.■ 1111.1.-

Purely Commentary

Sanctimonious Bias?
The Christian Science Monitor (it has just been rated in a poll
conducted among newspapermen as one of the 10 best edited newspa-
pers in this country) has excellent coverage of the news from the
Middle East. But in spite of the revealing facts in its own columns and
the information that comes from many quarters pointing to a growing
danger its editorial policy has been angled disfavorably to Israel. It has
adopted a policy that gives the impression of bias.
Its latest editorial ("Offense and Defense." May 1) is especially
puzzling. Ignoring the fact that this country has never supplied arms to
Israel while at the same time arming Jordan and sending aid to other
Arab countries, it places blame for the arms race in the Middle East
upon the United States who is called the introducer of offensive weapons I
for Israel. The facts negate every charge in the editorial.
. So that our objections should be understood. we quote that editorial:

Hopes and Prayers ... Urgent Appeal
to Eliminate Genocidal Thinking
Affecting Israel's Middle East Role

By Philip Computer Splits

I

Slomovitz Isaiah in Two

sticks his head in the sand
him.
It is true that we have the revolt and the protest—which could
mean that youth is not blind and does not stick its. head in the

and fails to recognize the tragedies that

surround

sand ostrich-like. But when a social revolution of the type we are
experiencing finds primary emphasis in vandalism and destruction of
property, it assumes a role of anarchy and irresponsibility.
And when the elders who do not share in such a revolt are even
more deaf and altogether blind as to what is happening and fail to take
into account the need to come to terms, to cooperate in ending wars
and eliminating drafts, to provide for the needs of the less fortunate
and end poverty—then they are even guiltier than the stone-throwers.
Because it is so much easier to encourage destruction and the
hurling of rocks through university buildings and burning books and
demolishing libraries than it is to confer and to negotiate and to
establish accord among all elements in our population. And the achieve.
If the Israeli government is correct in its statement tint Russians are now ment of the latter is the duty of the elders.
flying jet-fighters in defense of Egyptian territory against attacks by Israeli-flown
Phantom jets. we are indeed face-to-face with yet one ni.ne upward sten in the
We have failed and are failing in dealing with youth—youth
escalation of Middle East dangers. Israel's concorn is tinth-istandable. What has
that has become so irrational and so unruly that it has begun to
happened offsets the advantage gained by the Israelis with acquisition of the
Phantoms—effective long-range attack aircraft which can deliver nuclear weapans
stiffer casualties—casualties that are the entire community's not of
with only slight modifications.
one university alone or of the young alone—casualties that are a
Equally understandable is the campaign now being mounted by the Israeli
government in the direction of both American public opinion and the United
tragedy and a hurt to all of us.
States government to get President Nixon to reverse himself on his March deei•
Will some wisdom ccme out of the present dilemma? Shall we
sion lint to meet Prime Minister Golda Meir's request for a further installment •
of Phantoms. But before either government or public opinion comes to any con-
see the end of war very soon? Is there hope that bloodshed will end
elusions. both should carefully appraise the situation clinically and not emotion-
because
men who suffer it will come to their senses?
ally.
Two facts need clearly to he restated: It was the United States, not the
And what about our legislators? Will they play politics or will
Soviet Union. that pushed the Middle East arms race into a new and more dam
the peace of our nation, with hope for peace to end battlefronts,
gerous phase by being the first to introduce on Israel's side (albeit through sale
the latest generations of offensive weapons. This invited either a Soviet or an
be their major responsibility?
Egyptian response. Second. that response has come in the form of: (I) SAM-3
Would that we were wise enough to lay down rules—not those
defensive missiles, reportedly manned by Russians; (2) the reported introduction
of Russian pilots to the controls of jet-fighter aircraft used to defend the
that say "Pull out, pull out," without taking into account the dangers
Egyptian homeland. Apparently the Russians have refused to meet President
to the lives of our servicemen that such a move would entail. We are
Nasser's request for MIG-23s to match the Phantoms. And as the Iraelis concede.
Russian-flown aircraft have not intervened along the Suez Canal where Israeli
gambling for time, and also for wisdom. We pray that men will be
and Egyptian troops face one another along the cease-Dr: line.
human and that there will be a way to end bloodshed, yet we know
Thus, significant though the latest developments are, the Russians have not
technically broken any tacit agreement they might have with the United States
that there also is "an enemy" without whose reckoning our willingness
not to Introduce further offensive weapons Into the Arab-Israeli conflict, What
to bend, even to suffer indignities, does not suffice.
the Israeli government presumably wants now is more offensive weapons from
It's a poor way of analyzing a situation: it is like saying we are
the United States—and perhaps a shutting off of the incipient debate within Israel
which challenges the premises on which Israeli government policy has hitherto
helpless. We are helpless! Only if the President and Congress will
been based. That debate—and the notable contribution to it from Nahum Gold-
mann in the quarterly. Foreign Affairs—is one of the most promising develop.
find a speedy way out of the situation will there be hope of an end
ments since the Six-Day War. Without abandoning its moral commitment to en-
to conflict that turns a social revolt into a blood bath.
sure Israel's existence. the United States should perhaps be considering whether

encouragement of this debate is not more useful than supplying yet more
Phantoms.

