There’s more to Jewish Los Angeles than Hollywood, outsider perceptions notwithstanding, and a wide-ranging UCLA project aims to paint a fuller and more accurate picture of the metropolis’ 650,000 Jews.
“Los Angeles is one of the greatest Jewish cities in the Diaspora, the second largest in the United States, and it is time to subject it to serious inquiry,” said historian David N. Myers, director of the UCLA Center for Jewish Studies (CJS).
The inquiry by the center, joined by the Autry National Center and the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West, will focus on two critical questions:
1) In which ways is Los Angeles similar and different from the New York/East Coast model, historically taken as representative of American Jewry? Has the geographical and social openness of the West created a distinct type of American Jew?
2) How does the Jewish experience in Los Angeles differ from the city’s other ethnic groups? How has the complex interaction with Latinos, Asians and African Americans affected Los Angeles and its Jews?
To make the questions even more complicated, L.A. Jewry, like the city in which it lives, is constantly re-inventing itself. The city’s older Central and East European strains, and a smaller Sephardic one, have been complemented in recent decades by distinct new colonies of Iranian, Russian, Israeli and South African Jews.
Jews move to Los Angeles not only from other countries and from older parts of the United States, but they restlessly migrate within the sprawling metropolitan area, abandoning old neighborhoods for new ones and exploring and expanding new suburbs and adjacent counties.
Given all the variables, the project is a scholar’s delight, involving dozens of professors from UCLA — and other universities — and their graduate students. Among the key players, besides Myers, are Dr. Stephen Aron, executive director of the Autry’s Institute for the Study of the American West, and doctoral student Karen Wilson. In academic fashion, the study’s first formal step is a yearlong research seminar, which started last fall and explores some of the project’s key topics.
In the millennia-old saga of the Jewish people, the 165-year-old history of Los Angeles Jewry represents but a small span. It is long enough, however, to fit into the overall mission of the UCLA center, Myers believes.
He phrased the essence of CJS’s purpose in different ways, from “where the past meets the present,” or “to bring the past into conversation with the present,” or, in its fullest expression: “We no longer have the luxury of studying the past without considering the present. Nor can we afford to contemplate the present without recalling the past.”
CJS and its 22 affiliated faculty members apply this dictum to a broad array of studies. During the current academic year, the center is hosting some 50 free lectures, symposia and conferences for the campus and general community.
Besides the seminars on Jewish Los Angeles, the calendar lists a series on Sephardic studies, the Holocaust and a workshop on “Jewish Question/Muslim Question.” One intriguing topic of the workshop is the relationship between the age-old “Jewish question” in Europe with the present-day “Muslim question” on the same continent.
Interspersed in the center’s agenda are explorations into such diverse areas as contemporary Israeli literature, Jewish texts, Jewish messianism, German-Jewish studies, the future of Israel’s Jewishness, assimilation, and even the Yiddish tango.
CJS was founded 11 years ago, and Myers views it as not just a center of first-class scholarship and the preparatory ground for Jewish teachers and intellectuals, but as a great, and still underutilized, resource for the entire community.
“I spend about 15-20 percent of my time on community-related activities,” Myers said. “I’m working to overcome the image that we are a cloistered, ivory tower.”
Myers, 44, a product of Yale, Harvard, Tel Aviv University and Columbia, is also a prolific researcher and author on Jewish history and thought, as well as co-editor of the Jewish Quarterly Review. Currently, he is collaborating with his wife, Naomi Stolzenberg, a USC law professor, on a study of the Satmar Chassidim community of Kiryas Yoel in New York state. The two professors are raising their three daughters, ranging from 4 to 14 years, in the Pico-Robertson area.
When not busy teaching, writing, administering and parenting, Myers also functions as a fundraiser. Like the rest of the UC programs, CJS has been hit by budget cuts, and Myers is seeking community support to ensure the growth of the center. His current top priority is to fund two endowed academic chairs, one in Yiddish studies and the other in American Jewish studies.
For the long-range future, Myers envisions CJS as an international center to explore the frontiers of Jewish culture, and, he believes “there is no better place to do so than in Los Angeles.”
For information on CJS, call (310) 825-5387 or visit www.cjs.ucla.edu.
