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A Terrorizing Tunnel
President Kennedy meets with Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna in 1961
Jews Have Own Reasons To
Mourn JFK's Assassination
New York (JTA)
A
s the 50th anniversary of President
John F. Kennedy's assassination
approaches, we Jews have our own
special reasons to mourn.
The conventional community memory of
Kennedy would be enough by itself. JFK over-
came the legacy of his father, Joseph Kennedy
— President Franklin Roosevelt's notoriously
appeasement-minded ambassador to Britain
on the eve of World War II — to
build a warm relationship with
American Jews.
As Warren Bass recounted a
decade ago in his book Support
Any Friend, the U.S.-Israel alli-
ance advanced significantly
with JFK's approval of the sale
of HAWK — short for Homing
All the Way Killer — missiles to
Israel.
President Kennedy appointed
Arthur Goldberg as labor sec-
retary and then to the Supreme
Court; Abraham Ribicoff as
secretary of health, education and welfare;
and Mortimer Caplin as internal revenue
commissioner. Even a strangely large
number of the gentiles in his administra-
tion had Jewish roots: Speechwriter Ted
Sorensen was a self-described "Danish
Russian Jewish Unitarian:' while Treasury
Secretary Douglas Dillon and White House
aide Arthur Schlesinger Jr. both had Jewish
immigrant grandfathers.
In the closing days of the 1960 campaign,
Kennedy held separate rallies in New York's
garment district with David Dubinsky's
International Ladies' Garment Workers'
Union and with the rival Amalgamated
Clothing Workers, which also was heavily
Jewish.
In conducting research for my new book,
JFK, Conservative, I came across two lesser-
known pieces of evidence that shed new
light on Kennedy's positive views about
the American Jewish community and the
warmth of his relationship with it.
The first was a tape recording of
a meeting between Kennedy and
American civil rights leaders fol-
lowing the March on Washington
in 1963. The Oval Office record-
ing system became famous under
Nixon, but it was active in the
Kennedy years as well, and it
captured some fascinating interac-
tions.
With the Rev. Martin Luther
King Jr. at the White House follow-
ing his "I Have a Dream Speech,"
Kennedy launched into a discus-
sion not of the need for federal
civil rights legislation, but rather of what
blacks could do to help themselves.
"Now, isn't it possible for the Negro com-
munity to take the lead in committing major
emphasis upon the responsibility of these
families, even if they're split and all the rest
of the problems they have, on educating
their children?" Kennedy asked/lectured.
"Now, in my opinion, the Jewish community,
which suffered a good deal under discrimi-
JFK on page 44
auras claimed responsibility for a sophisticated tunnel, dug
between Gaza and Israel, that was primed to facilitate ter-
rorism against Israelis. You'd think this is hardly news given
Hamas proudly takes up a spot on the U.S. State Department terror-
ist list. It's news, however, because Hamas rules the Gaza Strip, which
would be part of a negotiated Palestinian state.
It's hard to fathom how the latest U.S.-brokered talks between Israel
and the Palestinian Authority can bear political fruit with the P.A. ham-
strung by its association with Hamas, a self-described offspring of the
Muslim Brotherhood. A Hamas spokesman was quick to say in an Oct.
20 radio interview that the organization was responsible for building
and maintaining the tunnel, Reuters reported.
Hamas, despite hints that it maintains a line of communication with
Israel and that it's politically teetering, continues to extend assistance
to jihadi groups in the lawless Sinai Peninsula, which is part of Egypt
on the Eilat border. Under the Morsi presidency in Egypt, Hamas held
privileged Egyptian status, allowing it to freely move illegal commerce
through hundreds of tunnels linking Gaza to the land of the pyramids.
Cairo's new ruling military regime is no fan of Hamas; neither is the Al
Qaida-associated network angling for power inside Gaza.
The news-grabbing,11/2-mile-long tunnel, replete with prefabricated
concrete walls and a rail line, starts in the Absan village between
Khan Younis in southern Gaza and the Israeli border fence. It boasts
more than one exit point in and around Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, includ-
ing near a kindergarten, according to the Israel Defense Forces. It is
believed the tunnel was built to kidnap Israeli civilians and soldiers or
to infiltrate the kibbutz community and stage a terror attack.
The Hamas spokesman declared the tunnel had been dug in a bid to
get Israel to release some of the thousands of Palestinians in Israeli
jails. Former Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was captured and taken to Gaza
through just such a tunnel in 2006. More than 1,000 Palestinian pris-
oners were released by Israel in a 2011 prisoner exchange for Shalit – a
deal that many Jews felt would embolden Hamas.
Notably, the newly discovered tunnel was reinforced with steel and
cement, some of which possibly was provided by Israel to build public
buildings in Gaza.
The tunnel of terror is just another example of Hamas mocking
Israeli goodwill. Such goodwill has been demonstrated by allowing
freer passage of humanitarian goods into Gaza City.
❑
Germany's Jewish Aura
C
habad opened what is billed as the first Jewish student
house in Berlin. Despite its Nazi past, Berlin has become a
magnet for Jewish students from throughout the world.
And that's not surprising given Germany is one of the more wel-
coming European countries to Jews. Germany isn't immune to the
roiling anti-Semitism in parts of Europe; but it is a relatively safe
haven for Jewish life under Chancellor Angela Merkel, one of Israel's
closer allies.
Against this backdrop, Germany not only now is home to 250,000
Jews, but also boasts the fastest-growing Jewish community in
Europe.
Chabad on Campus (COC) is a collaborative effort between Chabad
and a local Jewish student organization in Germany called KSpace.
COC dedicated the student house on Oct. 27 in what had been East
Berlin. The house will offer pro-Israel programming as well as cultural
and entertainment activities.
The Chabad house is one of many German initiatives intended to
engage younger Jews through Jewish learning, social gatherings and
more. The international movement of Moishe House, well-rooted in
Metro Detroit, is seeking applicants to live in a sponsored house in
Berlin and run Jewish community programming for young professionals.
Germany continues to distance itself in productive ways from its
horrific, Hitler-era past.
❑
November 21 • 2013
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