“The
First
Amendment
… is subject to appropriate
limitations on its continued
and repeated usage.”
Defendants
named
in
the lawsuit include Henry
Herskovitz,
Gloria
Harb,
Tom Saffold, Rudy List and
Chris
Mark.
The
lawsuit
also lists the groups Deir
Yassin
Remembered
and
Jewish Witnesses for Peace
and Friends — both led by
Herskovitz, a former member
of the congregation — as
defendants.
The Southern Poverty Law
Center placed Deir Yassin
Remembered on a list of
hate groups in 2017 due to
their support of Holocaust
deniers
Michael
Hoffman,
Eric Hunt, Germar Rudolf
and the late Bradley Smith.
Board members have also
questioned
historically
accurate
facts
about
the
Holocaust.
In an August interview
with The Daily, Herskovitz
criticized the SPLC and said
he believes hate is a name-
calling mechanism.
“They’re
an
amazing
business because all they
do is sell fear,” Herskovitz
said. “As it turns out we were
placed on the hate group due
to one person, and that was
with my membership to Deir
Yassin Remembered, which
isn’t the vigil group. But
when you’re slimy people you
don’t care about the details or
the facts.”
Deir Yassin Remembered
previously campaigned for
the release of Ernst Zundel,
a German neo-Nazi who was
imprisoned for inciting race
hatred. In 2006, Herskovitz
and Daniel McGowan, the
former
executive
director
of Deir Yassin Remembered,
visited Zundel in Mannheim
Prison
in
Germany.
Herskovitz told The Daily
that he wished to meet with
Zundel in order to “confront
the issue.”
“Every time I hear that
someone is an anti-Semite, I
want to go meet that person,”
Herskovitz said. “If you put
‘Holocaust deniers’ in quotes,
I’ve
met
more
Holocaust
deniers than you can name
because I want to go to
people. I want to see what
they’re really about … I am
concerned about Jews, and
I am very concerned about
how their history is going to
be finally written.”
However,
Herskovitz
rejects the claim Witnesses
for Peace and any of its
members are anti-Semitic.
Member
Blaine
Coleman
said the protest is generally
against the military aid of
Israel.
“You’ve
got
a
racist,
violent government in Israel
that has just shot down
dozens of unarmed human
rights protesters in Gaza,”
Herskovitz said. “Israel is
about
killing
Palestinians
and taking their land. I don’t
think it’s about religion.”
In addition to Herskovitz
and the other protesters,
the
lawsuit
lists
Mayor
Christopher
Taylor,
City
Attorney Stephen Postema,
Senior
Assistant
City
Attorney
Kristen
Larcom
and
Community
Services
Administrator
Derek
Delacourt
as
defendants,
claiming the city has not
required the group to obtain
a permit to continue their
demonstrations.
The
litigation
also
alleges
that
by
allowing
the
protests
to
continue
without
restrictions,
the
city
infringes
upon
the
congregation
member’s
First Amendment rights, as
they are unable to practice
their
freedom
of
religion
without being “harassed” by
demonstrators.
Taylor told The Daily he
has not yet read the complaint
or received communications
regarding the lawsuit from
city lawyers. He said the city
has done everything possible
to
ensure
constitutional
rights are protected.
“The
city
honors
the
constitutional
rights
of
everyone, no matter what your
political views,” Taylor said.
“In my opinion, the protests
in front of the synagogue
are
entirely
inappropriate
and disgraceful. The city
respects the constitutional
rights
of
the
people
to
express themselves and we
act accordingly.”
The protests are not only
harmful and irrational, Taylor
said, but are inconsistent
with Ann Arbor’s community
values.
Robert Blumenthal, Beth
Israel
Congregation
board
president, gave The Daily a
statement on behalf of the
synagogue.
“While
Beth
Israel
Congregation is in no way
associated with this lawsuit,
the activity outside of our
house of worship every week
continues to be offensive and
reprehensible, and includes
anti-Semitic
hate
speech,”
the statement reads.
Rabbi Nadav Caine, from
the Beth Israel Synagogue,
told
The
Daily
he
and
members of the congregation
are often distressed about
the protest. Caine said it is
disconcerting that a city such
as Ann Arbor would allow
these
demonstrations
to
continue for so long.
However, Caine said Beth
Israel Congregation has a
very
positive
relationship
with Taylor, the Ann Arbor
City Council and the city
attorney. However, he still
questions if more can be done
to limit the volume of the
protests, which he called hate
speech.
