U.N.: Israel Must Pay For Harm To Lebanon immigration laws. Yet it would be the first step in enabling undocumented immigrant workers to become equal and legal contributors to their com- munities, giving them a voice to fight exploitation and, as legal residents, call on the government to protect them. Last year, the president and Congress had a chance to replace our broken immigration system with a new one honoring core American principles and faith-based values while serving essen- tial U.S. interests. They failed to live up to their responsibilities. By now, those millions of undocumented workers who came to the United States to work and support their families, not to harm this country — including undocumented workers at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville — could have been on the path to legal status and, potentially, citi- zenship. The situation in that Iowa town is a heartbreaking symptom of the collapse of such legislation. Yet this tragedy also provides the opportunity for open dis- cussion that we must not squander. It is critical that we not lose momentum. We must push our lawmakers to move forward early in the next administration to prevent future abuses. As consumers of the news, it is impor- tant that we not "bite" when baited by red herrings. We must recognize that it is in our best interest as Jews to heed our moral obligations and our biblical injunction to "welcome the stranger." Likewise, as Americans, it is in our country's best interest to work together toward constructive, compassionate and reasoned change in our nation's immi- gration laws. ❑ Gideon Aronoff is president and CEO of H/AS, the international migration agency of the American Jewish community, which has been an advocate for fair and compassionate immigration legislation. C ome and see \x/hof s new at ci-ulot's A U.N. report reiterated a call for Israel to compen- sate Lebanon for damage from the 2006 war. A report published last week by the office of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, called "Oil Slick on Lebanese Shores," commended Lebanon for its cleanup efforts along the Mediterranean coastline and urged Israel to help pay for them. "The secretary-general wishes to urge the government of Israel to take the necessary actions towards assuming responsibility for prompt and adequate compensation to the government of Lebanon:' the report says, according to U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq. The report cites World Bank data that estimated the environmental toll from the 2006 war at a mini- mum of $526.9 million and a maxi- mum of $931.1 million. This is not the first time the U.N. Secretariat has called on Israel to help pay for the war's environmental costs. The latest report will be made available to the U.N. General Assembly when it convenes in New York later this month. ❑ T urquoise and cliamonol stiletto earrings in platinum. "Try these sexy stiletto's on for size" of education and consequent inability to earn better wages. For the past quarter- century, real wages for American work- ers without a high school education have declined 22 percent. The decline among those with no higher education was 11 percent. The reason: the tsunami of illegal and impoverished immigrants. A study in the 1990s by Social Science Quarterly found that for each 1 percent increase in the proportion of immigrant workers with- out a high school education in any job category, wages for Americans perform- ing that work fell 7 percent. Legalization represents another prob- lem of deep concern to the great major- ity of Americans encouraging further illegal immigration. President Reagan's 1986 amnesty increased illegal immi- gration five-fold. A huge majority of Americans support attrition of the illegal population through vigorous law enforcement, with more than three-quarters choosing attrition over amnesty in surveys. And attrition works: A new study by the Center for Immigration Studies shows the illegal population fell by 11 percent from August 2007 to May 2008 because of stricter immigration enforcement. The anguish of well-intentioned people is understandable, but open-borders immigration harms poor Americans without denting global poverty. We can't mend the whole world here, but massive illegal immigration can devastate America. It endangers national security, the social safety net, our most vulnerable citizens and the dignity of American labor. It challenges national cohesion and sovereignty, and its pro- ducing a population explosion with incalculably ruinous consequences to our environment and quality of life. Empathy with Postville's victims can- not justify these threats to the country we love. El Stephen Steinlight is a senior policy analyst at the Center for Immigration Studies and author of "The Fractious Nation?: Unity and Division in Contemporary American Life." He is former director of national affairs and a senior fellow with the American Jewish Committee. Answering Israel's Critics The Charge Former Israeli ambassador to Canada Alan Baker charged recently that there is an increasing anti-Israel sentiment brewing in the West, particularly evidenced by inaccurate and false information spread on college campuses and by a media in which Israel is mis- represented, unfairly criticized and perceived negatively. The Answer Ambassador Baker says the answer is to bring more pro-Israel view- points to the media and to campus, emphasizing Israel's progress and America's benefits from it's diplo- macy, security expertise and tech- nological and medical advances. scfiViiioT JEWELLERS / GEMOLOGISTS across Coolidge font the Somerset Collection 3001 West Big Beaver, Suite 112 Troy, Michigan 48084 248.649.1122 / 800.SCHUBOT schubot.com - Allan Gale, Jewish Community MEMBER Relations Council AMERICAN GEM SOCIETY' of Metropolitan Detroit © Jewish Renaissance Media, Sept. 11, 2008 1424460 .11111 September 11 • 2008 A35