-.% p a , , ,_, O .' ,..... inion OFHER VIEWS Black-Jewish Alliance? - Dream Job: Now wtepting applicants Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital has opportunities for: • lo:190 Certified Registered Niunw Anoithensi • ion 3ii') Registered Nurse - Operating Room • 110,1 1;.! Registered Nurse Clinical Coordinator - Pediatrics • 1104 53 Registered Nurse Pediatrics • 1104 54 Clinical Nurse Specialist - Pediatric's • 111167 Registered Nurse - Oncology • 108300 Registered Nurse - ICU • 110606 Registered Nurse - NeurologY • 108 .104 Registered Nurse - Pre-OP/PACJ • 108)19 Registered Nurse - Case Manato - HEALTH SYSTEM Henry Ford West Bloomfield I Iospital is building a new standard of care from the ground up. This is your opportunity to shape not only your career, but also what the future of health care will look like. The Henry Ford Experience: • • • • Competitive benefits and pay Continuing education opportunities Flexible schedules Patient-directed care model Located in the heart of West Bloomfield For more job opportunities or information, log on to henryfordeareers.com Henry Ford Health System is an ANEFO employer. WALDEN 1959-2009 Our 50th Year! Come hear about our "kid's choice" activity program and all the other things that make Walden unique. > 6:30 p.m. Tuesday I December 9th at The Community House in Birmingham or see us December 10th - 11th at the Camp Experts Camp Fairs RSVP to 817.923.9536 or 248.661.1890 or summer@campwaldenmi.com A28 December 4 2008 iN S ee, the Jewish-black alliance is alive and well. That has been the major reaction in the Jewish corn- munity to the election of Barak Obama as president. From almost every quarter, Jews proudly cited their contribution to Obama's election as proof that Jews and blacks, despite some friction at times, still enjoy a healthy relationship. "Black, Jewish Vote for Obama May Signal a Renewed Tie" read the Forward's page 1 headline Nov. 22. It reported: "For many Jewish liber- als, this was a watershed moment, marking a return to the days when blacks and Jews were thought to have a special relationship founded on a shared language of suffering and joint efforts to promote civil rights?' All this excitement is based on the fact that the Jewish vote for Obama reached 78 percent, second only to blacks whose support was 96 percent. There is only one problem: A black- Jewish alliance has never existed. Yes, Jews, to their credit, played a major role in supporting the civil rights movement. They gave their lives in the South (Goodman and Schwerner along with Cheney), and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel walked arm-in-arm with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Jewish lawyers worked pro bono in the South at the risk to their lives. About half the lawyers supporting the movement at the time were Jews. Jews helped create the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and many worked their entire lives in and for the organization. To name just two, Kivie Kaplan, served as NAACP presi- dent, and Jack Greenberg headed the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Jews have long supported causes key to the black community. But — very importantly — an alliance suggests a two-way relationship. When one side may disagree with the other it must do so with respect and understanding. That has not been true in the rela- tionship between blacks and Jews. As blacks became more politically accepted, involved and sophisticated, they began to shun their Jewish friends. There were bitter disputes over such issues as affirmative action. Jews who worked in black civil rights organizations like the NAACP were thrown out. When the Rev. Louis Farrakhan fanned the flames with ugly descrip- tions of Jews, black leaders, while they may not have shared his views, refused to repudiate him. I don't know of any black organization — a member of the black body politic — that has endorsed or supported an issue impor- tant to Jews in the last 20 years or so. Individual blacks — usually religious leaders — have spoken out on behalf of Jewish causes but there has been no institutional support. On college campuses, black students have consistently launched vitriolic anti-Jewish, anti-Israel attacks and, sadly, have escaped sanctions. As Benjamin Ginsberg wrote in his book The Fatal Embrace (University of Chicago): •African-American politicians and intellectuals have been far more willing than their white counterparts to voice anti-Jewish views and, often, to accuse Jews of conspiring against blacks. • Poll data consistently suggest that levels of anti-Semitic sentiment are higher within the black community than virtually any other U.S. group. Jews, always reluctant to speak up, were too afraid and intimidated to respond for fear of being accused of racism. Added Ginsberg: "Anti-Semitism also has come to play an important role in the internal politics of the African- American community?' On Israel, the black community gen- erally identifies with the Arab point of view for a variety of reasons, ranging from the friction between Jews and blacks on some domestic social issues and the fact that they identify with the Palestinians "underdogs?' Further, blacks find more common ground with the Third World, which is usually fiercely anti-Israel. So while the election of Barak Obama — from a racial point-of-view — is to be celebrated as an historic event, a maturation of our relatively young experiment in democracy, it is premature to reach any conclusions on what it means in terms of the black- Jewish relationship. It would truly be historic if President Obama could create a black-Jewish alli- ance — a real alliance. Berl Falbaum is a Farmington Hills public relations executive and author. The former political reporter teaches journalism part time at Wayne State University, Detroit.