Editor's Letter Israel's Siren Call W hat happened makes you wonder: An ailing elderly man from Ramallah is accompanied by his son. A Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance transports them to the West Bank checkpoint just outside Jerusalem. There, the two passengers are moved into an Israeli ambulance and taken to Hadassah Hospital for treatment. Adam Horwitz, a University of Michigan sophomore, was aboard that Magen David Adorn (MDA) ambu- lance as a certified first responder, or trained volunteer. "The most stunning part was the calm and affable conversation between my driver and the son:' Horwitz recalled. "It was not quite the Israeli- Palestinian relationship I would have imagined." Me neither. Individual Palestinians certainly can be civil and open to co- existence. But don't be duped: The Palestinian Authority, the official voice of Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, who gov- erns the West Bank, continues to glorify terrorists and present them as role models for kids. A story appearing in Al Hayat Al Jadida, owned by the P.A., report- ed that a Tulkarem school named a soccer tournament after Ziyad Da'as, who planned the attack in which a gunman opened fire with an M-16 rifle at a bat mitzvah in Hadera in 2002, killing six people and wounding 30 more. The Aug. 15 article praised the terrorist, whom Israeli special forces killed seven months later, as "one of the brave people of the Palestinian resistance." looked straight ahead, pointing at the sign, as we honked and stared in complete bewilderment as he continued to walk." Horwitz is well grounded in tikkun olam — repair of the world. He's a graduate of Hillel Day School in Farmington Hills and Frankel Jewish Academy in West Bloomfield. He and three former classmates at Hillel Day School — Sander Rubin, David Sallen and Michael Goldstein — arrived for duty at MDA!s Bloomberg Station in Jerusalem with a purpose: to help repair the Jewish ancestral homeland. "I felt added pride when riding in the No. 49 and the No. 20 ambulances," Horwitz said. "The wording on the side of the doors honored people and organizations I knew from Detroit; they provided the funds for the ambulances' purchase." The Charach Factor In a video presentation, the dinner spotlighted MDA!s new sta- tion in Ashdod on Israel's southern coast. The station, a sym- bol of Israel's determination, serves about 500,000 people. It is named for the Charaches, the Mames chapter's most generous benefactors. The Natalie and Manny Charach MDA Emergency Medical Center stands in tribute to the human pillars behind the chap- ter: Eva Mames of Southfield and her late husband, John. He was a devoted Zionist who found- ed the chapter in the wake of the Six-Day War in 1967. John died in 1989, but his spirit and strength still resonate in every beat of the chapter's work. Eva, whose family was inciner- ated at Auschwitz, has a heart of gold and Moses-like magnetism. She's a gift to Detroit Jewry. She spoke passionately at the Charach station's dedication on May 4, capturing why Israel matters to diaspora Jews. "We want you to know that The Detroit Connection The Natalie and Manny Charach MDA Emergency we in America, we in Michigan, Horwitz, 19, is the son of Detroit Medical Center in Ashdod stand proudly in solidarity with Jewish News Publisher Arthur Israel, that we exult in your Horwitz and his wife, Gina. miraculous accomplishments and that we feel for you in your Speaking at the Aug. 26 annual dinner of the Dr. John J. Mames Chapter of the American Red Magen David for Israel pain and sorrow:' she said. (ARMDI)-Michigan Region, Adam recounted his seven-week "When you pass by and admire this striking facility, or MDA experience this year. MDA is Israel's national emergency, when you receive top-notch treatment from the medical pro- fessionals within, remember that we care about you and love blood and rescue service. The dinner, honoring Helen and Fred Brown of Bloomfield you, for it is incumbent upon all of us as one people to be our brother's keepers. And it is this — our very humanity — that Hills, drew 350 supporters. It was a moment to savor MDA's good work, not a fundraiser. Over the last 40 years, however, triumphs over evil." the chapter has raised $15 million for MDA for such things The Charach station and the Mames chapter remind us as bulletproof vests and paramedic scholarships. It also has that even in the grip of death and destruction at the hands of modern-day Hamans, Jews cherish life above all else. They given 220 ambulances as gifts, 31 by Natalie and Manny remind us of the heroism, nobility and resilience of Israel, a Charach of West Bloomfield, the most by any family associ- tiny sliver of biblical land that increasingly seems the world's ated with ARMDI. A basic ambulance today costs $75,000. most-hated nation because of its capacity to survive. Much of what Adam Horwitz witnessed was not unusual: a man having a heart attack, a slip and fall in a residence, a scorpion bite, a traffic crash. But he also saw things that 0 : Do you ever think about living amid the F.- • would shock Americans, like Israelis not yielding for an constant threat of terror? approaching ambulance. "Cars honk and refuse to give an Z z Do you ever re-evaluate your part in inch:' Horwitz said. "Our drivers have to fight." 5 0 He added, "We even had an old man who forced us to slam a. CL Israel's struggle to survive? the brakes because he had a green light for his crosswalk. He W Jo- NINA. CI FOR TENDER 271 WEST MAPLE DOWNTOWN BIRMINGHAM 248.258.0212 SUNDAY 12-5 MONDAY-SATURDAY 10-6 THURSDAY 9 1249810 September 6 • 2007 5