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Jewish Journal

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August 12, 2004

Anti-Semitism Takes No Holiday in France

Leave a Comment / Worldwide /

This is the season of le grand départ, when millions of French people leave for their summer vacation. Eighty-four percent of the French population will be going away on holiday this summer, and there are traffic jams hundreds of kilometers long from Paris to the Riviera.

But this year, as the masses pack their bathing suits, say au revoir to their co-workers and squeeze into crowded trains bound for the sea, Jew haters don’t seem to be taking a holiday.

To be fair, French President Jacques Chirac is doing what he can to fight anti-Semitism in France. He has expressed his "horror and dread" at the escalation of anti-Semitic acts.

But while American cyclist Lance Armstrong recently wowed the world by pedaling toward glory in the Tour de France, Chirac is backpedaling, after telling Ariel Sharon he was not welcome in France for calling on French Jews to leave France and come to Israel, because of "unleashed anti-Semitism."

The locals I spoke to in the Jewish quarters of Paris and Nice are tired of the polémique. Though some are leaving for Israel, most French Jews want to remain in France, where they have been for centuries, and they simply want the criminals who are attacking Jews to be caught and prosecuted.

As the temperature rises, so has the number of senseless, angry acts against French Jews. Following is an edited list of hostile acts against Jews in France this year since May 1:

May 1, Créteil: Stones were thrown at the Synagogue du 8 Mai 1945. Also, a rabbi going to synagogue with his son was accosted by two men. He was called a "dirty Jew" and a "dirty Rabbi Jacob." He was hit in the face and the stomach and threatened with death.

May 4, Metz: Two young Jews returning from soccer training were accosted by five young North Africans who yelled anti-Semitic insults and then beat them with iron bars. Two of the attackers were caught by police; one was released.

May 8, Paris, 10th District, Rue Saint-Martin: A young man of Maghrebian origin (the Maghreb consists of the former French colonies of Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria in Muslim North Africa) standing with friends yelled anti-Semitic insults at some Jews going into a synagogue. He threw a bottle of beer at them, hitting a Jewish man in the head. The police chased the group but they got away.

May 10, Paris Metro: "Jews-Criminals-Nazis" was scrawled on the walls of a tunnel.

May 12, Aubervilliers: A Jewish man was parking his car near his office, where his brother was waiting for him. A man of Maghrebian origin called the brother a "dirty Jew" and said he would return with his family and 50 friends now that he knew where they worked.

The Jewish man parking his car was beaten and insulted by his attacker, who threatened, "I swear on the Koran of Mecca, I am going to kill you."

May 15, Yerres: "Death to Jews" was written on a car belonging to a Jew. The car has been regularly defaced and its wheels slashed in the garage of the victim’s home.

May 27, Paris, 19th District: Two young Jewish girls were surrounded by 14 boys and girls of North African origin who beat and insulted them.

May 30, Boulogne-Billiancourt: A rabbi’s 16-year-old son was returning home on his scooter with a friend, when a young man called him a "dirty Jew." Five other young men surrounded him, as his friend went for help. The rabbi’s son was beaten and kicked before escaping. He suffered multiple contusions and a broken rib.

June 4, Epinay-sur-Seine: A young man was stabbed in the chest. The assailant, who was waiting for him in front of a yeshiva, screamed "Allah ouakbar" as he attacked him with a butcher knife.

June 6, Paris, 19th District: A woman sitting at an outdoor café was called a "dirty Jew" by a man who punched her in the face and broke her nose.

June 6, Paris, 17th District: A 20-year-old woman walking toward the Metro station was accosted by seven youths of Maghrebian origin. They called her a "dirty Jew," spit on her and threw stones at her head. She escaped but was afraid to file a complaint.

June 7, Charenton-le-Pont: The doors of several apartments belonging to Jewish families were defaced with swastikas and anti-Semitic graffiti: "Kill the Jews," "Death to the Jews," "We’re going to kill your race."

June 19, Saint-Ouen: Youths of Maghrebian origin hurled insults at a young Jewish girl walking with her brother. When the brother asked why they were bothering her, he was called a "dirty Jew" and hit behind the ear with a stick. The attacker received six days of detention.

June 27, Paris, Avenue Jean Jaures, 19th District: Two religious Jews and an 8-year-old boy were attacked by two men of Maghrebian origin on a motorcycle who drove onto the sidewalk. They hit the child in the face and chest.

June 29, Paris, Rue de Flandres, 19th District: High school boys leaving school were cut off on the road by a car. The men in the car were armed with sticks that had metal points and attacked the youths. Some of the boys escaped, but one was thrown against a wall and beaten unconscious, while they called him a "dirty Jew." The men fled when one of the boys screamed for help.

July 1, Amiens: Ten swastikas were found on the Rue des Juifs and in several other streets in the village of Arquèves.

July 1, Paris, Rue Buisson, 20th District: Scrawled on the walls of an apartment building was: "Dirty Jews, the whole building wants you to get out."

July 7, Bordeaux: "Kill the Jews" was written on the walls of a shop belonging to a Jewish family.

