40—Friday; January 4, 1974 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS What's in Store for Us and the World in By Jewish News Analyst "Good riddance" is the conglomerate effect of feelings about the year that just ended. An old Hebraic saying welcomes a new year with the salutation: "An end to the year with curses, a welcome to a year of blessings!" ,4 Thus, 1973 and its tensions shoved off New Year the arena is of history Arew Hopes with relief, accom- panied by hopes of the coming of a period of relief from sufferings, violence, threats, insecurity, war-mongering. World Jewry especially craves for an end to the bias that seemed to drag 1973- 5733 in its midst — into the worst calendar periods in humanity's records. How does 1974 (5734 within it) begin? Does it carry with it hopes for better days, for amity among men, for respect for humankind, for a cessation to racial and religious bias? Perhaps Israel's status is more hopeful. Golda Meir's victory at the polls is a sign that the Israelis are concessionaires, that peace is valuable to them and they are willing to trade a measure of pride for a great segment of good will and neighbor- liness. Perhaps the hopeful days are arriving, even if by slow movements. * On the home fronts it is not yet too com- forting. The dangers to international co- operation have not been reduced. Hate stir- rings are still in evi- Toynbee , s denc e. The vigilant Renewed must remain on guard. An example of ex- Hatreds tremism was glaringly flashed last Sunday in a world famous historian's repetition of bias against Israel. Arnold Toynbee is among those who per- Sist in introducing prejudice into an atmo- sphere of peace-searching. He did it again. At a time when the Palestinian problem is nearing some form of solution, with the Palestinians hopefully in a cooperative mood to ,-strengthen their own positions while working in harmony with the Israelis. Not so the prejudiced professor. He would go back to 1947 to reduce the state of Israel. Perhaps he, like Qaddafi, would _ expel 3,000,000 from Israel and would take control of the land, subjecting the remain- ing 1,000.000—or less—to the slavery that one would anticipate from a program like the Toynbee-Qaddafi clique would enforce in the Middle East. That's the kind of civilization one could anticipate from the learned professor whose line is in no sense different from the Libyan dictator's There is one main factor of seriousness in the whole business: will Israel's will and right to live be respected? As long as the Toynbees deny that right, the battle against them and for justice continues. That's a factor on the new year's schedule not to be ignored. Toynbee is a symbol of a continuing menace to Israel and to just rights for an embattled and imperiled people. Arab potentates, so rich that they can't spend even a portion of their available funds (they use it for all purposes except to provide sustenance P ublic for refugees from their relief for whom Relations ranks, is provided mainly with Forces U. S. dollars), have forged menacing weap- Tested ons against mankind. Oil is the main tool of destruction. Now their emissaries are coming to the United States to conduct a propaganda campaign. One of them, a Lebanese designated to start the new propaganda against Israel — which means against American Jewry as well — said before leaving Beirut, as re- ported in the New York Times, that "the Arab intention was not to create hardships for the American people but to make the oil issue 'a household word' so that the American people would bring pressure on their government to follow an even-handed policy.". 9 Are 714 We on the R oa d • Jewish News Summary of Current Events to In other words, the intention is to make anti-Israelism a household word in this country, and the Arabs have the money for such propaganda. This is, perhaps, one of the most pressing challenges confronting American Jewry today. Are we competent enough to counteract such propaganda, which would inevitably lead to anti-Semit- ism? Is the American Jewish community properly prepared to counteract the hate that is certain to emanate from the house- hold world that has already become a bitter code for the lunatic fringe and threatens to be adopted by the unknowing who are so numerous in our midst? This is the time for the intellectuals in our midst to play the role that is so vital in overcoming bigotry. The struggle with the Arabs could be resolved quickly and easily if the hatreds were removed. But they are fanned more rapidly and they are assuming a global character. American Jewry is therefore being put to the test. Unless our best minds are geared to the task of educating the public, of presenting the truth and defining it, we'll be in serious trouble. The challenge is here. The answer is awaited in all seriousness. Perhaps a stronger public relations force will emerge in Jewish ranks to defeat the bigots and the prejudice-injecters. * * Irving