DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
32255 Northwestern Hwy. Suite 205,
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
248-354-6060
thejewishnews.com
MAY 23 • 2024 | 7
J
N
did not happen overnight.
It was the result of
years of incitement and
delegitimization here, here at
the U.N. … The anti-Israel
vitriol spread here by this
organization is what sparked
what we are seeing today on
college campuses … You are
emboldening antisemites and
terrorists alike.”
• “It is because of you mobs
think that attacking Jews is
acceptable.”
• “Today is the ninth
general assembly meeting
held on Gaza since Hamas’
massacre. Ninth. Not one
of the meetings focused
on condemning Hamas or
releasing the hostages; not
even one. I am disgusted by
this institution.”
• “You are not interested
in criticizing rogue states;
you are interested only in
smearing the Jewish state.”
• “The clock is ticking and
soon the world will wake up
and see the disaster the U.N.
has become. In the future …
students will study the fall
of the U.N. They will learn
of this organization’s moral
bankruptcy and blindness.
They will be taught that your
indifference and hypocrisy
is what brought the U.N.
crashing down.”
• “But this is also what will
prompt the establishment of a
new world institution, a force
for good, one with a strong
moral compass, democratic
values, a body that will refuse
to give dictators a free pass
and terrorists a lifeline.”
• “Mark my words, the
U.N.’s days are numbered.”
Setting aside Erdan’s
prediction of the U.N.’s
demise, he is, of course,
correct about the U.N.’s
antisemitism. It has been a
cesspool of anti-Israel feelings
for years, reaching its peak
in 1975 when it adopted a
resolution equating Zionism
with racism. The resolution
was revoked in 1991, but
the damage was done, and
revocation was meaningless
since its politics did not
change.
In 2022, the U.N. adopted
15 anti-Israel resolutions, two
more critical resolutions than
for all the other 193 countries
in the general assembly —
combined.
The question raised by
Erdan’s speech: Should he
have been so “aggressive,” or
might he have tempered his
language?
In strategic sessions, Israel
probably decided to let Erdan
proceed — let it all hang
out, so to speak — because,
unfortunately, it has nothing
to lose in the U.N.
And that is the saddest
moral of this story.
Berl Falbaum is a veteran journalist
and author of 12 books.
the kids up, and gave it to
them in whatever would hold
liquid — cups, canteens, even
helmets — spooning it out as
fast as they possibly could in
an attempt to rehydrate the
children and make them able
to accept normal food.
My friend’s father told of
walking along that line of
children waiting for soup and
coming upon a bundle of rags
lying in the dirt, one of the
many children they would
lose that day, a child who
didn’t have the strength to
laugh or cry, much less stand
in line.
And that Jewish-American
soldier did the only thing
one can do in that desperate
situation. He reached down
and picked up that bundle of
rags, not knowing if it was
a boy or a girl, not knowing
if it was alive or dead, and
he hugged that remnant of a
child.
At that moment, the way
my friend’s father told that
story for the rest of his life, all
of the starving children broke
out of the food line, and they
lined up to be hugged.
We must all understand that
there are things that are more
important than money, more
important than food. Things
that we can only provide to
each other by stretching out
a hand. That’s why in Hebrew
the word Natan — to give —
is a palindrome, like Mom,
it’s the same backwards and
forwards. When you give to
somebody else, it’s difficult to
say who benefits more — the
one who gets or the one who
gives.
We are the givers. With
concern, compassion
and charity, we take care
of each other. In our
vernacular it’s called chesed.
Across all affiliations and
denominations, it is our most
consistent universal practice,
and we model it for the world.
Yes, we have the memories,
and the scars, and an
enduring nervous discomfort
about those who would harm
us, but it is, at these times
and all times, that we stand
together as we always have.
We stand with Israel, and
we pray for our heroes in the
IDF, all while we mourn our
fallen souls and victims of
terror.
And we take care of those
who need us, wherever they
may be, with the endless,
unquenchable kindness and
compassion that is our sacred
heritage and enduring legacy.
Am Yisrael Chai!
Gary Torgow is president of the
Jewish Federation of Detroit.
Yom HaZikaron: Honoring Bravery, Sacrifice continued from page 4
Gilad Erdan speaks to the UN General Assembly.
YOUTUBE SCREENSHOT