefer letters relating to JN articles. We reserve the right to edit or REPO 'cha Don't Know luapue aql sluasaidai own) aleid Japes Institute for Science Education. Since the article documenting this gift appeared in the JN on Sept. 5, 1999, the Davidson Institute has come to life, advancing science, mathematics and technology education in Israel, bringing science closer to the general public and promoting international science education activities that engage Jewish communities in the diaspora. The American Committee for the Weizmann Institute is honored to have partnered with Mr. Davidson, and heartily hail his newest philanthropic endeavors. •(a3poes pique s,agiwal uo auoqueys papeoi ay} pue uo!spwriau Lamsuy reject letters. Letters of 225 words or less are considered first. Longer ones will be subject to trimming. Letter writers are limited in frequency of publication. Letters must be original and contain the name, address and title of the writer and a day phone number. Non-electronic cop- ies must be hand signed. 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