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6

January 28 • 2010

Fix Health Care Fiasco
The Jewish Community Relations
Council of Metropolitan Detroit's posi-
tion on health care reform is the classic
liberal position claiming health care is
a basic human right while ignoring the
cost issues (Editor's Letter, "Reforming
Health Care Jan. 14, page 5).
The usual conservative response is
that this is a socialist plot to ration and
redistribute services while ignoring
the carnage of the system's inequities.
Neither side is seeing what went wrong.
Corporate-sponsored health care puts
most workers on par with manage-
ment, but this system is not compatible
with today's global free trade economy.
Imported goods compete here without
this health care burden; but our com-
panies get hit again exporting overseas
where health care is supported through
general taxation. Furthermore, unem-
ployment compensation is a single-payer
government insurance mandate on your
employer! Except for some recent sub-
sidies, the victims of free trade, not the
benefactors, support displaced workers.
We cannot mandate that people buy
health insurance if they don't have a
job. Because all costs of doing business
ultimately are paid by the customers, we
need to reconsider the use of business as
the government's surreptitious surrogate
tax collector and health provider.
A national sales tax to replace these
discriminatory taxes on domestic busi-
ness cannot be circumvented by foreign
competitors; but politicians will resist
this because it exposes the real tax bur-
den, including accumulating reserves
earmarked for lean years.

1566970

Burned Bridge
Imagine the power of Robert Sklar's
Editor's Letter ("Waking Up To Jihad:'
Jan. 21, page 5) had it begun with
the fifth paragraph — that dialogue
between Muslims and Jews is important
if it is genuine on both sides.
Instead, Mr. Sklar fans the flames
of intolerance by claiming, without
identifying specific organizations, that
"American Muslim organizations" call-
ing out radicalism, are perpetrating a
hoax on "gullible non-Muslims."
The Metro Detroit area is home to
the largest Arab Muslim community in
the United States. Consider what their
moderate leaders feel when the editor
of the Jewish News calls their efforts
to condemn radicalism a hoax. More
importantly, imagine what it might feel
like for a Jewish teenager, who goes to
public school and sits beside young

Muslim teenagers every day, to read Mr.
Sklar's words.
In the world my family lives in,
Jews and Muslims sit side-by-side in
their classrooms and their community
events. I don't want my neighbors and
friends to believe that Jews view them,
and their efforts to condemn radical-
ism, as false. I want to believe that we
can, and will, build bridges that will
allow some level of trust to form in
both our communities.
Mr. Sklar's editorial burns those bridg-
es before they can take any shape at all.

Jan Frank

Bloomfield Township

ADL Not Timid
Since I did not participate in the
Editor's Letter "Waking Up To Jihad"
(Jan. 21, page 5), I would like to clarify
a few points.
The Anti-Defamation League faces a
conundrum when it comes to relation-
ships with the Arab and Muslim com-
munities in Metro Detroit. ADL firmly
believes in forging relationships with
the moderate Muslim community, just
as we believe in forging relationships
with most groups that are willing to
work with us. At the same time, we
stand firm in our condemnation of
any Arab or Muslim community or
group that triggers hate against Israel
and Jews.
Accordingly, in our discussion with
any group, ADL would insist that they
do not preach anti-Semitism, hate or
bigotry and disavow any relationship
with known terrorist groups such as
Hezbollah or Islamic Jihad.
ADL remains one of the local advocacy
organizations skeptical of attempt-
ing working relationships with Arab
and Muslim groups until these basic
understandings are met.
In the context of working together
in solving common issues of a com-
munity nature, ADL is part of many
Metro Detroit groups where we work
with Arab, Muslim and other religious,
ethnic and social groups. These coali-
tions work on civil rights, immigra-
tion, law enforcement and interfaith
issues. Within these groups, there is an
attempt to foster dialogue and coop-
eration for the good of the community.
That is part of the ADL's work, but
strictly speaking, we do not do indi-
vidual partnering with the Arab and
Muslim community.
So ADL is not timid; we are careful
for all the right reasons.

Betsy S. Kellman, regional director

Anti-Defamation League

Southfield