July 11, Paris, 20th District: A swastika and Star of David were drawn on a residential parking facility.

Aug. 10, Lyon: Vandals spray paint swastikas on 60 Jewish tombstones. The third such attack at the cemetary since May.

The information was supplied by CRIF.org and consistoire.org. The reports are compiled from the Service de Protection de la Communauté Juive, an organization that works with and shares information with the police.

Anti-Semitism Takes No Holiday in France Read More »

Olympic Veterans Return to Compete

Leave a Comment / Worldwide /

Joe Jacobi’s pain as he prepares for the Olympics is more emotional than physical.

The canoeist/kayaker, 34, told JTA by e-mail that as he prepares for the Olympics in Athens, he misses his 3-year-old daughter, Seu Jane — named for the Spanish village that hosted some rowing competitions in the 1992 Summer Games — who is at home with his wife in Tennessee.

The pursuit of an Olympic medal usually conjures up a youthful single-mindedness, but like Jacobi, many of the 15 Jewish athletes competing for the U.S. team at the Athens Games are veteran athletes who competed in previous Olympics.

Jacobi, nicknamed the "paddling papa," won gold at the Olympics in 1992, the same year he was named USA Canoe/Kayak male athlete of the year.

Another veteran, swimmer Lenny Krayzelburg, a triple gold medal winner at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, will also compete in Athens, where the Games will get underway on Aug. 13.

Krayzelburg, a Jewish immigrant from Odessa — in what is now Ukraine — also has been a Jewish role model of sorts, once telling reporters that, "Being Jewish is part of me, it’s part of my culture."

He got his first American swimming experience, and his first job, at a JCC in Los Angeles shortly after his family arrived here in 1988 from the Soviet Union. After setting world records in the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke at the 2000 Olympics, he participated in the Maccabiah in Israel.

Nearly 29, an age considered ancient in a sport mostly dominated by teenagers and those in their early 20s, Krayzelburg made headlines in mid-July when he qualified for the American team by finishing the 100-meter backstroke in 54.06 seconds, behind world champion Aaron Perisol.

His teammate, 28-year-old Jason Lezak of Irvine, another Jewish swimmer, won the 100-meter freestyle after setting a new American record of 48.17 seconds in the semifinals.

"Based on what you hear in the general public, you’d think there wasn’t much representation, but the list we have is very impressive," said Jed Margolis, executive director of Maccabi USA/Sports for Israel. In certain sports, he added, Jews "are at the top of the world."

Take, for example, Sada and Emily Jacobson. This dynamic duo of Jewish sisters from Atlanta may be Olympic neophytes, but they will enter the arena with high expectations.

Sada Jacobson, 21, is the top-ranked woman fencer in the world and in the U.S. and has said in press interviews that making the Olympic squad is honor enough.

Her teammates likely are honored to be competing alongside her, though: Not only is she the first American woman and second American fencer to reach the top of the world rankings, she is also a four-time world championship team member and a two-time NCAA saber champion.

Her younger sister, Emily, 17, is just a few lunges behind and the pair’s domination of women’s fencing has been compared to that of tennis’ well-known sisters, Venus and Serena Williams.

Emily, one of two athletes to receive a 2002 Jules D. Major Award to Jewish High School Athletes of the Year, was ranked second in U.S. saber fencing in 2003 and was a 2003 Pan American Games bronze medalist.

The Games in Athens will also be the first for 28-year-old fencer Dan Kellner. This six-time world championship team member from central New Jersey finished second in the foil competition at the national championships in 1997, 1998 and 2000.

But in 2000, Kellner did not make the Olympic squad. After a year hiatus, he came back and won a gold medal at the 2003 Pan American games, and his first national championship in 2004. For Kellner, making the Olympic team reflects the eagerness of a younger generation that is following closely in the footsteps of those before them.

"My friends who have done it before say it’s an experience that will change your life," he said in an interview with the New Jersey Jewish News. "[At the opening ceremonies], I plan to heed their advice and walk slowly — you only get once around the track," he said.

In other sports, though, veteran Jewish athletes will be representing the United States.

In track and field, Deena Drossin Kastor, who competed in Sydney and still runs at home in Central California, qualified in the marathon; equestrian — and West Palm Beach, Fla., horse trainer — Margie Engle, who was a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic team, and the winner of five major equestrian competitions in 2001, will also compete.

Rami Zur, a newcomer to the American team who rowed in the canoe/kayak competition for Israel in 2000, will compete this year for the United States. His dual citizenship — he was born in Berkeley, and currently lives outside San Diego — allowed him to qualify for both countries’ teams.

In the non-Jewish world, Olympic medals are a pinnacle for sports achievement.

But Maccabi USA’s Margolis good-naturedly called the international competition a stepping stone for the Maccabiah Games, which will take place in July 2005.

"The Olympics are our stepping stone," he said. "You can win gold medals, but being part of the Jewish people is very special also."

Journal Contributing Editor Tom Tugend contributed to this report.