Our “Only in Hollywood” moment of the week comes care of an unusual pairing: ABC’s “Gray’s Anatomy” and Temple Israel of Hollywood (TIOH). Sunday night, May 15, the TV medical drama airs an episode titled “Save Me,” which stars TIOH Rabbi Michelle Missaghieh as a rabbi counseling an Orthodox girl. Of course, Missaghieh isn’t ordained Orthodox – she can’t be, because she’s a woman. While she asked that a scene be added to tie up this loose end, in typical Hollywood fashion, it wound up on the cutting-room floor, the Forward reported. Missaghieh told them she’s still happy to have been given such a platform in which to represent Judaism and the comfort rabbis can give to those in crisis.
Filmmaker Yehuda Maayan read a brief news story a couple of years ago about a 17-year-old Palestinian girl, who blew up a Tel Aviv café, killing herself and a 22-year- old Israeli woman.
The item started Maayan thinking and writing about the lives and attitudes of the two women and what led to their violent deaths.
The result is a 29-minute film, “Dry in the Mouth,” which will be screened at the Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring this Friday evening.
Tracking the last few days in the lives of Laylla, the Palestinian, and Shir, the Israeli, the film presents alternate segments of each protagonist talking about her thoughts, ordinary activities and encounters with a boyfriend.
Laylla, an observant Muslim wearing a hijab head scarf, has no doubt about her mission and the justice of her cause. She describes the progressive steps toward her final act in a calm, almost cheerful, demeanor.
Shir, with her long, flowing hair and makeup, is every bit the modern young sabra. A university student, she is much more conflicted than Laylla and longs for peace, though no longer believing it will ever come.
Despite its static format, the film, starring actress Jean Franzblau, has an edgy sense of impending doom as the perpetrator and her chance victim draw ever closer to each other.
Maayan was born and raised on Kibbutz Dan, a stronghold of egalitarian socialist Zionism, and later served in a tank unit.
Although he has lived mainly in the United States since l984, his plain, outspoken manner is still more kibbutz than Hollywood.
In his outlook and work, Maayan is motivated by a sense of social justice, he said while sipping a drink in a Westwood café.
“I think I’ve evolved from the self-righteousness of the activist to a more spiritual, inclusive vision of a better world,” he explained.
Maayan makes his living as a sound mixer for Hollywood movies. But now, in his late 40s, he has decided to focus on his longtime career ambitions of writing and directing socially relevant documentaries.
“Dry in the Mouth” screens at 6:30 p.m., May 13, at the Workmen’s Circle, 1525 S. Robertson Blvd, followed by a potluck Shabes dinner. Both Maayan and Franzblau will attend. For information, call (310) 552-2007.
For a more tolerable Barney that the kids’ll still enjoy, take them to the Geffen’s Saturday Scene this morning. Children’s book author, illustrator, singer and songwriter Barney Saltzberg is more pleasant than the purple dinosaur and entertains little ones ages 4 and up by teaching them about creativity.
Plenty of time to head to the Israel Festival and still take in a concert today. This afternoon, Congregation Or Ami hosts the Jewish Choral Festival of Southern California, featuring 100 singers from six SoCal congregations. Or head to Temple Emanuel this evening for the IDF Musical Ensemble’s Yom Ha’Atzmaut Concert, with an opportunity to meet the Israeli soldiers following the show. Proceeds benefit Friends of Israel Defense Forces.
Musical Israel Independence Day festivities sing out today, too, with the Israel Christian Nexus’ “The Gathering of the Exiles” concert. Honoring the crew and passengers of Exodus 1947, the ship carrying Holocaust survivors that was blockaded by the British navy off the coast of Israel, the concert is hosted by actor Judge Reinhold and features performances by Lainie Kazan, the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra, Keshet Chaim Dance Ensemble, Israeli pop singer David Dor and gospel singer Andrae Crouch and his choir.
7:30 p.m. $10. Stephen S. Wise Temple, 15500 Stephen S. Wise Drive, Bel Air.
(310) 838-0755.
Tuesday, May 17
You probably weren’t invited when she received a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement, but you are invited today. Broadway star Carol Channing receives the Burning Bush Award by the University of Judaism’s University Women “for her outstanding contributions in the field of entertainment and her deep commitment to the community.” Help honor her at this morning’s Author/Artist Luncheon.
As if your own neuroses weren’t bad enough, this evening head-case Sam Brown welcomes you into his. One-man show “Neurotica” is a journey into the mind of a Jewish guy whose life has gone to pieces. His non-Jewish fianceé is sleeping around, he’s sleeping in a mental hospital and he can’t figure out why his appendix has been removed.
