Purely Commentary
Land of Achievement
Where Peace Is More
Than Salute and Slogan
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
(Continued on Page '2)
THE JEWISH NEWS
Atrocity
Propaganda:
Imagery of
Spreaders of
Lies in the
Middle East
Michigan Weekly
Commentary
Page
JERUSALEM, Israel—A nation whose ears are unendingly attuned to news broadcasts out of the necessity
of being prepared for any eventuality on its borders and within its inL:rnal settlements might weil be con,:id-
ered a people at war. Yet, Israel is far from it. Whether you are there a week or stay on and on, the impres-
sion that is left indelibly is that it is land of peace. It is not only the salutation or the nation's slogan that is
shalom. Its very life is one of peace. Nowhere, at no time, does any one ever hear a reference to hate, a desire
to destroy, an aim at conflict. The prayer and aspiration is for peace with the neighbors. Yet there is shooting,
from ground forces and in the air, and in the world's headlines it spells war. It is all of that in the neighbor-
ing lands which have proclaimed war. From Israel's point of view, whatever shooting is done into Egypt, Syria,
Lebanon or Jordan is part of the absolute necessity to destroy the military bases whence come threats to put
an end to Israel.
It doesn't take much studying of the facts to realize that terrorism has declined drastically, that Israel's
firm steps to wipe out the nests of infiltrators have met with a measure of success. It is costing Israel sonic
resentment, especially from the sources that both exaggerate the extent of demolition of Arab houses as well
Review of Jewish News
2
World Leaders'
Concern Over
American
Jewry's Ability
to Survive
Editorial
Page 4
Michigan's Only English-Jewish Newspaper — Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle
Vol. LVI, No. 19
$67'27
17515 W. 9 Mile Rd., Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 — 356-8400 January 23, 1970 $7.00 Per Year; This Issue 20c
All Faiths Join in National
Parley to Defend Israel Role
Unprecedented 55,170,000
Raised at Campaign Event:
Telstar Function on Feb. 1
An unprecedented response at the pacesetters meet-
of the 1970 Allied Jewish Campaign-Israel Emergency
Fund last week brought $5,170,000 in pledges, Maxwell
ing
Jospey, chairman, reported.
Michael Comay, deputy foreign minister of Israel,
addressed the meeting at the Great Lakes Club.
Jospey said "the gifts received so far include gener-
ous increases over past years, and our present total is
more than a 25 per cent increase from the same con-
tributors in 1969. There is every indication that Detroit
will surpass its own record of generosity set in last year's
Campaign."
Comay spoke of Israel as "A nation at work and a
under arms . . . a small but immensely strong
people, deeply rooted in their homeland, who will be there
for a long, long time."
Prime Minister Golda Meir, Foreign Minister Abba
nation
Elm and Defense Minister Moshe Dayan will appear via
Telstar at the black tie pre-campaign dinner of the Allied
Jewish Campaign-Israel Emergency Fund Feb. 1, at Cong.
Shaarey Zedek, it was announced by Maxwell Jospey,
campaign chairman. The reception begins at 6:30 p.m.,
and the dinner is at 7:30.
(Continued on Page 6)
Spokesmen for all faiths and races, representatives of all political parties and leaders in many
walks of life have joined forces to consider means of protecting Israel's position at the National
Emergency Conference on Peace in the Middle East, to be held in Washington this weekend.
This conference assumes additional importance because of the statement by Secretary of State
William 0. Rogers to U. S. News and World Report that Israelis as well as Arabs and Russians op-
posed the new U. S. Middle East policies "because our position is fair and balanced." Rogers
listed the Arab-Israel conflict with Vietnam at the top of the list of the most worrisome foreign
problems. He termed the Middle East "very explosive." lie thought it was possible that Chinese-
Russian differences might have some effect on the Soviet attitude toward the Middle East and
he defined American Middle East policy as based on responsibility to promote a settlement and "to
act as a catalyst to bring the parties together, to work through the UN machinery to see if it's pos-
sible to work out a peace in the area."
Explaining the new U.S. Middle East policy, Rogers said "We have a good many friends in
the Arab world, and we have wanted to make our position known."
At the two-day National Emergency Conference on Peace in the Middle East, 500 delegates
representing 24 constituents of the Conference of Presidents of Major American American Jewish
Organizations, as well as leaders of Jewish communities throughout the country, will meet to ex-
press their "deep concern and apprehension" over recent U.S. policy statements on the Middle
East.
During the parley—scheduled to open at 4 p.m. Sunday in the Statler-Hilton in Washington,
they will be joined by legislators, clergymen and others concerned with what has been described by
Jewish spokesmen as a "serious erosion" in State Department policy on Israel.
Rabbi Herschel Schacter of New York, retiring chairman of the Conference of Presidents,
will chair the two-day meeting.
