The Insider
Raffle's Resonance
eople with special needs will benefit from the
Detroit Jewish community's first Super Raffle. Their
needs are important and so is the cause of serv-
ing these good folks, who represent one of our treasured
resources. Through no fault of their own, they have spe-
cial needs that we as a community can, and must, provide.
Enriching their lives and immersing them in the commu-
nity should be our communal quest.
Proceeds from the Super Raffle will help. The fundraiser
promises to have special appeal: Only 2,000 tickets will
be sold at $100 each or three for $250.
The raffle is unprecedented in its uniting of four Jewish
Detroit pillars. It is the brainchild of the executives and
staffs of JARC, a giant in service to people with devel-
opmental disabilities; the Jewish Community Center, the
Jewish community's central address for programs includ-
ing All Kids Together; JVS, a haven for career develop-
ment and employment services; and Friendship Circle,
whose service gifts include friendship and life skills for
kids with special needs.
This quartet of nonprofits will share the proceeds for
special needs programming. Each agency will deter-
mine how to spend its share and will be responsible for
p
oversight. The leaders of the four organizations - the
JCC's Mark Lit, JARC's Rick Loewenstein, JVS' Barbara
Nurenberg and Friendship Circle's Rabbi Levi Shemtov
— deserve plaudits for agreeing to share the limelight. In
today's competitive world, such a coming together is a
testimonial to their selflessness.
JCC President Mark Davidoff put it well. "What a con-
cept! Four great organizations in our community coming
together as equal partners to help those who need our
support. No long strategic discussions. No memorandum
of understanding. No quad-lateral committee process. Just
great executive directors and their teams taking charge to
get it done. Everyone is a winner with this raffle."
I'm excited about the prospects for this amazing new
alliance - especially in the potential for more collaborative
initiatives. Whether the alliance becomes a model remains
to be seen. But given the economic tenor of our times,
innovative thinking can't be discounted.
- Robert Sklar, editor
f) APATHY.
The Super Raffle drawing will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13, at
the West Bloomfield JCC as part of the Walk for Friendship Circle. For
'
tickets, go to www.SuperRaffle.org or call (248) 538-6610, ext. 418.
OFF EMOTION.
YOU,
LMS Y U
THAT Y
ER H
e's not Jewish nor does his 11th Congressional
District have many Jews. But U.S. Rep. Thaddeus
McCotter, R-Livonia, is an ardent proponent of
Israel. He defends Israel, America's chief Middle East ally,
because it is the principled thing to do although he's not a
shill for the Israeli government.
I applaud him for co-drafting an Aug.
11 letter urging President Obama to
reconsider including Mary Robinson
among 16 recipients of the Presidential
Medal of Freedom, the nation's high-
est civilian award. Robinson, the first
woman president of Ireland, did nothing
to halt expressions of anti-Israel and anti
Rep. McCotter
Semitic hatred at Durban I: the 2001
World Conference Against Racism. She
presided at that South Africa event as U.N. high commis-
sioner of human rights. Rightly, powerful Jewish groups
like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and Anti-
Defamation League branded her an unfair critic of Israel.
Respected Jewish voices like Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel
and the late U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos berated her objectivity.
Responding to a constituent appeal, McCotter, chair
of the House Republican Policy Committee, enlisted
co-authorship from Florida Rep. Ileana Ross-Lehtinen,
current ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs
Committee and 43 other members of Congress.
McCotter demonstrated conviction and leadership by
standing up and challenging the Obama administration's
decision to honor Robinson. He understands the hypocrisy
of the U.N. and how it has been waylaid by forces abhorrent
to liberty, justice, security interests and Western values.
"While we are aware of her achievements," the let-
H
ter states, "they are outweighed by her failed, biased
record as U.N. high commissioner for human rights from
1997 to 2002. As high commissioner, Robinson personi-
fied the anti-Israel bias that pervades the U.N. system.
She repeatedly singled out the Jewish state for con-
demnation, while often mitigating or excusing violent
Palestinian extremism."
The letter declares that Robinson "led a one-sided, anti-
Israel 'fact finding' mission to the Middle East in 2000
and repeatedly denounced Israel's efforts to defend its
citizens from attack by violent extremists."
The letter says under Robinson's leadership, "radical
regimes hijacked Durban I and turned it into an anti-Israel,
anti-Semitic, anti-American hatefest." Inexplicably, the
letter continues, she argues that Durban I achieved its
objective — yielding "an extraordinarily important docu-
ment for those who suffer discrimination, marginalization
and racism." She derided her critics while claiming "bully-
ing by certain elements of the Jewish community."
Wisely, the letter lauded Obama for staying away from
the 2008 Durban Review Conference (Durban II) and its
reflection of the Durban I bias — and for avoiding, as the
president termed it, "putting our imprimatur on some-
thing that we just don't believe in." Yet clearly, the medal
we gave Robinson "risks putting our imprimatur on a
biased record that contravenes our nation's deepest val-
ues," as the letter states.
Jews and Zionists should applaud Rep. McCotter's
moral fortitude. The president's elevation of Mary
Robinson is bad enough. But in effect giving her slanders
and lies against Israel a free pass goes against the grain
of what America is all about.
— Robert Sklar, editor
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September 3 • 2009
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