Opinion

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Dry Bones DOUBLE TROUBLE

MAHMOUP ABBAS AND
ABU MAZEN ARE THE
SAME0
UY?

Editorial

•

THE "MODERATE"
PLO LEADER HAS
TWO NAMES?

An Immoral Boycott And Light

F

irst it was "Zionism is Racism:'
The U.N. adopted it at the height
of Arab rejectionism in order
to undermine any argument for Jewish
self-determination in a Jewish state. While
eventually repealed, it is still preached.
Then came "Israel is an Apartheid State,"
also seeking to deny Israel a place in the
family of nations. But even with a boost
from Jimmy Carter, it hasn't caught on
though it remains at the core of campus
anti-Israel efforts.
The newest spin is an effort to expel
Israel from arguably one of the most
diverse and vital communities in the
world, the academic community.
In May, the University and College
Union of the United Kingdom (UCU)
called on the European Union to stop
funding programs with Israeli academics
and institutions of higher education and
began a year of study before voting on a
full boycott.
Last week, almost 300 American col-
lege and university presidents gave them
something to study. In an American Jewish
Committee sponsored ad in the New York
Times, they told the Brits that if they chose
to boycott Israeli campuses, they should
also boycott American campuses.
The statement by Lee Bollinger, former
University of Michigan president and cur-

rent Columbia president, rightly calls the
UCU effort an "intellectually shoddy and
politically biased" attempt "to hijack the
central mission of higher education."
Michiganians can take pride that the
statement was circulated by former U-M
President Harold Shapiro, written by
Bollinger and signed by Dr. Lou Anna
Simon of Michigan State University, Dr.
Irvin Reid of Wayne State University as
well as current U-M President Dr. Mary
Sue Coleman. Also signing by the publi-
cation deadline were presidents Dr. Eric
R. Gilbertson of Saginaw Valley State
University, Dr. R James Cummins of Baker
College and Dr. Larry P. Arnn of Hillsdale
College.
It is both disturbing and reassuring that
American institutions once again have
to stand with Israel in the face of efforts
to demonize and isolate it. Just as Israel
stands virtually alone at the U.N. and
its hideously unbalanced Human Right
Commission, the British teachers union
singles out Israel for special scrutiny based
on a political agenda that ignores the facts.
For such supposedly smart people, it is
simply ignorant to target Israeli institu-
tions that exercise academic and political
freedom and that are a beacon of progres-
sive thought, exacting standards and pro-
ductive output. The government-controlled

institutions in countries
ado
eP
like China, Saudia Arabia,
Syria and other prime vio-
lators of human rights are
given a pass while Israel
AS"'
is again threatened. One
THE "MODERATE"
THE PROBLEM 15
suspects the instigators of
PLO LEADER HAS
NOT THAT HE HAS
the boycott would be more
TWO FACES,
TWO NAMES. THE
at home at the Hamas-con-
trolled Islamic University
PROBLEM IS THAT
in Gaza.
For years, there has been
an e-mail message making
the rounds, telling those
who would boycott Israel
they should do without
their cell phones, instant
messenger software,
www.DryBortesBlog.com
drip irrigation, magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI) machines and
ingenuity and scholarship. Arabs and Jews
other scientific advances made possible by teach and study together in a near-model
Israeli ingenuity. Who but someone wear-
of coexistence; the result is one aspect of
ing political blinders would boycott the
Israeli society true to the idea of being a
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology,
light unto the nations.
The call for a boycott represents a
a world leader in stem cell research?
What Palestinian, British academic or ill
political and moral darkness that seeks to
European would benefit by hampering the extinguish that light. That American cam-
pus presidents have stood up to say so can
groundbreaking research and scholarly
studies produced at the Technion?
help make all the difference. Fl
Israel has earned its place in the aca-
E-mail letters of no more than 150 words to:
demic world not as a contribution to mul-
Ietters@thejewishnews.com.
ticulturalism, but because of its freedom,

I wasn't aware, however, of
another link between the two
musical styles. I had always
assumed that the song "Eli,
Eli" was of European origin.
The opening words of the
22nd Psalm, "My God, My
God, why have you forsaken
me," the most wrenching cry
in the Bible and perhaps in all
of literature, begin this song.
According to Christian tradi-
tion, they were also the last words of Jesus
on the cross.
Set to music, the song seems to rise
out of the bottomless well of despair our
ancestors experienced in Europe. But it
was actually composed by Peretz Sandler
for a Yiddish Theater production in New
York in the early 20th Century.
It was popularized by the famed Cantor
Yosele Rosenblatt and by Al Jolson. But
it also was a staple of the repertoire of
African-American singer Ethel Waters.

In her autobiography, His Eye Is on the
Sparrow, she said its Yiddish words
reminded her of the trials of her own
people. More than that, it always got
her a warm reception in front of Jewish
vaudeville audiences. "They crowded the
theaters to hear it," she wrote.
According to Hollywood lore, the tyran-
nical head of MGM, Louis B. Mayer, wept
when Judy Garland sang it for him. Perry
Como performed it on TV several times
in the 1950s. (Can you imagine anyone
singing this song on commercial prime-
time TV today?) When Porgy and Bess
was given its first performance in Israel in
1955, the cast sang "Eli, Eli" at the recep-
tion for them in Tel Aviv.
It is not surprising that the song soon
separated itself from its real origin and
became regarded as a traditional prayer.
Especially since it ends with the opening
words of the Shema.
Maybe it's the closing of the circle, but
one of Waters' most memorable Broadway

2:MtA

Reality Check

Yiddishe Soul

I

watched the PBS telecast
of Paul Simon receiving
the first Gershwin Award
for songwriting a few weeks
ago. It was a terrific show. But
more than that, it was a symbol
of how the Jewish legacy of
shaping the American popular
song extended from the Jazz
Age to the Age of Rock.
I also hadn't realized how
many of Simon's songs were
favorites of mine, including the one that
perfectly describes so many of us who
grew up in the newspaper business, "Still
Crazy After All These Years."
The extent to which Jewish composers
and lyricists blended black and European
music to create a song form that is
uniquely American has been examined
many times. Just listen to the Gershwins'
"My One and Only," or Harold Arlen's
"Stormy Weather," and you can hear the
clear echo of cantorial refrains.

performances was her rendition of
"Suppertime," a song about a lynching in
the South written by Irving Berlin. The
words can be interpreted as referring to a
man who deserted his family, but in the
context of the original production it was
unmistakable what Berlin had in mind.
Or maybe it was Simon who completed
the circle when he incorporated tradition-
al rhythms and artists from South Africa
on his "Graceland" album.
Other aspects of the black-Jewish rela-
tionship may be shaky. But in their joint
contribution to the American songbook
they have created a timeless legacy. At a
time when melody and harmony are no
longer regarded as essential in popular
music, that's worth clinging to.
Or in the words of the Gershwin tune,
"They can't take that away from me."

George Cantor's e-mail address is

gcantor614@aol.com.

August 16 • 2007

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