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November 14, 2003/Cheshvan 19 5764, Vol. 56, No. 8
Activist radio
Host hopes pro-Israel talk show will educate community
BARRY COHEN
Editor
William Wolf hopes "Middle East Forum," broadcast at noon Sundays on KFNX 1100 AM, will educate the local community about Israel.
Photo by Barry Cohen
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William Wolf is worried. He is worried about the level of ignorance about Israel in the local Jewish community that cuts across all ages. He is worried about what would happen if a Jewish college student who is ignorant about Israel is walking with a non-Jewish friend on campus at Arizona State University, and they pass by a display that labels Israeli solders as terrorists and Nazis.
"What if their (non-Jewish) friend asks him (about the facts), and he has no response?" asks Wolf. His friend will only conclude that the pro-Palestinian perspective must be right, he notes.
Wolf also says he is worried about a Saturday radio talk show on KFNX 1100 AM hosted by Joe Abodeely.
"He is rabidly ... anti-Israel," Wolf claims. "I'm listening to this garbage that's being spewed and I'm thinking, is this the only thing the public is hearing on the issue?"
To address his worries, Wolf decided to create a pro-Israel radio program of his own. The first broadcast of "Middle East Forum," which airs at noon on Sundays, also on KFNX, was Oct. 19.
According to Wolf, the program is for Jews as well as non-Jews. "The point is, our community needs to be educated (about Israel)," he says.
Each show addresses a separate theme, and periodically the shows will feature experts, says Wolf. The first two programs featured Professor Steve Carol, local resident, who provided a historical overview of Zionism, says Wolf. The Nov. 2 broadcast covered U.N. resolutions dealing with Israel, and the Nov. 9 show addressed whether the Palestinian people truly want peace with Israel, he adds.
Wolf arrived in the Valley in 1967 as a member of the first law school class at Arizona State University, and he never left. He has been practicing law in the Valley for more than 30 years.
The "Middle East Forum" is not his first experience of Jewish activism.
"In 1988, I saw an article in the international edition of the Jerusalem Post that said 6,000 Jews in Yemen faced extermination, and I wasn't just going to say, 'too bad' and turn the page," he explains.
Wolf worked with a core group of five like-minded individuals and raised enough money to enable 800 Yemenites in "Operation Esther" to make aliyah.
Wolf says he also took part in local efforts to help the plight of Soviet Jewry.
"I speak out when something has to be spoken about," says Wolf.
The new radio show represents Wolf speaking out, both to educate the community about Israel and "to respond to Arab propaganda," he notes.
With the first programs, Wolf says he wanted to lay a firm historical foundation with facts about the Jewish connection to the land of Israel and about the development of Zionism.
Enter Steve Carol, who has earned a Ph.D. in history and has taught locally at Mesa Mountain View High School and Mesa Community College. In addition, from 1970-1978, Carol made 12 trips to Israel and interviewed former Prime Ministers David Ben Gurion and Menachem Begin and former Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek.
One of his goals in working with Wolf is to show "that Israel has a case; a case to be a country, a case to be at peace after all these years," explains Carol.
"My great concern is that the other side, the Arab side, has conveniently, selectively omitted history, starting in 1967 and ignoring everything that befell the Jews in Israel before that," says Carol.
He notes that Israel and the Jewish community in general lack quality hasbara, public relations. However, Carol stresses that he does not intend to be "a branch of the Israeli foreign ministry, spouting the party line."
Wolf and Carol first met in the late 1980s. Carol was planning on moving to the Valley and subscribed to the Sunday edition of The Arizona Republic to learn about the area. In one issue, he read about Wolf's efforts to rescue the Yemenite Jewish community. Carol then decided to contact Wolf to learn about the local Jewish community. They have been friends ever since, notes Carol.
Wolf said another local expert is Farley Weiss of Phoenix, national vice president of the Zionist Organization of America and associate vice president of the National Council of Young Israel. He is slated to take part in the Nov. 23 "Middle East Forum."
Inviting a member of the Muslim community to participate on the show is a possibility, says Wolf. "Absolutely, but a little bit further down the road," he says. "I'm trying to do some education first."
Debate on the program from callers has been limited, says Wolf. "The calls have either been agreeing or wanting more information," he notes. "There have been no hostile calls yet. Maybe that's because not enough people are listening."
Wolf hopes that in the future, more people from the community will call in, as well as support his efforts financially.
To defray the show's costs, local businesspeople can purchase advertising time, says Wolf, who is currently paying for shows out of his own pocket. Equally important is the need to educate the community about Israel, he notes.
"I don't like the idea of anybody not knowing the historical background (of Israel), so that if it comes up, they have to keep their mouth shut (out of ignorance)."
Contact the writer at barry_cohen@jewishaz.com.
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