Olympic Veterans Return to Compete Read More »

Sharon Defuses Settlement Crisis

Leave a Comment / Israel, Politics, United States, Worldwide /

For a day or two in early August, Israel and the United States seemed to be heading for a showdown neither side wanted.

Quick action by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon managed to avert a looming crisis over Israeli building in the West Bank, but the tension could resume as Israel comes under pressure to meet its commitments to dismantle illegal settlement outposts and not to expand existing settlements.

Tension between Washington and Jerusalem was triggered by reports of massive Israeli construction in and around the settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim, a bedroom community about three miles east of Jerusalem.

The Americans also wanted to know why Israel hadn’t removed dozens of "illegal" or "unauthorized" West Bank outposts, despite earlier promises. In early August talks in Jerusalem, Sharon was able to convince a high-level U.S. envoy, Elliot Abrams of the National Security Council, that he was acting in good faith and that he soon would take extensive action to dismantle the outposts.

Simultaneously, Sharon took a number of steps to show the Americans that he meant business: He froze several Housing Ministry projects, despite the fact that they already had received government approval, and he offered the Americans detailed explanations of what was happening on the ground and his government’s difficulties in dealing with the settler problem.

Israeli officials also went to unprecedented lengths to coordinate data on the outposts with the Americans. For the first time, the two sides were able to produce an agreed-upon list of which outposts should be dismantled.

Sharon told the Americans that he had ordered a Justice Ministry attorney to prepare new legislation that would make it easier for Israel to dismantle the outposts before the U.S. presidential election in November. Sharon also ordered Dov Weisglass, his bureau chief, to give the Americans a progress report in the next few weeks.

To ensure that there would be no confrontation now with the Americans, Sharon froze a number of projects approved by former Housing Minister Effie Eitam, the hawkish leader of the National Religious Party, who resigned over Sharon’s plan to withdraw Israeli troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank.

In his capacity as acting housing minister, Sharon ordered the suspension of tenders for about 1,300 housing units in the settlements of Ariel, Kiryat Arba, Betar Elit, Geva Binyamin, Karnei Shomron and Ma’aleh Adumim until the new minister, Tzippi Livni of Sharon’s own Likud Party, examines whether the projects contravene understandings with the Americans on halting settlement expansion.

As for the building that is proceeding in Ma’aleh Adumim, Sharon explained that this was an old project approved by former Prime Minster Ehud Barak’s government in 1999 and now nearing completion. It was not something his government had approved or could stop, Sharon said.

Some in the Israeli media confused the building in Ma’aleh Adumim with a far more significant plan to join the city to Jerusalem through a continuous network of urban communities scheme known as A-1, which dates to the administration of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1994. The idea was to build a complex of residential and tourist areas all the way from Ma’aleh Adumim to Jerusalem, creating a huge metropolitan area and ensuring Israeli control of Greater Jerusalem.

According to Israeli officials, the A-1 plan was designed to preempt an opposing Palestinian scheme to cut Ma’aleh Adumim off from Jerusalem by continuous north-south building, connecting the villages of Abu Dis, Issawiya and Anata, preventing Jewish territorial contiguity.

So far, neither side has done very much on the ground. In his talks with Abrams, Sharon noted that the plan hadn’t yet been approved in its entirety and maintained that it was not on the agenda, at least for the time being. For now, the Americans seem prepared to give Sharon the benefit of the doubt on building in existing settlements, but they want to see action soon on removal of outposts.

As a first step to show it is acting in good faith, Israel has charged a senior Defense Ministry official, Baruch Spiegel, with comparing Israeli and American data on the outposts and reaching agreement on numbers and locations. The bottom line is that Israel and the United States now agree on the figures: There are 82 outposts in all, including 23 built after March 2001, when Sharon came to power, and which he has promised to remove first.

"These 23 are the main focus of our work now," Spiegel told Israel TV.

The same model has been adopted with regard to the legal issues pertaining to removal of the outposts: A Justice Ministry official, attorney Talia Sasson, has been assigned the task of formulating new legislation to ease their removal.

The old laws, based on Jordanian and Turkish precedents, afford protection for illegal buildings. Ironically, a system that successive Israeli governments exploited to build settlements is now being used to prevent the government from taking them down.

Sasson has been given two months to come up with new legislation that will radically alter the legal position. Sharon has promised the Americans to act quickly once the legislation is in place and to start evacuating outposts well before the presidential election.

As he seeks international support for his disengagement plan, Sharon has no wish for a confrontation with the United States — and the American president, in an election year, has no wish for a clash with Israel that could cost him crucial Jewish votes.

Though there is little American pressure on him now, Sharon is well aware that the Americans and the rest of the international community see his ability to remove outposts as a test of whether he will be able to carry out his far more ambitious disengagement plan, which calls for dismantling more than 20 bona fide settlements.

Sharon’s accommodating tactics seem to have won him breathing space until after the U.S. election. But if he fails to deliver by then or soon afterward, he knows that he will face strong pressure from the elected president and a possible escalation that could jeopardize his main strategic goal: achieving a separation between Israelis and Palestinians, backed by the international community, led by the United States.

