ily lost their moral compasses and behaved
so irresponsibly and selfishly that they threw
their entire fraternity and its legacy into
the same Treetops Resort dumpsters as the
ceilings, walls, furniture, fixtures, rugs and
toilets they destroyed?
• Were the decisions of the students to
protect those who behaved badly an example
of an age cohort that places the individual
above the community's well-being? Or was it
just an example of kids with otherwise strong
moral standing getting temporarily tangled
in an alcohol-stoked trap of mob behavior?
• Were students destined for law school,
medical school, Wall Street or Silicon Valley
— and the resulting greatness — petrified
that if this act of vandalism and destruction
was linked to them, their career trajectories
would be jeopardized?
• Were parents of students — who over
the years nurtured, supported and at times
covered up or bailed out their sons when
they got into trouble — advising them to
keep their mouths shut and are accom-
plices to the current cover up?
• Did the Jewish community's institu-
tions — schools, synagogues, summer
camps, youth groups — fail to infuse
these students with a sense of morality
and responsibility rooted in our religion's
teachings? Or is the behavior of the stu-
dents no different from fervently religious
communities covering up scandals from
within to shield their own deviants?

Disappointment All Around
Alan Greenberg, a 1956 Michigan gradu-
ate and Sigma Alpha Mu who resides in
California, has been advising his former
chapter. He developed updated training for
new pledges that expanded information
about the fraternity's impressive national
and Ann Arbor histories. In the aftermath
of the resort vandalism, he had been try-
ing — unsuccessfully — to have the frater-
nity's current leadership do their jobs and
lead rather than flee.
Sigma Alpha Mu at Michigan was
always at the top of the fraternity's 50-plus
chapter national pyramid of achievement.
Greenberg said that's what the fraternity's
executive director — who served 1955
through 1999 — told him. Over the 10
years Greenberg has been advising the
Michigan chapter, he said he was "amazed
how much time and effort they put into
raising money for charity. I didn't see self-
ishness:'
However, the bad behavior and subse-
quent cover up by the current group of
"Sammies" and their leaders disgust him.
"They are choosing to protect their broth-
ers, who are killing the fraternity"
He's learned that the university intends
to withhold graduation for current Sigma
Alpha Mu seniors until information relat-
ing to Treetops destruction is provided to
investigators.
Greenberg reserves some of his disgust

When asked in that interview about
working with President Obama for the
next two years, Netanyahu said he
anticipated a close working relation-
ship.
"America has no greater ally than
Israel, and Israel has no greater ally
than the United States," he said.
At a March 24 press conference,
Obama did say the U.S. remains com-
mitted "to Israel's military edge in
the region, Israel's security, our intel-
ligence cooperation, our military coop-
eration."

to the press that the U.S. might back a
U.N. Security Council resolution setting
parameters for a two-state solution
according to the 1967 armistice lines
preceding the Six-Day War.
Punishing all of Israel via the U.N.
to rebuke Netanyahu is sheer petti-
ness. Administration spokespersons
did issue qualifying statements imply-
ing the U.S. wouldn't necessarily back
resolutions against Israel in interna-
tional forums and wouldn't necessarily
refrain from vetoing such resolutions,
but insisted either was possible.
State Department
spokeswoman Jen
Psaki wouldn't let go
of Netanyahu's stance
toward "no Palestinian
state" despite his clar-
ification and the real-
ity of the region. He
Jen Psaki
gave her political fod-
der and she exploited
it, in part because of
severely strained relations between
Netanyahu and the U.S. president.
Fortunately, U.S. leaders haven't let
that personality clash affect America's
$3.1 billion-a-year aid package to Israel.

