Purely Commentary
Abba Eban's 'My Country' Adds
Merit to His Literary Career
Abba Eban is as masterful in his literary style as he
is in oratory. In his case, the two are inseparable. His
books are classics, his speeches brilliant. He proves his
skill as an author in "My Country," an excellent supple-
ment to his "My People." His newest work. as "the story
of modern Israel," like his earlier work has been published
by Random House.
His foreword to ''My Country" commences with this
paragraph:
"I have asked myself the familiar question: 'If a
reader were limited to one hook about Israel's story
since May Ms, what would I like him to know?' Not
only to know, but to feel."
In such a context—of knowing and feeling—one would
have to give priority in such a category to "My Country"
by Abba Eban. It is a 300-page hook in which the man who
had been his country's spokesman at the United Nations
when the ancient nation again emerged into statehood
describes the agonies of an historic struggle as well
as the joys that come with independence and with
sovereignty.
There are larger books on the subject, but none with
as much feeling. While this is not a personal document,
it is the personal experience shared in state-building that
gives "My Country" the significance that goes with
authoritativeness.
Eban's account is especially valuable for its review
of events that preceded the Declaration of Independence
on the historic May 14, 1948, and the struggles during the
years of British betrayals of the trust that was contained
in the Balfour Declaration, the Palestine Mandate and the
partnership that was to have been established between the
Jewish people and the British Empire.
The rifts that emerged, the insecurities that added to
Jewish existence both from the mandatory power's failures
to protect the Jewish population and the Arab attacks on
all fronts are, in their summaries, splendidly annotated
in a volume that will be viewed as of great importance in
viewing Jewish history in its newly emerged loftiness.
It is natural for a volume of this sort to be especially
important as a viewpoint of a diplomat turned historian.
There is no doubt that Eban's role as the foreign minister
of Israel. attained after being an ambassador to the
United Nations and the United States, accounts for the
statesmanship in evidence in the analysis incorporated
in "My Country."
Having tasted of the venom that accompanied him
-
on every step during his career as his people's repre-
sentative at the UN, it is no wonder that the barbs
hurled at the international organization by the author
of this book stem both from personal feelings, from
the sad experiences during his pleadings for justice
for Israel and for Jewry.
As an indictment of the United Nations, Eban's book
serves the purpose of exposing the inadequacies of a great
organization whose purposes have sunk in the mire. In
the very early stages of Israel's rebirth, after the positive
vote on partition, just as the reality of independence was
emerging, there still were proposed obstacles planned
for Israel's path to freedom. There were trusteeship
proposals. Here is how Eban judged the great world
organization :
"The words about 'implementing the United Nations
resolution' had their barb of irony, for the United Nations
had been striving hard for several weeks to prevent its
own resolution from taking effect. This had become
strangely difficult. The United Nations had helped to
plant a seed and had then tried to destroy it: but the
flower insisted on growing day by day. Something like
an independent state had grown out of the ruins of the
British Mandate. Moreover, the American proposal for
replacing Israel's statehood by international trusteeship
had met such massive scepticism that its own authors
were ceasing to give it any credit."
It is in relation to the attitudes of the UN, Great
Britain, France, the United States, in times of crises,
that the Eban story of Israel's emergence has such
validity. The frustrations Israel suffered from the UN
actions receive their due rebukes, and the numerous other
experiences on the international scene are exposed ex-
pertly by the participant in the historical developments.
While dealing with the external matters, the master
analyzes the internal functions, the slate's trials and
tribulations.
There are the facts of life here. The Arab position
certainly is not ignored. The inner political situations
receive their due consideration, the migrations, the coming
of the Russians, the Soviet-Israel and Arah-Jewish con-
troversies—many are the problems tackled by Eban.
He does not "put out of mind" the serious Arab issue.
He concedes that the "central problem of political self-
cspression" is major in a matter that makes the million
Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza area more prone to
encounter than the Arabs who have lived in Israel with
Israelis for 25 years.
There is pragmatism and factualism in Ehan's "My
Country." It is as nearly complete in its overview of the
Lout and its history as might be expected. There surely
are some omissions. Why wasn't General Mickey Marcus
listed among the heroes of Israel's battle for freedom'
But in the main. the able author has covered the field
exceptionally well. Ile has provided a history that could
well serve as ,J,he one book about Israel's story. What
better compliment need be given a history of modern
Israel?
2—Friday, Dec. 29, 1972
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Abba Eban, Political Genius Whose Writings
Equal the Charm of His Historic Addresses ..
