8 | MAY 20 • 2021 

PURELY COMMENTARY

continued from page 6
letters

Call for Calm
and Peace

The Michigan Muslim 
Community Council 
(MMCC) and the Jewish 
Community Relations 
Council/American Jewish 
Committee of Detroit 
(JCRC/AJC), who work 
together to help Muslims 
and Jews of Detroit value 
each other’s religions and 
communities, call for calm 
and peace in the Holy Land. 
We are saddened that in 
this month of Ramadan, 
holy to Muslims worldwide, 
violence has broken out in 
the holy city of Jerusalem. 
We are always saddened 
when people are not allowed 
to pray and worship and 
live their day-to-day lives 
in peace. Thus, we pray for 
the safety and security of all 
who live in the Holy Land — 
Muslims, Jews and Christians 
and for all the victims of 
violence. 
We call for dialogue 
and mutual respect and 
for pursuing nonviolent 
channels for justice. We hope 
that our model in Detroit, 
of working in partnership 
on issues of mutual concern, 
can inspire those who 
are fighting to return to 
a meaningful pursuit of 
peace and justice for all in 
Jerusalem and everywhere. 

— Dr. Muhmud Al-Hadidi, Michigan 

Muslim Community Council 

Rabbi Asher Lopatin, Jewish 

Community Relations Council/

American Jewish Committee

a memorandum of 
understanding (MOU) with 
Start Up Nation Central CEO 
Eugene Kandel. The MOU 
was designed to expand 
the innovation exchanges 
between Israel and Michigan 
and to allow broader 
penetration points into one 
another’s ecosystems. 
While he was in Israel, 
Gov. Snyder’s focus was 
on cyber and defense 
technologies. He was 
the keynote speaker at 
the Annual Cybertech 
conference. When Gov. 
Snyder returned from his 
visit to Israel, he worked 
to deepen and strengthen 
the economic connections 
between Israel and Michigan. 
The result has been a 
successful partnership 
between the Michigan 
Economic Development 
Corporation (MEDC), the 
private sector and MIBA 
(Michigan Israel Business 
Accelerator). The scope and 
scale of this Michigan-Israel 
relationship targets the 
convergence of technology, 
industry and research in 
such sectors as advance 
manufacturing, mobility, 
cyber, defense, water, 
health and life science and 
agriculture.

MICHIGAN STANDOUTS
One of the fruitful outcomes 
of the Michigan-Israel 
connection occurred in May 
2019 when Michigan became 
the first state in the United 
States to launch a free web 
platform. This platform 
was poised to be a tipping 
point for the state’s startup 

ecosystem, the platform — 
Startup MichiganTech — is 
based on the successful 
Israeli platform developed 
by Start-Up Nation Central, 
an independent nonprofit 
that builds bridges to Israeli 
innovation and ecosystem. 
One other memorable 
visit happened in June 2018 
when Ambassador Ron 
Dermer made a historic trip 
to Detroit where he met with 
the leadership of Detroit’s 
Jewish community, spoke 
to the Economic Club of 
Detroit, participated in a 
state legislators’ reception 
and met with the executive 
leadership of Ford Motor 
Company.
As a follow-up to the 
ambassador’s visit, in May 
2019, Ford’s Executive 
Chairman Bill Ford 
announced the company 
would launch the Ford 
Research Center in southern 
Tel Aviv, in order to drive 
the next generation of 
automotive innovation in the 
heart of the Start Up Nation. 
And on a lighter note, 
in February of 2019, the 
Consulate brought the 
world-renowned Israeli 
Philharmonic Orchestra 
to Ann Arbor for a special 
one-night concert. There is 
nothing more spectacular 
than a room full of 800 
people from Michigan 
listening to “Hatikvah.” I will 
never forget it.

ISRAELI CONTRIBUTIONS
One of the main goals 
during my time as Consul 
General was to change 
the narrative around the 

U.S.-Israel relationship. 
Traditionally, Israel has been 
on the receiving side of our 
greatest ally, the United 
States. However, I believe the 
tiny and young state of Israel 
has a lot to offer, especially 
in the field of innovation, 
social innovation and tikkun 
olam. That is why we are 
currently in the process of 
implementing the model of 
NATAL to Detroit. 
NATAL is an Israeli 
organization specializing in 
the field of war and terror-
related trauma, PTSD and 
resiliency-building among 
civil society. NATAL can 
bring Israeli knowledge and 
experience in these fields 
to tackle challenges facing 
Detroit communities. We 
know that with the aid of the 
generous and kind Detroit 
community, this initiative 
will be effective and end 
up helping many with their 
mental health.
As I begin the end of my 
stay here in the Midwest, 
I want to thank the Jewish 
community as well as the 
non-Jewish community of 
Detroit, including political 
and community leaders, 
members of the press, 
cultural representatives and 
all others who have displayed 
such a tremendous amount 
of support and everlasting 
friendship. Your efforts and 
spirit are commendable and 
will always be treasured. I 
know that the best is yet to 
come. 

Aviv Ezra is Consul General of Israel 

to the Midwest.