Howe is a distinguished scholar, editor of Dissent, an authority on Yiddish and Yiddish literature (he has authored sev- eral volumes on these subjects), and is an eminent university professor. He is not a Zionist. He is a Socialist. He is concerned about Israel. In the current issue of New York maga- azine, appears his per- Howe's sonal statement, "Thinking the Unthink- `Gevale able About Israel," in About which he calls for ac- tion in Israel's defense Israel after reviewing the basic issues that create the challenges. He utters a gevalt, declaring that "silence is intolerable," in a concluding paragraph to his long statement, ih which he asserts: T land did is also reminiscent of Munich and the Nazi era. Howe is a sincere man. He is a good thinker. • As a non-Zionist he is also our antagonist only when he fails to admit that he was wrong in not adopting our platform which rescued many Jews and established Israel and could have saved many more if we did not have an opposition. Isaac Duet- scher admitted it, even though he, too, re- mained a non-Zionist while admiring Israel. Extra cauting is needed now to detect the intentions of propagandists. Many so- called Middle East political groups have been formed, and nu- Beware merous publications are to those inter- Of False offered ested in the Mideast de- Merchants velopments. Who's to know what the politics are of these seekers for support? How is one to know what "Fel- lowship of Reconciliation" stands for? It of- fers for sale numerous books and periodicals. Its intentions can be judged by the conclu- sion of the Berrigan speech on the future of the Middle East. Rev. Berrigan has en- rolled in the ranks of Israel's destroyers. He has proven to be an anti-Semitic anti- Zionist. Any group selling his views on Israel cannot be unbiased. Beware of them! • Many heartening evidences of Christian friendships emerge in the present critical time for Israel and for world Jewry. The hope is for a much larger and more effective action from the non-Jewish community in defense of Israel's right to live, which is the basic need at issue. But the few who assert themselves are firm and emphatic. Dr. Frank H. Littell has earned our ap- preciation for his leadership in Christians Concerned for Israel. In the current issue of his organization's CCI Notebook appears this interesting note: "A very important suggestion has been made: that churches 'adopt' young Israelis who are hospitalized and being rehabilitated. - There are thousands, for it was a very dear and costly effort for little Israel to throw back the Syrian and Egyptian surprise "There is flux, uncertainty, Maneuver- attack on the Day of Atonement. Any Sun- ing. Pressures encounter other pressures. day School class would find it tremendously In the imperfect society that we live in, the rewarding to 'adopt' a young injured Is- consequences of pressure are real and meas- raeli — to send books and magazines, ex- urable. For good or bad, they count. What change letters and pictures, to act out a worries me is that all the modes of pressure compassion which we often verbalize with and persuasion — lobbying, writing to and facility and let wither without the sustain- visiting congressmen, offering public argu- ing soil of credible action. ments and statements — strike sophisticated "Dr. Littell will be going to Israel in people — say, the kind who are likely to the semester break to work out some of the be reading these words — as tiresome and details. In the meantime, why not take it tacky. (It's more exciting, no doubt, to give up—with the church and the church school, a party for the Black Panthers.) But it is the youth fellowship and the adult classes? precisely these tiresome and tacky things This is the kind of Christian action which that can have a significant impact on Amer- any church group, whatever the differences ican policy in the coming few months. of political opinion, can immediately see "A time may come when it will be and act upon." necessary to turn to more dramatic and militant methods, perhaps a march on When the present crisis will finally be re- Washington. A time may come when the solved, one of the aspects of interest to be traditional Jewish outcry of gevalt!, pro- analyzed will be the reactions of the press voking scorn and worse, may be necessary. and of news commentators. Let us keep our voices in readiness, but More letters f r o m L etters meanwhile there is the work of politics, Jews and Arabs have pressure, persuasion. Silence is intolerable." been published in To the American newspapers He makes some accusations against the Editor on the Middle East is- enemies of Israel, and among the most devasting is a recapitulation of a shocking sues than ever before. Perhaps the press action that is reminiscent of earlier trag- has been more tolerant than after the Six- edies: "the Arabs have s u c c e e d e d in Day War. Israel's retention of American frightening and demoralizing