THE JEWISH NEWS

Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951

Member American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association. National Editorial Associa-
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PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Sditor and Publisher

CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ

Business Manager

CHARLOTTE DUBIN

City Editor

DREW LIEBERWITZ

Advertising Manager

Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 23rd day of Sivan, 5733, the following scriptural selections
will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Num. 13:1-15:41. Prophetical portion, Joshua 2:1-24.

Candle lighting, Friday, June 22, 8:58 p.m.

VOL. LXIII. No. 15

Page Four

June 22, 1973

Peace, Realism and Justice in M.E.

Names of world prominent personalities, those of leaders in many fields of endeavor
in this country, in England, France, West Germany, Italy, Austria and Switzerland, are
appended to an "Appeal for Peace in the Middle East." Under that name for the group,
which has offices at 15 Rue des Minimes in Paris, the appeal is addressed to the Israelis.
the Arab governments and their peoples and the Palestinians. It was "published simultan-
eously in different countries" with an invitation to others to add their signatures to the
statement which addresses itself to the parties involved as follows:

To the Arab governments and
their peoples: We know your
thirst for justice. But your at-
tempt to exact it from Israel
alone, we suggest, causes you to
forget that there exist striking ex-
amples of injustice in other coun-
tries including your own. What-
ever alliances you make, an at-
tempt to win an open war against
Israel would be futile and tragic.
Must you really sacrifice your
progress and happiness to a mir-
age that Israel will disappear in
the coming century? Your deter-
mination to recover the territories
that have been occupied since
1967 is legitimate, as is your re-
fusal to submit to have your lands
ruled by foreign law. To discuss
these claims peacefully, we sug-
gest, would not be a defeat. As
history has often shown, such
discussions can even lead to r n-
other kind of victory. It would
then be possible for you to under-
take, in peace, consolidation of
the Arab peoples' economic, cul-
tural, and political contribution to
the modern world.

To the Israelis: Today your se-
curity is not threatened and we
think you must know this. Your
territorial annexations and alli-
ances seem to us to betray the
ideals of your own pioneers. Your
toil has transformed the desert
into cities, yet today you are led
to bomb the camps of refugees.
You have left your ghettos to
build a fortress, whereas your
safety lies in a country with open
borders. The path to peace, we
believe, does not lie in confronta-
tions with the Arab governments
but in recognition of the Palestin-
ian people, in order that they, in
turn, may accept your own na-
tionhood. Your home will not be
truly your own until the Palestini-
ans have theirs. This is the price
of peace.

To the Palestinians: You can
no more destroy the state of Is-
rael than the Arab states can.
Surely you must realize this. For
the immediate future you have no
other choice than to build the
country to which you have legiti-
mate claim beside that of Israel.
All other choices will only result
in exile, sporadic guerrilla war,
fare or else in spectacular acts of
violence with no future. Before
the 1967 war, you were used as
an alibi by the Arab politicians,
who left you in refugee camps,
excluded from Israel. You have
become a cause to which the Arab
masses have rallied. The Great
Powers make use of you and the
Arab governments merely to tol-
erate or slaughter you. The Jews
have known for centuries the hu-
miliations you feel today. They
would rather be killed outright
than leave the land on which they
live. You have the opportunity to
reverse the dreadful trend of his-
tory, in which compromise too
often becomes possible only after
men have been killed. The strug-
gle to create a new Palestinian
state is, we believe, a legitimate
and realistic aim; it is in no sense
a surrender.

Pursuing the appeal, there is this supplementary declaration which includes promises
for action, as follows:

"With the exceptions rif the wars that ended for lack of fighters, all wars, even the most
unjust and absurd, have ended around the table of a peaceconference. Let us be the artisans of this
peace.
By writing as we do we do not intend merely to launch another petition or to preach. We
hope rather to frankly c1 3 1 ;.f and dispel the distortions that have plagued the positions of all
sides in the Middle East and stand in the way of settlement. Few people would have difficulty
accepting one, or even two. of the propositions we have stated here. And yet we believe that all three
must be seen as inseparable,
"The signers of this text promise:
"—To support and make 1,-.;;– A- ri these three propositions as widely as we can and to help organize
meetings, at every level, am:!rig Arabs, Palestinians and Israelis.
"—To support a mission, to be chosen by the signers, that will present these three propositions to
the Arab, Palestinian and Israeli governments and to political organizations."

