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Essay

Editorial

U.S. Raid Sends
Cloud Over MJI

Tough Times

Israel confronts jihadist camp
and homegrown Jewish terror.

W

e as American Jews can't
fully appreciate the edgy
range of issues staring
down Israelis.
Consider these examples:

sage is inappropriate for the young
audience. Just as you imagine some
ordinary Palestinians could actually
oppose the extremism of their leaders,
you learn the bystander believes that
"murabit, martyrdom and the virgins
• Youthful Jihad
of Paradise" are the right
It's inbred in Palestinian
path for adults.
culture to teach kids to
The distraction over, Al
murder the infidel (the
Maghrabi then leads the
non-believer in Allah and
no longer innocent kids
Muhammad). Such teach-
in chanting: "We shall
ing is cultivated in schools,
sacrifice our souls and our
mosques, music videos, TV
blood for you, Al Aqsa!"
shows and, to a less-known
A second video exam-
extent, summer camps.
ined by MEMRI takes
Robe
Palestinian summer
viewers inside Vanguard
Contr
camps also are inclined to
of Liberation, a Hamas
Ed
indoctrinate young children
summer camp in the
with radical jihadist ideol-
Gaza Strip. There, the rul-
ogy and to persuade them
ing terrorist organization
to become martyrs — namely, suicide
trains kids as future terrorist operatives
operatives.
against Israel; Hamas, by charter, is
So reports the Washington-based
sworn to destroying the Jewish state.
Middle East Media Research Institute
"The goal of the camps:' says a
(MEMRI) in a revealing review of two
masked camp counselor loyal to
Palestinian videos. Steve Emerson's
Hamas, "is to instill the spirit of jihad
Investigative Project on Terrorism in
and of fighting in these cubs, these
Washington publicly shared the report
youth, so that they will become the
on July 30.
next generation of liberation"
One video features the Al Aqsa
The video presents campers navigat-
Mosque summer camp in Jerusalem.
ing military-style courses and weapons
There, a radical sheik preaches the
instruction. It chillingly shows what
embrace of martyrdom — of giving
MEMRI calls "a junior version of a
one's life to advance the cause of jihad,
Hamas naval commando unit dedicat-
of struggling to preserve Islamic reli-
ed to infiltrating Israel and conducting
gious beliefs, via
terrorist attacks:'
suicide operations.
The religious propaganda spewing
MEMRI translat-
forth from Palestinian summer camps
ed the white-robed
reinforces why Israeli-Palestinian
sheik, Khaled Al
peace, were it to come, would ring
Maghrabi, as tell-
hollow without a concurrent halt to
ing his vulnerable
indoctrinating kids throughout cultural
charges, boys and
life in the perverse ways of jihad.
girls alike: "The
Sheik Al
• Debatable Detention
martyr is absolved
Maghrabi
It's a case of national security vs. civil
with the first drop
liberties. There's a fine line between
of his blood ... the
martyr also gets to vouch for 70 family Israel detaining suspected terrorists
without bringing charges and tram-
members [on Judgment Day]:'
AI Maghrabi goes on to say that "the pling the Jewish state's democratic
values.
martyr gets two virgins of Paradise,
The Israeli Supreme Court ultimately
but the murabit [a person guarding
Islam from the infidel] gets 70 — 35
may have to rule on the administra-
times more than the martyr"
tive detention decree order, long used
In the video, the kids fidget, glance
against Palestinian terror suspects
away and seem unmoved, but the
(sometimes for more than a year).
unbowed cleric presses on to inspire
Only now has the contentious order
jihadist thinking into the next gen-
been extended to Jews suspected of
eration of Palestinians even as a
being ultranationalist operatives for
bystander complains that the mes-
violence and terror — including Jewish