8 p.m. (Wed.-Sat.). Through May 28. $15. Hudson Guild Theatre, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. R.S.V.P., (323) 960-7861.
Thursday, May 19
Place rose stem lengthwise in your mouth, grab your partner and cheek-to-cheek it down to Emanuel Arts Theater. Tonight, they present “Jewish Tango Passion,” in which dancers represent Jewish tangos whose origins run from Argentina, Europe and Israel. Maestro Pablo Goldstein is responsible for the performance that features narration by Rabbi Arnold Kopikis, dance by Tango for Three dancers and vocals by Israel Ghelman.
8 p.m. $15-$18. 8844 Burton Way, Beverly Hills. R.S.V.P. by May 17, (323) 658-5824.
Friday, May 20
Arabs and Israelis are passionate about food, according to British playwright Robin Soans, and her new play, “The Arab-Israeli Cookbook,” serves as evidence. Wanting to write a play about the Arab-Israeli conflict, but wanting to humanize the people involved, Soans interviewed Arabs and Israelis about food recipes. The best portions were then compiled into the play, in which personal stories emerge as the characters talk about their recipes. Taste it for yourself at tonight’s opening performance. The play runs through June 26.
8 p.m. (Thurs.-Sat.), 3 p.m. (Sun.). $10-$20. The MET Theatre, 1089 N. Oxford Ave., Hollywood. R.S.V.P., (323) 957-1152.
This is in response to the article by David Finnigan (“Holiday of Freedom Spent Behind Bars,” April 29).
We were two of the volunteers that were at the seder, for the second year in a row, that Rabbi Yossi Carron held for the Jewish inmates at Men’s Central Jail. The seder we attended was very different from the one that was written about in that article. We considered this to be one of the most touching, emotional and meaningful seders we have ever attended. The prison is not a place where emotions are easily shown. Community, especially Jewish, is practically unheard of. And yet, these men read from the haggadah, joyously sang “Dayenu,” read the four questions, put their arms around each other to sing “Oseh Shalom” and bowed their heads, many with visible tears coming down their cheeks, as Rabbi Carron offered the Birkat ha-Kohanim (the priestly blessing).
He is attempting to give to them the hope that their faith and their community will open the doors to a different life than the one they have had — that God and Judaism are within each of them.
The article did not mention what courage it took for these men to stand and share something personal about a “miracle of freedom” that each could find within these prison walls.
Carron’s work with them involves helping them to see that God is in that place, even though it may appear otherwise. He has worked with the men to find blessings even in the darkness of their cells and to work toward making the personal teshuvah [repentance] that will, God willing, keep them out of jail when they are released.
Judaism teaches that all of us have a spark worth saving. Carron treats these men with honor and with the hope that they will find a way through their own “Egypt.”
We were privileged to share in this experience and to serve these men, so they could feel a taste of humanity and of the Jewish community that is waiting to welcome them, should they decide to walk into our synagogues.
We aren’t sure why the reporter did not talk to any of us, instead of only talking to the deputies. But the seder he went to was not the one we experienced. We hope to be invited back again next year.
Farla and Hershey Binder via e-mail
Credit Where Credit Due
As an Italian American growing up in an Italian American home and community in Brooklyn, I was greatly amused by [Tom] Teicholz’s co-opting of my culture in his article “Raymond’s End” [May 6].
Could it be that [Ray] Romano had some input here? After all, isn’t the show based on the comedy? And his family?
Talk about chutzpah. Granted Teicholz’s people invented God, but [Phil] Rosenthal worked with Romano and with Romano’s material to create his show. Let’s share the credits and cultural consciousness.
On second thought, those people are, except for their comic value, really quite appalling. You can keep them. File them away with “Seinfeld,” another appalling group. Happily, the Jews that I know are utterly unlike the characters in either of these shows.
Felicia Hammond via e-mail
Worker’s Comp
Jill Stewart’s recent column about worker’s compensation was so grossly deficient of facts that an informed response is warranted (“It’s Time to Heal Worker’s Comp,” May 6). The most egregious inaccuracy concerns Stewart’s statement that insurance “rates are plunging … while the barely injured get less.”
In fact, four days prior to Stewart’s editorial, state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi reported in his media statement, “The information I received today is very disturbing…. I have heard complaints from across the state that injured workers are losing benefits, despite the significant savings created by the reforms…. I have also heard from large and small employers who have not seen the reduction in premiums that the reform savings would lead one to expect.” And “I can find no reason why the amount of premiums collected in 2004 rose by 11 percent, while the cost of claims fell by 15 percent.”
