Hot Corner
Israel-Hamas war draws protesters to West Bloomfield.
Keri Guten Cohen
Story Development Editor
L
ast weekend, the corner of Maple
and Orchard Lake roads in West
Bloomfield was home to those pro-
testing both for and against Israeli military
action in Gaza.
An ad-hoc demonstration in support of
Israel was held at the corner the afternoon
of Sunday, Jan.4. By 3 p.m., the group had
grown to 60 persons as word got around
that it was being held. The group held
homemade signs and American and Israeli
flags and reacted to positive honking and
gestures from passing cars.
Sue and Murray Kahn of Farmington
Hills were already planning to hit the
streets in support of Israel when they got a
call about the demonstration. He carried a
sign that read "Dear Arab Neighbor: Don't
be an Iranian puppet. You live in a democ-
racy — support one: Israel!'
David Rott of West Bloomfield was out
waving an Israeli flag. He had served in
the Israel Defense Forces as a prison guard
in Megiddo for a year and lived in Israel
for more than six years. He returned to
Michigan recently after getting married.
"I had been eating at Larco's across
from the anti-Israel protesters on Saturday.
I was shocked to see signs linking the
"We all have to stand as one
right now:' said Lena Dabich of
Farmington Hills.
"The world is fighting against
these people — not just Jews. We
have to support each other."
Catalina Mendoza of West
Bloomfield added, "The land
belongs to the Jewish people; a
promise was made to them!'
Observing the Sunday protest
from the former Farmer Jack
Chaldeans hold signs supporting Israel on Sunday.
parking lot, West Bloomfield
Police Chief Ron Cronin said he
was concerned about the use of the inter-
Holocaust and Nazis with Israel: he said. "I
section for rallies, citing safety concerns.
went home to get my Israeli flag, but when
He said he would be looking at requiring
I came back, the protest was over. I was
groups to obtain a permit for future dem-
infuriated. I called some rabbis and others
onstrations.
to get as many people as I could to come
A vociferous group of anti-Israel protest-
today.
ers gathered at the busy corner on Shabbat
"In West Bloomfield, it's an insult to our
afternoon, Jan. 3, to protest against Israel at
community. We don't go to Dearborn and
about the same time Israel's ground offen-
stick our Israeli flags in their faces!'
Nick Israel, who works for the local chap- sive against Hamas was announced.
The protest attracted approximately 300
ter of the Zionist Organization of America,
mostly young people, the vast majority
agrees. He sees the "extremist decision to
appearing to be of Middle Eastern descent.
travel to a Jewish/Chaldean neighborhood
Messages on signs ranged from calls for
to rally for the destruction of Israel as an
a ceasefire and for peace, to condemna-
excellent wake-up call for our community."
tion of Israel and calls for its elimination.
In addition to Jewish support, the pro-
A prominent sign held by different people
Israel cause also drew support from the
along the way was modeled on the Israeli
Chaldean and Christian community.
Raising Children In A War
Yad Binyamin, Israel
R
aising children during a
war presents unique chal-
lenges. Thankfully, we live
far enough away from Gaza that I find
it difficult to imagine rockets land-
ing here. Unfortunately, Yad Binyamin
sits close enough to Gaza that the
army (or the defense minister) insists
that we should
the schools
closed. (A lot of
discussion here
revolves around
the question of
how much politics
play a role in this
situation. Would
Ehud Barak have
closed all the
schools if he
wasn't up for re-election in a month?
Sure, it's always better to be safe than
sorry, but other facts do come into
play.) This has created the unusual sit-
uation that looking around, everything
seems quiet and normal, but
because they're stuck at
home on a bright sunny day,
children intuitively know that
something is wrong.
Personally, I don't feel that much more
tense than normal. I studied in Israel
during the first Gulf War in 1991 when
Saddam Hussein lobbed Scud mis-
siles at us (and no one knew whether
he was kind enough to arm them with
chemical or biological warheads).
Sitting in a hermetically sealed room
with a gas mask and an atropine pen
at the ready -- that was scary.
But my children do not enjoy the "ben'
efit" of my past experience. They just
know that there's a war, and that the
"bad guys" are shooting rockets at
Israel. So they're very much on edge.
For example:
Last night before Havdalah, for some
reason my alarm clock in my bedroom
went off - a regular "alarm-clock"
beep. Several of our children began to
cry, wondering if that was the
sound of the siren, and whether
they should run upstairs to the
mamad (sealed room). It was
quite eye-opening.
When we learned that there wouldn't
be any school today, we decided to go
as a family on a small trip --- probably
to a part somewhere. My son asked
that wherever we go, could it please
be "out of range?" Sure.
This morning listening to the radio,
the news played some of the sounds
from Gaza. Hearing the radio from
upstairs, two kids came down with
worried looks on their faces, wonder-
ing if the noise was "close." I explained
Insi de
lsra el
flag with the Jewish star made into a swas-
tika. Other signs read: "Israel is an illegal
state" and "Stop the Gaza Holocaust." A
handmade sign held by a very young girl
read, "Keep our Land Clean" and featured
with a Jewish star going into a trash can.
Chants included "2, 4, 6, 8 — Israel is a
terrorist state" and "Palestine will be free,
from the river to the sea."
There were many Palestinian flags, along
with U.S. flags and at least one Lebanese
flag. Cars sped by with Palestinian flags
displayed through the roofs and win-
dows, attracting cheers from protesters.
Occasionally, a car with an Israeli flag drove
past. The demonstration slowed traffic,
particularly on Orchard Lake Road, with
police eventually having to direct traffic to
keep it moving.
The protest was organized by the
Congress of Arab American Organizations
(CAAO), which organized the pro-
Hezbollah demonstrations in the summer
of 2006. CAAO is headed by Osama Siblani,
publisher of the Dearborn-based Arab
American News. Organizers claimed a Dec.
30 rally along Warren Avenue in Dearborn
attracted 5,000 people, though the news
media reported less than 1,000. Media also
reported that 5,000 people were expected at
a Jan. 2 rally in front of Dearborn City Hall,
later reporting a crowd of less than 200. El
that the sounds weren't here -- but
"there." But I turned the radio off
quickly.
Last night, we received a nice letter
from the school's psychologist about
how to deal with our children during
the war. I found the letter somewhat
confusing. On the one hand, we're
supposed to be honest and forthright
because kids know that something's
up. On the other hand, the letter sug-
gests that we shield them as much as
possible from images or media that
might overly frighten them.
All good advice. But where's the line
between not enough information and
too much? How much do I tell, and how
much do I hide?
I guess that's the perennial paren-
tal struggle. Only in war, the issues
become that much more pressing.
Reuven Spotter is the former rabbi of Young
Israel of Oak Park. The Spotters made aliyah
in 2009.
January 8 2009
A15