Why Were They There?
Dr. William Haber: Universal Tributes
Israeli Radio Commentator,
Happy Birthday, Bill
Editorial
American Who Died in War
By ROBBEN W. FLEMING
President, University of Michigan
William Haber: Man of Vision,
Humor, Communal Dedication
`Carry Your Heads
High'--a 'Soldier's
Letter to Parents
Ain I Here?' :
`Why.
Commentator Gives
Personal Testament
Before going out to war,
Morris Katz of Kibutz Levi
left a letter with the kibutz
secretariat, addressed to his
parents in the United States,
asking that it be sent on to
them if he should fail to re-
turn. A copy of that letter
was reproduced in Amudim,
the internal kibutz newspa-
per. It reads:
"You will be receiving
this letter only if something
should happen to me. I want
you to know that I don't re•
gret having done what I did
TEL AVIV (JTA) — First
there were rumors and then
came the news. Rafi Unger,
26, the promising Israel Ra-
dio commentator, was among
those killed in a troop, car-
rier in the Sinai's southern
front while covering the
events for Kol Israel.
And then came his kit,
which was found rusty and
stained.
In the kit were a number
of tape recorder cassettes.
Some had not been used.
Some had a vivid description
of a cruel war. One of the
tapes was private. A slip of
paper said: "Not for publi-
cation. Kindly keep it for me
till after the war, till I re-
turn." Rafi Unger did not
return.
Kol Israel, the broadcast-
ing service, sent the private
personal tape to Unger's par-
ents. They listened to it. It
was a man talking with him-
self, with his soul.
The parents gave it to the
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
for publication so that the
Jewish public and Jewish
youth might learn the answer
to the question "Why am I
here? Why does a Jewish
youth find himself in the
midst of a war?" What fol-
lows is Rafi Unger's state-
ment.
"We are on the move south-
wards. I have some time to
do some thinking. I found
myself between two soldiers
in an armored troop carrier
and within a short time I
learned — though I am not
surprised — after all, it's a
war — that these troop car-
riers are vulnerable to any
kind of firearm s, except
small arms. I am thinking,
even now, as I am talking in-
to the microphone, and I am
asking m y s e 1 f, why, for
heaven's sake, am I here?
Actually I have no reply
right away. While in Tel Aviv
I told my colleagues: Look,
there is one . meshugener
called Unger. He could stay
behind in Tel Aviv—and yet
he goes down to the front.
He knows that everything can
happen to him—and yet he
goes down. One of them, a
war - experienced f r i e n d,
snapped that I was a fool.
Am I really a fool? By God,
I do not know.
"True, I am not a 'lion.' I
never looked for bravery, for
danger. And yet, when this
moment came, when I was
given the choice, I felt that
my place is here, with the
combat people, I know, I am
sure that it Would have irked
me all my life, I would not
be able to explain myself, if
I would not be here now. It
is difficult to explain why,
when already in the south, I
did not stay in the rear com-
mand post but ran after a
moving armored troop car-
rier and when, in the first
carrier in which the brigade
commander was emplaced,
there was no room for me,
I hurried after the second
and that I would do so again.
I am sorry for having brought
you sorrow and grief through
my action, but I did what I
fel l t I had to do. I'm proud
of having done .so and I know
that you, too, will take pride
in me.
"Israel is in need of peo-
ple, and only if these people
are here can the country find
security. I wish to hope that
what I did will only encour-
age you and others to come
here, too.
"I want you to know that
I love you and that it grieves
me so much to think that we
haven't met since I came to
this country.
"Please, for Sharon's (his
sister) sake; and for your
own sake and mine, don't
feel depressed. Instead, feel
proud; keep on smiling and
carry your heads high.
"It's funny, but I don't
know how to end this letter.
It's not the type of letter I
write every day, and I'm not
sure whether it's customary
at all. Perhaps it were better
not to end it at all.
"Well, I'll only send lots
of love,
Your son,
Morris"
The same issue of Amudim,
which was dedicated to the
memory of 17 members of
the kibutz who fell in the
Yom Kippur War, an entire
page was devoted to the
memory of Morris Katz.
