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Israeli Vote Hits Home With Jews, Palestinians: Local Connections Are on the Line

Posted on: Monday, 27 March 2006, 06:00 CST

By Niraj Warikoo and Julie Edgar, Detroit Free Press

Mar. 27--At Yossi's restaurant in West Bloomfield, Israeli flags drape the walls, pop music plays in Hebrew and, these days, pessimism hangs in the air over the outcome of Tuesday's election in Israel.

With Hamas about to have the upper hand in the Palestinian parliament, Jews in metro Detroit say that Israel -- no matter who wins Tuesday -- has no choice but to take a hard line with its Arab neighbors.

That means any lasting peace accord will have to wait.

"How can Israel negotiate with someone whose charter says, drive Jews into the sea?" Ken Bloom, a 54-year-old Farmington Hills attorney and financial adviser, said while having lunch at Yossi's last Thursday. "You'd be foolish not to be concerned."

Though thousands of miles away, Tuesday's election carries an emotional weight -- and practical concerns -- for some in metro Detroit's large Jewish and Arab-American communities, many of whom have family and religious ties to the Middle East.

On both sides, there is resignation: Members of the Jewish community say Israeli leaders can't negotiate with Hamas; local Palestinians say Israeli leaders -- regardless of their party -- aren't serious about ending the occupation of their land.

"They don't want a Palestinian partner except those who are ready for surrender," said Hassan Newash, a retired engineer of Palestinian descent who lives in Grosse Pointe Park. "There is no room for negotiation."

Just a decade ago, there was hope as the two sides traded, built relationships and envisioned a peaceful coexistence. But that melted away in September 2000 as violence broke out after a controversial visit by future Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

Now, with Sharon sidelined because of a stroke, the future is unclear.

The three main parties running for Israel's 120-seat parliament are Labor, Kadima and Likud. Kadima and its leader, acting prime minister Ehud Olmert, appear the most popular in Israeli public opinion polls -- and in an informal survey of diners at Yossi's on Thursday.

Hanan Lis, a businessman from Farmington Hills with a second home in Israel, said Kadima offers the best hope for a Palestinian nation in the long run, describing it as "a pragmatic and a political movement."

In the meantime, he is comfortable Kadima will protect Israel, making "whatever move it has to shield itself from instability in the Palestinian areas and to allow the Israeli economy and Palestinians a period of disengagement so they can work out their political issues," Lis said.

To local Palestinians, the real issue is what they claim is the wrongful occupation of their land.

"People think that Israel is not serious about peace," said Imad Hamad, who was born to Palestinian refugees and is Michigan director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. "I want to be optimistic -- I'm a true believer in peace -- but at the same time, we have to be realistic."

Hamad and Newash both feel especially close to what happens in Israel. Both say they had family members kicked out of their lands around the time Israel was created in 1948.

They hope that Palestinians in metro Detroit, and around the world, can one day have the right to return to their family lands.

But Hamad sees little difference among the potential Israeli leaders besides their rhetoric: None "addresses the root of the problem of this conflict -- the occupation," he said.

For now, local Jews say that dealing with Hamas-led Palestinians is simply not an option.

The hope, said Avri Chen, 50, of West Bloomfield is that Palestinians will eventually reject groups like Hamas. And then, maybe, the two sides can negotiate a peace.

"It took place in Ireland, why not Israel?" said Chen in between sips of mint tea inside Yossi's. "It's wishful thinking, but you have to be optimistic."

Contact NIRAJ WARIKOO at 248-351-2998 or n warikoo@freepress.com.

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Source: Detroit Free Press

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