Purely Commentary
Challenge to the Silent American Intellectuals and to
Liberals in Our Own Ranks Who Are in Hiding in Current
Critical Period in Our History . . . Generosity Also Tested
By Philip
Slomovitz
How Long Will Terror Dominate the World Because of an Impotent UN and World's Inactions?
Must there be more calamities like those in Rome and Athens before complacency
will end on the international arena?
Only 10 days before the horrible massacre by insane Arabs, first in Rome and
then in Athens, the United Nations refused to act on American proposals to end inter-
national terrorism.
Thanks to Russian intransigence, to the condoning of terror by power-crazed nations
in the UN, any effort to end the state of horror in the world is totally ignored.
Israel's insecurity within the world organization, and with so many enemies on
her borders, has been used as an excuse for the many hijackings and terrors that
have occurred until now.
In the present instance, there hasn't even been a sane explanation for an act of
brutality.
Liberals and Jews . . . Recollections
of Munich ... Deplorable Silence
William S. White, the unprejudiced and highly qual-
ified feature writer and news commentator, in an analysis
of the energy crisis and the incredible pressures that stem
from the Soviet Union, warned that "we simply cannot
allow a crude diplomacy based upon the turning on or
the turning off of a crude oil valve to run the high foreign
policy of the United States."
His views are worth serious consideration, and it is
to be hoped that they will not be ignored.
In his article, White made a rather puzzling state-
ment. He posed some challenging questions, regarding
the "Western alliance over the whole basin of the Medi-
terranean and domination of the Indian Ocean as well,"
the American feelings "traumatized over Vietnam," the
demands for Israeli withdrawals, asking also:
"That to support Israel here is no more to be senti-
mentally 'pro-Israel,' or 'pro-Jewish,' than our support
of Russia against Hitler was for the love of Josef Stalin.
That not some 'Jewish lobby' but rather the gut, vital
interests of the United States of America is the point
here."
Then he commented: "Actually, Jewish opinion in this
country is sharply divided. Most of my own liberal Jewish
friends and acquaintances indeed are not coming to
Israel's defense."
Is this true? Is it conceivable?
Liberal forces are silent. The Arab propaganda ma-
chine is working overtime. Full-page advertisements in
newspapers throughout the land make accusations not
against Israel alone but against world Jewry.
There are accusations of aggression, of policies of
expansion, with demands that Israel be reduced to the
ghetto proposed in the original United Nations partition
plan that called for the establishment of Jewish and
Arab states.
Where are Israel's defenders?
One of Israel's distinguished authors, Aharon Megged,
during a brief visit in this country, was "appalled to wit-
ness the silence of American intellectuals," and he wrote
as follows to the New York Times:
"Israel is now—except for the uneasy and dubious
support of the United States—wholly isolated. Asia, Africa
and most recently all of Europe have turned against her.
The tiny piece of land, hardly discernible on the map,
being held with her last efforts has become the emblem
of "injustice," by 2,500,000 settlers in Israel, to the
100,000,000 Arabs, who own enormous areas of uncul-
tivated land and infinite quantities of natural resources.
We are being condemned. We have been condemned:
in 1967, for firing the first shot in our defense; in 19'73,
for returning fire in our defense.
"All this is not new to us. It has happened before.
It has become a constant phenomenon in our long his-
tory: being abandoned, isolated, accused for the most con-
tradictory reasons—for fomenting Communism and for
controlling capitalism; for living with the households of •
other nations and for having a home of our own—and,
lastly, persecuted.
"But at all times there were men of spirit and mind
and conscience and faith who stood against this humiliat-
ing trend. Their brave voices, echoed through the world,
saved the honor of humanity and served as consolation
and encouragement to those left alone. Such was the voice
of Zola at the time of the Dreyfus affair. Such were the
voices of Jacques Maritain and Francois Mauriac and of
many other religious leaders and men of letters when
the Nazis cast their shadow over Europe.
"These are dark days we are living in if the whole
`cultural' world is succumbing to the blackmail of a few
oil magnates who hoard billions, not for the benefit of their
own peoples but for their personal perversions. Dark days
these are indeed if a great part of the same `cultural'
world looks upon decadent feudals as 'progressive' and
upon those who have built the only democratic society in
the Middle East based on social justice as 'reactionary'
and 'imperialistic.' It is the distortion of human values
and an abuse of the real cultural heritage of the Western
world. The triumph of oil interests over a sense of justice
which should lead peoples to come to the aid of the be-
sieged is an insult to human dignity.
"Will not a few voices of courageous and conscientious
intellectuals be heard at this troublesome time?"