Among other things it said
that he arrived to Kibutz La-
vi three years ago and that
his background was remote
from that of a religious ki-
butz. Originally his outlooks
were both irreligious and an-
ti-Zionist. When he got round
to deciding on aliya, he came
to the conclusion that he
must first fulfill his duty
toward the Israel defense
forces rather than continue
with his studies.
.
56—Friday, March 1, 1974
March 6 is alleged to be Bill Haber's 75th birthday.
Of course, if you look at him you know he really isn't 75,
and that this is just another of his jokes...The trouble is
that Fannie, who is both more sober and reliable, insists
that he really is 75, and if you read all the things he has
done you end by expecting the Bicentennial Commission
to feature him as one of the original signers of the Dec-
laration of Independence
Seriously, few men have
been involved in so many
things over so long a time.
He started his teaching ca-
reer at the University of
Wisconsin in 1936, moved to
Michigan • State University
from 1927 to 1936, and then
came to the University of
Michigan for the balance of
the 20th Century.
Along the way he has
served both state and federal
governments in both operat-
ing and advisory roles in the
fields of manpower, indus-
trial relations, social serv-
Dr. Fleming
ices, and so forth.
To fill in his spare time ..he has arbitrated labor
disputes, been president of the American ORT Federation,
as well as president of the central board of the World
ORT Union since 1955, and on the governing boards of
both Hebrew University, and Brandeis University.
A very busy career sometimes allows insufficient
time for family, friends, and acquaintances. Not so with
Bill Haber. Those of us who have been privileged to know
him accept with gratitude his sense of humor, his warm
compassion and understanding, his friendly ear for our
problems and his broad shoulders for our worries.
Happy birthday, Bill! Given the current rate of in-
f•ation, years, like dollars, can be substantially discounted.
Therefore, we refuse to take the figure 75 very seriously!
vehicle and jumped onto it
as it was already in moving.
Why? Was it curiosity, care-
lessness? Possibly, but not
all. It was first and foremost
the search for the feeling of
experience. It is the inability
to live in this country with-
out experiencing what has
become part and parcel of
the life of people of this
country, young and adults. I
think that it is this that
brought me onto this armored
troop carrier—moving toward
the unknown.
"I have no fears though
there is a natural sense of
worry. Actually I wanted
everything to came to an end
and return safely home. It
sounds banal to say so, and
I would have laughed at my-
self about such a phrase had
it not been for the fact that
I am on the front, at a place
where the possibility of get-
ting hit is real. Nevertheless,
I feel that my place is here,
whether I broadcast or not.
I have to live this experience
of the front, of the battle for
life which entails life or
death, to live it here, on the
sands of Sinai. These are the
true reasons. If I hide any-
thing from myself, it is a
thing which I am not even
prepared to reveal to my
heart. And therefore I feel
no other reasons. The micro-
phone was the pretext. To be
here is an order of my heart,
my logic, my senses. This is
what I feel now, what I think
now."
Then Rafi Unger noticed a
sukka on a troop carrier. He
reported that, too. Then there
was no more reporting from
Rafi Unger. He was killed
together with General Avra-
ham Mendler in the troop
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS carrier.
Dr. William Haber, noted economist, college
professor, university dean, a world personality in
so many fields that a proper Who's Who descrip-
tion would occupy many pages: his prominence is
evidenced by his leadership that has not been
diminished an iota as he
approaches his 75th birth-
day, to be observed next
Wednesday.
He was in Israel three
weeks ago on a very im-
portant mission to assist
in planning for uninter-
rupted progress in Isra-
el's universities upon
their reopening after the
October war. He was
back at his desk after a
week's absence and is in
Israel again chairing
world sessions of ORT.
Dr. Haber
In between, he conferred
with students and faculty at the University of
Michigan where he occupies an important role as
adviser to President Robben W. Fleming. He was
consulted by ORT, United Jewish Appeal, Amer-
ican Friends of the Hebrew University. When he
returns it will be a busier schedule than ever: he
is one of American Jewry's most active leaders.
