Isolated incident

Editorial

In Paris, arsonists target a Jewish school. In Brooklyn, swastikas deface Jewish property. In Oregon, a hate gang of teenagers spray-paint a Jewish cemetery.

Last week a home in Fountain Hills was defaced by a swastika and the words, "You dirty Jews."

What happened in Fountain Hills could be an isolated incident. It is also a reminder that wherever Jews live, there will be those who welcome us, those who do not understand us, and those who hate us.

The challenge is to react effectively when attacks occur.

Neighbors in Fountain Hills reached out to the family who was the target of the hateful crime.

And just a year ago, Middlesex Middle School in Fountain Hills began implementing "Classroom of Difference," a program sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League that provides training to teachers and students to combat discrimination, racism and bigotry - and to increase understanding.

"Acts of discrimination will be dealt with severely and quickly," said Middlesex Middle School Principal Tom Lawrence. Lawrence said his primary concern is making sure every student feels comfortable at school. That's a good thing, as one of the school's eigth graders lives in the home that was defaced.

Fortunately, Fountain Hills is not Paris or Brooklyn, where Jews and Jewish institutions are being repeatedly targeted. Our challenge is to make sure that the graffiti defacement in Fountain Hills remains an isolated occurrence.

Who's to blame?

We've gotten compliments and also complaints about whom you, our readers, named winners of our second annual "Best of Jewish Phoenix" contest (Jewish News, Dec. 5). A few objectors said we failed to highlight kosher restaurants and that many of our winners were not "Jewish."

The reality is that our Valley has few kosher restaurants and explicitly Jewish businesses, even though our Jewish community numbers 83,000 and Phoenix is the sixth largest city in America.

What makes some of our readers' choices "Jewish"? No more nor less than the fact that they chose them.

We were also called to task for including a category for "best" synagogue worship service. Come on now. Behind the question is a long and proud history of healthy competition.

We have a question for anyone who's less than pleased with other readers' choices: Did you submit a ballot? We distributed full-page ballots to 9,000 reader households for three consecutive weeks. Fewer than 100 readers completed and returned them.

When next year's Best of Jewish Phoenix ballot appears in your newspaper, take the time to fill it out and make your votes count.

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