“I
value
the
First
Amendment.
I
value
my
relationships with the City,
but I sometimes wonder if
this were happening to an
African
American
church
or to the mosque, whether it
wouldn’t be more of a topic
of conversation,” Caine said.
“When it comes to the City
Council and local ordinances,
that’s really what it comes
down to.”
Caine
also
said
the
synagogue has chosen to not
participate in the lawsuit but
could not comment as to why.
Congregation members at
Beth Israel often try to ignore
the
protesters
and
signs,
Blumenthal said, though the
members often find them
very upsetting. He said many
members of the congregation
feel the city could do more,
but they understand there are
some limitations.
Blumenthal said said the
city has responded to the
protesters when contacted
by Beth Israel Congregation
in the past. Previously, the
protesters had blocked the
driveway into the synagogue,
Blumenthal explained, which
restricted
congregation
members from entering the
parking lot.
Blumenthal said the police
came
after
the
city
was
notified and drew lines to
prevent the protesters from
surrounding the parking lot.
“We
(Beth
Israel
Congregation)
are
fairly
resilient as a group, we’ve
had to be over history,”
Blumenthal said. “Some of us
have young children there,
and (the protest) has been
going on 16 years … it’s been
every week with sometimes
very hateful signs.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, January 8, 2020 — 3A
LAWSUIT
From Page 1A
Ursula
Jakob,
the
lab’s
primary investigator, said the
researchers
observed
that
oxidative
stress
in
juvenile
worms
resulted
in
longer
lifespans, leading them to begin
their experiments.
“The worms that have the
highest levels of reactive oxygen
species during this early stage
were the ones that were most
stress-resistant and the longest
lived of the whole population,”
Jakob said. “That was something
that was very intriguing because
it suggested that you can have
these events very early in life in
an organism that triggers this
production of reactive oxygen
species, and that will then
extend the lifespan of that sub-
population of worms.”
Bazopoulou said they induced
specific amounts of oxidative
stress in these worm populations
during early-life stages to test if
it increased lifespan.
“The main message is that
oxidants in early life might
predispose
the
organisms
to
withstanding
stress,”
Bazopoulou said. “They were
becoming preconditioned; they
were experiencing some early-
life stress which made them
battle stress that they were
encountering later in life.”
Bazopoulou
said
the
lab
planned
to
investigate
this
specific mechanism throughout
an organism’s lifespan and how
it may affect predisposition to
age-associated diseases.
“We are also interested now
in seeing whether those early-
life oxidants can predispose
organisms to better battle age-
related
pathologies
such
as
neurodegenerative
disorders
like dementia and Alzheimer’s,”
Bazopoulou said.
LSA freshman Liam Thew
Forrester,
an
undergraduate
research
assistant
in
a
different lab at the molecular
and
behavioral
neuroscience
institution,
studies
stress-
induced mood disorders. He
shared his excitement at the
findings of this stress-related
research.
“I was really surprised by it,
it’s really interesting to think
that the stress can actually be
beneficial if it’s early on because
that could vastly change how we
do things, not just for longevity,
it could help with the stress-
induced
disorders
as
well,”
Forrester said.
Jakob said she hopes to
eventually develop interventions
to help people combat the health
and lifestyle struggles of aging.
“This suggests that at a
very early stage in life you can
positively affect lifespan by, in
this case, changing the levels of
reactive oxygen species,” Jakob
said. “If we can find out what
are the mechanisms that are
set in motion at a juvenile stage
but ultimately are responsible
later in life for higher stress
resistance and longer life, maybe
we can find an intervention that
targets directly those processes
so that we actually still have
a chance to benefit from this
information.”
Jakob explained the goal
of this research is to have a
real impact on human health
and physiology. Her lab plans
to continue investigating the
unknown factors that affect
aging.
“If we understand all the
long-term effects that have
been set into motion in early
development, maybe we can
mimic those long-term effects by
pharmacological interventions
or other interventions,” Jakob
said. “What are ultimately the
changes in these organisms
when it comes to aging and
death that allows them to live
longer?”
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GAME
From Page 1A
“This is the fruit of great
interdisciplinary teamwork
and also really working with
the parents and the kids that
are testing the game, they
are also a part of it.”
Graf said he was grateful to
be able to engage in this type
of applied research.
