Editorial

Regional Concern from page 24

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A

merica, which embraced
counterterrorism as a
strategy in the wake of
9-11, will be at the epicenter of a
summit to strengthen communica-
tions among nations targeted by
Islamist terrorists.
Impetus for the summit was the
mid-January shooting sprees that
left 17 people dead in Paris – a trag-
edy that prompted 40 world leaders
and 3.7 million people to attend anti-
terror rallies across France.
Washington, which learned the
value of sharing intelligence follow-
ing Al Qaida's 2001 air assault on
the Twin Towers and attack on the
Pentagon, will host the summit on
Feb.18.
The attacks in Paris on a satirical
weekly and a kosher supermarket,
as well as the shooting of a police
officer, underscored the need for
better international sharing of piv-
otal information about adherents to
the political, radical form of Islam
known as Islamism – as opposed to
Islam the faith.
Consider: The Al Qaida-linked
brothers who attacked the staff
of Charlie Hebdo magazine, Cherif
and Said Kouachi, were on no-fly
lists. What's more, U.S. security
officials knew of Amedy Coulibaly,
the ISIS-linked gunman who took
hostages and killed four Jews
at the Hyper Cacher market as
Shabbat neared. The three French-
born suspects were of immigrant
ancestry. Accomplices remain at
large.
By any measure, America, with
its array of big cities as well as
Jewish and Christian targets, cer-
tainly must be high on the hit list of
larger terrorist cells. Given this, the
Department of Homeland Security
already is striving for more cooper-
ation among U.S. police forces and
federal agencies.
America has no choice now but
to redouble efforts to work closely
with foreign governments, espe-
cially those in Europe, and with
other counterterrorism alliances
to compile data relating to terror-
ist threats and suspicious acts.
Success hinges on the U.S. intel-
ligence rising above its dark past
and spurring trusting relationships
with European allies.
"U.S. authorities have been in
discussion with counterparts in
Europe, but the post-Snowden

environment has impeded infor-
mation sharing," John Cohen,
a senior adviser to the Rutgers
University Institute for Emergency
Preparedness and Homeland
Security told JTA.
In 2013, Edward Snowden, a for-
mer National Security Agency work-
er, leaked classified information that
revealed the U.S. regularly spied on
its allies.
The number of nations in Europe
with open borders makes cross-bor-
der security a particular challenge.
European Union restrictions on data
sharing throw up security hurdles as
well. Terrorists who are mindful of
the restrictions use them to advan-
tage.
High on the West's danger list are
Western fighters who train in Middle
East war zones, then return to their
home turfs eager to fight the "infi-
del" for "Allah."
A new Washington-based
Brookings Institution study showed
about 4,000 European fighters in
Syria. About 100 U.S. citizens have
fought for ISIS.
The real fear now is that the
Paris massacre will spawn better

coordinated copycat attacks by
other Middle East-trained Islamists
– whether they belong to a terror-
ist cell or act alone. The offices of
Charlie Hebdo had armed guards,
but the terrorists executed them.
At the local level here in America,
the Jewish community must revisit
our preparedness to assure profes-
sional and lay leaders and legions of
ordinary folks are well versed at our
Jewish community centers, schools,
synagogues and other communal
buildings in spotting suspicious
activity, activating a lockdown and
alerting law enforcement.
Jews should be mindful of anyone
who seems out of place, but not
alienate law-abiding Muslims, who
can be of great help "in steering
returned fighters toward a different
path, even getting them to inform on
their former comrades," according
to the Brookings study.
We as Jews also must be laser-
focused on conditions ripe for
attacks by lone wolves or small,
armed groups unassociated with
larger terrorist cells. They can be
devastating in their own right.
Think Paris.

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Dry Bones

THE CHALLENGE
THAT THE
ANTI-TERRORIST
GOV'T OF EGYPT
NOW FACES, IS
TO WIPE OUT .. .

THE VIRAL
ANTISEMITISM
THAT WAS
ALLOWED TO
FLOURISH IN
EGYPT BY .. .

DRYBONES. COM

The Bell Tolls

At present, Detroit's network of publicly
financed schools includes DPS, the EAA
and 12 charter school authorizers. Few
have found a magic formula. All are on the
governor's reform list.
Detroit is home to 15 EAA-operated
schools. The EAA is a turnaround district
for Michigan's lowest-performing schools.
The task of the EAA is daunting.
"We need to notch it up again," Snyder
told the IN. "It's not jelling the way it
should"
Enter the CFDS. Its co-chairs can move
political mountains with their collec-
tive influence: Tonya Allen, Skillman
Foundation president and CEO; Rev.
Wendell Anthony, Detroit Branch NAACP
president; David Hecker, American
Federation of Teachers Michigan president;
John Rakolta Jr., Walbridge construction
company CEO; and Angela Reyes, Detroit
Hispanic Development executive director.
The CFDS charge is to analyze the city's
maze of school systems — from learning to
operations. It also will solicit parents, other
groups and respected voices in the field of
education en route to offering up recom-
mendations.
The CFDS call list should include the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.
Federation is in a position to gather invalu-
able perspective, insight and ideas from the
Detroit Jewish community on behalf of the
coalition. As a community — from philan-
thropists and business leaders to wide-eyed
young professionals — Jewish Detroit has
a keen and vested interest in helping bring
back the once-thriving city.
Allowing deprived schools to linger in
the 313-year-old city not only is unfair to
Detroit families, but also tarnishes all of
Southeast Michigan.
The CFDS understands that.
As CFDS member Dan Varner, CEO of
Excellent Schools Detroit,
a nonprofit, told Crain's
Detroit Business: "Every
day we delay our creation
of good schools as a great
public education system
in Detroit, we suffer the
consequences:'
We — everyone who
Dan Varner
identifies as a Detroiter
regardless of where they live — sure do.

Communicate To Help Nix Terror

POLITICALCARTOONS. COM

lasted through the 1960s, Detroit Public
Schools commanded national stature for
urban quality. Graduates, who had learned at
home the value of learning in school, sprang
from an ethnic melting pot. Many went on
to excellent universities within and outside
Michigan.

THE SUPPOSEDLY
"FRIENDLY TO
ISRAEL" GOV'T
OF . . .

NOSNI
MUBARAK

drybones.corn

'I'

January 22 • 2015

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