Purely Commentary

Problematic Magnanimity and the Record of 'Calls to Kill'
to Egyptians From Its General . . . Misplaced Trust in U. S.
Friendship to Israel . .. America's Vital Middle East Role

By Philip
Slomovitz

Denuded Morality and Misinterpretation of Facts . .. Especially vis-a-vis U. S. Interest in Middle East

Americans serving in Saudi Arabia—there are 10,000 of them—were portrayed
on a television program. Several who were interviewed expressed glee that a war
was launched not only against Israel but also to combat an established American
friendship for Israel. One of the Americans, in his jubilation over the developing
tragedies, advocated endorsement of the oil-producing countries' anti-Israelism and
he commented: "What can we expect from Israel except oranges."
The Christian Science Monitor editorialized on the topic "Oil—and war or peace"
and stated: "By being magnanimous, right now, Israel has everything to gain, nothing
of value to lose."
The Detroit Free Press, editorializing on "Making Peace with Egypt," stated
that "the contact has been made, and deserves gentle nurturing as a means of re-
establishing the United States as a friend of peace in the Middle East rather than
only a supplier of arms to the Israelis."
What a pity that sanctimony must be reminded of the magnanimity that
was demonstrated by Israel's treatment of 7,000 or more prisoners of war while
Israel's captured were treated cruelly, that their names could not be released to
the Red Cross, that the struggle was for adherence to the Geneva Convention.
What a pity that Christians—anywhere, even among Moslems in Saudi Arabia—
must be reminded of the heritage from Jerusalem, the message from Zion that
gave the major faiths to mankind as a legacy from the Jewish people. Must we
repeat that
717i71

x . 71 11, p

OUT OF ZION SHALL GO FORTH THE LAW.

More saddening is the compulsion to remind our good Detroit neighbor that
there is a great American involvement in the Middle East, that if it were not for
Israel the position of the United States would be shattered. The proof:
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in a message to Congress, in 1957, which
established the Eisenhower Doctrine, stated:

"Russian rulers have long sought to dominate the Middle East. That was true

of the Czars and it is true of the Bolsheviks. The reasons are not hard to find. They
do not affect Russia's security, for no one has plans to use the Middle East as a base
for aggress-ion against Russia. . . . The reason for Russia's interest in the Middle East
is solely that of power politics. . . . This region has always been the crossroads of

the continents of the Eastern Hemisphere."

Undersecretary of State George Ball of the Kennedy and Johnson administra-

The Geneva Convention

A basic humane principle was abused when the Arab
potentates refused to release the names of Israeli prisoners
and hesitated to agree on an exchange of POWs. It is
necessary to know the duties that devolve upon govern-
ments involved in wars to understand what has happened
in the past weeks.
Sidney Liskofsky, director of the division of interna-
tional organizations of the foreign affairs department of
the American Jewish Committee, summarized the Geneva
Convention regulations as follows:
The legal obligations of governments with regard
to prisoners of war are carefully spelled out in the
Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Pris-
oners of War, (Aug. 12, 1949), whose commitments
Egypt, Israel and Syria have all accepted without
reservation.
The Convention provides that "prisoners of war
must at all times be humanely treated" (Article 13),
and with "respect for their persons and their honor"
(Article 14). It provides that "immediately upon cap-
ture, or not more than one week after arrival at a
camp, even if it is a transit camp," every prisoner
shall be enabled to write directly to his family and
to the International Committee of the Red Cross, a
card "informing his relatives of his capture, address
and state of health." The card, a model of which is
annexed to the Convention, must be "forwarded as
rapidly as possible" (Article 70).
The Convention also provides that upon the out-
break of a conflict, each of the parties involved shall
establish an Information Bureau for prisoners of war,
to which information on prisoners shall be forwarded

tions, who was an opponent of U. S. involvement in Vietnam, writing in the New
York Times, June 20, 1970, declared:
"What vitally relates to the power balance and thus to the maintenance of
work/ peace is the strategic location of the area and the effect on world politics
of its inclusion in a Soviet sphere of influence. In 'marked contrast to Vietnam, the

Middle East does lie near the center of world power—just below Central and Western
Europe—and what happens in the UAR (Egypt) and Israel would have a profound
effect on millions of people in the industrially advanced countries.
" . . . a dominant Soviet position throughout the Arab world would threaten
our most vital interests—challenging the ancient concept of the Mediterranean as a
safe inland sea; shattering NATO's right-flank defenses by threatening the inde-
pendency of Turkel/ and Greece; driving Yugoslavia toward Soviet dependency; stirring
the huge Communist parties in Italy and France to new activity; isolating Iran, and
imperiling the air passage to India and Pakistan. These are only some of the possible
consequences . . . "

Columnist Joseph Kraft, in a syndicated article, Oct. 18, 1973, wrote:
"While the U. S. held aloof from Israel, the Russians made big gains in. 'he

Middle East. Who can seriously believe that increased Soviet influence in the
is compatible with a freer flow of oil to the U. S .or Western Europe or Japan? An-
deed who can really believe that increased Soviet influence is compatible with the
survival of the monarchical regimes in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other states
which are the main purveyors of oil to this country and its friends?"