Stewart’s broad, sweeping categorization of injured workers as being either “severely injured,” who “receive more money,” or “barely injured,” who “get less,” is also inaccurate. By adopting the AMA Guidelines to rate disability without adjusting the disability schedule that assigns a monetary value to each percentage of disability, to compensate for the significantly lower disability ratings under the AMA Guidelines, all injured workers will receive less.
And with all injured workers’ benefits slashed while insurance companies report record profits, the numbers don’t add up.
Jeffrey Greenberg San Francisco
Four Factors
Rob Eshman’s four factors for Palestine’s success missed the most crucial one: the fact that the PLO remains in a state of war with Israel, true to its charter, as established by the Arab League in 1964 (“Is It Good for Them?” April 29). Prime Minister Rabin, to his credit, insisted that the PLO charter calling for Israel’s destruction be changed as a prerequisite to any and all negotiations.
Well, it never was. Instead, the PLO charter remains at the rubric of the new Palestinian school system, where a new generation of Arab youth are inculcated with the idea that they must make war on the Jewish state.
Deny it all you want. The PLO is at war with Israel to win the 1948 war.
David Bedein Bureau Chief Israel Resource News Agency Jerusalem
Rob Eshman cites four factors for Palestine’s success. But my own feeling is that only re-engagement and integration will work. There has to be one entity who will rule and bring peace and prosperity. Glazer’s good intentions and billions cannot undo blind hatred.
Moshe Brodetzky Tarzana
A Human Being
As one of Rabbi Karen Deitch’s congregants at Temple Ahavat Shalom, I was insulted by the attack on the rabbi by Harry Finkel (“Single Rabbi,” Letters, April 29). It is difficult to address Mr. Finkel as “Mr.” because it implies a title of respect, as does the word “rabbi” — which he chose to ignore.
The accusations made were not respectful, and were directed not only to my rabbi, but to all females who happen to be single and yet venture out of the kitchen. The comments made by Finkel were also insulting to the congregation who chooses Deitch to be our spiritual leader, and to the entire Reform movement of Judaism.
While Finkel obviously does not respect a Jew who does not worship in exactly the same manner to which he subscribes, the Reform community has enabled thousands of individuals to establish a personal relationship with God, and has given them a strong community in which to pray, to teach and learn, and to do mitzvot.
It is this thinking that Reform Judaism is somehow less that sends a rift throughout Judaism, and which can weaken us as a cohesive society.
If a woman, rabbi or not, sits at a bar to enjoy a beer and conversation, and regardless of whether she has a manicure or even (gasp) deigns to enhance her eyes with mascara, this simple act does not “debase” her. Is Finkel attacking the morality of a woman being in a bar, or is it because this woman is a rabbi?
It may be difficult for Finkel, but he must learn that a rabbi, although a learned teacher, spiritual leader and counselor for his or her congregation, is first and foremost a human being. A human being is entitled to take pleasure in conversing with others at a bar and having a drink or two without it being a disgrace to one’s self or one’s community.
A human being is a social creature, and the mere act of meeting another human to share conversation does not make one immoral, but creates community. Judaism is a communal religion. Does it not require a community, a minyan, for prayer?
Mr. Finkel, I assure you that the congregation of Temple Ahavat Shalom welcomes Rabbi Deitch, not only as a rabbi, but as a human being, and a great addition to our community.
Daryl Miles Member Temple Ahavat Shalom
Hertzberg’s Loss
[Robert] Hertzberg failed to reach the mayoral finals because leftists — Jews and others — persuaded too many other Jews to vote for leftist, once-Mecha member [Antonio] Villaraigosa. Apart from being a leftist, Villaraigosa waged a drab campaign, much less exciting and promising than gentle giant Hertzberg — especially with regards to prospects of an educational renaissance in Los Angeles.
It’s no sin for Jews to vote for a Jew, even if he’s not Moses or Jesus. I suspect a lot are set to vote for Villaraigosa. He’s good for illegal immigrants, but not for the American working class or even Angelenos and Jews. Jews have the balance of power if they get out and vote in large numbers.
Jerry Green Los Angeles
Glazer’s Plan
Stated in this article is that the study for building a successful Palestinian state was officially released the prior week (“Is It Good for Them?” April 29). The focus audience of the study was England’s Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is not known as especially friendly toward the Jewish state. In addition others not named were also included, such government leaders and such.
