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DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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guest column
Arthur M. Horwitz
Publisher / Executive Editor
ahorwitz@renmedia.us
Netanyahu Won't Legitimize Trump In Middle East
D
espite the sometimes thorny
relationship between Israel Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
and President Barack Obama over a range
of issues including the recent nuclear deal
with Iran, it was important to see the leader
of the Jewish nation strongly reject GOP
presidential frontrunner Donald Trump's call
to ban Muslims from entering the United
States. Trump has questioned the legitimacy
of Obama, giving credence to the birther
movement.
I was waiting on Netanyahu to
distance himself from Trump's
anti-Muslim comments especially
after the candidate's expected trip
to Jerusalem. And Netanyahu did
not disappoint.
"The State of Israel respects all
religions and strictly guarantees
Bankole
the rights of all its citizens. At
Thompso
the same time, Israel is fighting
against militant Islam that targets
Muslims, Christians and Jews alike and
threatens the entire world:' the prime minis-
ter's office tweeted.
After Netanyahu condemned the billion-
aire candidate's remarks, Trump immediately
canceled his trip to Israel, which under-
scores the fact he was ready to exploit the
tense relationship between Israel and some
(Muslim) countries in the Middle East to his
personal benefit.
Absent of Netanyahu's condemnation,
Trump's trip would have also had negative
implications in the ongoing Israel-Palestinian
conflict.
Because it would confirm for critics of
Israel that it accommodates at the highest
levels of officialdom deep anti-Muslim senti-
ment evidenced in the impending high-pro-
file visit of the most radical and xenophobic
political candidate in U.S. history since the
era of Joseph McCarthy.
That is why Netanyahu's rejection was
significant in many ways, even though the
mainstream media did not provide an in-
depth perspective on it.
Also important to note is that for
a very long time the shared propa-
ganda among terror groups has been
that the United States is anti-Muslim
and favors Israel, its strongest ally
in the Middle East, more than any
other nation in that region. That
propaganda message has fueled deep
anti-Israel sentiments across the
globe, and Trump is a gift to those
who continue to oil such propaganda
machines.
His remarks about Muslims will no doubt
continue to feed into the message that the
latest terror group, ISIS, markets to recruit
young Muslims into its network of murder
and mayhem.
That is why Trump deserves rejection
from every conscious leader in the free
world. His remarks are antithetical to the
rule of law and democracy. It is ironic that a
nation like the United States, which has long
paraded itself as a paragon of democracy,
would produce Donald Trump, who wants to
redefine what the rule of law should mean in
the U.S. in 2015.
E Kevin Browett
Chief Operating Officer
kbrowett@renmedia.us
Trump's thinking is not in concert with
the realities of the 21st century and where
the world is going. But we are reminded that
every once in a while our democracy pro-
duces individuals with views so extreme it is
even hard for the body politic to make sense
of them.
The United States produced Barry
Goldwater. It gave us Joseph McCarthy. Now
we have Donald Trump. That would not stop
the work of further making America a true
multiracial democracy. In fact, Trump ener-
gizes the grassroots work taking place across
this land to make it not only a perfect union,
but also to fulfill the opening words in the
Declaration of Independence that "all men
are created equal:'
And the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights asserts that "all human being are born
free, equal in dignity and right:' Muslims
are also included in that universal principle.
Thus it is commendable that Netanyahu did
not drift away from that but rather distanced
himself from a xenophobe like Trump.
Israel's right to exist as a nation and a
valued member of the international commu-
nity should not be mortgaged on the altar of
those who want to take the U.S. back to the
sordid past, when it was plausible and popu-
lar to deny certain communities their right
to self determination and their basic rights as
human beings. *
Bankole Thompson is a columnist for the Detroit News.
He is the host of "Redline with Bankole Thompson"on
WDET-101.9 FM at 11 a.m. Thursdays. Email him at
bankole@bankolethompson.com.
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letters
I Fulfillment
JCC Welcomes Campers
With Disabilities
It was so encouraging to read about Camp
Ramah Canada's Tikvah programming
aimed at offering campers with special needs
a typical summer camp experience alongside
their typically developing peers ("Teams of
`Hope:" Dec. 3, page 50). I appreciate camp
director Donald Adehnan's feeling that
Ramah has an "obligation to serve the Jewish
community by offering [camp] to Jewish
children of all abilities:'
While there are programs at some sleep-
away summer camps, there seems to be only
one day camp in town that offers program-
ming for campers with disabilities in an
inclusive environment alongside their peers:
the JCC. As a parent raising a child with a
disability in this community, it's very heart-
ening to know that the Jewish camp com-
munity respects and aims to include kids like
mine.
I've called most of the other camps adver-
tising in our Detroit Jewish News but get
the same response every time: "We don't
have the resources to include campers with
special needs:' There's no effort to create
said resources, sending a terrible message to
families like mine, but also missing opportu-
nities to offer typical campers the incredibly
rewarding experience of not only making a
friend who is a little different, but making a
difference to a friend.
I hope to urge our local day camps and
Jewish day schools to take a lesson from our
JCC and create a more inclusive, well-round-
ed experience for all campers.
Danielle Gillman
West Bloomfield
StandWithUs-MI
Salutes Supporters
ci rculationdesk@thejewish news.com
I congratulate the StandWithUs-MI Festival
of Lights committee led by Reva Rosen and
her team that hosted the Festival of Lights
event at Adat Shalom Synagogue Saturday
evening, Dec. 5.
The 250 people in the room who came
to honor Annette and Russell Meskin for
their work on behalf of Israel heard keynote
speaker Hussein Aboubakr. Mr. Aboubakr
participated in the Egyptian revolution until
his departure from the country due to gov-
ernment persecution related to his activities,
and advocacy for tolerance and peace and
countering anti-Semitism.
StandWithUs-MI leader and president
Barbara Moretsky opened the program by
saluting several campus youth leaders and
advocates for Israel: Assaf Grumberg, Vida
Velasco and Andrew Moss.
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6 December 24 • 2015