It would be totally surprising if this appeal and its appended declaration dkl net
receive strong support. he signers of the the statement have gained world fame. Includ-
ed among them is Hanna Arendt, Nobel Prize winners Alfred Kastler and Salvador Luria,
university professors and international statesmen. But the list alsb includes some whose
labors have at times been viewed as harmful to Israel—those of I. F. Stone, Noam Chomsky
and perhaps also Paul Jacobs.
Nevertheless, the introductory paragraph to the appeal addressed to editors merits
special attention. It reads:

"The Middle East is threatened with a hundred years' war, a conflict that cuts across all
political camps, dividing and inflicting wounds upon all of us. After years of violence and confu-
sion, there is today the danger of public indifference to what is happening. Meanwhile, govern-
ments, politica , parties and individual passions feed the conflict with arms, money and propaganda.
Yet we know :hat, in the .Middle East, as elsewhere, the state of war must sooner or later give way
to a state of peace: Through direct or indirect negotiations, concessions agreed upon cr imposed. If
this is to be the out(' ,:ie, why should there be further years of slaughter? We feel that we must
speak out."

It is on this score that we can begin to question the wisdom of the appeal. It is
one thing to encourage indirect as well as direct negotiations. It is another matter when
the pleaders for peace speak of "concessions agreed upon or imposed." This is where the
plea for justice loses i 4 s impact. The moment there is even a mere hint about an imposition
of peace,' the entire effort loses its validity,
Israel's chief delegate to the United Nations, Yosef Tekoah, made the point during
the Security Council debs R. last week that Palestinians already have a state, that "Jordan is
Palestine and Palestine is Jordan." Nevertheless, even this point needs total confirmation
in negotiations not only with King Hussein but also with those who call themselves Pales-
tinian spokesmen. Once there is a meeting of the minds rather than a battle of words on
the international arena, as soon as both sides meet for an understanding, there will be hope
for the peace that now is so remote.

Fascinating Archeology Report
in Dr. Mazar's 'Beth She'arim'

Prof. Benjamin Mazar (Maisler), professor and former president
of the Hebrew University, has fascinated students of archeology,
with his writings and his reports on excavations in Israel as well as
in personal explanations when describing his work to tourists and
historians.
His latest -work, "Beth She'arim—Report on the Excavations
During 1936-1940," published by Rutgers University Press, greatly
enriches his labors and adds significantly to the findings in which
he has led during the last 35 years.
In the present volume, the first of
three in the series on this subject, Dr.
Mazar deals with the Catacombs 1-4.
Forthcoming volumes in the series will
be devoted to the Greek inscriptions and
to the catacombs unearthed from 1953 to
1958.
Each of the catacombs outlined in
this .volume is thoroughly described, and
the illustrative material, including the
endpaper map and three text maps•, in
addition to the 120 pictures, 29 text fig-
ures, and nine full-page plans add sig-
nificantly to the most scholarly work.
The annotations and appendix in which
he deals with the ossuaries, wooden cof-
fins and doors are valuable supplements
to the report.
Beth She'arim, described as having
Prof. Mazar
been founded by the Hasmoneans in the
second century BCE, became part of Herod's estates, continued as
an agricultural community under the Romans and after the Bar
Kokhba Revole-132-135 CE—an influx of Jews who were driven out
of Judea included scholars who settled around that area.
A prosperous settlement developed in the era of 138-235 Cl and
Judah ha-Nassi, the famous scholar, is mentioned in the Talmud (AIL
having lived in Beth She'arim. It became a favorite burial place 1W.
the devout from many areas and as far as Palmyra.
Beth She'arim is located in the Jezreel Valley in Galilee in
the area that was purchased by the Jewish National Fund in 1925.
Dr. Mazar's excavations, begun in 1936, were interrupted in 1940
during World War II, were resumed in 1953 and continued until
1958. In Volume I of the series on Beth She'arim the 1936-40
period of excavations is reported. The documentations, the anal-
yses of the inscriptions, the interpretations of the Hebrew and
Palmyrene texts—these and many other factors in a great work
by one of the world's most famous archeologists combine to
introduce the new Mazar work as a most significant asset for
archeologists and historians.
Dr. Mazar calls attention in his preface to the fact that in 1963
the excavations were resumed under the direction of Prof. N. Avigad
and his report on his results were published in Hebrew in 1971, to
comprise the third volume in the series.
The author points out that Beth She'arim is undoubtedly the
original name of the place under review while two other forms appear
as having been used in the Galilean Aramaic.-
Prof. Mazar's studies draw upon historic data, upon Josephus and
other authorities and the factual data from the Talmud adds signifi-
cantly to the report's effectiveness.
The Beth She'arim story is so fascinating that the archeological
enrichment elevates this Rutgers University Press product as a valu-
able accomplishment by an eminent scholar.

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