Is it possible that William S. White factually exposed
the role also of Jewish liberals vis-a-vis Israel, not real-
izing that the struggle now is not only Israel's alone but
of the entire Jewish people and that it serves as a lesson
for liberalism of all mankind?
2—Friday, Dec. 21, 1973
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Had there been decency in relations with Israel, the horrors might have been
averted.
But Germany yielded to terrorists by paying a heavy price and by releasing the
murderers of Israeli athletes in Munich during the Olympic games. Others have been
released. A free hand had thus been given to murderers on an international scale.
Any wonder that these things are happening?
Any wonder that Israel is not only shocked but outraged by what had occurred?
The conscience of the world is on trial. It won't be salved until there is firm action
against terrorists, even if they stem from the darlings of the Big Powers—the Arab
oil producers! And until there is full recognition of the state of Israel to function freely
and without threats from the Arab nations whose nurturing of the terrorists is respon-
sible for the continuous threats to human lives on aerial and other passageways.
The Test in Jewish Ranks
Jews now are being tested. An appeal to meet the
emergencies that confront Israel is now in progress. The
United Jewish Appeal-Israel Emergency Fund has launch-
ed a drive for funds to relieve the Israelis of the duties
to care for their social needs, to provide proper hospital-
ization for the thousands of maimed and wounded; to care
for the immigrants from Russia and other lands who, in
the midst of a war, were arriving in the thousands in
search for the only available haven of refuge. Many big
givers came through gloriously, many names are still
missing from the ranks of the supporters of human needs.
Yet, when a Phonogift solicitor asks for a few extra
dollars, there is the old, worn-out excuse: we have given, a
dollar here, a dollar there, to a cause here, a cause there;
we are tired of giving; how long can the request for funds
continue?
It is time to ask: where are the liberals, the missing
philanthropists, the masses? Is it possible that the "cease
fire" will result in "cease giving" when genuine generosity
is so urgently needed?
Jews are on trial. The masses are on trial! The tradi-
tional principle that even he who is in want and who is
not affluent must share in a great responsibility is now
being put to the test.
Mrs. Sadat
—
and a Dream for Peace!
Jihan Sadat, the wife of Anwar el-Sadat, the Egyptian
president, was interviewed by AP's correspondent in
Cairo, Jurate Kazickas, whose report from Cairo quotes
Mme. Sadat as having stated:
"I remember once at the beginning of the war some
soldiers said to me, 'We will receive you in Tel Aviv.'
But I said, 'Tel Aviv is for the Israelis. It is not ours. We
just want our lands, a free Palestine, and to live with the
Jews in peace.' "
This is one of the few realistic and human sentiments
to reach us from Cairo. But it is a bit disappointing.
Why didn't Mme. Sadat accede that she would be glad
to meet with the soldiers—and with Jews—in Tel Aviv and
in Haifa and in Jewish Jerusalem and in Jewish Hebron,
and in Bethlehem that is so well administered by Jews
and remains a Christian shrine! And that in an exchange
of hospitality she would be glad to welcome Israelis in
Cairo and Alexandria and Ismailya.
How good to hear sentiments for peace! So far
they have fallen on deaf ears — every time Israelis,
and Jews pleaded for amity. Now we have a semblance
of such beggary for good will. It can work when not Cairo
alone but Beirut and Damascus and Baghdad—and even
Riyadh and Mecca—will affirm a readiness to exchange
visits with Tel Avivians.
What a dream! Will it ever be realized? Will the
19 Arab states, and the many more who back them up
in an unnecessary struggle—the many with Moslem popu-
lations, the Blacks whose anti-Israelism is so unrealis-
tic, France and Britain with an abandonment of traditions
for liberty, equality and fraternity: will they grant a
mite of justice to Jews who also need a home?
Indeed, what a dream!
*
*
*
UN's Disastrous Infiltration
Kurt Waldheim as a presiding guide for a negotiating
conference on the Middle East should be viewed as a
normalcy in a world crisis, on a par with Dr. Henry A.
Kissinger in such a role. After all, the United Nations is
included in the plans for a Geneva conference. But infil-
tration of either France or Great Britain would be
disastrous—as disastrous as the entire UN playing a role
in plans for talks that are not yet confirmed—Anwar
Sadat has said he will not talk "directly" with Israel.
Especially menacing would be the participation of
France and the British in negotiations for an end to the
Middle East conflict. Both have emerged as Israel's
enemies. Heath and Douglas-Home and Pompidou have
added hatred to the smoldering fires. How can they be
trusted?
*
The Kissinger Puzzle
Under the circumstances, how is Secretary of State
Henry A. Kissinger to be judged? Are his pressures upon
Israel leading to destruction? As the U.S. representative
he is assuredly pressuring Israel for concessions.