Political Infighting

Netanyahu deserved to be blasted
for his 11th-hour retreat from the
two-state solution. In the heat of cam-
paigning, he essentially snubbed even
the notion of a two-state solution with-
out considering the political fallout in
Washington.
But once he righted the intent
of what he said three days earlier,
and recommitted to a process he
first embraced in 2009 in a Bar-Ilan
University address and hasn't dramati-
cally wavered from, it made no sense
for the Obama administration to leak

for the parents of the students, whom he
has criticized for encouraging the silence
of their children and, in some cases, law-
yering up as a way to further shield them
from being truthful and accepting indi-
vidual responsibility.
"I've criticized all of the parents; they
couldn't get one boy to identify people
[involved in the destruction]" in order to
save the chapter, he told me.
In an email sent March 9 to more than
200 people affiliated with Michigan's
Sigma Alpha Mu chapter, Greenberg
shared a back-and-forth exchange with
chapter president Josh Kaplan.
Kaplan wrote to Greenberg: "Alan, I am
sad and disappointed that our situation
has escalated to this level. I would have
loved to be in a position where I could bet-
ter encourage brothers to come forward,
but there was never an opportunity to cre-
ate a framework to do this"
Greenberg replied to Kaplan: "This
statement clearly indicates that you still
don't get it. The reluctance of the cowardly
vandals to 'man up' does not relieve you
and the rest of the [fraternity's leadership]
Council from carrying out the duties that
you are expected to perform when you
accepted your positions. You, along with
the Council, know very well who should
be on the list [of those who damaged the
resort], and nothing that you will say or
claim can convince me otherwise

Beyond The Rhetoric

Psaki did succinctly capture the his-
toric timeline regarding the two-state
solution. At a March 18 news brief-
ing, she said: "I will reiterate that
it has long been the position of the
United States under Republican and
Democratic presidents, and it has
been the position of successive Israeli
governments, that only a two-state
solution that results in a secure Israel
alongside a sovereign and independent
Palestine can bring lasting peace and
stability to both peoples."
In his contentious pre-election gam-
bit, Netanyahu essentially portrayed
any sort of Palestinian state moving
forward as a pipedream. As for the
picture that Psaki painted, she conve-
niently overlooked that the Palestinian
Authority has cunningly honed a cul-
ture of hate, reunited with Hamas and
eyed statehood through international
channels instead of direct negotia-
tions. Further, the P.A. is seeking to
bring charges against Israel in the
International Criminal Court at The
Hague in the Netherlands.
Following Netanyahu's stunning vic-
tory, Hamas urged the P.A. and Fatah

Kaplan wrote to Greenberg: "I have
always strived to do what is right, ethical
and responsible for all involved and will
continue to act accordingly:'
Greenberg replied to Kaplan: "There is
no doubt in my mind and in the minds
of a lot of interested parents and alumni
that you did not do what was right. What
action did you take that was right? The
withholding of information?
"This email is going to a large number
of S.I. [Sigma Alpha Mu] alums, and I can
assure you that they will readily conclude
that your lack of action is what ultimately
brought down our wonderful fraternity.
I hope that you hear from a lot of them.
How dare you claim that your actions
were right, ethnical and responsible? What
was so responsible about protecting those
whose actions led to this mess ..."
With more than 100 witnesses to the
Treetops destruction, and cellphones likely
loaded with text messages and photo-
graphs relating to the incident, it's only a
matter of time before birds start chirping
— some likely under oath — and the cul-
prits are fingered and held accountable.
Hardly "leaders and best:' they will always
be remembered as the group that couldn't
hold its alcohol, descended into leaderless,
mob-like behavior and whose actions and
subsequent attempts at a cover up destroyed
parts of a ski resort and the reputation of a
storied Jewish fraternity at Michigan.

❑

– in reality, President Abbas – to "for-
get about the choice of keeping the
absurd negotiations." That divisive
attitude came even as Abbas, who
isn't inclined to restart peace talks
despite Secretary Kerry's urging to do
so, acknowledged he's still open to the
two-state solution.
The only path back to negotiating
and the elusive two-state solution is
a profound transformation, a political
sea change, that yields a Palestinian
Authority shed of corruption, Jew-
hatred and terrorist ties and an Israeli
government willing to bargain in good
faith without compromising the integ-
rity of the Jewish ancestral homeland
on pivotal final-status agreement
issues like borders, security, settle-
ments, Jerusalem, refugees, water
rights and holy sites.
You can't impose peace.
Passover arrives at sundown Friday.
It's a great holiday to remember the
Jewish people's 3,300-year-old story
of survival, perseverance and triumph
over pestilence, sorrow and evil – and
unnerving political challenges.
Chag kasher v'sameach – a happy
and kosher holiday!

❑

April 2 • 2015

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