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Editor's Letter
A Jaded Yule Wish
I
n this Christmas season, you would
think a North American group sup-
porting Palestinian Christians would
work toward good will and cooperation
between Palestinians and Israelis.
But this pur-
ported "peace
group," Friends
of Sabeel-North
America, is say-
ing all it wants
for Christmas
is an end to
Israeli "apart-
heid" against
Robert Sklar
Palestinians.
Hlitor
The group
is spreading a
deceptive message in its call to boy-
cott 14 Israeli and Israel-affiliated U.S.
companies that allegedly benefit from
Israeli "oppression": AHAVA, Delta Galil
Industries, Motorola, L'Oreal/The Body
Shop, Dorot Garlic and Herbs, Estee
Lauder, Intel, Sabra, Sara Lee, Victoria's
Secret, Caterpillar, Tribe, TEVA, Better
Place.
The call and the claim are ludicrous.
Anti-Jewish boycotts, of course, were
a favorite early tactic of Nazi Germany,
which nearly succeeded in exterminating
European Jewry, and later of Arab regimes
bent on eradicating the Jewish state.
The "Friends" group represents the
Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology
Center of Jerusalem. Sabeel preaches
"love, justice, peace, nonviolence, libera-
tion and reconciliation for the different
national and faith communities." But
it promotes a Palestinian nationalist
agenda, an extremist theology and an
anti-Israel/anti-Jewish bias. Israel is cast
as the evil aggressor and sole instigator
of Palestinian retaliation and terror.
Sabeel's religious mission is merely a
front for a political force determined to
demonize and delegitimize Israel and
vilify the Jewish people. The U.S.-based
Israel education and advocacy group
StandWithUs maintains that Sabeel
not only doesn't represent Palestinian
Christians, but also is silent about the
escalating persecution of them at the
hands of Islamist terrorists.
Despite a half-hearted condemnation
of violence, Sabeel dismisses terrorism
by Palestinians as classic resistance and
brands Jewish Israelis as modern Nazis.
I have no problem with legitimate
criticism of Israel — its government or
its policies. But Sabeel's strategy is base-
less. It weaves falsehoods, distortions
and international law misinterpretations
into a cloak of anti-Zionist canards
while ignoring Israel's record of giving
up land and uprooting settlements.
Sabeel's Christmas wish circular
proclaims that many of the targeted
companies hurt Palestinians by exploit-
ing labor, developing war technology or
supplying equipment for illegal settle-
ments — or harm the environment and
.1114 CONTENTS
Dec. 23-29, 2010
16-22 Tevet 5771 Vol. CXXXVIII, No. 20
Shabbat Lights
Arts/Entertainment
29
Sports
39
Business
25
Staff Box/Phone List ...
13
Family Focus
41
Synagogue List
26
Health/Fitness
39
To Do!/Calendar
36
Torah Portion
28
World/Israel
18
Marketplace
❑
JEWISHNEWS•com
Cover Story on page 29
Letters
engage in labor violations.
Apartheid means "separateness" in
the Afrikaner language. In South Africa,
it was a system of legal segregation
enforced by the white racist government
between 1948 and 1994. Equating Israel
with apartheid is nonsense.
Israel is a free society whose political
and legal system enforces equality for
citizens all races, religions and ethnici-
ties. Apartheid South Africa was not
free. Its legal system enforced segrega-
tion and oppression based on minority
rule by whites over blacks and other
non-whites.
Israel's separation barrier, which is
largely a fence, merely protects Israelis
from Palestinian terrorists. It's not
intended to segregate the Palestinian
people, who are self-governing under the
elected leadership of Hamas in the Gaza
Strip and Fatah in the West Bank.
If Sabeel is so intent on ending intol-
erance and inequality, let it turn to
Muslim nations that embrace political
repression and gender, religion, ethnic
and sexual apartheid.
A better Christmas wish would
have been for Sabeel to acknowledge
Israel's economic, technological and
political achievements and call for the
Palestinian people to seek Israeli coop-
eration and support to better each soci-
ety. In this scenario, the impetus would
be Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation, not
Palestinian vengeance.
6
43
Mazel Toy!
41
Metro
14
Columnists
Obituaries
48
Arthur Horwitz
Opinion
22
Danny Raskin
Roundup
10
Robert Sklar
Spirituality
26
Robin Schwartz
5
35
3
16
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reflect the full range of diverse viewpoints while also advocating positions that strengthen Jewish unity and continu-
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Publisher's
Notebook
page 5
Shabbat: Friday, Dec. 24, 4:46 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, Dec. 25, 5:53 p.m.*
Shabbat: Friday, Dec. 31, 4:51 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, Jan. 1, 5:58 p.m.*
* Times according to Yeshiva Beth Yehudah
calendar. Havdalah practices may vary.
Consult your rabbi.
On The Cover:
Michael Rosenzweig in an exhibit that focuses on
the experience of immigrants entering the U.S.
Photo: Peter Tobis, courtesy of National Museum
of American Jewish History
Design: Deborah Schultz
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As Chief of Staff of Detroit's VA
Hospital, Dr. Michael Samson felt
honored to care for veterans and
advocate for their issues. "After
retirement I looked for ways to give
back to the community, which I didn't
have time to do while practicing
medicine," Dr. Samson said. "I
learned of Hebrew Free Loan through
a friend who was involved. I immediately
felt connected because the agency's
values parallel my own — the ability
to offer resources to people in need."
Dr. Samson's interest spurred him
to join HFL's Board, and he has been
impressed with the impact the agency
makes. "The people we help come
to us with a broad range of concerns,"
Dr. Samson said, "but our Board also
comes in with a broad range of
expertise. We are hands-on. "I think
people need to know we not only offer
loans, we can also suggest community
services and opportunities to lift
people up, which is in concert with
Jewish tradition," he said.
The Power of Recycling
Hebrew Free Loan gives interest-
free loans to members of our
community for a variety of
personal and small business
needs. HFL loans are funded
entirely through community
donations which continually
recycle to others, generating
many times the original value
to help maintain the lives of
local Jews.
www.hfldetroit.org
248.723.8184
HEBREW
FREE -'LOAN
hfldetioit.org
We Provide Loans.
We Promise Dignity.
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•
WE'RE PART OF THE TEAM
December 23 • 2010
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