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2007 REVIEW
January - February
In January, StandWithUs-Michigan was
receiving accolades, with the local media
response team headed by Ed Kohl being
recognized by CAMERA.
StandWithUs also co-sponsored the visit of
Nonie Darwish to Grand Rapids and
helped promote the Ex-Terrorist Walid
Shoebat at University of Michigan. SWU
also alerted its supporters of the Arab
kafiyah being sold at "Urban Outfitters" as a
'peace scarf" and got it quickly removed with
phone calls and emails.
March - April
StandWithUs-Michigan brought Kenneth
Marcus,
U.S. Commissioner of Human Rights, and
author/researcher Aryeh Weinberg to area
campuses, synagogues and local media to
discuss the rise of anti-Semitism on college
campuses.
Only
days later, anti-Israel
activists rallied on Wayne State University
campus using anti-Semitic signs and slogans,
bringing home the point of how important the
work of StandWithUs is. StandWithUs-Michigan also
introduced the StandWithUs documentary
"Tolerating
Intolerance" to the local community.
May - June
SWU-MI supporters staffed a table of
materials, marched, and shared SWU signs in
the annual Israel
Independence Day Walk.
State
Rep Marty
Knollenberg spoke about his upcoming
"terror divestment" bill in the Michigan
House and greeted Israel supporters. In
June, StandWithUs celebrated
its First Year Anniversary at Adat
Shalom with keynote speaker Bret
Stephens of the
Wall Street Journal. Along with many
volunteer leaders, the founder of the Michigan
chapter, Linda Stulberg, was honored by
StandWithUs National President & Founder Roz
Rothstein. SWU-MI also welcomed new incoming
director Jonathan Harris.
The Iran divestment bill HB 4903 was
introduced on
June 12 and calls for the State of Michigan
to divest its pension funds from
multinational corporations that assist the
nuclear programs of Iran and other terror
supporting states. In late June, StandWithUs
also alerts the community to the one-year
anniversary of IDF soldier Gilad
Shalit's captivity.
July - August
On July 13, StandWithUs-Michigan joined with
Temple Israel and the Jewish Community
Relations Council, to hold a
commemoration of the one
year captivity of the three captured IDF
soldiers Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad
Regev, and
Shalit at the evening Shabbat service of
Temple Israel.
StandWithUs-Michigan coordinated with the
offices of State Rep Knollenberg (R-Troy) and
Florida State Senator Ted Deutch (D-Boca
Raton) who led the successful Iran divestment
legislation in that state. The language of
the Florida bill helped focus the Michigan
legislation on Iran and avoid the
Constitutional questions that have hampered
other state efforts toward Iran divestment.
The bill passed the Michigan House on July 25
with wide bi-partisan support. Both
Knollenberg and Deutch praised StandWithUs for
our help and assistance. State Rep
Knollenberg also sponsored the StandWithUs
initiated Resolution 159 in the House
condemning Hamas and Hezbollah for the attack
and capture of the IDF soldiers.
In early August, StandWithUs-Michigan became
aware of the book "Overcoming Zionism" by
Bard College professor Joel Kovel and its
distribution by the University of Michigan
Press (UMP).
Letters to
both UMP and
University President Mary Sue Coleman
asking
for an explanation went unanswered and
StandWithUs exposed the distribution contract
in the August
13 newsletter. By late August,
the book was temporarily suspended by UMP and
a letter, from press director Phil
Pochoda to
Kovel, that was exposed on the internet savaged
the book as an "unmodulated attack on Zionism
and all Zionists" approaching "hate speech."
StandWithUs-Michigan then began to
investigate the entire Pluto Press list of
publications dealing with Israel.
