Vol. LXXX!
No. 50
Omaha, NE
15 Elul, 5762
August 23,2002
SERVING NEBRASKA AND WESTERN IOWA FOR 81 YEARS
New Strategy for byJOEBERKOFSKY-~
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A far higher percentage of Conservative Republicans-both in the general public and among opinion leaders-are supportive of Israel in the conflict than are Democrats, independents, or moderate Republicans. Data from Greenberg, Quintan, Rosner Research Inc.; Graphic created by JTA
NEW YORK (JTA) -- American Jewish leaders are being asked to follow the Ten Commandments. It's not the biblical version, but a communications strategy of that name by a group of major Washington political consultants behind a milliondollar-plus public relations campaign to build American public support for Israel. Among the commandments in the Israel P.R. Campaign: Stress your commitment to peace; draw parallels between Israel and America; don't attack Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat; and distinguish between the suffering Palestinian people and their government. The question is, can U.S. Jews keep this new faith? Led by Democratic consultant Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg and Republican strategist Frank Luntz, the campaign arises from a series of polls showing U.S. support for Israel eroding as Americans increasingly blame both sides equally for the ongoing IsraeliPalestinian conflict. Public opinion surveys that Greenberg carried out
in July found that American viewers, in fact, react negatively to many of Israel's media messages. When President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld are blunt and unambiguous, Americans consider it candid, Luntz wrote in a private memo that has circulated among Jewish groups. But when Israelis take an in-your-face stance, Americans view their foreign accents and occasionally pugnacious debating style as confrontational. Research also showed that Americans-who just "want the rest of the world to get along"~grew more sympathetic when spokespeople focused on the values Israel shares with America, its deep desire for peace and its sympathy for the Palestinian plight, Greenberg and Luntz said. At the heart of the pro-Israel P.R. campaign are a series of national TV ads slated to appear in early September on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. The Washington insiders also are bringing their message to major U.S. Jewish organizations and top Israeli officials, arguing that it is crucial to change the way they make Israel's case. (Continued on page 9)
JewIsSi Communities in Dresden by MAGNUS BENNETT — - — w ^ ^ ^ - ^ - ^ , ^ ^ ^ ^
BERLIN (JTA) - Flood waters have forced some 150 Jewish immigrant families to evacuate their refugee home in Dresden, They have joined at least 30,000 other residents of the historic German city who have lost homes and belongings in recent days, as floods from the Elbe River swept downstream. By Monday, 15 people had died as a result of the floods in the state of Saxony in eastern Germany. In Dresden, the raging waters damaged landmark buildings-including the city's new synagogue-and cut off much communication and travel. The Jewish immigrants, most of whom had come from the former Soviet Union within the past six months, evacuated their refugee home last Friday as waters rose and engulfed apartments. "These are very poor people, and they lost everything," said Rabbi Shneor Havlin, who runs a Lubavitch congregation in Dresden. "We are giving everything to these families-places to sleep and eat —until the government can help," said Havlin, Director of Chabad Lubavitch in Saxony. Roman Koenig, president of the Dresden Jewish community, reported on Aug. 15 via the Berlinbased Central Council of Jews in Germany that representatives were checking daily on frail.or disabled members of the community. But on Monday, it was still unclear whether everyone was safe. "We will not know for a few days what happened to our friends and neighbors because people cannot reach each other," Jewish community board member Nora Goldenbogen said. Telephones were still not working and cell phones could not be recharged since there was no power in much of the city. E-mail, too, was cut off. Not far from Dresden, in the Czech capital of Prague, Jewish leaders have launched an international appeal for aid after floods caused an estimated $4 million in damage to Jewish holy sites. On Sunday, President Vaclav Havel visited several historical Jewish sites that were damaged last week during the Czech Republic's worst floods in more than a century. Havel expressed sympathy for the Jewish community while touring the 13th-century Old-New Synagogue and Pinkas Synagogue. Both sites took in several feet of water, and experts are still examining the extent of the damage. Havel's spokesman said the president had
Prague's Jewish treasures," said Tomas Jelinek, the chairman of the city's Jewish community. But "in a sense, we are grateful because the damage could have been much worse if the river Vltava's banks had burst." The Jewish Museum also was badly hit by underground flooding, which bubbled up through the city's sewers. Officials succeeded in moving precious Jewish artifacts such as Torah shields, pointers, manuscripts and rare books to higher levels before the floods, but the building is likely to be without electricity for up to four weeks after the generator was submerged in water. Czech Jewish officials also were trying to assess damage to buildings and equipment in the Terezin Ghetto. Ghetto Museum director Jan Munk said efforts were being made to save damaged documents relating to wartime transport lists. Munk added that all tourist sites in the ghetto were closed until further notice. A plane load of Israeli aid arrived in the Czech Flood waters cover the floor in the historic Republic on Sunday with detergent materials to Old-New Synagogue in Prague's Jewish help restore flooded Jewish sites, the Israeli daily Quarter following the recent massive flooding Ha'aretz reported. in the Czech capital . Photo by Martin GustlCTK In Germany, it was difficult for representatives of informed Israeli President Moshe Katsav and the Central Council of Jews to visit Dresden, as the Czech-born, former U.S. Secretary o | \ State city's train station was severely flooded, temporariMadeleine Albright about the damage and was ly halting train traffic in and out of the city. By hopeful help would be forthcoming. Tuesday, however, some service had been restored. Volunteers worked around the clock last week The basement of the city's new liberal synagogue, sandbagging synagogues and other Jewish sites in a dedicated in November 2001, was flooded despite desperate attempt to keep the waters away. the desperate efforts of the fire department and While giant steel barriers on the banks of Prague's countless volunteers. Before noon last Friday, the Vltava River prevented flooding over land, water waters poured over sandbags and filled the cellar. seeped through underground channels into the But it could have been a lot w'orse, Goldenbogen city's historic Jewish Quarter. said. "We worked from Thursday on in shifts. We Jewish officials discovered Aug. 14 that the Old- watched as the water rose, and then decided we New Synagogue had taken in four feet of water, cov- needed help. There were not enough sandbags. ering pews and damaging the building. (Continued on page 2) The Pinkas Synagogue also was hit, with water levels inside the building reaching nearly 7 feet and INSIDE: damaging some of the 80,000 handwritten inscriptions of the names of Czech Holocaust victims. A feast from Jewish Tunisia....page 8 Jewish officials, who had moved all Jewish artifacts including Tor ah scrolls from the sites before Etz Hayyim: A Cretan Tree of Life..page 10 the flood waters hit, were shocked by the damage. "There has been serious damage to some of Election Preview. ;..... page 14