It is sad for Israel and for Jewry that in the midst of a struggle by
Israel for survival a noted Jewish leader (Dr. Nahum Goldmann)
should have provided fuel for a fire that could lead to self-destruction.
There is such great desire for peace in Israel, and so much need for it
for the peace of the world, that every effort must be mad to attain it.
But no one goes to a peace table by first opening a door either to
suicide or to demolition by neighbors who have in view only one .aim:
Israel's demise.
The Christian Science Monitor's analysis of the situation appears to
be bordering on bias because it fails to take into account the extremism
of a Krertilin line that has no conscience, no desire to prevent Israel's
destruction. The CSM doesn't seem to be concerned about the billions
Russia has poured into the Arab military coffers both to destroy Israel
and to harm the United States.
Whenever we read something as sanctimonious as the CSM editorial
we have just quoted we begin to wonder anew: what can a small nation
do to get a sympathetic ear for the one thing it desires: to live normally
and to retain autonomy as a people?
Is it possible that sanctimony is clouded by bias and that there is a
lessening of hope for justice in an international conflict in which 11
nations seek to wipe out a neighbor?

Intensity of Life
in Israel Related
in Quarterly Issue

After 22 years, Israel has en-
tered a new phase of existence,
Raphael Rothstein asserts in the

May issue of Gentlemen's Quarter-
ly. "People live intensely, and a
be-merry-for-tomorrow-we-die kind
of attitude is noticeable. Israelis
know they would be less than real-
istic if they thought any other
way," writes Rothstein.
It is the war — a subject that

separates young and old in Amer-
the Israelis
into a common cause. Survival,
Who Are the. Killers? Who Destroys Embassies
says Rothstein, is a word heard
and Burns Libraries? Who Are the Humanitarians?
everywhere in Israel—in cafes, on
The pity is that it is so difficult to plead justice when there is a the radio and in Parliament. To ba
blindfold over the eyes and an earmuff to bar sound.
tough and to be ready to dies is the
The Christian Science Monitor should check the record and get the reality every young Israeli must
facts straight.
face. Although this attitude adds a
The unreasonable charge that the U.S. started the arms race can quality of vibrancy to the country,
be disputed very easily. The involvement was not as simple as de- says GQ—it either intrigues or ex-
scribed by the CSM. We have, as an example, this release that came hausts foreigners.
this week from the ZINS news agency:
Since living together in the
SUE BOKER (ZINS) — At an intimate gathering of former
army is an experience shared by
"Rafi" leaders in his home at Sde Boker, David Ben-Gurion made
almost every young Israeli, the
the following disclosure: "At the 1945 Yalta Conference Stalin told
male-female relationships have
Roosevelt and Churchill that the establishment of a Jewish State in
an easy-going quality. Morale is
Palestine was an essential necessity and, therefore, I was not sur-
high—the absence of the grim-
prised when the Soviet Union became the first in the world to
mer aspects of military life is
extended de facto and dejure recognition of the establishment of
evident in this country that lives
side by side with the war.
Israel in the historic days of 1947." Expanding on this theme, Mr.
Ben Gurion added that during the critical period 1947-48 Israel had
Israeli women are forthright and
no better friend than Russia. As for America, he said, she clearly
honest, says Rothstein. "Dugri,"
knew that the Arabs would attack and despite that, America pro- the Israeli word that means no-
claimed an arms embargo in the full realization that it would only nonsense straight talk, is best seen
affec' Israel adversely, because the Arabs would receive their arms in the behavior of Premier Golda
Iron, ilritish sources. The Soviet Union's help was felt not only in Meier. The younger Israeli women
the transport of Czech weapons but also in the political support she cannot stand affection either, and
gave to Israel in the UN and in the Security Council. "I cannot
it's hard to flirt with them. "But
calculate how great a price we would have paid for our victory if when it comes to a moment of
Russia hai not helped us at that time," added the former Premier. truth, you'll know exactly where
Situatio: change and if there is no one-sidedness there certainly you stand with them."

should not by is prejudiced judgment of a most serious matter.
But what car newspapers, all the media, men in public life, should
consider is that comparative humanitarian approaches to the Middle
East situa•it.,..
Who col:ducts terroristic acts? Who burns embassies? Who destroys ,
libraries? Who invades foreign embassies to murder Israelis? Who
attacks busloads of tourists and kills innocent people?
Then, ought to be a measure of judgment — and that's what's
lacking in the CSM editorial.
Yet, Moshe Dayan offers a cease fire under most difficult conditions.
An Israel diplomat described the Russian view of a cease fire as
follows: Israel should cease, the Arabs should fire.
Israel doesn't yield to such theories, yet is willing to take risks for
peace. Why not credit the peace-seekers with a measure of sincerity
and with a right to live?

iCa—that binds together

Rothstein also quotes the Tel
Aviv novelist, Binyamin Tammuz,
who says of Israeli youth: "In
Israel we have the cult of the
young soldier, while in the U.S. it
is the man who refuses to go to
war."

