THE JEWISH NEWS
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PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
CARMI PA.,SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager
CHARLOTTE DUBIN
City Iditor
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Advertising Manager
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the sixth day of Heshvan, 5733, the following scriptural selections
will be read in our synagogues:
I'entateuchal portion, Gen. 6:911:32. Prophetical portion, Isaiah 54:1-55:5.
die lighting. Friday, Oct. 13, 5:36 p.m.
V OL. LXII. No. 5
October 13, 1972
Page Four
Treating Terrorism Unilaterally
While Israel is being judged in the United
Nations—by the Afro-Asian bloc, the Soviet
Union and the Chinese—Israelis know and
understand one basic need: that they are not
uncovering their necks to Arab terrorists and
that they'll fight terrorists and terrorism to
the limit of their abilities.
What about the accusations that the in-
vasion of Lebanon and the attacks on guer-
rilla bases in Syria are contrary to interna-
tional law? The answer is a simple one: does
international law condemn Israel to non-re-
sistance in the light of what had happened in
recent months?
A proper reply to the anti-Israel senti-
ments has been provided in his "Personal
View" column in the London Times by the
noted editor and parliamentarian, Richard
Crossman. Crossman concerned himself with
the attitudes of British leaders George Wil-
son and Sir Alec Douglas-Home and the Egyp-
tian foreign minister, Mohammed Hassan el-
Zayyat. The views of the British statesman-
editor are so vital at this time that they must
be viewed in their totality. Crossman wrote
in his London Times analysis of the "Fight-
ing Fire" compulsion in the Middle East:
I think we can assume that the bomb posted to
the Israeli Embassy was a characteristic terrorist
device for chipping in on the Anglo-Egyptian talks
which began in the Foreign Office on Monday. These
-re the talks Mr. Wilson had urged Sir Alec to
postpone unless the Egyptians would completely dis-
sociate themselves from the Munich outurage. When
the Foreign Secretary scornfully turned this proposal
down, I was stirred to send him a telegram urging
him at the very least to tell Dr. Zayyat at his first
meeting that there was no chance of improved rela-
tions with Britain unless Egypt stopped condoning
the Palestinian terrorists. The only acknowledge-
ment I got was a speech with which the Foreign
Secretary received Dr. Zayyat—a characteristic ex-
hibition of equidistant neutrality between right and
wrong.
Sir Alec, to quote his actual words, "condemned
the ruthless killings at Munich and the severe repri-
sals against Lebanon and Syria." In his view, ap-
parently, the behavior of the terrorists can be
bracketed with that of the Israeli soldiers who were
sent in to clean up the terrorist camps along Israel's
northern frontier.
I wonder if Sir Alec now realizes how shocking
this kind of double talk sounds in Israel. What is
more, it is beginning to ring false even in Arab ears.
King Hussein came much nearer to expressing a
sincere Arab attitude when he denounced what was
done at Munich as besmirching Arab honor. But the
reason why he alone has been able to speak so
frankly is that he has called the terrorists' bluff and
smashed them in pitched battle in the streets of Am-
man. The Lebanese Government would have done
the same if it had dared.
Sir Alec's view may possibly be shared in Da-
mascus. In the rest of the Middle East there is a
growing desire to see the end of the terrorists who
are doing a great deal more damage to the Arab
cause than the Israeli.
Of course It is true that in the long run the
only way to eliminate this terrorism Is to remove
the injustice under which the Palestinian Arabs suf-
fer. Those of them (and whether they are a majority
is by no means certain) who want to create an
independent Palestinian state have a case which
must be heard at any peace conference which settles
the frontiers of Israel. But since all the Arab gov-
ernments still refuse to negotiate with Israel, such
a conference is only a remote possibility; and all
peace-making efforts must be concentrated on a sep-
arate settlement between Egypt and Israel which,
even if if comes off, will not help the Palestinians.
That is why terrorism has got to be curbed by force;
and since there is no hope of any action by the
United Nations or any other international organiza-
tion I cannot see how Israel, the chief sufferer, can
be denied the right to deal with it unilaterally.
The blunt truth is that exploits like the Munich
massacre can only be prevented by a state prepared
to risk the lives of innocent bystanders, including
women and children, in order to prove that terror-
ism does not pay. At Munich they refused to buy
the lives of 11 of their citizens at the cost of re-
leasing 200 Palestinians from their jails.
Now on the foothills of Mount Hermon and the
Golan Heights the Israeli army is doing the dirty
work which no Arab government excepting Hussein's
was prepared to undertake. I find It incredible that
Sir Alec and his guest Dr. Zayyat are agreed in
putting this military operation morally on a level
with the massacre of Munich. And if I have mis-
understood what they said, I am not alone in this.
The least they can do In that case is in the final
communique to issue a joint condemnation of what
happened in Loudon as well as in Munich."
Simple, isn't it? Yet the attacks on Israel
persist. Even during the most critical hours
of terrorist inhumanities, while the Munich
massacre was in progress, at the time when
the mails were being utilized for murders,
there was silence in the ranks of those who
seek Israel's destruction.
