•
Purely Commentary
t •
(Continued from Page 2)
the high proportion of Hebrew-speaking people not only
among the Arabs who have lived in the Israeli state
since 1948, but also among those who have been under
Israeli administration for hardly over one year. Even
more surprising is the unexpected degree of everyday
administrative and economic cooperation of the con-
quered population with the Israeli authorities.
The Arabs are ardent nationalists, but not great
patriots. Their nationalism seems more literary than
political. In great measure, it is poetic sublimation
rather than a way of life. Under World War II German
occupation, many Danes had suddenly "forgotten" their
German language, and their defiance of the intruder
authorities was almost instinctive. Arab nationalism
knows no such practical consistency. It is perfectly con-
ceivable for a member of an anti-Israel underground,
upon returning from a meeting of his cell, to don a suit of
business or employment, and to do so without sensing any
contradiction. A self-avowed Arab nationalist with whom
I shared this impression, did not hesitate to confirm its
essential correctness.
There is that split attitude, perhaps even the split
personality, which is understandable in terms of Arab
history, a history of national glory and humiliation,
with periods of lethargy and backwardness. There is the
dream of recouped glory, but there is also the instinctive
knowledge that, glory or no glory, life requires food and
shelter, an income, a job, an enterprise. There are cir-
cumstances in which the Arab appears to be his own
opposite: when you see him in his role of host, you
would never attribute to him the fierceness of which he
may be capable; when he displays his hatreds, you would
not imagine how quickly he might forfeit them under
changed conditions. As an old Arab proverb teaches,
"The hand you cannot bite, kiss it."
Because of this duality of mind, Arab political thought
must be approached quite differently from European
doctrines. While the latter require a political approach,
Arab political thought must be treated psychologically.
To meet it head-on is guaranteed to be counterproduc-
tive; it must be understood on other than the declaratory
level. No matter what the degree of its political un-
acceptability, it must be empathized with, must even be
The Big Lie That Undermines
World Peace Must Be Exposed
babied and mothered.
But despite and condescension it may justify, it also
bears a possible promise in that Israel's political ends,
which as such are utterly unacceptable to the Arabs,
may nonetheless encounter growing tolerance in the
channels of everyday living and cooperation. And as for
satisfying the poetic needs and urges, it need not be a
foregone conclusion that this will forever take the form
of a thirst for Israeli blood. It is even imaginable that
some day much of the present war emotionalism may
find an outlet in equally zealously, and demagogically,
propagated Arab-Jewish Semitic brotherhood.
Perhaps Israel's greatest default is in the area of
making its Arab citizenry feel truly at home as an
integral part of the state. Social, economic and educa-
tional progress is not enough; all citizens, including ti-a
Arabs, must be made to feel that they live in their
state. Israel's cultural nationalism is understandable,
coming as it does after an interruption of two millenia,
but greater cultural autonomy for the Arabs and more
stimulated socio-political integration are too important
to Israel's fate to be neglected due to emotional indul-
gence. If Israel accepted this challenge as on a par with
the in-gathering of the Jews, it would be achieving more
Arab-Israeli accommodation than may be immediately
available politically. Much as one must sympathize with
the frustrations of a country whose large ethnic minority
is part of the population that surrounds it in hostile
lands, Israel has already achieved so much of the "un-
achievable," including unprecedented conciliatory rule
of the conquered, that she should accept the next great
challenge. The incorporation of the Arab minority in the
state fabric would be an investment whose social and
political dividends could not be matched. But what rec-
ommends it even more is sheer justice.
Amidst the Arab community in Israel as well as in
Israel-held territories, I could not help realizing that be-
neath the tragic Middle East conflict there are signifi-
cant potential bridges between the two peoples. Certainly
the Palestinian problem is tragically real. But through-
out my stay in the country, I was under the impression
that if only the two peoples would be left by the outside
world to their own destinies, their mutually complemen-
tary roles would grow and intertwine until out of this
By Philip
Slomovitz
practical natural exchange would come a formalized
accommodation. But few local issues are allowed in
today's world to remain within- their own context alone.
In the Middle East this means that the Palestinian Arab-
Jewish problem has become an all-Arab-Israeli prob-
lem, and not merely an all-Arab-Israeli problem, but a
point on the strategic maps of intentions of respective
big powers. Just about the most fail-safe conclusion is
that these big powers in evolving their policies are to no
degree at all concerned with the fates of the involved
people as such. They are assigned merely to do the
bleeding.
•
•
•
These revealing truths should be made known—to
Jews as well as to non-Jews.