Sharon Defuses Settlement Crisis Read More »

Jack Spitzer

Leave a Comment / Obituaries, Old Stories, Philanthropy, United States /

Jack Spitzer, an international Jewish leader and prominent Mercer Island banker and philanthropist, died Saturday, July 31) after suffering a cardiac arrest several days earlier. He was 86.

An Israeli university, King County libraries, black South Africans who wanted to become doctors — all benefited greatly from Spitzer’s generosity.

He served four years as international president of B’nai B’rith, the Jewish cultural and service organization. He led the first delegation of international Jewish leaders to visit Egypt. He was the only Jew in the U.S. delegation to Rome when Pope John Paul II was inaugurated. He served as a public delegate to the United Nations General Assembly.

Spitzer consorted with presidents. But he also washed dishes at Seattle hospitals on Christmas so Christian workers could take the day off.

“I have a philosophy very compatible with being a banker,” he told a Seattle Times reporter in 1994. “I believe that people should pay their debts. My debt to society is so great that if I were to live 100 years I could not completely begin to repay it.”

He was born in New York City and moved to California with his family during the Depression. He graduated from high school when he was 15 and from UCLA when he was 18. While in college, he joined Aleph Zadik Aleph, the young men’s arm of the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization. Four years later, he was elected the group’s international president.

Spitzer worked as a field director for B’nai B’rith, then served as an Army finance officer in India during World War II. After the war he was associate director of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, then joined his father in the commercial real-estate business in California in the early 1950s.

He also served as first vice chairman of the Los Angeles County Democratic Central Committee.

Spitzer, who moved to Seattle in 1972 and purchaed, Security Savings and Loan. Over the next few years he restored the troubled institution to profitability. He served on the board of United Way and quickly became a fixture in Seattle’s Jewish community. He helped Seattle and Beer Sheva, Israel, become sister cities.

A lifetime of service to B’nai B’rith culminated in Mr. Spitzer’s election to the international organization’s presidency in 1978. He sold Security Savings, relocated to Washington, D.C., and traveled extensively over the next four years, promoting both a strong Israel and peace in the Middle East.

He was a guest when leaders of Israel and Egypt signed a historic peace agreement on the White House lawn in 1979. He developed a warm relationship with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat; when B’nai B’rith honored Mr. Spitzer at a Seattle dinner in 1998, Sadat’s widow was the keynote speaker.

When Spitzer stepped down from the B’nai B’rith presidency in 1982, the organization named him honorary president for life.

After his stint at B’nai B’rith, Mr. Spitzer returned to the Seattle area and started Covenant Mortgage of Mercer Island. He served on the board of the King County Library System Foundation.

He was a major benefactor of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, serving on its board of governors. He co-founded Medical Education for South African Blacks (MESAB), the largest source of private aid for students of color preparing for health-care careers in South Africa.

He also became a fiercely competitive table-tennis player.

This year, Spitzer and his wife, Charlotte, were among the state’s top 10 political contributors.

“I have no budget,” Spitzer said last month when asked about the contributions. “I give in response to people. Perhaps more than I should.”

He is survived by his wife, Charlotte; and son, Rob; daughter, Jil Spitzer-Fox; and seven grandchildren.

The family suggests gifts to a favorite cause, or to the B’nai B’rith Foundation of the U.S., American Friends of Ben-Gurion University, re: Spitzer School of Social Work, or the King County Library System Foundation. — Seattle Times

Jack Spitzer Read More »

The Circuit

Leave a Comment / California, Circuit, Personals /

The Justice Beat

More than 3,000 young professionals gathered on Saturday, July 10, for the eighth annual Justice Ball. The fundraising event has earned a reputation as one of the “it” events of the summer among Jews and non-Jews alike. Hip singles, summer law interns, and L.A.-based attorneys came together for a night of music and dancing. The Hollywood Palladium on Sunset was transformed into a giant nightclub, complete with spotlighting and state-of-the art sound system. The ball featured live performances by Sugar Ray (Mark McGrath, Rodney Sheppard, Murphy Kargas, Stan Frazier and DJ Homicide) and a solo act by Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind.

A packed dance floor rocked to hit singles while other partygoers mingled on plush white couches or sat at tall bar tables eating food sold by California Pizza Kitchen. High donors mixed in the Smirnoff-sponsored VIP lounge. Several bars lined the dance hall and a free dessert and coffee table was donated by Starbucks.

The night’s honorary co-chairs included Timothy Busfield, Greg Germann, Allison Janney, Joshua Malina, Camryn Manheim and Kelli Williams. All proceeds from the hot summer night benefited Bet Tzedek, (House of Justice), a nonprofit public interest law firm that annually provides free legal services to more than 10,000 low-income residents of Los Angeles County regardless of race, religion or ethnicity. — Carin Davis, Contributing Writer

Spectacular Sports

The stars came out to play on June 27, when more than 1,800 sports figures, entertainers and business, civic and community leaders gathered at the Century Plaza Hotel’s Los Angeles Room for the 19th annual Sports Spectacular. Sponsored by the Board of Governors of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the night raised a record-setting $1.5 million for The Medical Genetics-Birth Defects Center. The center provides diagnosis, prevention and management of all forms of birth defects and hereditary disorders affecting newborns, children, adolescents, adults and their families.

