Editor's Letter
H
e's not Jewish. But he's Israeli. And he cherishes the
state that the Jewish people have built. He's so patri-
otic that he became a career soldier in the Israel
Defense Forces (IDF). He's now assigned to strategic planning.
Lt. Col. Alaa Abu-Rukun, 35, is part of the Druze religious
community and fiercely committed to Israel. His home is
in Ostea, a Druze village of 10,000
residents that is three miles from the
University of Haifa. He and his wife
have two kids; a third child is on the
way.
"Our religion tells us to be part of
our country, to be loyal to our coun-
try," says Abu-Rukun."We don't have
any dreams of our own separate ter-
ritory. We just want to live in peace in
the country that we live. For us, there's
great pride in being Israeli."
Druze are Arabic speaking. Abu-
Rukun also speaks Hebrew and English. About 20 percent of
Israel's population of 7.15 million is Arab or Druze.
Despite a full-time military career, Abu-Rukun, 35, also is
a student. He's in his second year of study toward a doctorate
in Middle East studies at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan,
near Tel Aviv. He'll take up to seven years, but isn't complain-
ing. "I'm working very hard," he said. "I'm used to it. I have
obligations, but I love my studies and I love my job. I manage
somehow"
Over a kosher lunch during an April 25 visit to the Detroit
Jewish News offices in Southfield, Abu-Rukun told
me that Bar-Ilan has enabled him to unite his love of
study with his love of service. Otherwise, he might
never earn the doctorate since he is signed with the
IDF for another 10 years.
Detroit was the middle leg of a 10-day North
American trip that began in Toronto and ended in
Miami. Les Goldstein and Dena Raminick of the
Detroit Friends of Bar-Ilan University's Midwest office
in Bloomfield Township hosted Abu-Rukun.
cares about Israeli interests. That's the only thing important
for me?'
Being Druze has no bearing on his allegiance. "It is very
obvious to me that prosperity and success for Israel means
prosperity and success for my family, my people and my vil-
lage," Abu-Rukun said.
Abu-Rukun relies heavily on his wife, a high school coun-
selor in Ostea. He makes it home on weekends. Combining
school and service is a balancing act. Bar-Ilan has given him
the capacity to pursue this dual dream. "It's a big university
with 32,000 students, but Bar-Ilan makes you feel like family;'
Abu-Rukun said. "You get very personal treatment from your
lecturers and the system."
So personal that instructors often invite him to their homes
at 6:30 in the morning so he can keep up his studies. He plans
to parlay his studies into his IDF strategic planning work.
Eventually, he hopes to teach or do research at Bar-Ilan.
Motivating Influence
Abu-Rukun is doing his doctoral thesis on the centuries-old
clash between the Shia and the Sunnis within Islam. While
unable to talk openly about Israel's sworn Islamic enemies,
Abu-Rukun offered keen insight that no Jew should dismiss.
He underscored the coming together of Sunni-led Hamas and
Shia-led Hezbollah, both seasoned terrorist groups, against
Israel and the West. This joining at the fundamentalist hip
should send off alarms throughout the civilized world.
"These organizations have almost nothing in common,"
Abu-Rukun said. "But for the first time in history, they are
Losing our optimism is the first plunge
into losing our esteem and ultimately
losing our spirit as the Jewish people.
Worthy Ambassador
Abu-Rukun is a fine spokesman for Bar-Ilan and for Israel.
He spoke candidly about his concerns, but with optimistic
resolve.
"Bar-flan is a university of values, not just an academic
degree factory','Abu-Rukun said. "This is the thing I am most
proud of'
Bar-Ilan core values include Judaism, pluralism and democ-
racy. It cultivates a campus of Jewish literacy and learning
while engaging a diverse student population that includes
Jews of all religious backgrounds as well as non-Jews.
Bar-Ilan, which counts Detroiters like Phillip Stollman and
Abe Nusbaum among its founders, celebrated its 50th year in
2005. Its Jewish studies and research program is perhaps the
world's largest. The university is unique not only in strength-
ening Israel, Judaism and Jewish life, but also bringing Torah
and a religiously observant lifestyle into harmony with mod-
ern science and scholarships.
I pressed Abu-Rukun for his take on the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, which is well into its sixth year. He can't comment
directly because he's an active soldier, but he did say: "I look
at it as an Israeli who cares about Israel's future and who
supporting each other in order to fight us. This causes us a lot
of trouble. We are very much worried about it."
So am I.
Abu-Rukun's optimism is inspiring. The Palestinians who
hate Israel and the Jews want nothing more than to break our
collective will. Losing our edge is the first plunge into losing
our esteem and ultimately our spirit as the Jewish people.
Listening to Alaa Abu-Rukun talk about his love of Israel
contrasts sharply with Al Aqsa TV, the official Hamas satellite
television station. Its weekly show Tomorrow's Pioneers
fea-
turing Farfur, a knockoff of Disney's Mickey Mouse — teach-
es kids Islamic supremacy as well as to support "resistance"
against Jews (the Palestinian euphemism for terror) and to
aspire to Islam's "inevitable"world domination.
The show is a lesson in incitement. It seeks to control via a
provocative message that Islamic rule will "benefit" Christians
and Jews through "justice, goodness and world love," accord-
ing to the Jerusalem-based Palestinian Media Watch.
Alaa Abu-Rukun is not Jewish, but is willing to die to pre-
serve the Jewish state — his home. His story makes me proud
to be a Jew whose ancestral homeland welcomes others even
though Jews living in other lands have confronted disdain
since biblical times.
G A VRNIISTA
WA LL!
—
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