September - October
The Pluto Press controversy grew, and the
University continued to stonewall all
inquiries into to the reasons for the Pluto
Press contract. Eventually, on September 10,
the Office of Public Affairs released a
statement reinstating the book and justifying
the action as a defense of "free speech,"
while simultaneously admitting that the book
would not have merited publication by UMP
itself. On Oct 24, the university officially
stated the contract would continue. Pluto
Press titles remain completely
free from academic review but are promoted on
the University website. Thirty-five texts are
wholly anti-Israel and twelve texts call for
Israel's destruction. No single text presents
a favorable viewpoint or one sympathetic to
Israel. Many Pluto books, including
Kovel's, push anti-Semitic themes and
propaganda as scholarship. The Detroit
Jewish News gave
extensive coverage to the growing
controversy, including Jonathan Harris's
editorial responses to the both of the
university's statements, and the Anti-Racist
Blog kept all aspects of the developing
story readily available online.
On September 20, Students For Israel
at Wayne
State partnered with SWU-MI and the
Zionist Organization of America to host
an Israel Day in the heart of campus, handing
out literature and food to hundreds of
students. September also saw the beginning of
SWU-MI's new Education Curriculum
Committee
(see story sidebar). Berkley High School
began
using Israel 101 in their "Global Issues"
curriculum with more than 350 students
receiving the booklet.
September also began the speaker series for
Fall 2007. Syrian-American critic of militant
Islam Wafa Sultan spoke at the Holocaust
Memorial Center on Sept 30 and was profiled
by the Jewish News. Dr. Daniel Pipes
spoke to
large and occasionally contentious audiences
at Wayne State and the University of Michigan
on Oct. 8. Lisa Magnas, executive
producer of
Pierre Rehov's documentary "Suicide Killers"
was on hand to present the film for a SWU
sponsored screening at the Maple Art
Theater
on October 29. The SWU-MI Media
Response Team headed up by Harry
Onickel had six letters published in this
time period, including four letters appearing
on the same day.
November - December
In early November, StandWithUs-Michigan
supported U of M student group "Israel
IDEA"
in their "Diag Day" pro-Israel event on
campus, providing scores of Israel 101
booklets and other materials to the hundreds
of students that visited the event tables.
 
StandWithUs-Michigan hosted Arab-Israeli
journalist Khaled Abu Toameh of the
Jerusalem
Post at Wayne State and Congregation Shaarey
Zedek in Southfield., co-sponsored Dr.
Judea Pearl at the JCC Bookfair, and
co-sponsored with
ZOA the visit of Jonathan Schanzer,
director
of the Jewish Policy Center in Washington,
DC.. Schanzer spoke on Iran at the JCC, and
also spoke to more than 150 students at
Berkley High School about his previous work
as a U.S. Treasury agent tracking terrorist
finance.
The outrage over the Pluto Press contract
with UMP continued, with StandWithUs Michigan
leading a group of four community
organizations to speak before the University
of Michigan's Board of Regents on November
15. The local representatives of ZOA,
Anti-Defamation League, and Bnai
Brith also
gave statements to the board in protest of
the Pluto contract. Three Regents presented
their own letter that condemned the contract
and calling for its termination. By the end
of November, local executives of the American
Jewish Committee, the National Christian
Leadership Conference for Israel, and the
Jewish Community Relations Council had
also
signed on to a new
letter that thanks the
Regents who spoke out, but renews the call
for the termination of the contract.
The Greater Detroit Chapter
of Hadassah signed on to the community
letter in December, and sent their own letter
of complaint to the Regents.
In late November, Joel Kovel was
invited to
speak at University of Michigan, and more
than 25 pro-Israel students attended, proudly
wearing their "Michigan Zionist" T-Shirts in
protest of his message of intolerance.
In
December, Robert Sklar, editor of the
Detroit
Jewish News also wrote
to condemn
the Pluto Press contract in his weekly column.
StandWithUs-Michigan announced its Emerson
Fellows, Tova Schreiber and Randi
Davis who
had just returned from the SWU
Israel-in-Focus conference in Los Angeles.
 
These two young women serve as the primary campus
contact for StandWithUs-Michigan on Wayne
State and
University of Michigan campuses.