The evening started with a silent auction featuring more than 900 items, including Los Angeles activity packs like private beach volleyball lessons with Olympian Stein Metzger and golf for two at the Riviera Country Club; autographed sports paraphernalia like a Kobe Bryant jersey, Sandy Koufax baseball and Tiger Woods pin flag; and vacation packages to Hawaii, Jackson Hole, Pebble Beach and more. As parents bid on priceless items, their children played foosball, air hockey and raced electric cars in the kids carnival.

Following a sit-down dinner, honorary chairpersons John Salley, Tom Arnold and Jim Hill; presenters Will Ferrell and George Gervin; and guest speaker Rex Hudler, honored Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Eric Gagné, legendary sportscaster Al Michaels and Los Angeles Lakers guard Gary Payton. San Francisco Giants’ Barry Bonds, San Antonio Spurs’ Robert Horry and Dodgers manager Jim Tracy also spoke about the honorees. Attendees included director Penny Marshall, Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax, Derek Fisher, Olympic swimmer Lenny Krayzelburg, former Dodger Steve Garvey, choreographer Chris Judd, Nuggets GM Kiki Vandeweghe and hall of famer Dave Winfield. After the banquet, a VIP party was held in the courtyard. — CD

Hillel Honors Mandel

Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life presented Bea Mandel of the Los Angeles Hillel Council with its Exemplars of Excellence award at the national organization’s May Lay Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. She was one of seven lay leaders to receive the 2004 award, which honors their commitment to Jewish students.

Mandel was president of Los Angeles Hillel Council from 1994 to 1997. She continues to serve as vice president of personnel, and is known for her ability to identify and cultivate new Hillel professionals. Mandel has also served on Hillel’s international board for many years, chairing the International Lay Leadership Conference and serving as a vice chair of the national organization’s board. She also serves on the board of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. — Adam Wills, Associate Editor

The Circuit Read More »

For the Kids

Leave a Comment / Kids & Teens /

Maccabi Madness

The Maccabi Movement began in 1895 when the first all-Jewish sports club was formed in Constantinople, Turkey. While the Maccabiah games take place in Israel, the Maccabi games are always in North America. This two-week Olympic-style competition for Jewish teenagers from around the world takes place every four years and has featured many world-class Jewish athletes, including Mark Spitz (swimming), Mitch Gaylord (gymnastics), Ernie Grunfeld and Danny Schayes (basketball), and Brad Gilbert and Dick Savitt (tennis). This year the games take place Aug. 15-20 in Boston.

For the Kids Read More »

Your Letters

Leave a Comment / Letters to the Editor, Opinion /

Federation Pension

Reading the article, “Federation Faces Underfunded Pension,” in your July 30 issue, I found it to be needlessly alarmist and selective in providing facts on a highly complex subject. Most disturbing is the inaccurate lead. The Federation is absolutely not directing funds away from social services to fund its pension.

Pension policy within The Federation system is guided by professional actuarial opinions. The Jewish Federation is fortunate to have a lay retirement committee made up of experienced volunteers, including those who are well-versed in investments, actuarial science and pension plan management.

The article presents a misleading picture by comparing the L.A. experience to the plans at other selected federations. Comparing the financing of defined-benefit plans to defined-contribution plans is like comparing apples to oranges

For example, the Atlanta plan covers 60 employees. Boston has not had a defined-benefit plan since 1992. Even those federations with defined-benefit plans represented in the article and charts cover only direct federation employees and in smaller Jewish communities. On the other hand, the L.A. plan covers almost 1,000 current members, of which less than 20 percent are Federation employees. Many of the non-Federation employees’ salaries are funded by third-party sources, including public funding, not through the United Jewish Fund.

Federation and its affiliated agencies are well aware of the need for cost control. This is reflected in our annual balanced budget. By the same token, we all offer human services. High-quality human service programs are a function of recruiting and maintaining quality personnel. Personnel costs normally reflect 80 percent of the costs at human service agencies.

Using limited community resources allowed the community to avoid further reductions in program staff and to ensure that the best and brightest staff remained during the horrible recession of 1992-1993. No organization was ever forced to close services or avoid expansion of their programs to their participation in The Federation pension plan. It is a major distortion to suggest this.

Obviously, no one disagrees that it is urgent to examine the future philosophy and benefit structure of the pension plan. That is why Federation, on behalf of itself and its agencies, has put a proposal on the table in negotiations with the union to move to a defined-contribution plan for new employees.

I wonder if The Journal did more to confuse the public on a tremendously complex issue through its selective reporting and innuendo in the article.

John Fishel, President The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles

Faith and Folly

I am a physician and a clinical professor of pediatrics at Loma Linda University who, like Rob Eshman, maintains a firm belief in the merits of stem cell research (“Faith and Folly,” July 30).