These are all so minor when contrasted with the horror that was generated
with a threat to Israel's very existence, with the danger of an entire people's inunda-
tion, with the warnings from Arab rulers that they were ready to destroy Israel!
Isn't there compassion, understanding, a sense of honor? Is all the talk about
a Judeo-Christian ideal a mere sham, an hypocritical approach to a human issue?
A cease fire has been formulated. It can lead to peace. That's what Abba Eban
told us a few days ago. That's all Israel asks! Now there is new talk of Israel
being sold down the river. Can't American public opinion unite to avert it?
The moral law that emanated from Israel is not a wartime measure for Jews:
it is the heritage of all mankind, and the Law that comes from Zion is for peace
and not for speculative bargaining with Jewry's existence.
In presenting the legacy anew to our neighbors we entertain the hope that the
American ideal for justice will be inseparably linked again with the ancient code
that rejects genocide and affirm the human principle that there shall never again
be another Holocaust.

for immediate transmittal through the Red Cross to
the Powers concerned (Article 122). It provides,
further, that Parties to the conflict "are bound to
send back to their own country, regardless of num-
ber or rank, seriously sick prisoners of war, after
having cared for them until they are fit to travel
(Article 109), and that prisoners "shall be released
and repatriated without delay after the cessation of
active hostilities" (Article 118).

Hopes for peace must never be abandoned. Perhaps
Dr. Henry A. Kissinger will truly earn the Nobel Peace
Prize with his efforts for an accord in the Middle East.
Adherence to the Geneva Convention, however, does not
even relate to efforts for peace. It comes first. Cruelties
toward those captured in a war must never be tolerated.
Nevertheless, oil interests didn't seem concerned by any
aspects of humaneness. Therefore pressures from seekers
of decency as well as peace must never be halted.

Magnanimity . . . and the
Killers' Religious Tract
Whenever Israel gets into a bargaining position she
is reminded of magnanimity. "Be magnanimous" said the
Christian Science Monitor. Perhaps the Monitor should
be advised, even through propagandistic sources it has
in Beirut and Cairo, to inquire into a pamphlet that was
issued to soldiers of the Egyptian army in June of 1973.
Entitled "Our Religious Belief in Our Path to Victory,"
the tract was issued in 1,000,000 copies and it contained
a preface written by Egyptian Chief of Staff General
Shazali, giving these orders:
"My sons, officers and men: The Jews have gone

beyond all limits in arrogance. We, the sons of Egypt
are determined to throw them back, to sweep through
their positions, killing and destroying them to cleanse
the shame of the defeat of 1967 and to regain our honor
and pride. Kill them wherever you find them and beware
lest they deceive you because they are a treacherous
people. They pretend to surrender to you so that they can
overcome you and kill you in a vile manner. Kill them.
Do not pity and do not show them mercy."
Such was the conditioning of the Egyptian army! And
- towards it Jews are advised to be magnanimous to the
point of withdrawing from defensive positions.
Fortunately, Israelis did not respond to the order to
kill with non-magnanimity: the treatment accorded POWs
by Israel demonstrated a sense of justice in accordance
with the Geneva Convention. The antagonists in this
country should have learned it by now.

*

*

*

American Jewish Committee's
Current Immense Services

In the battle for justice now being conducted in be-
half of a secure Israel, the compilation of facts by the
American Jewish Committee's researchers deserves high-
est commendation. The truth about American aid to the
Arab states that superseded that given to Israel, the
demonic role of the overwhelming majority in the United
Nations, historic backgrounds of U.S.-Israel friendship
and many other compilations have been of great help
in the defense of the Jewish and Israel's positions. We
are indebted to David Geller of the AJCommittee's for-
eign affairs department for the background memoran-
dum regarding support of Israel that serves U.S. national
interests, utilized in the major item on this page.