Western Eu- sympathies are partly ascribed to her being rope through their skillful manipulation of the underdog. Yet, one must question the wisdom with oil, so that — this example is my own — during the Yom Kippur War, England, in which some newspapers have handled let- the name of 'even-handedness,' prevented ters. Controversy is part of the American the spare parts for tanks that were sitting way of tolerating difference of opinion, but on the Southhampton docks from reaching distortion of truth should be intolerable. But Israel, even though the Israelis had already all sorts of lies have penetrated the Ameri- paid for the parts. For anyone of a certain can press. A typical example was the out-of-context age, such 'even-handedness' brings frightful memories of the `neutrality' of France and quotation from HaAretz in a letter by an Britain during the Spanish Civil War. Hitler anti-Israeli Arab in last Saturday's Detroit and Mussolini p our e d supplies into the News. A question to be posed is: How could the Franco-held portion of Spain, while the European democracies, craven then as now, Free Press have permitted the printing of proclaimed themselves neutral!" What Eng- a letter in which the writer said: "America • has almost ignored the pleas of the Arabs, many of which are justifiable, thus aiding Israel in the killing of the Arab population." Doesn't such imbecilic charge that Israel is killing the Arab population arouse hatred rather than inspire rational thinking? Or the letter the Free Press published from a deluded reader who insists he'll burn lights on his Christmas tree "not in memory - of Christmas . . . money for 'God's c' people' . . . but in memory of Moslemb died for what any man is willing to die for; his country; his village, his children." What a pity that an uninformed can't be advised that he is on the wrong track, that Moslems benefit from Israel, that Arabs and Jews can both benefit from peace Many letters mislead, corrupt, disrupt, appeal to hate and murder. A- bit more cau- tion by editors would help eliminate bias and hate. It was relieving and there was a bit of genuine humor in this letter that appeared in the New York Times: Does Israel Have Time? To the Editor: I watch with morbid fascination how Duerrenmatt's "The Visit" is now being acted out on the world stage. Clara Zachanassian, one of the world's richest women (Arab countries) wants to kill Anton Schill, the man who had sup- posedly wronged her (Israel). Unable to do the job herself, she offered huge bribes (oil) to the people of the town (nations of the world) to do the dirty work for her. The town folks first resist since they all love the friendly and popular Schill, but their need for the money wins out. They denounce him, smear his reputation in order to relieve their guilt to justify his killing and thus they prime themselves for the murder. Schill incredulously watches his friends turn into enemies one by one, and designedly succumbs as they are closing up on him. The only difference is, of course, that we know that Schill is doomed. Israel still has time. Or, 'does she? Zoltan Erenyi Bronx, Dec. 10, 1973 Not to be ignored is the yielding to terror by world powers. It must have contributed to the Arab intransigence. Arab states have given asylum to mur- Yielding derers a n d terrorists have been glorified as To heroes. Kuwait is still - Terror refraining from punish- ing the five torrorists who murdered 32 innocent people in Rome — five Moroccan officials among theni — by permitting the Palestine Liberation Organization to do the investigating. It forced the New York times to publish another editorial (Dec. 28) con- demning the indifference to the crimes, under the title "No Deal With Terror": "The outrages committed by the five Arab terrorists who indiscriminately mur- dered 32 innocent persons at the Rome and Athens airports cannot properly be dealt with in any manner other than trial in a court of law. :Ay "The Government of Kuwait is a making a mockery of justice in dealing with, these wanton murderers. Instead of moving toward a trial in its own courts or co- operating with Italy's extradition request, the Kuwait authorities have agreed to an interrogation of the five hijackers by a 'special committee' of the Palestine Liber- ation Organization. This move tends to con- firm earlier reports of • "tacit agreement" between Kuwait and the Palestinian guer- rilla leader, Yasir Arafat, that the terror- ists would be turned over to a special PLO "court." "The Palestine Liberation Organization, which has itself a long record of criminal activities, has less than no qualification to act as the representative of law and justice. The case of the PLO against the five would amount to nothing more than an in- ternal squabble over organizational disci- pline. It can in no way satisfy the demand of the civilized world that the Government of Kuwait mete out justice to the murderers it has been holding in custody."