BASEBALL TT BASKETBALL BOWLING points of view JCC MACCABI GAMES AND ARTSFEST' DANCE Guest Column 2 0 1 3 FLAG FOOTBALL JCC Maccabi Information Meeting GOLF Sunday, December 16, 2012 • 3:00 p.m. Jewish Community Center — West Bloomfield INLINE LACROSSE If you are a Jewish athlete or artist age 13-16, the 2013 SOCCER Detroit JCC Maccabi Delegation is looking for you! Come meet the coaches, receive a tryout/audition schedule and find out about host locations and other important SWIMMING information. SOFTBALL JCC Maccabi Games July 28 - August 2, 2013 Austin, TX TABLE TENNIS TENNIS TRACK JCC Maccabi Games & ArtsFest August 5 - 9, 2013 Orange County, CA VOLLEYBALL ACTING/IMPROV CREATIVE WRITING For more information, please contact Franci Silver at 248.432.5482 or soccerrcoach@gmail.com CULINARY ARTS www.maccabidetroit.org JAZZ L] RA MUSICAL THEATER ROCK THE CENTER Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit D. Dan & Betty Kahn Building Eugene & Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus 6600 W. Maple • West Bloomfield, MI 48322 www.jccdet.org VISUAL ARTS VOCAL MUSIC 1799350 From our Family to yours Happy Hanukkah!! Missiles: Latest Threat To The Jewish State T here is a joke that states that the Jews are the chosen people; and after all the calamities that have befallen us through the centuries, we plead, "Please choose someone else!" That also is a side of the story of the State of Israel. During the pre-state period, 1880 to 1948, the Jewish pio- neers in Palestine had to fight many challenges: failed crops, malaria, bandit marauders. After 1920, Arabs who opposed Jewish settlement lobbied the British to halt Jewish immigration and tried to thwart Jewish land acquisition and com- merce; gangs began to attack Jews with brutal outbreaks of violence in 1920, 1921, 1929 and 1936. Starting with the Jewish declaration of an independent state in 1948, Israel's Jews had to fight sev- eral wars for survival. Casualties were painful in all — the 1956 Sinai campaign, the 1967 Six- Day War, the 1982 and 2006 Lebanon wars, and especially in the 1948 War for Independence and in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when 6,000 Jews were killed in battle in each of those conflicts. Terrorist Threat I irt C A JEWELERS 42 .jecember 6 • 2012 32 24 98 48065Mild7d31e0betoltllattre1 e4 8M8i8le 8R4o4ad3901 F6armington Hills, MI www.greis.com JN After Israel had secured its independence, joined the United Nations and established a regu- lar army, the scourge of Arab terrorism appeared. The 1950s fedayeen that attacked civilians from across the Gaza border were followed by the Palestine Liberation Organization, Black September and the Abu Nidal group in the 1970s and 1980s; all focused on airplane hijackings and other high-profile events. Today's terrorists include Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, which try to send sui- cide bombers to blow up Israeli restaurants, nightclubs and buses. Their bloody plans were successful in the early 2000s; but Israel's intelligence agen- cies, military strategies and the building of the security fence have halted most attacks in recent years. Rocket Watch Israel's latest challenge is the missile that indiscriminately tar- gets civilians. Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist groups in Sinai (and perhaps in Jordan and the West Bank) — groups that lurk just beyond Israel's popula- tion centers — have missile stockpiles and capability. This is a particularly troublesome danger because the missile threat doesn't depend on invading soldiers, intelligence gather- ing or accomplices. Missiles are fired from enemy territory and can be launched quite a distance away from their intended targets. Israel and the U.S. recognize this threat and have jointly developed the Iron Dome anti- missile defense system, David's Sling and other systems. During Operation Pillar of Defense, the Israeli response to Hamas' rockets last month, more than 1,500 rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza. The Iron Dome system had a very good takedown rate. But some rockets got through, several civilians were killed, dozens were wounded, and much prop- erty damaged or destroyed. How Israel addresses this new challenge will depend as always on its ingenuity and resourceful- ness, its strategic alliance with the United States, and its deter- mination to remain the refuge of, and future for, the Jewish people. E Allan Gale is associate director of the Bloomfield Township-based Jewish Community Relations Council of Metropolitan Detroit.