1942 - 2024

Covering and Connecting 
Jewish Detroit Every Week

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MISSION STATEMENT The Detroit Jewish News will be of service to the Jewish community. The Detroit Jewish 
News will inform and educate the Jewish and general community to preserve, protect and sustain the Jewish 
people of greater Detroit and beyond, and the State of Israel.

VISION STATEMENT The Detroit Jewish News will operate to appeal to the broadest segments of the greater 
Detroit Jewish community, refl
 ecting the diverse views and interests of the Jewish community while advancing the 
morale and spirit of the community and advocating Jewish unity, identity and continuity.

DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
32255 Northwestern Hwy. Suite 205,
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
248-354-6060
thejewishnews.com

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The Detroit Jewish 
News Foundation

| Board of Directors:
 Chair: Gary Torgow
 Vice President: David Kramer
 Secretary: Robin Axelrod
 Treasurer: Max Berlin
 Board members: Michael J. Eizelman
 Larry Jackier, Jeffrey Schlussel,
 Mark Zausmer

 Executive Director:
Marni Raitt
 Senior Advisor to the Board: 
Mark Davidoff
 Alene and Graham Landau Archivist Chair: 
 Mike Smith
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Arthur Horwitz
Founding Publisher 
 Philip Slomovitz, of blessed memory

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6 | FEBRUARY 1 • 2024 
J
N

statement

Ann Arbor School’s ‘Ceasefi
 re’ Resolution
T

he Jewish Federation 
of Greater Ann Arbor 
and local community 
leaders are extremely disap-
pointed in the Ann Arbor 
Public Schools Board of 
Trustees vote to approve a res-
olution calling 
for a “bilateral 
ceasefire in Gaza 
and Israel.” 
The Oct. 7 
terror attack by 
Hamas was and 
continues to be 
a heartbreaking 
tragedy. One hundred and 
thirty-two hostages remain 
captive in Gaza after more 
than 100 days. And Israel’s 
response in Gaza has created 
an ongoing humanitarian cri-
sis for civilians in Gaza. The 
trauma and ramifications will 
be felt for years — decades to 

come. 
Unfortunately, activists have 
used this crisis to sow division 
in our community. 
The proposal of this reso-
lution was politically moti-
vated — not about students 
and education. It was part of 
a national activist effort to 
bring ceasefire resolutions to 
local governmental bodies 
— hijacking the important 
local work they were elected 
to do and calling on them to 
take positions on geopolitical 
affairs, over which they have 
no authority, which will have 
no effect on foreign policy, 
and which only impact the 
local community by further 
dividing it. 
The fact the resolution 
calls for it to be distributed 
to print, voice and internet 
media speaks to the intention 

to spread this activity to other 
communities. 
This resolution led to a 
poor use of district resources 
— time, money and personnel 
— and encouraged a chaotic 
and uncivil atmosphere lead-
ing many Jewish families to 
wonder about their place in 
this district and community. 
The Ann Arbor School 
Board missed an opportunity 
to unite the community by 
putting forward an alternative 
resolution with very similar 
language that was shared 
with all board members; one 
that did not directly call for 
a ceasefire. The language of 
this alternative was inclusive 
of families connected to other 
world conflicts and called for 
training and resources to be 
provided to teachers helping 
them to feel more comfort-

able navigating these compli-
cated conversations. While 
some sections of the alterna-
tive resolution and a sentence 
from a local City Council res-
olution were included in the 
final product, the ceasefire 
language remained, alienating 
the almost 2,000 signatories 
of a petition calling on the 
Board to focus on education, 
not engage in geopolitical 
affairs. 
It is deeply concerning that 
the many important issues 
facing the board, including a 
$10M deficit, passing a spe-
cial education millage, hiring 
a superintendent, falling 
test scores, and demanding 
accountability for address-
ing the egregious incidents 
of anti-Arab and antise-
mitic speech and behavior, 
were ignored while trustees 

PURELY COMMENTARY

Eileen Freed