Wouldn’t it been advisable to include Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the focus group. After all, those two Israeli leaders are directly invovled in whatever is planed to save a Palestinian state.
Responding to Robert Eshman’s inquiry, Guilford Glazer the financial underwriter of the study, claimed the plan has yet received no criticism. Glazer may be a little naive, hoping that the plan he funded may still not be a security threat to Israel.
History has shown that the Palestinian Arabs, beneficiaries of the plan, have repeatedly been hostile toward Israel by many acts of violence perpetrated against innocent Israelis with suicide bombers and others. These various acts of terror have caused many deaths and wounded in the last four and a half years, as well as before.
The Arab population, unfortunately, grows up with a deep hatred of their Jewish neighbors along with their mother’s milk. This hatred has continued to the present, and is so far unabated, inspite of the new Palestinian leaders.
There is not a civilized nation in the world with as much patience and perseverance as Israel, always hoping the violence would cease. Therefore, any such plan as described herein is highly risky for Israel to be the neighbor along side a Palestinian state.
Also adding to the pressure on the Jewish state will be the huge number of returnees to Palestine, estimated to be more than 500,000, as well as tens of thousands of so-called “destitute refugees” to be absorbed. Is it believable that this time the Palestinian leaders will be able and are willing to stamp out violent factions and corruption, action they have yet to take.
I share Eshman’s concern regarding as to “why the Palestinians should heed a study largely funded by a wealthy pro-Israel Jewish businessman from Beverly Hills”.
Glazer’s reply was that he does not worry about that, but that “maybe the terrorists are tired of committing suicide and becoming martyrs.” Is Israel therefore supposed to be playing Russian roulette?” Perhaps the corollary should be turned around to ask, “Is this plan good for the Jews?” Only the Israeli government can decide that.
Normally Israel’s birthday is celebrated on the 5th of Iyar, but since it falls on Shabbat this year, the celebration day was moved to the 3rd of Iyar (Thursday, May 12).
In Los Angeles, our Israel Festival is on May 15 at Woodley Park in Van Nuys.
Israel Is…
I asked the second-graders at Pressman Academy in Los Angeles what they think of when I say the word “Israel.” Here is what Alexa, Noam, Maor, Aaron, Josh, David, Rachel and Jacob said:
“Israel is the land of freedom, an ancient land, the land of milk and honey, the land of the Jewish people, a land of happiness, and the Land of God”
Shoshanim, a magazine for Jewish teenage girls, is celebrating its fifth year in publication with a newly designed Web site, new features and an upgraded layout. Based in Los Angeles, the magazine geared for Orthodox teenagers has 5,000 subscribers. It is the Bais Yaakov girl’s answer to Seventeen Magazine, with advice columns on things like good baby-sitting techniques and “Ask Rebbetzin Rochel.” Along with columns on arts and crafts, a Jewish law corner, and personality profiles of pious people, the magazine gives readers a chance to have their own short stories, poetry, and art published.
Visit Shoshanim at www.shoshanim.net (articles not available online) or call (800) 601-4238.
Don’t Stare — Just Talk
Students at Conejo Jewish Day School had a visit from the Kids on the Block, a troupe of puppets both able and disabled who teach children to appreciate differences.
This program, endorsed by the Bureau of Jewish Education, enables students to openly discuss the differences in others and the importance of caring for others and being aware of everyone’s feelings.
For more information about the Conejo Jewish Day School call Rabbi David Lamm (818) 879-8255. For information on Kids on the Block go to www.KOTB.com or call (800) 368-5437.
New News for New Jew
You may be hearing a lot more from the New Community Jewish High School (NCJHS) soon. The West Hills school, which was founded three years ago, was recently awarded an Avi Chai marketing grant for recruitment and publicity.
“New Jewish high schools often begin very small, without the necessary funding to successfully market themselves,” said Lauren Merken, a member of Avi Chai’s board of trustees. “It is the foundation’s goal to help schools like New Community Jewish High School, reach out to the community effectively.”
Of course, recruitment doesn’t seem to be a weak point at New Jew: It opened in 2002 with 40 kids in the ninth grade. Next year, as it welcomes its first 12th-grade class, NCJHS expects a total enrollment of 250 students.
For more information on NCJHS, call (818) 348-0048 or visit www.ncjhs.org.
