World

United Voices

Detroiters Jewish and non-Jewish join in support of Israel at AIPAC conference.

Don Cohen

Special to the Jewish News

S

eventy-two hours. Seventy-five
hundred delegates. And just
about one of every 50 delegates
was from Michigan.
Michigan's 159-person presence at the
AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs
Committee) Policy Conference, held March
21-23 in Washington, D.C., was a signifi-
cant expression of Jewish and non-Jewish
friendship and support for the Jewish state.
Among participants was David Victor of
Bloomfield Hills, concluding his two-year
term as AIPAC president. Victor, succeeded
by Lee Rosenberg at the conference, becomes
chairman of the board of directors. Victor
welcomed delegates from all 50 states and
the dignitaries and speakers as well as 1,300
students from 365 college campuses and
high schools from around the nation.
He noted that "each year, we are joined
by larger and larger numbers of [non-
Jewish] friends who understand that a
strong Israel is not merely a Jewish value,
it is an American value:'
Victor also proudly thanked his father,
Steven, his stepmother, Marilyn, his wife,
Kelly, and his children George, Robert,
Adin and Jack. He noted his appreciation
to Kelly "for making AIPAC not simply 'my
thing, but 'our thing:"
At the conference,
African-American
Pastor DeeDee M.
Coleman of Detroit's
Russell Street
Missionary Baptist
Church and member
of AIPAC's National
Dee Dee
Council spoke out for
Coleman
Jerusalem as Israel's
undivided capital, for
Israel's right to defend itself, for prevent-
ing Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons
and for peace.
We must "make our voices heard togeth-
er that our desire for peace is unmistak-
able, our support for Israel is unshakable
and our bond for freedom and friendship
is unbreakable she told the audience that
included Detroiters the Rev. Oscar King
III of Northwest Unity Baptist Church, the
Rev. Kenneth Flowers of Greater New Mt.
Moriah Missionary Baptist Church and
Donnell White, assistant executive director
of the Detroit NAACP.

20

April 1 • 2010

Outgoing AIPAC president David Victor of Bloomfield Hills addresses the conference.

Detroit Jewish clergy were well rep-
resented. There were Rabbis Joseph H.
Krakoff and Eric Yanoff of Congregation
Shaarey Zedek of Oakland Country,
Rabbis Alon and Simcha Tolwin of Aish
HaTorah Detroit and Huntington Woods
respectively, Rabbi Steven Rubenstein
of Congregation Beth Ahm in West
Bloomfield, Rabbi Aaron Bergman of Adat
Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills,
Cantor Rachel Kalmowitz of Temple Beth
El in Bloomfield Township, Rabbi Michael
Moskowitz of Temple Shir Shalom and
Rabbi Josh Bennett of Temple Israel, both
in West Bloomfield.

Local Delegates React
While stopping Iran's pursuit of nuclear
weapons was intended to be the major
issue of the conference, recent public ten-
sions between the Obama administration
and Israel over building in Jerusalem took
center stage. Monday morning featured
some tough love from U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton — and it was returned that
evening by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu.
"Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the
Jewish people and it always has been, and
it always will be said Krakoff, paraphras-
ing declarations by Netanyahu and AIPAC
Executive Director Howard Kohr, which
Krakoff said received "roaring support"
But that doesn't mean Jerusalem has to

be a deal breaker.
"Jerusalem has a special place in our
hearts and our history, and it's never going
to change, and no one is going to take that
unique relationship away from us:' Krakoff
said, although "different people come to
the table with different approaches" in the
context of peace.
Fran Victor of West
Bloomfield — a friend
but not a relative of
David Victor — got
involved with AIPAC in
2007 when her son, Josh
Kaplan, headed Spartans
Fran Victor
for Israel at Michigan
State University and
later interned with AIPAC in Washington,
D.C. This was her third policy forum; she
attended with her husband, Bill Harder.
"I'm blown away by how much I
learned, the quality of speakers and the
access AIPAC affords you to the people in
Congress and the people in power;' she said,
clearly still energized by the experience.
Saying that many identify AIPAC as
right-of-center politically, Victor nonethe-
less felt very comfortable as someone who
identifies herself as left-of-center.
"I was impressed with the education
forums, which had far more balance than
many attribute to AIPAC," she said. She
found remarks by former British Prime
Minister Tony Blair to "offer the greatest

glimmer of hope by outlining some of
the initiatives that have been successful,"
pointing to the building boom in Ramallah,
the 10 percent growth in the Palestinian
economy and "the dramatic reduction in
the number of checkpoints so Palestinians
can move more freely."
"But there is still so far to go;' she said,
"especially in the education of the next
generation of Palestinians and the institu-
tionalized hatred:'
Bert Stein of West
Bloomfield attended his
fourth policy confer-
ence, and it was the first
for his daughter, Sue
Stein, now of Boston. "By
Tuesday morning, she
Bert Stein
was saying we should
already sign up for next
year:' he said, clearly pleased.
"The spark you get from being at con-
ference is amazing;' he said. "The commit-
ment and the class of the people who are
there from all over the country is fantastic.
I get so much out of it and I meet the most
wonderful people."
While not pleased that "Obama is the
first one that washed our dirty laundry in
public:' he nevertheless expressed support
for the straight talk from Secretary Clinton
and others.
"Good or bad," he said, the speak-
ers "told you what had to be done. I had
respect for Mrs. Clinton. She told it as she
sees it as a representative of the United
States:'
Stein also was impressed with the
presentations from Africans and South
Americans who thanked Israel for medi-
cal, agricultural and business training.
"The doctor from Africa said he took his
training home and saved lives',' said Stein.
"He was very thankful. That is tikkun olam
(repair of the world). If the world would
just let us, we could help everyone, but they
only want to talk about one thing:'
That one thing is the peace process, and
while Stein doesn't want it to overshadow
everything else, he wants it to be attended
to also.
"The Palestinians should come to the
peace table he said."They will benefit
even more than the Israelis:' LI

Speeches can be found at AIPAC's Policy
Conference Web site under Videos and
Speeches at www.aipac.org/PC2010/