56

August 13 • 2015

settlers believed responsible for "price
tag" attacks on Palestinians and their
property in the West Bank.
As a rule, the order allows Israeli
authorities, like the Shin Bet, the Israel
Security Agency, to detain suspects
without formal charges or a trial for up
to six months — a decree that can be
renewed by a judge.
The Aug. 2 extension of the order by
Israel's Security Cabinet was intended
to impede the rise of Jewish-zealot ter-
ror whether in Israel or the West Bank.
An Aug. 6 editorial comment in the
Jerusalem Post described administra-
tion detention as "draconian:' arguing
the Shin Bet and Israeli police often
arbitrarily arrest members of counter-
culture hilltop communities in Judea
and Samaria (the biblical names of
what today is generally called the West
Bank) because "they harbor extreme
ideological beliefs or live outside nor-
mative society"
It's not easy arguing with the JPost
position that "administrative detention
can only be justified under the most
extreme circumstances" because "often
innocent people suffer" and "this
undermines trust in the security and
police forces and in other government
institutions such as the legal system"
But let's remember: We're talking
about vengeful Jews who could rise to
killing, not who only espouse vitriol.
Meanwhile, Israel must become
more proactive in investigating "price
tag" attacks. Inspired by hatred, racism
and fanaticism, "price tag" vigilantes
unleash malicious vandalism typically
in reprisal for Israel's freezes on new
settlements and demolition of illegal
settlements or to exact retribution
against Palestinian attacks on Jews.
They're unhinged purveyors of hate
against Palestinians as well as enemies
of the Jewish people.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu has labeled such vigilantes
as morally corrupt, but few go pun-
ished. The Shin Bet and Israeli police
are hampered because few Palestinians
trust Jewish law enforcement, making
Palestinian complaints hard to success-
fully bring to prosecution. Still, such
prosecution must stay top of mind.
Yes, Israel is a buoyant model for
Middle East democracy. But it won't
remain so without an incentive for law
enforcement to be ever-changing, ever-
vigilant and ever-democratic.

❑

F

or the sake of Michigan Jewish Institute
(MJI) as well as its students and sup-
porters, let's hope the July 7 federal
raid on the Southfield-based administrative
offices clears the nonprofit of any wrongdo-
ing under federal law. The FBI hasn't dis-
closed what triggered the raid; the college
says it is cooperating fully and operating as
usual.
MJI grabbed headlines as its enrollment
climbed from a few hundred in 2004 to more
than 2,000 mostly distance and online stu-
dents. The climb was largely a byproduct of
the 2009 accreditation of its online Judaic
Studies program, introduced in 2006. Applied
science degrees also are offered in business
and information systems and in computer
information systems. Certificate programs
include talmudic law.
MJI is forging ahead on construction of a
consolidated headquarters adjacent to The
Shul on the Chabad-Lubavitch movement's
Campus of Living Judaism on West Maple in
West Bloomfield even though most students
are in approved Israeli partner yeshivot or
seminaries.
In a statement, the college indicated the
new building will "better serve local stu-
dents" and its "nearly 100 faculty and staff"
remain "focused on our students."
Accreditation in 2014 via the U.S.
Department of Education-sanctioned
Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges
and Universities, following three deferrals
to assure compliance with accrediting stan-
dards, allowed MJI to participate in federal
student financial aid programs, such as
Pell, which helps students meeting financial
requirements.
On July 7, the Forward, a New York-
based national Jewish newspaper, cited a
2012 report by the paper showing "MJI's
assets soared" under the Federal Pell Grant
Program "as the college enrolled thousands
of students in distance and online learning
courses." The paper indicated almost all the
students are U.S. citizens living in Israel and
"hardly any of them graduate." Its investiga-
tion showed an improving academic record by
2012.
With a new educational centerpiece soon
to sit alongside The Shul on the impressive
Campus of Living Judaism, which also boasts
the very popular Friendship Circle and its
services for younger people with special
needs, MJI would get a big boost by a quick
thumbs-up from the FBI.
MJI then could focus on filling the eventual
six new on-site classrooms with inquisitive
local learners while tending not only to the
larger clusters of students learning elsewhere
in the U.S. and in Israel, but also to the chal-
lenges such vastly different kinds of learning
opportunities present.

❑