Stem cell research will continue regardless of President Bush’s current position, since the companies involved are multinational and research will be conducted abroad until the issue is sorted out in the United States. Some will move their labs to locations where they can carry out this most-needed research.

The United States is not the only country involved in this area. Validated discoveries, which translate into new cures, will be available to the world.

The research will get done. But even if that was not the case, is this the most pressing issue before us today?

I was also an elected delegate to the 2000 Democratic National Convention, but since Sept. 11, I am relieved that my opinion was not persuasive.

I believe the war on terror is the most important issue facing our country today.

I disagree with Eshman’s statement that, with regard to Israel, “most Jews would be hard-pressed to find a lot of light between the president’s position and John Kerry’s.”

Bush has a proven record of action, denying the so-called “right of return,” supporting the isolation of Yasser Arafat, supporting Israel’s right of self-defense, etc.

Politicians can say anything and not be held accountable for broken promises. Kerry — who feels so strongly about appeasing France, the European Union and the United Nations, who refuse to support Israel and sanction only Israel in a world full of corruption and inhumanity — cannot be relied upon to defend Israel to the degree that the Bush administration has demonstrated.

There was no mention of Israel in Kerry’s speech at the Democratic Convention.

Dr. Charles J. Hyman, Redlands

Contrary to Rob Eshman’s argument, stem cell research will not be the key deciding factor for the Jewish vote in the upcoming election. It would serve the readers well to be informed that stem cell research is still in its infancy.

President Bush is the first president to provide the federal funds for it, while at the same time limiting such funding, pending review of the relevant issues involved.

Dr. Ron Saldra, Founding Member Beverly Hills Jewish Republicans

Clarification

Our cover story “Rebirth in Russia”(Aug. 6), neglected to state that the writer’s trip was sponsored by Chabad, whose activities were largely the subject of the story as well. The Journal’s policy is to always disclose such relationships. We regret the omission.

Your Letters Read More »

7 Days In Arts

Leave a Comment / Picks and Clicks /

Saturday

Chug on down to the Getty today or tomorrow, as they present Sharon Katz and the Peace Train as part of their Garden Concerts for Kids series. The Grammy-nominated South African ensemble gives a family-oriented performance of jazz-/folk-/rock-infused African music and teaches South African songs and dances.4-6 p.m. Aug. 14 and 15. Free. 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles. (310) 440-7300.

Sunday

On a somber note, the Workmen’s Circle hosts a Soviet Yiddish Writers Commemoration this afternoon. Aug. 12 marked the 52nd anniversary of the Stalin regime’s execution of 14 Yiddish writers, in an attempt to suppress Jewish culture. Today, a coalition of secular Jewish organizations presents a dramatic recreation of the writers’ “trials.”2 p.m. Free. 1525 S. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles. (310) 552-2007.

Monday

The Jewish “Frankenstein” comes to the Silent Movie Theatre’s big screen tonight. See the 1920 horror classic “The Golem,” with musical accompaniment by Rick Friend. Film scholar David Shepard provides a rare print from the film, as well.8 p.m. $10-$15. 611 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles. (323) 655-2520.

Tuesday

Tonight, Improv Olympics presents “Beta Male,” featuring the comic stylings of Dave Kessler, who tackles dating, Jewish parents and other neurosis-inducing topics for your amusement. His buddy, Kurt Bodden, does a half-hour of his own schtick, as well.8:45 p.m. $10. 6366 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles. R.S.V.P., (323) 962-7560.

Wednesday

Now on display at Spencer Jon Helfen Fine Arts are “California Modernist Works on Paper.” The survey of from the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s features watercolors, graphite and charcoal drawings, linoleum block prints, woodcuts, serigraphs and lithographs by Peter Krasnow, Paul Landacre, Henrietta Shore and other significant modernist artists.Through Oct. 30. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. (Tues.-Sat.), and by appointment. 9200 W. Olympic Blvd., Beverly Hills. (310) 273-8838.

Thursday

For those whose summer vacations don’t include Broadway,a piece of it is now available for the masses. Recently released, the originalcast recording of Tony Kushner’s “Caroline, or Change” features the soundtrackto the show about the civil rights movement, the 1960s and the relationshipbetween a Southern Jewish family and its black maid. $20.99. www.amazon.com

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Friday

In 2001, actress Kathryn Graf’s husband died suddenly of a heart attack, just shy of his 51st birthday. Left to care for their two young children and to deal with the tragedy of his death and life as a young widow, Graf eventually enrolled in a playwrighting class for therapeutic purposes. The result was a play titled “Surviving David,” which her instructor encouraged her to produce. It opens today, for a limited 16-performance run. Ten percent of proceeds benefit “Our House” grieving center.Through Sept. 9. 8 p.m. (Fri. and Sat.). $20. 2100 Square Feet, 5615 San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles. (800) 595-4849.

7 Days In Arts Read More »

Racist Repeats Election Stratagem

Leave a Comment / Judaism, Opinion, Politics, United States /

The Republican primary victory on Aug. 5 of white supremacist James Hart in Tennessee’s 8th Congressional District is eerily familiar to Southern Californians.