The Big Lie often grows to great dimensions. To
justify a new call for a Jihad, Arab propagandists have
faked another tape purporting that Jews were desecrating
the Aqsa Mosque in the Old Qty of Jerusalem. If there
had ever occurred a single iiileident of lack of respect
by Jews to any religious grqup, Christian or Moslem,
there would have been an unprecedented outcry against
it. But all non-Jewish religious leaders have consistently
affirnied that Israel treats their faiths with the greatest
respect. Yet, American newspapers give priority to the
fakes about Jewish lack of respect for their fellow men,
and when the lies are exposed, the facts are so briefly
and insignificantly reported that it becomes almost use-
less to ask for fair play. But when we shout for justice
we are told that we are too sensitive. Out of such sensi-
tivity, then, we protest against the lie and call upon
all fair-minded people to recognize the Hitler-type ap-
proaches to the Middle East problems and the schemes
resorted to in a continuing effort to destroy Israel.
There is nothing more to be said. The Arab lie is
exposed. But it is being repeated, in Hitler style. It'll
be heard again, and whenever and wherever it may be
foisted upon unknowing peeople there is an obligation to
expose the untruths.
Arnoni has earned gratitude for his efforts. He
has also earned support for his The Minority of One,
which struggles for lack of means to carry on its
courageous and independent efforts.
Gen. Itzhak Rabin, Due at Bond Dinner Oct. 31,
Claims Glorious Career as Soldier-Statesman
▪
Fifty years ago, in February
1918, the first contingent of Amer-
ican volunteers for the Jewish
Battalion left for Palestine to fight
alongside the British to free the
land from Turkish domination. A
young man from Chicago, Nehe-
miah Rabin, was one of the volun-
teers. His battalion, part of the
Jewish Legion, entered Jerusalem
in triumph on Sept. 28, 1918, after
pursuing the enemy across the
Jordan and capturing 4,000 Turks.
After the end of World War I,
Nehemiah Rabin stayed in Pales-
tine. His son, Itzhak Rabin, was
born in Jerusalem in 1922. In
June 1967, Itzhak Rabin was the
chief of staff of Israel's defense
forces in the Six-Day War.
A professional soldier with a
brilliant record in Israel's three
major military campaigns — the
1948 War of Independence, the
1956 Sinai Campaign and the
1967 Six-Day War—former Chief
of Staff Rabin has never given
up his hopes for peace, has
sought to maintain Israel's de-
fensive strength and is confi-
dent that any future wair will be
won by Israel.
Named by Israel early this year
as its new ambassador to the
United States, Itzhak Rabin will be
making his first visit to Detroit to
address the "Bond With Israel"
dinner sponsored by the Detroit
Israel Bond Committee and Cong.
Shaarey Zedek Oct. 31, at the syna-
gogue.
Itzhak Rabin has reason to re-
member Gamal Abdel Nasser. Dur-
ing a cease fire in the War of
Independence in 1948, young Rabin
got married. But the resumption
of fighting on the southern front,
where he was chief of operations,
ended his honeymoon after one
day. In the ensuing battle in the
south, an Egyptian brigade was
surrounded. At a meeting held to
arrange a surrender, Rabin met
Captain Nasser, who in the course
of conversation wanted to know
how the Israelis had gotten rid of
the British.
At 46, Rabin is the last of the
48 Friday, October 18, 1968
—
breed of senior officers of Israel's
War of Independence—men like
Moshe Dayan, who was chief of
staff in the 1956 Sinai Campaign,
and who was named minister of de-
fense before the June 1967 war
— and Yigal Allon, the veteran
commander who is serving as
deputy prime minister. Rabin,
the youngest of the trio, traces his
early training in military tactics
to the influence of these two men.
As a student at the Kadoorie
agricultural high school near
Mt. Tabor in Galilee, young
Rabin did so well in his courses
that the principal recommended
that he go on to college for a
degree as a water engineer. But
the three years that Itzhak spent
at the Kadoorie school — 1937
through 1939 — were years of
some of the worst Arab riots
against the Jewish settlers. The
youngsters at the school became
their own defenders.
The students were organized into
platoons, and young Rabin's pla-
toon officer was Yigal Allon, who
in 1941 recommended the young
man to Moshe Dayan as a likely
prospect for the Palmach, the
commando unit of the Hagana.
This was during World War II,
when Palmach units were helping
the British by making advance
raids into Syrian territory, then
controlled by the Vichy regime.
In his first briefing, Rabin was as-
signed to a group of four men to
penetrate beyond the fighting
lines and cut telephone communi-
cations in preparation for an
Australian attack on the area. Ra-
bin's group was part of the unit
under the command of Allon, who
headed the east flank, while Da-
yan commanded the west flank.
It was in this raid that Dayan lost
his eye.
The job of cutting the tele-
phone wires was difficult enough
— as the junior member of his
group, Rabin had to climb each
pole, being careful not to cut
every wire lest the pole itself
come crashing down. The real
danger was that they were wear-
THE DETROIT. JEWISH NEWS
ing civilian clothes. They were
warned to keep clear not only of
the Syrians but also the Austral-
ians, who used to shoot first and
ask questions later.