Lies Again Harm Israel ... Tribute to Heschel
By Philip
SIOMOViti
Abraham Joshua Heschel, Philosopher-Theologian Who Helped His Students Reach the Peak.
When it was necessary to inspire American Jewish leadership with appreciation for our people's heritage,
upon the inauguration of the Institute for Jewish Life, brought into being by the Council of Federations, for the
uplifting of Jewry's highest ideals and the chief aims for new goals in American Jewry, Abraham Joshua Heschel
was invited to speak introductory words of Torah. He was our spiritual guide for the programing that will, hope-
fully, vitalize our communities.
When Jews from free lands everywhere needed interpretation of the meaning
of Jewish existence, of halakha, of the reasoning that binds all Jews into a single com-
munity. at the sessions of the World Zionist Congress, in Jerusalem, last January,
Prof. Iteschel of blessed memory was the chosen spokesman. It was another of
the many occasions on which we renewed our association and at which we were
misled—because he gave the impression of giantism—into believing that the man who
defined the eternity of Israel more impressively than most of his contemporaries
would always be with us. With his passing we have another reminder that there is
nothing permanent in life. Ile was only 65—and he is no longer among the living.
His works are indestructible. lie was a Hasid, a philosopher, an outstanding
theologian. Much will be said about many of his books on metaphysics, on the philoso-
phy of life and of Judaism. The little book that may well survive most of his writings
is his fascinating evaluation of "The Sabbath" which Farrar, Straus and Young pub-
lished in 1951. No other work on the subject envisioned the Sabbath as "a sanctuary
in time" and proved the distinction irrefutably.
Few have had the vision to see the Sabbath as one of the intuitions of time and
to become aware that through the Sabbath eternity utters a day.
That's how he sanctified time.
He taught many and he wrote a great deal. He authored numerous books which
have enriched the philosophical and Hasidic bookshelves. Few of them have inspired as many as his most recent
"Israel," a Farrar, Straus and Giroux publication, which he also subtitled an echo of eternity. In this work he por-
a rendezvous with history, he recapitulates Israel's
trays Jerusalim as a charismatic city. He treats his readers to
meaning to the world, to history, to the Jewish people; here, too, "The Bible is the challenge and the way," and the
great philosopher-theologian, writing prophetically, admonishes his readers:
way of
"There are no easy roads, there is no simple advice. The world is dislocated, out of balance. The
the mountain
Israel is a way of rising to the peak of the mountain. At Sinai we were told, 'Beware of going up
Prot. A. J. Ileschel
'Beware
and touching the border of it' (Exodus 19:12). This was interpreted by Rabbi Mendel of Kotsk to mean:
mountain, The
of going up the mountain if you have no desire ever to reach the peak.' Don't play with the
Vision of reaching the peak gives meaning to our touching its border."
This is really what summarizes the genius of Abraham Joshua Heschel: he helped his students, the readers
of his works, to touch the peak. His aspiration was to help them reach the peak. He had contributed much toward
that goal. He well earned the blessings for his memory.
Spreading the Lie, Harming
Israel, Betraying Human Factore
There is no end to the number of groups who
seek Israel's destruction and keep repeating the false-
hoods that have become the stock in trade of the bloc
also mobilized for anti-Israelism at the United Nations.
Union of Liberal Students in England has joined
in the effort to undermine Israel's security. From its
ranks came the charge that 10.000 Arabs are kept in
detention by Israel, that 4,000 Palestinians have been
jailed, that Jews have tortured Arabs.
The official figure shows that there were 1.610
convictions of terrorists arrested since the Six-Day War
and that 148 are held in administrative detention.
But the charges aimed at inspiring hate for Israel
continue, and the misfortune is that some churchmen
have become carriers of the venom. None of the accusa-
tions that prisoners of Israel are being tortured has
been confirmed, yet it is given credence in quarters
where the rumors should have been squelched as
quickly as the facts are presented.
Of greater concern is the perpetuation of a state
of terror that has resulted in a large number of casual-
ties for the "guerrillas"—which is how the terrorists
wish to be known. It has just been reported that Arabs
suffered several thousand casualties during the war of
attrition which was fomented by Nasser and which
proved a complete flop. There are more actual facts
about the losses suffered by the terrorists. Israeli
sources state that 2.335 were killed and 550 captured
since the Six-Day War. At the same time. Israel's
losses were 827 soldiers and civilians killed-682 of
them along the cease-fire line; and 3.141 Israeli soldiers
and civilians were injured, 2,877 of them along the
cease-fire line.