It seems like a page out of the 1980 playbook of Tom Metzger, the Ku Klux Klan grand dragon who won the Democratic nomination for Congress in San Diego County against the then-entrenched Republican incumbent, Rep. Clair W. Burgener.

Because the popular Burgener, a soft-spoken conservative, was considered such a shoo-in for a fifth term, no well-known Democrat wanted to oppose him. Why be a sacrificial lamb? So the campaign for the Democratic nomination started as a contest for the party privileges that go with becoming an official, albeit losing, Democratic nominee.

Insider party privileges, such as winning an automatic seat on the San Diego County Democratic Central Committee and having the right to appoint members to the Democratic State Central Committee, drew party worker Edward Skagen into the race. Bud Higgins, another political unknown, similarly was eligible for these low-profile prizes.

Metzger, better known and not yet well understood, changed the dynamics of the primary election. He received 33,071 votes, or 37.1 percent of those cast in northern San Diego County, southern Riverside County and all of Imperial County. That was enough to come in ahead of Skagen by 392 votes and to win the Democratic nomination in what was then California’s 43rd Congressional District.

Well-known Republicans in Tennessee similarly believed it pointless to challenge Democrat John Tanner in this election cycle. He is in his eighth term, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee and is a leader of the so-called "blue dog" Democrats — moderates who joke that they’ve been squeezed so hard by the left and right wings of the party, they fear turning blue.

Although write-in candidate Dennis Bertrand sought to stop Hart in the primary election, Hart triumphed with more than 80 percent of the vote in a district that covers 19 counties in northwest Tennessee.

The political parties were reversed in the California and Tennessee scenarios, but the cynicism is the same.

What motivated Metzger and what now drives Hart were opportunities to get media for their message of white supremacy. The fact that we read in newspapers across the nation about the Tennessee candidate proves the publicity value of the congressional nomination.

Metzger probably didn’t expect to beat Burgener, any more than Hart really anticipates unseating Tanner. For Hart, the reward will be all the attention he can stir up for the discredited Nazi theory of eugenics — that some racial groups are genetically superior to others.

I became press secretary to Burgener’s campaign in 1980, after Metzger won the Democratic nomination. It quickly became apparent that there were two major problems with which we had to contend. The first was that news reporters thought that it was unusual, offbeat, even a matter of human interest, that a real live Ku Klux Klansman was running for office in California. It was sort of a "man bites dog" story, interesting because it was different, without much thought given to what that difference was all about.

The second problem was that Burgener didn’t want to say anything about Metzger. The congressman’s first instinct was to ignore Metzger, so as not to build a tent for his opponent.

That strategy might have worked against an unknown, but Metzger already knew how to command media attention. The task for Burgener was to define Metzger and white supremacy for San Diegans. Tanner will have a similar responsibility in Tennessee’s general election campaign.

Ultimately, Burgener came to understand that Metzger was a symbol who needed to be confronted and not simply a political opponent. The campaign got hold of a documentary film about the faces of hate, in which Metzger’s group was pictured, and in which Metzger said some intolerant things. Burgener’s campaign held a screening for the media, and Metzger and some followers thought they could make light of it by showing up uninvited in Nixon masks.

After the media heard on film the kind of hatred that Metzger and his followers spewed about African Americans, Mexican Americans and Jews, suddenly having a Ku Klux Klansman as an official Democratic nominee from San Diego didn’t seem like a human interest story anymore. Reporters demanded of Metzger whether he really believed in the hard-core hate he had been filmed spouting in the documentary, or did he believe the softer line he had been taking in the campaign?

Metzger was unmasked, and from that day until Election Day, stories focused not on how unusual Metzger’s philosophy was but on how un-American it was.

To illustrate that Metzger was outside the mainstream of American politics, the Burgener campaign adopted what it called the "Hatfield and McCoy" strategy. It found rival Democratic and Republican candidates, some of whom were long-time political enemies, and had them stand together at the same lectern to endorse Burgener.

A typical formulation was, "We never agree on anything else, but when it comes to this election, we can agree — enthusiastically. We urge everyone to reject the hatred of the Ku Klux Klan and vote for Clair."

To their credit, Democrats were willing to put aside partisan differences and urge the reelection of the Republican incumbent. In Tennessee, the test will be whether Republicans will be willing to return the compliment.

Burgener won the contest with more than 86 percent of the vote — the outcome no surprise. The Ku Klux Klan and the racist doctrine of white supremacy were dealt a resounding rejection at the polls.

After the election, Metzger went on to become the leader of the White Aryan Resistance, eventually losing millions of dollars in a court suit brought against him for instigating the beating death of an Ethiopian student in Oregon.

The leadership of our mainstream political parties meanwhile vowed that in the future, they would prevent the hijacking of their congressional nominations by extremists. For a quarter of a century, they were mostly able to keep that vow — up until now.


Donald H. Harrison is editor of the San Diego Jewish Press Heritage.

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Mayor’s Race Role

Leave a Comment / California, Opinion, Politics, Raphael Sonenshein /

With Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa’s entry into the 2005 Los Angeles mayor’s race, the competition for Jewish votes will accelerate.