In 2007, the StandWithUs-Michigan letter
writers , headed up by Harry Onickel,
had more than twenty letters appear in
various local and national publication, and
perhaps more
as many are published weeks after they are
sent. These letters raised awareness of
important issues in the press and often
revealed the bias of the press against Israel.
Please let us know if you would like to help
our letter writing efforts in 2008.
So much has been accomplished this
year. We look forward to continuing all of
our efforts in 2008. Please contact Jonathan
Harris at 248-538-8790 if you would
like to know more about helping make a
difference on campus and in the community.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF OUR SUPPORTERS,
VOLUNTEERS, AND
FRIENDS!
Please send suggested material
for the newsletter to
jonathan@standwithus.com
StandWithUs soon to introduce
a new campaign celebrating
Israel's 60th Anniversary.
DOWNLOAD
THE POSTER HERE
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| Call for Your Support |
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Dear StandWithUs-MI Supporter:
As you can see in this review, 2007 was a year
of many challenges and accomplishments. The
major key to our success is our volunteers,
who are writing letters, working on the
education and library committees,
being student activists at U of M, Wayne State
University and elsewhere, and helping with
events.
SWU-MI also worked to expose Joel Kovel's
book "Overcoming Zionism"
and its UK publisher Pluto Press, which drew
international attention.
In spite of this effort, to date U of M
President
Mary Sue Coleman has not condemned
its anti-Semitism, or moved to sever the
distribution contract between the U of M Press
and Pluto Press, whose books are never
vetted. This fall, SWU-MI had a number of very
informative speakers including Wafa
Sultan, Daniel Pipes, Judea
Pearl and Khaled Abu Toameh. At
the Maple Theatre, producer Lisa Magnas
provided an insider's perspective on
Pierre Rehov's documentaries following the
screening of his movie "Suicide Killers."
Also, with SWU-MI's input, the Iran Divestiture
bill passed in the Michigan House of
Representatives
and awaits action by the Senate.
The challenges for 2008 will only be met by
mobilizing you to be
not just a reader but to volunteer your time
to work on at least one committee,
or write letters, or be a watchdog for what
is going
on in our community's
classrooms and in the greater community, or
help determine
what our strategies should be. We need to
recognize that even as
individuals we can make a difference just by
writing one letter or calling
one politician. To say nothing is to let the bad
guys win. No one said
anything until it was too late in the 1930s.
We cannot afford to let
history repeat itself.
Join
StandWithUs-Michigan's efforts to educate our
community,
and to support our students in secondary
schools and on college campuses.
Be an activist working to keep our news media
and politicians
educated about Israel issues. The facts can
often speak for themselves, as long
as they are presented. Those who present
half-truths and lies about Israel and Jews
must be exposed. We need your help and
your ideas to move forward.
Our strength comes from working together. We
cannot afford to sit on the sidelines and
assume someone else will do the heavy
lifting. The little things we each can do will
add up to make a difference. Stand With Us
and help make a big difference!
Linda Stulberg through her leadership in
starting and sustaining SWU MI showed what
one person can do and for that we are
grateful. Linda continues to make a
difference.
We are looking forward to Your Support. Have a
Healthy and Happy New Year.
Eugene Greenstein
Board Chairman
StandWithUs-Michigan
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| SWU-MI Education Committee Reaches Out |
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 Beginning in
September, 2007, SWU-MI developed an
Education Curriculum Committee. Its
mission is to help prepare 11th and 12th
grade Jewish youth to respond knowledgeably
and effectively to intimidating anti-Israel,
anti-Zionist and anti-Jewish propaganda
evident on college campuses/in workplaces,
and to strengthen their identity as Jews.
The education committee intends to be
pro-active in its education approach.
