Guest Column Standing Up To Meer Apartments Independent Living in a Luxurious Senior Community a residence of Jewish Senior Life 6760 West Maple Road, West Bloomfield, Michigan 48322 Eugene and Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus Jewish participants: Brenda Rosenberg, Sheri Schiff, Alex Stotland, Rachel Klein, Allan Gale, Heidi Budaj and Ariana Menzel. 0 n July 27, Dr. Ramsay Dass, president of the American Middle East Christian Congress, sent me an urgent appeal to help the Christians and other minority sects suffering from a complete ethnic and reli- gious cleansing in the prov- ince of Mosul, Iraq. If these Christians refuse to convert or pay a penalty, they are executed by the Islamic State militants (ISIS). Their houses are marked with an "N:' the first letter of the Arabic word for Christian, "Nasrani" or Nazarene, and confiscated. Churches have been demol- ished. Businesses looted. Children beheaded. Yazidi, another religious minority in Iraq, and Christian families stripped of all belongings have fled to the top of Mount Sinjar but will soon die of thirst, malnutrition and sickness with- out aid. A movie of global horror began playing in my head. Four thousand years of Jewish history flashed before my eyes: our rise to greatness in a country, only to be persecuted, held in captivity, our holy sites destroyed, forced into slavery, debased, expelled, pogroms, and 6 million Jews dehu- manized and murdered in the Holocaust, just because we were Jews. Jews know what it's like to not be heard — the world does not acknowl- edge the expulsion of Jews from Arab countries or our ongoing fight to be recognized as a people in our historic Jewish home- land. My Jewish heart said I must stand with the Christians and Yazidi to stop the destructive insani- ty of ISIS, a violent terrorist organization bringing death and destruction to not only Iraq, but Syria as well. I sent Dr. Dass's invita- tion to our local Jewish Community Relations Council, the ADL and American Jewish Committee. They saw the urgency and joined us for din- ner at the Sahara restaurant to discuss the crisis. I was thrilled to see Shia and Sunni Muslims sitting together and jointly condemning ISIS; Hindu friends offering their Temple and resources; and Ariana Menzel, AJC ACCESS and Tectonic Leader, taking the lead to create a unity candlelighting vigil on Thursday, Aug. 14, at 7:30 p.m. in Shain Park Birmingham. Let the world know we as Jews will not stand idly by. Join with us. Stand with us. Otherwise, history will repeat itself. Ask about our MOVING FEE SPECIAL Complimentary JCC General Membership SUNDAY TOUR $5000FF — First Month's Rent — on One Bedroom — --"" Apartments f\N AB& Voted Best a'n in Senior Housing 2013 Detroit Jewish News JEWISH SENIOR LIFE For information or to visit, call Marcia Mittelman at 248-661-1836 or visit www.jslmi.org for an application! Season Begins September 2nd ,Nso off full season for New Preschoolers (3 - 5 years old) Fresh New Hip Hop and Lyrical Classes with our new instructor Maye Volunteers like these helped the United Nations distribute 2,500 mattresses, quilts and other emergency relief items to the most recent wave of displaced Iraqis to arrive in northern Iraq's Kurdistan region. These mattresses are being used in a school where 700 of the displaced settled. August 10th from 10am-2pm Cutting Edge Contemporary Classes taught by new instructor Rebecca School of Dance off balance of 2014 for New Beginners Competition Company Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Hip Hop, Modern, Contemporary and Lyrical 28801 Orchard Lake Rd. • Farmington Hills, MI 48334 • 248-553-0305 www.annetteandcompany.com August 14 • 2014 41