$1.5 Billion Sent to Israel
Since '67 by World Jewry

TEL AVIV (ZINS) — Leon
Dultzin, former treasurer of the
Jewish Agency disclosed at a
press conference that World Jew-
ry has channelled $1,500,000,000
A Tragic Age and a Deluded People
to Israel since the Six-Day War.
Ostriches, while sticking their heads in the sand, must have
This sum is roughly twice the
the laugh on the wisdom of mankind. Because man himself often
amount received from German re-
THE DETROIT JEWISH HEWS parations.
2 Friday, May 8, 1970

—

,

°

Yehuda T. Radday, of the
Technion Israel Institute of
Technology, recently completed
an unusual study at the Tech-
nion's Computer Center. Dr. Rad-
day (shown above), who teaches
the Bible, worked out a com-
puter program to examine lin-
guistic details of the Book of
Isaiah. His conclusion: The
chances that one man authored
the book are no more than 1 in
100,000.- Rather, chapters 1 to
39 were authored by one prophet
(Isaiah I), and chapters 40 to
E6 by another (Isaiah II). The
study was based on the fact that
the language of every person
differs in numerous unconscious
characteristics.

Boris Smolar's

'Between You

... and Me'

(Copyright 1970, JTA Inc.)

BEHIND THE SCENE: There is definitely no truth in the rumors
that Max M. Fisher has resigned from his White House post as special
adviser to President Nixon on citizen's voluntary action because he
disagreed with the recent State Department decision not to sell Phan-
tom jets to Israel for the time being.
The rumors probably originated because Fisher is known as a
devoted friend of Israel. The truth, however, is that his leaving the
White House post has nothing to do with his deep concern for Israel. He
submitted his resignations to President Nixon on Feb. 20, a full
month before the Administration's decision on the Phantoms was made
known. He had flirted with the idea of resigning as early as December.
After spending 15 months, at President Nixon's request, in organiz-
ing the nation's private sector into a united body capable of working
with the government for meeting the country's most pressing social
problems, Fisher thought that he had done his job. He decided that
it was time to step aside so new leadership could continue the effort.
He wanted very much that his close friend Henry Ford II be the head.
On Feb. 20, the National Center for Voluntary Action—embracing
many of the most impressive names associated with industry and pri-
vate welfare agencies in the country—was formally inaugurated in
Washington with Fisher in the chair. At a dinner given that evening
by President Nixon in the White House, the President indicated to the
distinguished guests that Fisher had submitted his resignation. The
President went out of his way to praise Fisher for his valuable services
to the nation.
The news of Fisher's resignation was not released to the press
after the dinner. It was released much later—after the announcement
of the decision not to sell Phantoms to Israel. It was tied up with the
Presidential announcement that Henry Ford II is to be the new chair-
man of the National Center for Voluntary Action. Ford's name was
put into nomination by Fisher, who helped to persuade Ford to take
the post.
During his 15 months of service, Fisher drought together repre-
sentatives of industry, business, labor, youth, women, voluntary agen-
cies and other organizations into the united body, formed for creative
public-private partnership in meeting social and urgent needs such as
helping inner city residents fight pollution and meeting other great
social obligations.
MEANINGFUL ANNIVERSARY: It is now exactly 1900 years since
the Roman armies destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem—in the
year 70 AD—and put an end to Jewish independence in Palestine until
the establishment of Israel in 1948. This major event in Jewish history
was marked impressively by the YIVO Institute of Jewish Research at
its annual conference in New York last weekend, May 3-6.
The YIVO was the first Jewish body in this country to take note of
this historic date. Other Jewish groups will probably observe it dra-
matically on Tisha B'Av, in August. The YIVO is devoted to. Jewish
research and the training of younger scholars in the Jewish field.
Before a large audience of people interested in promoting Jewish
scholarly work, the prominent historian Dr. Arthur Hertzberg of Colum-
bia University, reviewed at the YIVO conference the trials and tribula-
tions of the Jews since their dispersion among the nations of the world.
He outlined the Jewish experiences during the 1900 years of Diaspora in

struggling to maintain their identity. He also indicated the Jews' con-

tributions during that period to the cultural, political and economic
development of the countries in which they lived.
A comprehensive exhibit of the Yiddish press that appeared in the
United States during the last 100 years was also part of the conference.
Like other YIVO cultural exhibits, it will be made available to com-
munities and Jewish centers throughout the country. The exhibit con-
sists of more than 530 items, including rare editions of Yiddish news-
papers, including the first Yiddish newspaper in America.

