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Guest Column

Editorial

My Long Journey From
12th Street To J Street

Ann Arbor
I directed a program at the University of
grew up in Detroit during the late
Michigan School of Public Health that
1930s and 1940s when 12th Street was
developed community-academic partner-
at the heart of the Jewish shopping and ships with grassroots organizations and
residential areas. My family was a charter
local health departments. The idea came
member
of
Temple
Israel,
whose
found-
to me that a partnership between our
'.
tng rabbi was Leon Fram, an
school and Palestinian health
ardent Zionist. My inspira-
organizations could help to build
ional Sunday school teacher
a new Palestinian public health
vas planning to make aliyah
system.
and join the Irgun to fight the
We formed a partnership with
British and the Arabs. To me
two Palestinian health organi-
at that time, Israel was a coun-
zations that were conducting
ry of miracles, where Jews
research and developing commu-
were making the desert bloom
nity-based clinics throughout the
and the biblical Land of Israel
West Bank. To plan joint research,
l was being recreated in mod-
we were invited to spend several
rn form. The Arabs, whether
days hosted by the Palestinians,
inside the Green Line or in the
staying in east Jerusalem and
1 s - urrounding countries, were our enemies.
meeting at their Ramallah headquarters.
My father and my older brother were
We traveled to several Arab villages prepar-
ctive leaders in the Detroit Jewish corn-
ing for the research project. We dined at the
nunity. My father, Jacob Citrin, became
east Jerusalem home of Palestinian parents
president of Temple Israel and trea-
of one of our doctoral students. My friend-
I •urer of the Jewish Welfare Federation
ship with the director of the Palestinian
f Detroit. My brother Martin became
organizations and with these parents has
president of the national Council of Jewish continued, and I have met with them dur-
Federations. To our family, the obliga-
ing several subsequent trips to Israel.
ion to support Israel
My Journey on page 41
ras
L as strong as the
bligation to support
ewish institutions in
e U.S. As American
ews and Zionists, we
ISLAMIST PARTIES
upported Israel and
WIN A LANDSLIDE
ive prayed and worked
Or its survival.
VICTORY?!!
In 1968, in the wake
f the Six-Day War, I
vent on my first trip
o Israel as part of the
iewly created "mini-
Fission" program.
eeing the results of
he war and feeling
he national euphoria
ull of promise for the
uture, I resolved to
AND NOBODY IS
eturn to Israel and
eriously considered
UPSET OR EVEN
naking aliyah.
INTERESTED IN
By 1993, I had
THE NEWS!!
raveled to Israel
everal times. That
rear, I was excited to
Vitness on TV the
andshake between
sraeli Prime Minister
itzhak Rabin and
LO Chairman Yasser
l.rafat. At that time,

e

Dry Bones

I

40

February

S n

2012

DO

•

ast month, the
publisher and
owner of a Jewish
newspaper in Atlanta
was compelled to resign
after writing and pub-
lishing a column that
considered the possibility
of assassinating President
Obama to further the cause
of the security of Israel.
His over-the-top column was
instantly condemned by, among others, representatives of the
Jewish community. Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-
Defamation League, deemed the column "irresponsible and extrem-
ist.
Obviously, calling for the assassination of a sitting president is
crossing the line of responsible and civil discourse. What about other
instances of inflammatory rhetoric? Is calling someone a "self-hating
Jew" (because he or she has a different point of view on the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict) crossing the line — or par for the course?
"Internal rancor" among American Jews was the topic of a recent
CNN website article by Joe Sterling, who wrote that the Atlanta
Jewish newspaper episode was "the latest example of an increase in
divisiveness, over-the-top rhetoric within American Jewish communal
life, revolving largely around the hot-button issue of Israel and its poli-
cies toward the Palestinians."
Although Israel at one time may have been a unifying factor
among American Jews, it has become a dividing line, according to
Samuel Freedman, author of Jew vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of

American Jewry.
Metro Detroit is not immune to this great divide. The hosting of an
imam with ties to the Islamic Organization of North America at a local
synagogue during an interfaith event led to name-calling, allegations
of harassment and a call from local rabbis and the Jewish Community
Relations Council (JCRC) for more civility among those with opposing
viewpoints. Those calls for civility led to several letters to the Jewish
News decrying the request as an assault on the free speech rights of
those who spoke out against the synagogue and the rabbi.
A call for civility, however, is not a call for silence.
No one is suggesting that debate or criticism within our community
be stifled. All people have the right to express their views, defend
their opinions and try to persuade others to agree with their argu-
ments on either side of an issue — or reach a compromise that takes
all perspectives into account.
Unfortunately, it seems "compromise" has become a dirty word,
not only within the Jewish community but also within our country
as a whole. Bitter partisan divides — about Israel and other issues of
concern to Americans — have framed the start of this election season
while our elected representatives in Congress concentrate more on
making the other side look bad than on finding solutions to what ails
and confronts our nation.
Our JCRC is planning a campaign to promote civility in public dis-
course, set appropriate standards for conversation and debate, and
provide training and procedures for disagreeing respectfully in order
to have a more cohesive Jewish community.
"It's so important that we work at promoting civility within the
Jewish community and with others," said JCRC President Sharon
Lipton. "Rancor and divisiveness allow for no sense of compromise for
what is best for our community and our country."
As a Jewish community, we must disagree and challenge one anoth-
er where appropriate. But it is something we should do with respect
and without name-calling or rancor on either side. ❑