“Developing
technology
explicitly to promote social
change and the removal of
social and physical barriers
is just something that feels
very fulfilling to make steps
towards,” Graf said. “I’m just
privileged that the University
gives me the freedom to
decide in which direction I
want to develop technology.
The freedom I have as a
researcher and academic is to
go for the truly life-fulfilling
work.”
Hun-Seok
Kim,
an
Engineering
assistant
professor,
also
found
the
project’s goal to be important.
“It is a unique project
for our research team as it
directly connects technology
development
and
research
to
an
application
with
immediate social impacts,”
Kim said. “Unlike other more
theoretical
research,
this
project allows us to directly
engage with people outside of
academia.”
Graf said participants have
had positive responses to
the project. He said players
appreciated
its
inclusivity
for both those with mobility
disabilities and those without.
“We had a couple of kids
ages 7 to 16 years test the
system, and they found the
game competitive, regardless of
whether they use wheelchairs
or not,” Graf said. “My favorite
quote from our studies that
sums beautifully the idea of
what inclusive play can be is
a participant who played the
game using a wheelchair said
it’s basically adapted for everyone,
even people with no physical
disabilities.”
Information
senior
Emma
Shpiz, who has been a research
assistant on the project since the
winter 2017 semester, noted her
previous experience working with
children with disabilities.
“I have a lot of background
in working with kids, especially
throughout high school,” Shpiz
said. “I was really involved in
clubs where we were using sports
to build relationships and have a
combination of fun and learning
for different kids with different
disabilities. Also, having a couple
different family members who
have various disabilities (made)
this something that was really
important to me.”
Shpiz said she was drawn to
iGYM because of how unique the
project was.
“I was honestly shocked that
nothing like this had been done
before.” Shpiz said “It’s kind
of very different in the field.
Obviously, there’s a lot of work
towards
different
games
for
people with different disabilities,
but just finding this really niche
space where it keeps it competitive
for both sides was really exciting
for me.”
Shpiz
realized
how
iGYM
could improve inclusivity for
people with disabilities when she
interviewed a 5-year-old girl with
a disability and her mother, who
found the game very effective for
her daughter.
“We
were
sitting
in
the
interview
asking
her
pretty
generic questions after she had
played the game, and all of a
sudden her mom, she starts crying
and was like, ‘This is so incredible,
I’m so glad you guys are doing
this, I’m dying for this game
to be placed in my daughter’s
school,’” Shpiz said. “For this to be
something that I think could have
a really big impact is my biggest
takeaway.”
Kim said iGYM has merited
positive reactions from children,
parents and researchers alike,
who found the project very
rewarding.
“We had a case where these
two brothers had never played
a physical game before because
their abilities are quite different,”
Kim said. “We saw some teary
eyes from the parents, and it was
a very rewarding moment to see
them and also researchers having
a lot of fun.”
Graf said he and his team
foresee iGYM entering the market
in the future and are currently
working on making the system
more robust before consulting
with an industry partner. The
Houston YMCA and spaces in
New York have made inquiries
about having the system installed.
Kim said the future of iGYM
holds many different possibilities
due to the versatility of augmented
reality systems.
“Possibilities
are
virtually
limitless,” Kim said. “AR systems
can
overcome
the
limitation
of
physical
surroundings
by
augmenting
the
reality.
For
example, iGYM augments each
player’s ability to allow inclusive
play among people with different
physical abilities.”
“As someone that’s interested
in policy, this would add that
to what I’m already learning
in school,” Abdelbaki said. “It
would allow me to keep econ
and international studies as my
priorities.”
To complete the 16-credit
minor, students will enroll
in PubPol 201, a four-credit
survey course of current policy
issues, as well as PubPol 320,
a four-credit class on the
relationship between politics
and public policy that all Ford
School majors are required to
take. Students who have not
taken Econ 101 will take PubPol
310, a four-credit class aimed
at using economics to analyze
policy, while those who have
taken Econ 101 can substitute
an elective instead. To complete
the minor, students must also
take four credits of electives.
Maccini said the minor is
geared towards students like
Abdelbaki, who hope to add
public policy skills to their
degrees.
“The idea is to provide this
supplementary set of tools that
really focus in on policy change,
social
change,
and
more
generally leadership, analytical
skills, critical thinking skills,
drawing primarily from an
interdisciplinary social science
perspective,” Maccini said.
