Israeli officials were stunned by Monday\’s stern State Department rebuke over Israel\’s stepped-up military effort against the Palestinian Authority. And the fact they were surprised hints of deeper trouble to come along the U.S.-Israel axis.
With U.S.-Israel relations facing an explosive new crisis, a number of Israel representatives were in Washington this week, offering mixed messages about the intentions of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon\’s government.
Some Jewish leaders here said the conradictions could increase the likelihood of serious misunderstandings between the two allies as the U.S.-led war against terrorism intensifies and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict worsens.
Though a terrorist attack may demolish tall buildings, it will never succeed in leveling the spirits or the values that America represents.
This country will most certainly keep moving forward. Justice will prevail and healing will take place. Americans — black, white, Chicanos, Orientals, Christians, Jews, Muslims — must speak with one voice that we are 100 percent behind our government in finding and punishing those responsible for this heinous act. The terrorists attack is indeed against the values that America symbolizes (i.e. our freedom and the hope that America offers to those who come to its shores). Our prayers and tears are for those heroic and innocent people and their families who were casualties of this crime.
After Aug. 10, 1999, when a white supremacist went on
a shooting spree at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills, Abraham J. Heschel Day School quickly beefed up security at its Northridge campus, installing a high-tech video scanner in the school parking lot and posting an armed guard at an entrance kiosk.
But the events of Sept. 11 have raised the bar yet higher in terms of campus security. Heschel director Shirley Levine has now hired an additional guard. And on all school-owned buses, the Heschel name has been replaced with cryptic initials \”AJH.\”
\”It is sad,\” says Joan Marks, principal of Heschel\’s elementary school. \”It just makes me sick.\”
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