Guarded celebration

Editorial

Israel's Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day), May 6, will be followed one day later by Yom Ha'atzmaut (Independence Day). In this setting, another terrorist attack on April 29, has forced Israelis to mourn and pay the price of independence.

Hours after Mahmoud Abbas was named Palestinian prime minister and spoke of peace, Hamas and the Fatah movement's Tanzim militia jointly continued the terrorist war.

To them, every Israeli is a soldier, from infants to the elderly. Since the start of the intifada in September 2000, 89 attacks by suicide bombers have murdered 348 Israeli civilians. We should be slow to hope that Abbas and security chief Muhammad Dahlan will be able to curb the violence.

Though Abbas is caught in a power struggle with Yasser Arafat, the goal they pursue could very well be the same. Abbas still embraces the goal of the Palestinian "right of return" - code language for the end of Israel. Dahlan is suspected of masterminding two failed attacks on Israeli school buses; his third attempt proved successful on Nov. 20, 2000. Two adults were killed and nine children were injured.

Yet, Israelis will shift from memorializing their dead to expressing hope for the 55th consecutive year as they celebrate independence Wednesday.

Our Jewish community has the chance to show our solidarity with them. Nearly 600 supporters of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee gathered April 27 to express their commitment. The Yom Ha'atzmaut celebration on Sunday, May 11, is a chance for thousands more.

The greeting for Israeli Independence Day is Moadim le'Simcha (have a happy festival). The response is Le'geulah Sheleimah (toward a complete redemption). If only that dream can become reality.

The right stock

Joe Stocker didn't look or act his age. When he died April 19, the co-founder (in 1955), of Jewish News of Greater Phoenix had just turned 90. You'd never have known it. He stayed fit through regular 15-mile bicycle trips around the city.

For a lifetime, Joe was involved. In the 1950s he fought to end racial segregation in local schools and anti-Semitism at local resorts. From 1960-1981, as director of communications for the Arizona Education Association, he was the voice of public school teachers. In recent years, we caught up with him at events of the Arizona Jewish Historical Society, the Arizona Civil Liberties Union and other groups that engaged his unflagging interest.

We will miss Joe's leadership, his keen insights and his warm hugs.

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