Those who spout accusations would, therefore, do
better if they added their influence toward direct
Israel-Arab negotiations so that there should be a
speedy end to the conflict. With a continuing indiffer-
ence there is, meanwhile, a perpetuation of poverty,
ignorance, illness among the masses in Arab lands.
The extent of illiteracy is appalling. Now we have a
World Health Organization report revealing that 800,000
of Egypt's 35,000.000 population are blind.
And so, instead of striving for an end to suffering,
Arab leaders are encouraging hatred of Israel as means
of diverting attention from the people's needs. That's
understandable in political ranks but it is inexcusable
when religious leaders in other lands give ear to anti-
Israel rumors and fail to be humanitarian in their
concerns for the state of affairs among Arab masses.
If there is to be a quest for justice, it will be neces-
sary to take into account Arab fantasy which misleads
Israel's neighbors but should not blind people generally
to realities. There is as an example of exaggerations,
the story of Abdel Rahim al-Kadi, a former Damascus
radio announcer, who now is a newsreader in Arabic
services on Israel television. The Hebrew newspaper
Ycdiot Ahronot reports:
Al•Kadi. a 35-year old native of Hebron. was an
announcer on Jordanian radio before the 1967 Middle
East war. In an interview, he said that Syrian se-
curity men recruited him to broadcast when they
found him standing for his examination at Damascus
University on the eve of the war.
Al-Kadi said that on the second day of the war,
he saw Israeli Mirage jets circling freely above the
Syrian capital. After arriving at work, he received an
order to announce that five Israeli planes had been
shot down over the city.
The announcer said he told his sound engineer
that he himself had seen no opposition to the Israeli
planes. "We downed five planes," the technician re-
plied, "but Ahmad Said of the Cairo station 'Saut
al-Arab,' has already shot down 50."
In Arab reports, anything goes. An Arab spokesman
at the UN even resorted to the cruel claim that Jews
falsified the number of victims of Nazism.
In their way, the scheming Arab leaders show
shrewdness. They had a list of 12,000 firms they were
boycotting for trading with Israel. This list has been
reduced by 10.000, among them American and Japanese
concerns, and it has been established that some of
these firms are compensating the Arab boycotters with
investments totalling $600,000,000 in Arab industrial
investments.
There are changing conditions which point to the
modernization made possible by Israel in the occupied
territories. There is the example noted in a dispatch
from Ramalla in the West Jordanian city now governed
by Israel to the Christian Science Monitor by its Middle
East correspondent, John K. Cooley. In his description
of "Prosperity amid poverty along the Jordan," Cooley
noted:
Well over 50,000 of the nearly 1,000.000 Palestinian
Arab inhabitants of West Jordan and Gaza now com-
mute daily to well - paying jobs in Israel. Some 200.000
Arabs from the outside world this year crossed the
bridge to visit relatives in the occunied territories.
These facts have changed and are still changing the
lives of Israelis as well as Arabs in numerous ways.
Much more interesting is the report on Gaza by
Gideon Weigert. who is describing life on the West
Bank and the Gaza Strip in his new book "Six Days .
in June . . . Five Years Later":
Gaza in Autumn 1072 is not the Gaza of a year
ago. True, the people do not sing hymns of joy that
they live under Israeli administration. They do not
live in a paradise. They are unhappy at being occu-
pied. No people in the world likes someone else's
rule. liber a l as it may be, The Denote in Gaza would
prefer to live under an Arab regime.
But, then with this point clearly in mind. it
seems to the keen observe', torlav 'hat. for the first
time since 1948, the people of Gaza look forward
toward their future with some realistic ideas. With
the beginning of confidence and hope that. rid of
terrorism and given a chance to begin a new life. they
will "catch tm" with the level of development and
local rule reached by their brethren on the West Bank.
You leave Gaza with the conviction that its devel-
opment has only just started. Its potentials for both
residents and refugees are enormous. Given a spell
of quietness and productive incentives, they are likely
to perform miracles, and develop their area beyond
recognition.
As Abu Ahdullah the fisherman, Abu Omran the
weaver and many others from all walks of life in
Gaza today told me, time and again: "give us a
chance, give us the tools and a spell of quiet and
then come again and see what we are able to
achieve . . ."
These are farts not to he ignored, and in viewing
the Middle East situation on the approach of a new
year, which may again be filled with tensions, let us
remember to he on guard against fantasies and to
apply realities to the needs of the time and the area
under discussion. Pragmatically, peace could come
fast; with fantasy in the path of justice, it is being
postponed.
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