Mrs. Meir Describes Socialist Meeting as 'Frank Discussion Among Friends'

By S. J. GOLDSMITH
JTA Undon Bureau Chief
LONDON (JTA) — Israel's
Premier Golda - Meir said
that she was "optimistic"
about the cease fire agree-
ment her country has signed
with Egypt, that she hoped
a peace conference would
"take place soon" and that
she had "no reason to sus-
pect that (U.S. Secretary of
State) Henry Kissinger has
made any kind of arrange-
ments behind our back."
Mrs. Meir addressed a ball-
room crowded with media
representatives here Monday
morning after the conclusion
of a meeting of the Socialist
International Executive de-
voted to the Middle East situ-
ation which had convened
her expressly at her request.
It was attended by repre-
sentatives of 21 nations, in-
cluding eight prime minis-
ters. She described the gath-
ering as "a frank discussion

2—Friday, Nov. 16, 1973

was taken up with Mideast
peace prospects and that the
Middle East declaration of
the nine Common Market
countries came in for a great
deal of comment. He said
that oil was mentioned but
the question of sharing oil re-
sources between all of the
nine EEC nations was not
on the agenda.
Premier Meir met with
Prime Minister Edward
Heath for 75 minutes at No.
10 Downing St. at Heath's in-
vitation. A British spokes-
man described the meeting
later as "friendly and use-
ful."
`Special Ties' Between
Bonn, Israel Not Affected
by EEC Resolution: Brandt
STRASSBOURG (JTA) —
Chancellor Willy Brandt told
the European Parliament
Tuesday that West Ger-
many's support of last
week's Middle East resolu-
tion of nine Common Market
countries would in no way
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS effect the "special relations"

between friends" and said
she was "happier now than
I was before it took place."
Mrs. Meir voiced bitter.
ness over the acquiesence
of Western Europeon coun-
tries to Arab oil boycott
pressures as expressed in the
anti-Israel resolution adopt-
ed by the nine Common
Market countries in Brussels
last week. "It looks as if
the free world is prepared
to permit six men (Arab
oil leaders) to destroy the
European economic communi-
ty, to poison relations be-
tween American and Western
Europe, and to dictate to
proud and great countries
how to behave," she said.
The Socialist International
conference issued no state-
ments and did not adopt reso-
lutions. But is was summed
up by Harold Wilson, leader
of the Labor opposition and
former prime minister. He
said four-fifths of the time

between Bonn and Israel.
"Nobody will be surprised
if I say here that Israeli-
German relations have a spe-
cial character. This charac-
teristic remains untouched.
For us there can be no neu-
trality of the heart and of
the conscience," he said.

Brandt referred to the
Arab oil boycott of Holland,
saying that "This is not the
way to make friends. Threats
and blackmail can only ob-
struct constructive develop-
ments." But he defended
West Germany's position on
the Brussels resolution on
grounds of European unity.
"A choir of contradictory
European voices is of no help
to anybody, but political
unity has its price," the
West German leader said.
Netherlands Premier Joop-
den Uyl reaffirmed that his
government's acceptance of
Security Council Resolution
202 does not conflict with the
Netherlands' tradtional poli-

cy in the Middle East. The
Dutch government has al-
ways supported the existance
of the state of Israel as well
as the recognition of Pal-
estinian rights as was set
forth in the EEC document,
he said.

But on Tuesday the Dutch
government dispatched a top
diplomat to Saudi Arabi to
convince Kim; Faisal to lift
the oil boycott imposed by the
Arabs on Holland. The diplo •
mat, former Dutch Ambas-
sador in Washington, Johan
H. H. van Royen, met with
Faisal and top Saudi aides.
In Washington, the West
German Embassy disclosed
that it is receiving "quite a
number" of letters from
Americans expressing "con-
cern and sadness" over West
Germany's ban on shipment
of war materials to Israel
from United States bases in
Germany shortly after the
Yom Kippur war started.

A n embassy spokesman

said Ambassador B a r on
Berndt von Staden was re-
sponding to such protests by
replying that West Ger-
many's "non-partisan" poli-
cy must not be understood
as one of "indifferences" d
that the West German L-
tion was determined pri-
marily by its interest in a
speedy Mideast peace which
can be accepted and recog-
nized as just "by all notions"
in the region.
In Brussels the "Coordinat-
ing Committee of Jewish Or-
ganizations in Belgium" said
that Europe has "abandon-
ed" Israel in accepting last
week's Common M arke t
resolution on the Mideast.
In an "open letter" to the
Belgian parliament the group
rapped Europe for aligning
itself with the Arab nations
and added that Europe's
"capitulation" to the Arab
oil threat prevents it from
playing any constructive role
in a Mideast peace settle-
ment.