Following this exploit, Rabin was
kept busy in many succeeding op-
erations, and advanced rapidly in
the Hagana chain of command.
After World War II, the Palmach
struggle turned once again against
the British, whose rigid immigra-
tion policy was preventing many
thousands of Jewish refugees of
European DP camps from enter-
ing Palestine. In a memorable ac-
tion, Rabin took part in the at-
tack on the refugee camp at Atlit,
where the British had interned
hundreds of "illegal" immigrants.
Rabin was the last to leave, cover-
ing the raiding unit while other
Hagana men led the escapees to
safe hiding in various kibutzim
where the British would not find
them. At one point, when the Brit-
ish soldiers surrounded two kib-
utzim suspected of harboring the
refugees, thousands Jews from
Haifa formed a human wall and
erevented the soldiers from en-
tering.
The British Mandate was due to
end on May 15, 1948, but since the
British troops began to move out
some hours ahead of time, the
State of Israel was able top roclaim
its independence on May 14. A few
hours later, the armies of Egypt,
Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq,
with Saudi Arabian contingents,
crossed the frontiers of Israel at
several points.
Rabin, then 26, had risen to sec-
ond in command of the Palmach
under Yigal Allon. However, with
the establishment of a sovereign
State of Israel, the Hagana and its
commando force, the Palmach,
which had served as volunteer de-
fense units for the Jewish popula-
tion under the Mandate, were
merged into the newly constituted
Defense Forces of Israel.
Given his own command of the
newly formed Har-el Brigade,
Rabin came face to face with one
of the most difficult and heart-
breaking tasks of the War of
Independence — the defense of
beleaguered Jerusalem. Trying
to get provisions through meant
running the gauntlet of the
Arabs who controlled the road.
Later, the brigade lost many
men in a brave but unsuccessful
attempt to take the Old City from
the Arab Legionnaires who far out-
numbered them and also held
strategic positions. Twenty years
later, now fully armored, the
Har-el Brigade was destined to
fight on the identical terrain. This
time they were part of the central
command in the Six-Day War.
This time their first commander
had become the chief of staff.
This time they made it.
Rabin's most memorable day
was also his loneliest—it was the
first day of the Six-Day War. At
the end of the day, as he re-
ceived the reports in the com-
mand headquarters, all doubt
melted away. With Israel su-
preme in the skies and its arm-
ored corps at El-Arish, he could
say, "I felt that we had really
achieved something great, both
as regards the State of Israel
and in the light of history itself."
Rabin described his entry into the
Old City of Jerusalem "like some
never-fully-finished circle finally
joining together as a complete
whole. My parents first met each
other in the Old City during the
riots of 1921. I was born there in
1922 and in 1948 I commanded the
Har-el Brigade which fought for
the retention of the city. Apart
from the Six-Day War, that battle
for Jerusalem was the hardest and
most challenging assignment I
ever faced in my military career.
On Jane 7, 1967, I entered Jeru-
salem as one who finally draws
together in complete harmony all
the meaningfuly threads of his
life."
During his service as chief of
staff in the four years which ended
Dec. 31, General Rabin had ample
opportunity to display his skill,
courage and logic in what is con-
sidered one of the most trying
periods in Israel's history. One of
his first tasks was to counter Arab
attempts to divert the sources of
the Jordan River—a decision made
at the Arab "summit" conference
in January 1964.
Because of his memory for de-
tails and his intellectual qualities,
Rabin has been called both a com-
puter and a philosopher.
The general's wife, Leah, al-
though six years younger, is, like
her husband, also of the Palmach
generation. In 1948, when they
were married, she already had
a "record" by the age of 20, hav-
ing been arrested by the British
authorities for her' activities as a
Hagana scout and one of the
editors of the Palmach magazine.
Throughout Rabin's military career
she gave up any thought of a career
of her own, devoting herself to
making a honie for the family
and being both a mother as well as
a father to her two children—since
from the beginning she had re-
signed herself to the loneliness of
an army wife. Mrs. Rabin can count
only one year when they had a
normal married life—that was in
1952 when he was sent to study in
England. He made it a practice to
be home for tea every afternoon.
When the general is home in Tel
Aviv, he indulges in his hobby,
photography—or relaxes by the
pool. He manages occasionally to
take an afternoon nap on the
Sabbath.
When he was awarded a degree
of doctor of philosophy on Mt.
Scopus, Rabin said, "War is intrin-
sically harsh and cruel, and blood
and tears are. its companions. But
this war which we have just waged
brought forth rare and magnificent
instances of courage and heroism,
and at the same time moving ex-
pressions of brotherhood, comrade-
ship and even of spiritual great-
ness."
The Israel Bond office will be
open 10 p.m. to 3 Sunday. Reser-
vations for the Bond With Israel
dinner, with Ambassador Itzhak
Rabin, may be obtained at the
office and payment on High Holy
Day pledges may be made that
day. For information, call Israel
Bonds, DI. 1-5707.