It is as such that he will be honored by all
who become aware of his never-tiring devotion to
many duties. His indefatigability is one of the
most remarkable traits of a man who does not
tire and does not retire but keeps serving Israel,
Jewry, the American academic community.
More power to a man of 75 whose youthful
spirit defies age.
Edward Heath's Distortion of Facts
Exposed by Roth in Detroit News
Edwin Roth, Detroit News
special correspondent in
Europe, on Tuesday exposed
the role of British Prime
Minister Edward Heath, who
battled for retention of gov-
ernment leadership in Thurs-
day's election, as distort-
ing facts regarding the Bri-
tish Middle East position. In
effect, Roth's expose proves
that Britain, like France, has
been obstructing Israel's
chances for defense.
Having met with Heath for
an interview, Roth quoted the
exchange of views he tran-
scribed during their talk and
then presented his own analy-
then presented his own
analysis:
EDWIN ROTH (The De-
troit Ne,ws): "What gave you
and Sir Alec Douglas-Home
the idea the British govern-
ment has any part whatso-
ever to play either in the
peace-keeping forces in the
desert or at the Geneva
peace conference?"
HEATH: "Because Britain
has had a very long connec-
tion with the Middle East
and we know the Middle
East well, both Sir Alec and
myself. I was in fact the first
British minister to go right
across the Arab countries,
from Aden right up to Ku-
wait, and seeing them all on
the way, and discussing their
policies with them. And, of
course, we were instrument-
al in bringing about the union
of Arab emirates and we still
have very close connections
with them.
"The fact is that in the
last 31/2 years we have also
greatly improved our rela-
tions with Egypt and they
are extremely 'good. And
this flows from the fact that
I saw President Nasser when
I • was the leader of the op-
position a few months before
the election of 1970. And
after I had become prime
minister in the autumn of
1970, when there was the hi-
jacking of the planes, he was
instrumental, because of my
relationship with him, in get-
ting out these people. But
four days later he was dead."
ROTH: "A ctually they
were freed by King Hussein's
Jordanian army—"
HEATH: "So our relations
with Egypt are very good.
This has been shown through-
out the war, because we were
in communication with them
—part of the time at the re-
quest of Dr. Kissinger and
the Americans."
ROTH: "Hasn't the British
army quite enough to do in
Northern Ireland rather than
go to the desert?"
HEATH: "We are prepared
to take our part in interna-
tional forces. We are doing
it in Cyprus and we are pre-
pared to do it elsewhere."
Heath's answers contained
two untruths. The hostages
in the terrorist plane hijack-
ings to Jordan in September,
1970, were liberated not be-
cause of Heath's contacts
with Nasser but because
King H.ussein's Jordanian
army liberated the hostages
by force in its victorious civil
war against the Palestinian
terrorists which became
known to the Palestinians as
"Black September." Neither
Heath nor Nasser freed those
hostages.
Despite what Heath said,
some Conservative parlia-
mentarians fiercely opposed
his government's Mideast
policy, just as some Labor
parliamentarians opposed
Harold Wilson's Mideast po-
licy. In a direct collision be-
tween Britain's American
ally and the Soviet Union,
those Conservative parlia-
mentarians considered the
Heath government's standing
beside the Soviet Union
against the United States to
be dishonorable.
They a 1 s o believed it
was dishonorable of the
British government to hold
back from Israel—when Is-
rael's survival was in danger
—arrps already bought and
paid for by Israel, some of
which had been taker to
Britain from Israel for
and servicing.
One of these Conservatives
was a young parliamentari-
an who resigned from his
first government post as a
cabinet minister's parliamen-
tary private secretary in pro-
test against the •overnment's
anti-I sr a e 1, anti-American
policy.
When I asked the young
man recently if he might
follow his grandfather's ex-
ample and join the Liberal
Party, he replied:
"With the lot that's running
the government now, I'm al-
most tempted."
His name, like that of his
grandfather: Winston Church-
ill.