Many pressured-for demands are logical under existing
conditions and will have to be accepted realistically. But
the fears over the Kissinger attitudes, and the protests
against his role, have assumed extreme proportions. Are
the fears over his attitude, which is judged as that of a
Jew who is bending backwards to undermine his people's
hopes? He has been likened to Walter Rathenau, who, as
foreign minister of post-World War I Germany was viewed
as an appeaser. Golda Meir disagrees. So does Jacques
Torczyner, who considers Kissinger to be like Georges
Mandel, onetime French premier.
Kissinger must be given the benefit of the doubt.
Regardless of •the overwhelming expressions of suspicion
as to his readiness to appease and therefore to sell out
Israel's major needs, it is to early to judge and he shot!'
be given time. He may earn a Nobel Peace Prize moi
from his efforts in the Middle East than he did in his
Southeast Asian deliberations.
Nevertheless, there is cause for concern, and primarily
on one aspect of his approaches to international issues. A
Detroit News correspondent, discussing "uneasiness about
Kissinger and Mr. Nixon's foreign policy 'realism'," ap-
pended this comment:
"The concern has arisen most sharply over the fate
of Soviet Jews wishing to leave Russia, and over the pleas
of Sakharov and other Soviet dissidents. The administra-
tion continues to maintain that it is not realistic for foreign
policy to try to alter the internal structure of other states.
Kissinger has applied the same argument to South Africa
and, when questioned by the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, said he would have - applied it to Nazi Ger-
many."
How could one who is himself a survivor from Nazism
adhere to such a view?
Senator Henry M. Jackson, countering the view that
Americans should not inject themselves in the internal
affairs of other nations, reminded isolationists of the
Nazi era, when adherence to their argument resulted in
the murder of 15,000,000 people-6,000,000 of them Jews.
He argued against another Munich.
Perhaps Kissinger is misjudged even in what he re-
portedly told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
That's why it is best to bide time until the actual Kissinger
Mideast performance is known and understood in all its
aspects. Hope, of course, is that what he does will lead
to an end to the warfare that endangers the existence of
Israel and threatens a world war.
Surely, Kissinger is not a gazlan, an evil-minded man
who either forgets or ignores cruelties. Already, the Israel
daily Haaretz has provided well-informed information that
the American peace negotiator had not been pressuring,
that he kept Ambassador Simha Dinitz fully informed on
developments and that the Israeli envoy in the U.S. had
even participated in the drafting of the last UN resolution
on the cease fire. That helps provide a better image for
Secretary of State Kissinger.
America, in Humanitarian Role; Not
Deterred by Besmirching Defector
America's role as the defender of the oppressed, as
the comforter of the weak, will never be deterred, even by
the deluded and panicky, regardless of their faith.
The U. S. role, in its own interests in the Middle East
and as friend of Israel, is well established. But an ex-rabbi
still propagates a policy that would mean another Holo-
caust. He signed an advertisement by a so-called "Com-
mittee of Concerned Americans" whose makeup is of
Arabists who do not even understand the value of peace
for the Arabs.
That ex-rabbi, whose former roles in Pontiac, Flint and
Philadelphia are a matter of record marked by venom
and destructibility, is not even associated any more with
the anti-Israel Council for Judaism. Only this ex-rabbi and
one more of his associates had been embraced by Arabs
who sought Israel's destruction. His former Council for
Judaism associates seem to have repudiated him. But he
is on the scene misleading Americans with advertise-
ments against Israel in American newspapers. He doesn't
fool anyone. His hatred for his own people is establish:
His self-hatred must be the reason for his perfidy.
*
Lou Levitan's Remarkable Record
Louis E. Levitan's 16-year record of services here
with the Israel Bond Organization serves as a guide for
professionals and lay leaders alike. His accomplishments
have earned for him the undisputable title of dynamism.
He has enrolled so many supporters for Israel invest-
ment causes, and has inspired so much interest in tasks
for Israel, that the respect accorded him results from
genuine recognition of ability and devotion.
His background of labors in major Jewish movements
attests to the continuity of social service as a career in
Levitan's links with Jewish movements. His role in behalf
of the Jewish survivors from Nazism after World War II,
when he assisted in rescue efforts in concentration camps,
his association with the Joint Distribution Committee and
other posts point to many years of devoted services. His
major accomplishments were in behalf of Israel Bonds,
and Detroit will miss him when he leaves to assume
charge of the Pacific Region for Israel Bonds. We hope
that the excellent record he established for this community
in Israel Bond enrollments will not be diminished and will
continue in high gear as under his leadership.