There was a sense of relief when both the
USSR and Chinese delegates to the UN spoke
with disdain about the Munich horrors. Did
they go far enough? How does one trust dip-
lomats who resort to doubletalk—who mildly
condemn terrorism and at the same time en-
dorse the negative dealing directed at Israel?
Richard Crossman has put it well in his
definition of the right of a people to self-de-
fense. But he happens not to be speaking at
the UN. And even those who speak there-
Abba Eban and Israel's handful of friendly
statesmen—are directing their voices at deaf
ears. Whence cometh help for international
sanity under such depressing conditions?
Senselessly Disturbed in Our Ranks
Why worry about enemies when we have
them in our very midst, shouting opprobria,
inviting our non-Jewish neighbors to mo-
bilize against Israel and Israeli officials?
Two yeshiva students were charged with
arson at a boutique in Tel Aviv. They are
under arrest. They were not released for the
Holy Days. That was cause for paid adver-
tising in the New York Times, for distribu-
tion of literature reviling Israel, for the con-
vening of a Solidarity March to harass the
Israel consulate in New York.
This was done in the name of religion,
under auspices of a so-called National Com-
mittee of Orthodox Jewish Communities.
Organized Orthodox Jewry should really do
the exposing of these saints, because of the
conviction that the instigators of these trou-
bles represent a very small group of hate-
spreaders. Yet it becomes necessary to call
attention to the unsavory experiences in Jew-
ish life and to the destructive elements in
our midst.
We have enough aggravation from the
Jewish Defense League and its attempts to
interfere with normal functions in Jewish life.
We could do well without the arrogance of
the self-styled Orthodox group and the JDL.
But such are the abnormalities of a normal
existence: that interference with common
sense can come from the senselessly disturb-
ed in our ranks.
But these troublemakers are not only dis-
turbed. They are deluded in their irresponsi-
bility. They are like the few self-hating Jew-
ish leftists who have been writing propagan-
da against Israel and have provided grist for
the Arab anti-Israel and Communist anti-
Semitic mills.
So—while assisting in efforts for Israel's
protection we must also be on guard against
enemies within.
Walter Laqueur's Encyclopedic
History of Zionist Movement
On the jacket of the 640-page "A History of Zionism," by Walter
Laqueur, just published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston, is the sub-
titled annotation: "The first general history of Zionism." This is a
serious claim and while it may be challenged it is possible that the
author and his publishers can defend it.
It is additionally claimed by the publishers on the inside of the
jacket that the Laqueur history is "in fact, the first full history (of
Zionism)" not only in English but "in any language."
Because Dr. Laqueur took into account basic historical fasts, has
linked the European background of Zionist history with American
experiences, and has incorporated into his work the Jewish conflicts
that accompanied the rise of the Jewish national movement, the claim
becomes authentic.
Many histories of Zionism have been published. Some have
emphasized the basic Ideologies of the movement, others have
dealt with American or with British aspects, there are histories
that have dealt with Zionism in relation to the French in the
of the Affaire Dreyfus. The Laqueur historical data contains
era
references to and analyses of all these.
This is not to confirm that what he had written is complete.
There are many aspects of Zionist history yet to be affirmed and con-
firmed, to be reviewed and ascertained, such as U. S. Congressional
details that are far from complete in their compilations. We may have
to wait the traditional 25 to 50 years when confidential documents are
released to the public.
One such item that comes to view is the role of the late U. S.
Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg. The comments on the Stephen S. Wise
and Abbe Hillel activities, their relationships with President Franklin
D. Roosevelt, U. S. Senator Robert Taft and with other politicians
and statesmen are noted, but they are far from complete.
Even the relationships with President Woodrow Thomas Wilson
and President Harry Truman are not fully accounted for in the
Laqueur book, as they have not been fully told in other works.
Laqueur's, however, is an immense work. As a history It
earns the 'status of an authoritative textbook and It would be well
if classes were organised for adult studies to utilize this book. It
will serve • great purpose in presenting the Zionist ease to classes
in high schools, and the book will be found useful In college
Judaic studies and in theological seminaries.
Dr. Laqueur commences by explaining that "the term Zionism
was first used publicly by Nathan Birnbaum at a discussion meeting
in Vienna," Jan. 23, 1802. There is a necessary clarifying note which
states: "Strictly speaking the term had already appeared in print on
a few occasions in 1890-91 without, however, any clear political con-
notation."
The able and noted author of the extensive history took into
account the pros and cons on Zionist ideologies, the support and the
opposition, but he is specific in asserting that "this history is not an
exercise in the philosophy of history; it deals with the fate of • sorely
tried people and their attempt to normalize their status, to escape
Persecution and to regain dignity in their own eyes and in the eyes
of the world."
Does the Zionist history end with 1948, as implied? It has been
argued on that score and there are supporters of the view that Zionism
ends with statehood. On this score the Laqueur view is perhaps weak-
est. But as a history—because • history of Zionism inevitably Is a
major portion of Jewish and world history—Laqueur's book is en-
cyclopedic. It will no doubt have the large audience it deserves.