Jews are attentive, high-propensity voters. Nearly one in five Los Angeles voters are Jewish (with only 6 percent of the population). If past history is a guide, however, the Jewish vote will play a more important role in the expected runoff between the two top candidates than in the multicandidate primary.

During the Tom Bradley years (1973 to 1993), Jews voted consistently for him against conservative candidates. Since Bradley left office, however, Jewish voters have dispersed in city elections. Loyal Democrats in state and national politics, Jews are less predictable in city campaigns.

As the Republican electorate has shrunk, Los Angeles voters increasingly will be choosing among different types of Democrats, anyway. The three leading contenders: Mayor James K. Hahn, former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg and Villaraigosa have won lots of Jewish votes in the past.

How will they do next year? And what about Councilman Bernard C. Parks and Valley state Sen. Richard Alarcon? In a sense, all the candidates are heirs to the progressive, Democratic, interracial vision of Bradley.

We do know that in the post-Bradley era, Jewish voters have given considerable support to Jewish candidates in the mayoral primary. In 1993, Jews gave a combined 52 percent of their primary votes to Joel Wachs and Richard Katz. In 2001, Jews gave 49 percent of their primary votes to Wachs and Steve Soboroff.

These examples bode well for Hertzberg, as the only Jewish candidate in the primary. On the other hand, none of the previous Jewish candidates made it to the runoff.

We also know that Jewish voters are more than willing to vote for non-Jewish candidates. In 2001, Villaraigosa led all primary candidates with 26 percent of the Jewish vote, powering him to a first-place primary showing. Villaraigosa was particularly strong in 2001 among Westside, liberal Jews, although he did very well among Valley Jews, as well.

And Hahn has been no slouch with Jewish voters. In 1997, he was opposed for re-election as city attorney by Ted Stein and won 60 percent of the Jewish vote. He has done well with Jewish voters in all his citywide races.

Parks has been cultivating the Jewish community since his election, with frequent references to the Bradley coalition. He will be competing with Villaraigosa for Jewish voters who favor cross-racial politics and with Hahn on public safety. Alarcon will compete with Hertzberg for Valley votes.

If Jewish voters scatter in the primary, with the most liberal Jews backing Villaraigosa, and moderate and conservative Jews supporting Hahn; a majority, regardless of ideology, backing Hertzberg, and others for Parks and Alarcon, then the greatest impact of the Jewish vote will be in the runoff election between the top two primary finishers.

For Bradley, holding and increasing his Jewish support from the primary to the runoff was the difference between making it to the mayor’s chair and bitter defeat. In 1969, his Jewish support in the primary did not translate into the runoff, where Sam Yorty’s scare campaign drove many Jewish voters away from Bradley. In 1973, Bradley held and greatly expanded his Jewish primary base into the runoff, and the rest is history.

In 1993, Richard Riordan, running on public safety, went from a paltry 21 percent of the Jewish primary vote to nearly half in the runoff, helping him to defeat Michael Woo. In 2001, Hahn outdistanced Villaraigosa in the runoff, with a tough anti-crime message and harsh advertising.

Hahn’s Jewish backing more than tripled from the primary, from 16 percent to 54 percent, while Villaraigosa rose from 26 percent to only 46 percent. These final Jewish totals exactly mirrored the overall city result of the runoff election.

In both cases, the winning candidate led with law and order and made the opponent appear to be an untested too-liberal choice. Even though Jews are, among white voters, surprisingly liberal, local elections tend to bring out their concerns about crime and other issues that make them more of a center-left constituency.

The most likely candidates for the two runoff spots are Hahn, Villaraigosa and Hertzberg, although nothing can be said with certainty. Those who don’t make the runoff will also have an impact in whom, if anybody, they endorse in the runoff.

Hahn’s greatest re-election asset is likely to be public safety, and his popular police chief, William Bratton. He can make the case that he has turned the troubled LAPD around and held the city together against secession (which Jewish voters strongly opposed).

This will appeal to Jewish voters, as will his generally moderate style and his long experience in Los Angeles government. The scandals at city hall, on the other hand, will hurt him among reform-minded Jewish voters.

Villaraigosa has long cultivated the Jewish community, has a very strong base among progressive Jews and ran a strong race in 2001. His biggest challenge will be to erode Hahn’s edge on the public safety issue. However, his dynamic personality and the fact that as a councilman he has more experience at city hall than he did in 2001 make him a viable crossover candidate for Jewish voters.

Hertzberg is well-known and well liked among Jewish voters, especially in the Valley, where Hahn has been hurt by his campaign against secession. He has the least city hall experience of the three leading candidates, but has great experience in state government and in public policy. He can appeal to Jewish voters with his tremendous energy, his ideas and his reformist ideology, and if he makes the runoff, being Jewish won’t hurt.

It’s going to be a real horse race.


Raphael J. Sonenshein is a political scientist at California State University, Fullerton. His new book, “The City at Stake: Secession, Reform, and the Battle for Los Angeles,” was just released by Princeton University Press.

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