Committee outreach began by providing a
variety of StandWithUs print, PowerPoint and
DVD materials to the 13 members of the
Metro-Detroit Board of Jewish Educators
(MDBJE). In our individual meetings with
education directors, we distributed enough
copies of " Israel 101" for each to give to
all of their high school teachers, and in
many cases they requested enough copies for
every student. We also delivered copies of
the DVD "Tolerating Intolerance: Hate Speech
on Campus" and the educational PowerPoint
"Israel , Small Country, Big Ideas" along
with various quantities of SWU pamphlets.
Because SWU-MI arranged for nationally known
Middle East expert Dr. Daniel Pipes to
be here on the second Monday of the month,
coincidentally when the MDBJE regularly
meets, our committee was able to arrange for
their members to engage Dr. Pipes in
conversation for nearly 45 minutes on October
8th before he headed to his speaking
engagement at WSU.
One outcome of our meetings with education
directors is that six congregations sent SWU
pamphlets with their annual mailing of
Chanukah packages to young adult members on
college campuses. Another synagogue's
education director hand-delivered SWU
materials during the December holiday period.
Looking ahead, two congregations are
planning to include SWU pamphlets in their
Passover packages for college youth.
Also, as a result of individual meetings with
MDBJE directors, SWU-MI was invited to
develop a 40 minute elective program for the
Parent/Teen Academy sponsored by five
Conservative congregations, on January 21,
2008, at Hillel Day School. Facilitated by
our education committee member and
Congregation Shaarey Zedek teacher Linda
Baruch, the January 21st program speakers
will be Dr. Dave Rabens and his son Nathan
who is a West Bloomfield High School student,
and two SWU Emerson Fellows, WSU sophomore
Tova Schreiber and U of M senior Randi Davis.
The program title is "Don't be a Victim."
The attending 11th and 12th graders and their
parents will learn about anti-Israel bias and
intimidation from those who have experienced
it, and where they turned for support as they
needed it.
At the invitation of B'nai B'rith Youth
Organization's executive director Arnie
Weiner, a one hour program is being planned
for 12th graders on January 26, at the David
L. Bittker Conference Center at Camp Tamarack
. Emerson Fellow Tova Schreiber will be a
presenter.
Thanks to new volunteer connections, all of
the 360 ninth graders at a local public high
school are now taking their "Global Issues"
classes while using their own copies of
"Israel 101" as a references. This was made
possible by a curious teacher who picked up a
copy of this SWU booklet at a Jewish
community event and loved what he read.
Acting on a suggestion from committee member
Sheri Schiff, SWU-MI arranged for a booth at
the Michigan Council for the Social Studies
(MCSS) conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel
in Dearborn on February 18 - 20. It will be
a significant opportunity to share SWU's
Israel education materials with Michigan 's
public, charter and private day schools.
Volunteers are needed to set-up and staff
this booth for three days. Also, volunteers
are needed to develop education programs, to
bring their ideas to committee meetings and
staff our new Speakers Bureau. Please call
Jonathan, 248.538.8790.
Barbara Moretsky
Education Curriculum Committee Chair
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StandWithUs-Michigan calls on you to
write, call or email the Regents of the
University
of Michigan. As the signatories of the contract
with Pluto Press, the Regents have the
authority to sever this one-sided and
irresponsible contract with a radical,
unscholarly foreign publisher.
The below three Regents authored the
Nov. 15 Statement calling for the end of the
Pluto Press distribution agreement. Thank
them for their important and courageous
action.
Laurence B. Deitch (term expires 12/31/08)
Bodman LLP
1901 St. Antoine Street
6th Floor at Ford Field
Detroit , MI 48226
(313) 392-1055
ldeitch@umich.edu
Andrea Fischer Newman (term expires
12/31/10)
Senior Vice President-Government
Affairs
Northwest Airlines, Detroit Metropolitan
Airport
2601 World Gateway Place
Detroit , MI 48242
afnewman@umich.edu
Andrew C. Richner (term expires 12/31/10)
Clark Hill PLC
500 Woodward Avenue, Suite 3500
Detroit , MI 48226-3435
(313) 965-8531
richner@umich.edu
The below five Regents and President
Coleman have not yet spoken out on the
Pluto Press controversy. Contact them to voice
your concerns about the distribution of
anti-Semitism at the University of Michigan.
