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 YOUR HEAR VE. OR IN TH f'D ?;:0;t` F I:11 POP7,111155UiEifIfiE ;,\,‘ cfm rH LrriA.';t1 7 .:, rt- ,,,tA1 , 73;, !,- Afyiv v.; ts--j em IHE ritE EXCLUSIVE RETAILE OF FASHION'S HOTTEST LABELS 271 WEST MAPLE BIRMINGHAM, MICHIGA 248.258.0212 TENDERBIRMINGHAM.COM mismaaAlli September 3 • 2009 5