Opinion

Unchanging Vote

Dr. Arabbo

Dr. Betel

Dr. Bodzin

Dr. George

Dr. Margolis

Dr. Yaldo

S

o what role did the
Jewish vote play in
the election that
swept Republicans into office
throughout the nation?
The answer seems to be
none.
Based on national polls, it
appears Jews ran counter to
all the instincts of the elec-
torate that decided to vote
Democrats out of office.
Jews did not participate in
the Republican landslide that
President Obama called a "shellacking"
for his party. They did not contribute
to giving Republicans control of the
U.S. House of Representatives or total
Republican control in several states,
including Michigan.
True to its history, Jews continue to
vote Democratic and the percentage
— at 66 percent — did not vary sig-
nificantly from the performance of the
Jewish electorate in the past.
If compared to other mid-term and
presidential elections, the 66 percent was
a standard performance. In isolated cases,
the Jewish vote may have increased at
times (78 percent for President Obama)
or dip for Democrats as it did in the 1980
election of Jimmy Carter (45 percent). The
highest percentage for a Republican, usu-
ally a president, hovers around 40 percent
(Reagan in 1980 at 39 percent).
There were local races in the 2010
mid-term election for Congress were Jews
voted above 66 percent for Democrats
and, as might be expected, Orthodox Jews
were "more Republican" than the Reform
or Conservative.
But despite the national uproar to
throw the Democrats out along with
many incumbents, Jews stayed true to
their history in American politics.
Why? Well, of course, voting liberal/
Democratic is part of the Jewish elec-
torate's history and little seems to move
it from that position, regardless of the
issues or candidates.
Further, Jews are motivated primar-
ily by `social justice" issues rather than
foreign affairs; and it appears that was the
case this time as well.
As J.J. Goldberg reported in the Forward,
the polls indicated the top five issues that
concerned Jews were all domestic. They
included: the economy, health care, the
deficit, Social Security and taxes.
What is disconcerting is that Israel,
as an issue vital to Jews, seems to be
decreasing with each election.
In this one, Goldberg writes, when
asked what issues were important in

Chaldean and Jewish Physicians
Experience Progress

mong six DMC-affiliated
Chaldean and Jewish
physicians, religion and
ethnicity have not been significant
barriers in their education and
careers, in contrast to earlier
generations.
However, being a first-generation
American was sometimes an
influential factor. Anesthesiologist
Aaron Betel, M.D., who practices at
the Berry Surgery Center, says that
his immigrant parents encouraged
him to choose medicine as a career
because it promised respect and
success.
For Wisam George, D.O.,
an anesthesiologist and pain
management specialist, being
a Chaldean medical student
in East Lansing carried a special
responsibility. When his father
became ill with colon cancer, Dr.
George returned to the Detroit area
every weekend to work in his family's
business.
Adil Arabbo, M.D., chief of family
medicine at Huron Valley-Sinai
Hospital, emigrated from Iraq when
he was 10 and was the first in his
family to attend college. "You have
to make your own opportunities if
you're not from here and don't have
parents who are doctors or college
educated," he says. Dr. Arabbo is
grateful for two "great mentors"
during his residency — Dr. George
Mogill and Dr. Chaim Brickman,
Jewish physicians affiliated with
Sinai-Grace Hospital.
Bashar Yaldo, M.D., a general
surgeon, studied medicine in Iraq.
Passing the American medical

A

boards and gaining admission to a
residency program were challenging
requirements. He chose general
surgery and soon started his own
practice. While "it is difficult to
start fresh," Dr. Yaldo says, being
Chaldean has not been a problem.
Kim Margolis, M.D., a Jewish
nephrologist at Huron Valley-Sinai
and Sinai-Grace hospitals, grew up
in Cincinnati and "didn't know the
word Chaldean" until moving to
Detroit. Dr. Margolis remembers
his first friendship with a Chaldean-
American, a pharmacist at Sinai-
Grace, and describes Huron Valley-
Sinai as a "melting pot with a nice,
pleasant environment."
Jason Bodzin, M.D., has been
a general surgeon for 33 years.
He completed his residency at Mt.
Carmel Mercy Hospital, a Catholic
institution. "Everyone treated
everyone equally and there was
no problem at all being Jewish," he
remembers.
Dr. Bodzin specializes in treating
inflammatory bowel disease,
including Crohn's and colitis, which
are more common among Chaldean-
Americans and Jewish-Americans.
He has treated hundreds of Chaldean
and Jewish patients. Dr. Bodzin
participated in a study which
identified genetic markers for these
diseases on specific chromosomes in
the Jewish and Chaldean populations.
Today, Chaldean-American and
Jewish-American physicians interact
with doctors and patients of all
backgrounds. Patients want the best
medical care and choose physicians
who can provide it.

ADVERTISEMENT

1636050

30

December 2 • 2010

determining their vote, "Israel
came in eighth of 14 choices,
named by only 7 percent of
respondents:'
The reasons for this
"detachment" are, of course,
very complex. But, overall, it
is fair to conclude that young
people do not have the same
attachment — historic and
emotional —that their elders
had.
Israel is not as important
to them as the five domestic
issues cited in the poll or other domes-
tic policies, such as abortion, gay rights,
the environment and gun control.
But whatever the reasons, this does
not bode well for the well-being of
Israel because support for the Jewish
state by America's diaspora is essential
to its security.
If this trend continues, we can expect
political candidates and officeholders —
whether they are Republican or Democrat
— to mute their support for Israel. If
they believe it is in their best interests —
defined as getting elected or reelected —
to temper their Israeli policies, who would
argue that they would not do so?
And when they do, it follows that not
only would they not campaign on pro-
Israel policies, but they also would not
enact them once elected. And that spells
trouble, lots of it.
Goldberg believes that the Jewish elec-
torate will change course if Israel is faced
with a crisis or if its very existence were
at stake. Then, the Jewish electorate
would respond accordingly, by which
one assumes he means it would vote for
those prepared to protect Israel — be
they Republican or Democrat.
The problem with Goldberg's
prediction is just that — it is a prediction
(or a hope). It hardly gives one a sense of
security for many reasons — the major
one being, should that time come, it may
be too late. Whenever that may happen,
the electorate may have moved even
further away in considering Israel as an
issue important to it.
It is time for the Jewish voter to under-
stand that Israel doesn't have to be the
No. 1 priority, but it must be a priority
if the Jewish homeland is to prosper or
even survive.
The question is: How does one con-
vince the Jewish electorate? ❑

Berl Falbaum is a Farmington Hills public

relations executive as well as an author and
a former political reporter. He teaches jour-
nalism at Wayne State University, Detroit.