Change the World
Seven students took home $500 prizes in Chapman University and the “1939” Club’s sixth annual Holocaust Art and Writing Contest in March. Students from 75 schools submitted essays, poetry and art on the topic of “To Change Our World: Legacy of Liberation,” which invited students to tie the history of the Holocaust to a current situation of injustice. The first-prize winners in the middle school categories were Art: Monique Becker, Lakeside Middle School (Irvine); Essay: Gabriella Duva, St. Anne School (Laguna Niguel), and Poetry: Kim Ngai, Fulton Middle School (Fountain Valley).
In the high school category, two entries tied for first place in Art: Steven Vander Sluis, El Toro High School (Lake Forest) and Marisa Moonilal, Mater Dei (Santa Ana); Essay: Irina Dykhne, University High School (Los Angeles), and Poetry: Matthew Adam White, University High School (Los Angeles).
For more information on the contest or Chapman University in Orange, call (714) 997-6620.
And More Winners
After a rigorous application process, four Californians are among the 26 youths from across the country selected to participate in the Bronfman Youth Fellowship in Israel this summer. Rachel Cohen of Goleta, Alexander Kaplan of Pacific Palisades, Alex Schatzberg of San Rafael and Juliana Spector of Piedmont will spend five weeks traveling throughout Israel to participate in seminars and dialogues with diverse rabbis and leaders. They will also spend a week with Israeli peers who are part of a parallel program for Israelis. The program was founded by Edgar M. Bronfman and is funded by the Samuel Bronfman Foundation.
For more information, call (518) 475-7202 or visit www.bronfman.org.
Open Your Home
If international cooperation and understanding is best achieved through personal ties, then imagine having someone from a foreign country live in your home. AFS Intercultural Programs and Pacific Intercultural Exchange are looking for families in the L.A. area to host high school students who are studying in America for a year or a semester.
For more information contact AFS Intercultural Programs (formerly American Filed Service) at (800) 237-4630 or www.afs.org/usa; or Pacific Intercultural Exchange at (800) 631-1818.
Just three months after it was ushered in at a peace summit in February, there are growing signs that the cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians may be on the verge of collapse.
There has been a dramatic increase in the number of terrorist attacks in the Gaza Strip, there are fears that tensions between Hamas and the Palestinians’ ruling Fatah movement could spill over into violence against Israel and an ongoing spate of mutual recriminations is straining relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
So far, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been showing restraint, even in the face of renewed Palestinian shelling of Israeli civilians. But if there is more shelling, and especially if it causes fatalities, Israel is likely to retaliate and the situation could spiral out of control.
The cease-fire began well enough. In the immediate aftermath of the summit in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, terrorist attacks tapered off in February and March. There also was renewed coordination between Israeli and Palestinian Authority forces, and some P.A. success in curbing terrorism, including the uncovering of about 20 weapons-smuggling tunnels on the Egypt-Gaza border.
However in April, the trend was reversed. Coordination declined, and there was an exponential rise in the number of terrorist attacks. According to IDF figures, in the last week of April alone, there were 48 terrorist operations in Gaza, including the firing of Kassam rockets at the Israeli town of Sderot a day after a wanted Palestinian terrorist was killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces.
Because of the upsurge in terrorism and his conviction that the Palestinian Authority is not doing enough to stop it, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon froze moves in early May to release 400 Palestinian prisoners. Sharon said he would release the prisoners only if the Palestinian Authority clamps down on terrorism.
The Palestinians retorted that gestures by Israel, such as releasing the prisoners, would enhance their ability to curb terrorism, and charged that the Israeli government seemed to have no idea how important the prisoner issue is to the Palestinian people as a symbol of their national struggle.
Fatah warned Sharon of dire consequences. Hamas was more explicit, threatening a return to terrorism.
P.A. Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa sent an urgent message to the diplomatic quartet shepherding the “road map” peace plan — the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia — accusing Sharon of ignoring his Sharm el-Sheik commitment to release prisoners and hand over West Bank cities to P.A. control.
After turning two cities over to the Palestinians, Israel froze the handover of three more, because the Palestinians ignored the security commitments they undertook as a condition for the handover.
Recent tensions between Fatah and Hamas also threaten the cease-fire. Israeli analysts say a serious falling out could lead Hamas to attack Israel in defiance of the Fatah-inspired cease-fire. Hamas is threatening to renew violence against Israel on a variety of pretexts:
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• If Fatah tries to overturn recent election results in Palestinian municipalities, where Hamas made major gains.
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• If Fatah defers legislative elections scheduled for July 17.