Dr. William Wexler of Savannah, national president of Bnai Brith, the newly-elected chair-
man of the Presidents Conference, will open the conference. Other speakers who have already
accepted invitations to address the conference include: Senator Fred Harris of Oklahoma, Rev.
(Continued on Page 7)
Canards Debunked, ISN•ael's Role Defined
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
JERUSALEM, Israel—As long as Nas-
ser prefers tanks to tractors and keeps
his people's standards down by resorting
to war, there will be little chance for
peace in the near future. Israeli Prime
Minister Golda Meir made that quite clear
to the visiting Jewish editors last week.
The brilliant woman leader echoed the as-
sertions of her foreign minister, Abba
Man, who, a few days earlier, speaking
to the same group, emphasized the negoti-
ability of Mid East issues if Arabs will con-
fer directly with Jews.
But Golda Meir did not limit her ob-
servations to the elementary facts of life
as they affect her nation. She also re-
ferred to the nonsense about the proposed
Palestinian Arab state as a 15th Moslem
entity in the world. There is something
very real in her explanation that she, too,
is a Palestinian. Having lived in Pales-
tine since 1920 she is perhaps more natural
to her environment than many of the
Arab spokesmen. Valid to the discus-
sion is the fact that there never was a
Palestine Arab state, that proposals for
it were contained in the United Nations
partition plan which called for both Jew-
ish and Arab states, that the Arabs re-
jected it and that now those who were in
Palestine are to be found In both Jordan
aim Egypt—the latter in the Gaza Strip. In
Jordan they were given citizenship; in
Gaza they are stateless, having been de-
prived of citizenship by Egypt. The former
retain Jordanian rights, and under Israeli
rule they have the freedom to travel at
Should Arabs have a 15th state, now
that they have sovereignty in 14? Even
the terrorist leader Arafat does not have a
plan for such action, and the announced
motivations, to send Jews back where they
came from and to retain only the "natives,"
poses the danger that Jews returning to the
Moslem countries they stem from will be
confronted by a wholesale massacre.
Mrs. Meir pointed to Biafra as an ex-
ample of what could happen to Israel and
Israelis: once defeated, which is the Arab
aim, there would emerge the sympathy
that now goes to. Biafra—a sympathy that
is accompanied by genocide.
The day after she realistically outlined
the ixisting situation and stated firmly that
under no circumstances would Israel sub-
mit to destruction, Dosh had the accompany-
ing cartoon on the United Nations and the
Big Powers' big talk, small action and
failure to take proper steps to prevent
calamities.
Prime Minister Meir is plagued by many
concerns in her government. There are poli-
tical problems. Strikes demand her atten-
tion as much as the actions of the UN and
the U.S. State Department. Yet, her major
worry, in her discussions with the Jewish
editors, was the status of American Jewry.
She pleads with American Jews to give
new meaning to Jewish cultural efforts,
to strive for knowledgeability, to place cul-
tural values above all else.
Naturally, American policies, arming of
the Arabs by the French and British gov-
erments and the hesitancy with which
Israel is given the hardware necessary for
self-defense irk the people. But the average
Israeli refuses to abandon hope that the
American-Israeli friendship will continue
and will not be reduced by pressure either
from Russia or from the Moslem countries.
•
•
•
Israel's military leaders are very help-
ful to those who participate in study tours
and to students of '.fiddle East affairs. They
are factual, they know the score. And
they are not hateful. They know that they
must be vigilant and ever active i: pre-
venting infiltrations, attacks, threats of
destruction. But they do in the hope that
peace can be made attainable. Therefore
they speak respectfully of the enemy, with
sympathy for their neighbors.
There are no hateful words for the
Arabs from children or adults, and while
the Arab textbooks are filled with venom
against Israel, Israelis and Jews, expres-
sions of hate would not be tolerated in the
Jewish schools even if there were such a
tendency among teachers and children.
Ancient sites are being uncovered, and
diggings that are conducted by Ilebrew
University archeologists under the direc-
tion of Prof. Benjamin Mazar keep reveal-
ing old synagogues and settlements.
The dig at the Western Wall is especial-
ly exciting. New layers under the wall have
been uncovered, and excavators are con-
stantly at work finding the structures that
have been hidden by the debris for many
.generations.
Regular workmen have been assisted
in this task by many volunteers, and there
were, according to Dr. Mazar, more than
500 of them last year, from many lands.
The workers sift the dirt, find hundreds
of old coins as well as ancient crockery and
other items of historic importance.
Two weeks ago, Israeli soldiers discov-
ered a 5th Century CE synagogue near
Jericho at Naharan, the Arabic village of
Ein Duk. It had been found after World
TERRIBLY SAD
By Dosh
Drawn for Manly
War I and was covered up again, to be
rediscovered by accident a few days after
the 1970 New Year. Visiting American
Jewish editors were the first to be shown
the new and unusual find, which now is
being guarded carefully in preparation for
the synagogue's reconstruction.