Olivia P. Maynard (term expires 12/31/12)
Northbank Center , Suite 406
432 N. Saginaw Street
Flint , MI 48502
(810) 239-1535
omaynard@umich.edu
Rebecca McGowan (term expires
12/31/08)
2210 Melrose Avenue
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
(734) 668-8873
rmcgowan@umich.edu
Julia Donovan Darlow (term expires
12/31/14)
P.O. Box 130047
Ann Arbor , MI 48113-0047
(313) 690-3054
jdarlow@umich.edu
S. Martin Taylor (term expires 12/31/12)
43 Beacon Hill Road
Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236
taylorsm@umich.edu
Katherine E. White (term expires 12/31/14)
P.O. Box 1842
Ann Arbor , MI 48106-1842
(313) 577-1054
kewhite@umich.edu
Mary Sue Coleman (ex officio)
President, University of Michigan
2074 Fleming Building
Ann Arbor , MI 48109-1340
(734) 764-6270
marysuec@umich.edu
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| StandWithUs Signs for Upcoming Rallies |
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Need Jumbo Signs for your upcoming
rallies/counter-rallies? Our signs print out
two feet by
three feet.
Take our link to your local printer. For a
few
extra dollars, they can do a thin lamination
so that
your signs will be reusable.
Go to StandWithUs.com and click
on "SIGNS".
Have you created some great signs or new
flyers?
SHOW THEM TO US!! Perhaps we will
include them
on our site!
AND
If you like our materials but need some
modifications,
please don't hesitate to ask us.
We will always support your efforts to
advocate for
Israel.
See StandWithUs Signs
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| Visit Our Bookstore for Recommended Reading |
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Make yourself a more effective activist with
this
GREAT booklist. Order the books right
from our
site.
Have you read The Case For
Democracy
by Natan
Sharansky? The Israelis by Donna
Rosenthal(now
in paperback!)?
Ivory Towers on Sand by Martin
Kramer?
The
Middle
East by Bernard Lewis?
Learn More
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| Need Help Telling Israel's Story? |
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NEW!! See our flyers,
divided by
theme. Available in
multiple languages. These important tools
can be
used
to educate, and they are FREE and
downloadable.
Learn More
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| Support Our Efforts and Keep Us Strong. |
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Support Our Efforts And Keep Us Strong.
What does the term NEVER AGAIN mean
to you? Let us tell you what it means to
StandWithUs:
NEVER AGAIN... must mean that we will
never again stand by and watch people tell
baseless, dangerous lies about Jews and
the state of Israel in order to incite hatred.
Never again... shall we NOT promote an
intelligent, powerful, effective response to
such lies. Support the efforts of
StandWithUs.... and stand with truth, and
the defense of truth...
NOW MORE THAN EVER ... StandWithUs
is dedicated to bringing truth to the Arab-
Israeli conflict through proactive as well as
responsive efforts. We regularly produce
and ship educational materials (now
available in SPANISH, French, Hebrew
and Arabic). We have a research team
that constantly responds to anti-Israel
speakers and organizations by creating
intelligent response materials. We have a
speakers bureau, host conferences and
trips to Israel, etc. We are an important
hotline for student emergencies on
campuses all over the world. Please help
us continue our vital work on your behalf.
With your support and our determined
efforts ... WE ARE MAKING A
DIFFERENCE. And visit our variety of
websites (addresses above) including our
newest addition for librarians and
teachers:
www.learnisrael.com. Thank you in
advance for helping us educate others.
Send your tax deductible donation to:
StandWithUs/Michigan
PO Box 251153
West Bloomfield, MI 48325
If you wish to donate directly to the Michigan Chapter,
please send a check with "Michigan" noted in the
memo line.
Click here to donate online to
StandWithUs.
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