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• If Israel targets Hamas operatives.
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• If Israel doesn’t release Palestinian prisoners.
There also are internal differences in Hamas that analysts say could prove destabilizing. Some leading Hamas figures, who would like to see the group do well in legislative elections and become a major political force, have an interest in maintaining the cease-fire, at least for the next few months.
Others, who want to torpedo Israel’s planned summer withdrawal from Gaza and the northern West Bank, are seeking to provoke an early end to the lull. Rogue militias, responsible for most of the latest terrorism in Gaza, reportedly are being run by this more militant Hamas wing.
Senior officers in the IDF’s Southern Command say these groups plan to step up terror attacks before the withdrawal and make sure it takes place under fire.
That’s a nightmare scenario the IDF wants to avoid at all costs, and to avoid it, the army has contingency plans for a huge operation in Gaza. Defense sources say it would be similar to Operation Defensive Shield in 2002, when Israel recaptured all Palestinian cities and towns in the West Bank in response to massive terrorism.
To shore up the brittle peace process, P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas is calling for an urgent meeting with Sharon.
“There is a need for a meeting between Sharon and me to push the peace process forward,” he declared in early May. “We must discuss implementation of the agreements between us.”
Ahead of the proposed meeting, Labor ministers in the Israeli Cabinet urged Sharon to make major gestures to the Palestinians, hoping this would strengthen Abbas’ position and give him confidence to clamp down on terrorist groups. The Labor view has the backing of Maj. Gen. Aharon Ze’evi Farkash, IDF military intelligence chief, who, in an unusually outspoken radio interview in early May, declared that what happens on the Palestinian side is not unconnected to what Israel and the United States do.
The inference was clear: Military Intelligence would like to see the government free Palestinian prisoners and hand over more West Bank cities to the Palestinian Authority, moves it believes would help counter rising terrorism.
The Shin Bet security service takes the opposite view. It argues that the Palestinians first must show they are willing to keep prior commitments to fight terrorism, or handing over cities merely will create a breeding ground for more serious violence.
So far, Sharon is listening to the Shin Bet. He told the Cabinet on Sunday that he was being pressed to bolster Abbas, but that he couldn’t do that “at the cost of Israeli lives.”
Sharon believes that holding back the transfer of cities and the release of prisoners can serve as a lever to pressure the Palestinians to act against terrorism.
The clash between Sharon and the Shin Bet on one side and the Labor ministers and military Intelligence on the other highlights the Israeli dilemma: Can Israel induce the Palestinians to fight terrorism by playing tough or by making gestures?
So far, neither approach has worked in the dozen years since the Oslo process began. Toughness makes the Palestinians defiant, while concessions are pocketed but then derided as insufficient.
In the meantime, the situation on the ground seems to be creating a potentially explosive vicious circle: Israel makes concessions, but the Palestinians do not fight terrorism seriously. As a result, Israel cancels additional gestures. This is said to weaken Abbas’ position, leading to even less Palestinian action against terrorism, and eventually the peace process breaks down.
How to break the cycle will top the agenda if, as seems likely, Sharon and Abbas meet soon.
Leslie Susser is the diplomatic correspondent for the Jerusalem Report.
President Bush is expected to sign legislation that gives $200 million in aid to support the Palestinians. On Monday, the Senate unanimously passed the supplemental spending bill, which provides aid to support the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including $50 million for Israel to improve crossing points into the Palestinian territories, and $5 million for an audit of Palestinian finances. The bill does not give direct aid to the Palestinian Authority, but Bush may use a presidential waiver to allow some of the money to go to the organization.
AIPAC Elects New President
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) named Baltimore philanthropist Howard Friedman as its president-elect. Friedman, a longtime member of the board of the pro-Israel lobby, will assume the presidency in 2006. Friedman, the president of JTA’s board of directors, will succeed Bernice Manocherian at AIPAC.
“Howard Friedman represents the best of America’s pro-Israel movement,” AIPAC spokesman Josh Block said.
OU Wants Assisted Suicide Law Blocked
The Orthodox Union (OU) filed a brief supporting the blockage of an Oregon law that would allow physician-assisted suicide. The organization joined several Christian groups in an amicus brief in the case of Gonzales v. Oregon, which asserts the U.S. Justice Department’s right to block the use of federally controlled drugs for the purpose of assisted suicide. Nathan Diament, director of the OU’s Institute for Public Affairs, said the Bush administration’s position is consistent with Jewish teaching.
