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The Other Muraer
0
Why
my father
defended
Jack Ruby.
T
Pope Emerging As
Interfaith Booster
Jack Ruby (center)
wo days after Lee Harvey
Oswald murdered
President John Kennedy,
Jack Ruby murdered Oswald.
My father,
Sol A. Dann,
an attorney in
Detroit, mourned
Kennedy's assas-
sination along
with the entire
nation. Four
months later, in
Sol A. Dann
March 1963, Ruby
was convicted
and sentenced to death.
Later on, as my father told me,
he dropped off some clothes at
Cobo Cleaners, on Livernois near
our home, and stopped to
chat with Earl Ruby, the
owner and Jack's younger
brother. He told my
father something upset-
ting: During Jack's trial,
the judge had called him
"Rosenberg," his original
family name; and at the
end of the trial, the judge
had said proudly, "We got
that Jew-boy."
Although my father
did not approve of what Jack did,
he was sensitive to issues of anti-
Semitism and injustice. Jack Ruby
may have gotten what he deserved,
but he still deserved a fair and
impartial trial. The judge had indi-
cated prejudice, and his defense
attorneys didn't seem to mind.
My father was uniquely sensi-
tive to issues of abuse. When I
was in high school and college,
I often helped him in his office,
mostly cleaning and running
errands. What most impressed me
was hearing poor people coming
to him with complaints of being
taken advantage of by insurance
companies and financial scams.
I relished listening to him berate
agents for their heartless, sneaky
methods. Demanding restitution
and sometimes threatening legal
action, he usually won — and he
did this without charge.
An expert in workers' compen-
sation and personal injury law, his
clients told him about rampant
fraud and corruption in Detroit's
auto industry. He tried to expose
it, but, betrayed by fancy D.C.
lawyers whom he had hired to
help him, and the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission, he
suffered his first heart attack and
gave up. The Ruby case sparked
anew his concern for justice.
Working pro bono, my father
tried to get Ruby's lawyers to
appeal; they refused. He then
tried to replace them
when it became appar-
ent that they had gone
along with the judge's
bigotry; of course,
they refused again. My
father then managed
to convince the judge
to recuse himself,
which challenged his
ruling. An uncommon
reference, my father
thought that perhaps
the judge didn't understand what
"recuse;' or withdraw as judge,
meant. Nevertheless, based on the
judge's admission, an appeal was
granted in October 1966.
Meanwhile, other more prominent
lawyers became interested in and took
over the case. During a prison visit,
Ruby told my father that he believed
people were trying to poison him.
Perhaps, my father thought, paranoia
or mental instability. In January 1967,
Ruby died of reported pulmonary
cancer, although conspiracy theories
about his death can be found.
My father's papers are archived
at Wayne State University.
❑
The author is a Ph.D. historian, writer
and journalist living in Jerusalem.
nce more in his brief tenure as leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope
Francis berated religious or ethnic prejudice of any kind. The Argentine cardinal-
turned-pope, modest but charismatic, is becoming a dynamic
force in advancing Jewish-Catholic dialogue.
The real test lies ahead. Time will tell how much he accomplishes in
slowing the centuries-old winds of suspicion that have kept Jews and
Catholics distant even as they've engaged in ice-breaking conversa-
tion.
Before a Vatican audience that included a delegation from the
Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, Pope Francis condemned
anti-Semitism and Christian persecution specifically, but made it clear Pope Francis
discriminating against anyone because of their religious beliefs must
not be tolerated.
"When any minority is persecuted and marginalized on account of its religious beliefs
or ethnic origin, the good of society as a whole is placed in danger, and we must all con-
sider ourselves affected," he said in Oct. 24 remarks.
Pope Francis, a Jesuit, has built a reputation of promoting understanding and respect,
and that's not surprising. He was one of the early public personalities to demand justice
in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires.
Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Wiesenthal Center, a museum examining racism in America
and the history of the Holocaust, hailed the pontiff as an ally in battling the anti-Semit-
ic fervor infecting parts of Europe and the Middle East. Hier promised the museum
would stand with the pope "in your struggle to secure the rights of religious minorities
everywhere, especially endangered historic Christian communities in Egypt, Iraq and
beyond."
Pope Benedict XVI, who came around to theologically repudiating Jewish guilt for
Jesus' death, helped advance the historic change in the relationship between Catholics
and Jews begun by John Paul II.
Pope Francis, however, seems to have the heart to dramatically move that interfaith
meter by confronting controversy and opening the Church's Holocaust archives, which
his predecessor adamantly would not do.
❑
Iran's 'Supreme' Intent
T
he revealing rant by Iran's supreme leader came three days before the much-
analyzed interim agreement between a coalition of world powers and Tehran
over Iran's nuclear capability. Still, it was overshadowed by
the fiery debate over the Geneva deal.
That's unfortunate because Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's anti-Israel
outburst on Nov. 20 exposes the gravity of the disdain toward the
Jewish state championed by top Iranian leadership.
Khamenei set the stage for positioning Iran, a deceptive theocracy,
by assuring that Israel "will not endure."
Appearing to respond to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's claim that a nuclear weapons-minded Iran presents
Ayatollah
a global danger, Khamenei declared, according to a JTA report:
Khamenei
"Sometimes this is heard from the enemies of Iran, such as from the
sinister mouth of the unclean rabid dog of the region in the Zionist
regime."
Khamenei didn't specifically cite Netanyahu, but it's obvious the embattled Israeli
leader was targeted.
Iran negotiators, buoyed by chameleon-like President Hassan Rouhani, agreed to
the Nov. 23 deal with a U.S.-led coalition that includes Great Britain, France, Russia,
China and Germany. In exchange for sanctions relief, Iran is required to peel back its
nuclear program, but clearly not enough to prevent it from jumpstarting it should the
deal dissolve.
Netanyahu branded the pact a "historic mistake," saying it didn't require dismantling
of Iran's military nuclear capability. President Obama is on the hot seat to assure any
final-status deal brings exactly that.
Khamenei's telling tirade amid sensitive global negotiations over his country's future
underscores that the interim deal will mean nothing unless it ultimately and uncondi-
tionally assures the Islamic Republic no longer will have the capacity to develop nucle-
ar weapons – a compulsory goal that Netanyahu insists Israel is prepared to achieve
unilaterally, if need be. (See related opinions on page 26.)
❑
December 5 • 2013
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