In a December email to
students and faculty, Dean
Michael Barr clarified that
certain
benefits
would
be
reserved
for
Public
Policy
majors.
“Please note that while we
hope to actively engage our
new BA minor cohort into the
Ford School community, some
resources, such as our dedicated
career counselor, will remain
available only to students who
are majoring in public policy,”
Barr wrote.
Public Policy senior Nicholas
Martire serves as the president
of the Public Policy School’s
undergraduate student council.
He noted the minor provides a
good sampling of the classes
and skills public policy majors
learn.
“For me, Ford has been an
opportunity to look at real-
world issues and figure out
policy issues to solve them,”
Martire
said.
“The
minor
sounds like it will offer a similar
opportunity.”
Martire said he is looking
forward to seeing more students
get involved with public policy.
“It
seems
like
a
great
opportunity for more students
to have a chance to receive a
Ford education,” Martire said.
“I think the more people that
have the opportunity to have
some sort of public policy
MINOR
From Page 1A
To
conclude
his
talk,
Wallace said he had a dream
where he was in a sinking
boat.
In
the
dream,
he
decided to save the children
drowning at the bottom of
the ship instead of himself.
He explained this dream was
a metaphor for him deciding
to risk his career in order
to share his opinion about
journalistic integrity.
Ann
Arbor
resident
George
Feldman
said
he
found
the
sinking
ship
metaphor the most moving
part of Wallace’s talk.
“It was a metaphor for
a situation we all feel,”
Feldman said. “What would
you do (in a situation) when
it’s important … What do you
do when you risk your job,
or even when you risk your
promotion, or you risk your
friends cutting you off when
you take an unpopular or
difficult choice?”
After the book reading,
Wallace held a question-
and-answer
session.
Audience members praised
his skills as a storyteller
and debated the need for
facts
versus
storytelling.
Some said people are only
interested
in
compelling
stories and others said facts
are of interest when they are
from trusted sources.
When asked to define the
role of journalists, Wallace
said the profession should
encourage
unconventional
journalistic writing to keep
up
with
current
media
trends. According to Wallace,
traditional
journalism
styles,
which
prioritize
key
facts
over
narrative
storytelling,
were
only
relevant when news traveled
slower, such as when people
had to ride horses to deliver
newspapers.
Ann
Arbor
resident
Anna
Brunner
said
she
found Wallace’s ideas of
reinventing
the
role
of
journalism was inspiring.
“My
favorite
part
was
how he talked about the
fundamental change that is
needed in journalism today,”
Brunner said. “Providing the
different ways with being in
community and reimagining
a profession in a way that is
centering justice and equity
was really inspiring.”
JOURNALIST
From Page 1A
“I’m just not sure when I
weigh the pros and cons that
the value to those individuals
overrides the value of a family
being able to live in a house or
someone not living next to a
commercial enterprise.”
Ann
Arbor
Mayor
Christopher Taylor said he
supported
the
resolution,
noting
neighborhoods
with
homes used for short-term
rentals often lose their sense
of community.
“There’s incomplete data as
to safety, there are incomplete
data as to the effect on pricing,
but I think that the absence of
community is unanswerable
and for me is of particular
importance.”
The council voted to approve
the resolution. Additionally,
councilmembers
voted
to
add
a
full-time
lieutenant
position to the Ann Arbor
Police Department to audit
and review reports and video
footage. They also approved
annexing
parcels
of
Ann
Arbor Township and Pittsfield
Township.
Local
environmental
toxicologist
Mozhgan
Savabieasfahani spoke during
public
comment.
At
the
last City Council meeting,
Savabieasfahani
announced
her candidacy for the Ward 4
seat in 2020, where she will
be running against Eaton and
Ann Arbor resident Jen Eyer,
a former journalist for MLive
and the Ann Arbor News. Last
week, Savabieasfahani said her
platform would be focused on
advocating for the immediate
cleanup
of
the
Gelman
Dioxane
plume
and
PFAS
contamination in Ann Arbor.
Savabieasfahani said she did
not support putting the site of
the Gelman Dioxane plume on
the Environmental Protection
Agency’s list as a Superfund
site.
“It takes up to 30 years for
sites that are already on the
EPA list to be cleaned up,”
Savabieasfahani
said.
“If
we want to go that route it’s
basically just being forced to
wait for a really long time if it
comes to be clean.”
COUNCIL
From Page 2A