“The Bible instructs us to ‘surely heal’ the ill, not to speed their departure from this earth,” Diament said. “The attorney general’s directive restricting the resort to physician-assisted suicide was the correct law and policy on this matter, and we believe well within the power of the federal government to determine.”
Report: British teachers to Reconsider Boycott
A union of British university lecturers reportedly will call a special meeting to reconsider its boycott of two Israeli universities. The Association of University Teachers decided two weeks ago to boycott Bar-Ilan University for its alleged support of Israel’s presence in the West Bank, and Haifa University because of accusations that it mistreated a radical left-wing professor. The decision to reconsider the boycott comes in the wake of protest letters from union members, Ha’aretz reported.
Students Back Columbia Professor
Twenty current and former Columbia students wrote to school administrators insisting that a professor had not harassed a pro-Israel student. The students, who say they were in Joseph Massad’s class on the day of the alleged incident, sent a letter May 3 to Columbia’s president, Lee Bollinger, to other top members of the school’s administration and to members of a committee that found credible claims that Massad had threatened to kick a student out of class for holding pro-Israel views. The accusations “are unequivocally false,” the letter said. The report, issued March 31, found that Massad “exceeded commonly accepted bounds” in responding to a pro-Israel student’s question about Israeli warnings before military actions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Falash Mura Tab Listed
The cost for transporting Ethiopian Jews to Israel will be some $23 million over the course of two and a half years. The cost was presented Tuesday to officials of the North American Jewish federation system by its overseas partners, the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) , which will coordinate the aliyah. Falash Mura, descendants of Ethiopian Jews who converted to Christianity but have returned to Judaism, now immigrate to Israel at a rate of 300 per month. The Israeli government plans to double the rate of aliyah starting in June, so the group’s immigration can be completed in two and a half years. The Jewish Agency is budgeting more than $18 million for the operation; the JDC expects to pay $4.6 million. The figures do not include the cost of absorption once the Ethiopians arrive in Israel, said Mike Rosenberg, JAFI’s director general of immigration and absorption. The federation system is expected to raise the funds for the operation, though it hasn’t begun that campaign yet.
Steve Rosen, recently terminated as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) policy director in the wake of an FBI investigation, expects to be indicted as soon as June, according to sources who know the case.
Rosen has suggested to sources that if he were indicted, he would want an opportunity to clear his name. Rosen expects that a trial could begin as early as January 2006 and already is preparing for a long defense, according to multiple sources.
Along with AIPAC’s former senior Iran analyst, Keith Weissman, and former Pentagon Iran analyst Larry Franklin, Rosen has been targeted by the FBI’s counterintelligence division for allegedly verbally passing classified information to Israel.
Franklin was arrested May 4 and charged with verbally transmitting classified information during a June 26, 2003, luncheon at Tivoli, an Arlington, Va., restaurant. Franklin was not indicted by a grand jury but was arrested on an FBI affidavit, a move that Rosen has said he sees as a government effort to pressure Franklin into claiming there was an actual conspiracy, which he denies.
Franklin, who negotiated a plea bargain with the FBI before he had independent counsel, has since backed away from the deal, according to Franklin defense sources.
Rosen has vehemently denied violating federal law, and denied that he knowingly transmitted classified information. In one of two instances in which Franklin allegedly spoke with AIPAC staffers, this one in a Virginia mall, Rosen was not present, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the encounter.
Rosen’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, has issued a statement saying, “Steve Rosen never solicited, received or passed on any classified documents from Larry Franklin, and Mr. Franklin will never be able to say otherwise.”
Neither Rosen nor Lowell would comment on the record for this story.
Rosen has told contacts that he is convinced the government is still looking for “Mr. X” or “Agent X” — an alleged Israeli master spy in the United States. Jewish communal officials have said they believe the FBI has been seeking a “Mr. X” since the Jonathan Pollard spy scandal in the 1980s.
Rosen has confided to contacts that he believes he still is under surveillance by the FBI, both in his home and in public places. Rosen has said he was under FBI surveillance for three years before the 2003 exchange with Franklin monitored in the restaurant.
Rosen has said, according to sources, that he feels the government’s strategy is to pressure Franklin into wrongfully implicating Weissman, and to pressure Weissman into implicating Rosen.
Rosen said, according to sources, “It won’t work.”
Investigative journalist Edwin Black is a New York Times best-selling and award-winning author of “IBM and the Holocaust” and other books.
