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Hellish War, Breeder of Vengeance, Causes
Lack of Forgiveness for Those Who Inspire Hatred
of Man for Man . . A Samsonian Admonition

Purely Commentary

Ale7

By Philip
Slomovitz

Unforgiveness for Arab States—for Condoning Bestialities and for Harboring Terrorists

When children show vengeance after witnessing what had happened in school
buildings, after witnessing classmates bloodied by subhumans who threw grenades at
them, it obviates forgiveness. Because they created hatred for fellow men in the hearts
of young people who witnessed the cruelties, the Arab governments that have inspired
the occurrences with their approval of the inhumanities cannot be forgiven.
The supplier of weapons to the beasts who caused the havoc, the Russians who
created war and give sanction to the conflict in the Middle East, cannot be forgiven.
There is another cause for unforgiveness. Lebanon harbors the terrorists. It is
true that the Lebanese are in a quandary. They want peace with Israel and an end to
the distressing condition that places that country on Israel's northern border in constant
danger of attacks by Israel. But Lebanon has not supressed the terror that stems from
its border villages. Israel feels compelled to punish the fulminators of terror, and the
result is more deaths. For creating a condition that inspires Israeli attacks on her
villages, Lebanon has lost the right to Jewry's forgiveness.
Commentators speak in terms of ancient Jewish laws of eye for an eye, tooth .
a tooth. What is introduced into the discussions is distortion of what is termed a
That which is misinterpreted as a cruel lex talionis, as a Jewish law of retaliation;._
been a principle that involved payment for injuries. BUt the new Levantine conditions
are"viewed as having revived a cruel Jewish law. For the misrepresentations, and for
having forced Jews in Israel to resort to cruelties in a functioning lex talionis, we do
not iorgive.
Genuine tragedy focuses upon the Middle East under conditions that make it
impossible to forgive, or to forget. For having injected hatred in many Jewish hearts
for acts of terror, for unspeakable brutalities, we accuse the enemies of Jewry and of
Israel of having done harm that makes forgiveness difficult.
Would that we could foresee an emerging ray of hope that the hatreds will end
and that amicable feelings will be restored to the embattled Middle East! Perhaps we
shall yet be blessed that forgiveness will be possible and neighbors will respect each
other's rights.

Gideon Hausner, Knesset member, internationally prominent attorney who was
the prosecutor at the trial of Adolf Eichmann, proposes that Israel introduce the death
penalty for terrorism.
The mere thought of such a proposal in the Jewish state is cause for sorrow
that Israel's enemies should have been responsible for the introduction of even the
merest thoughts of resort to death for death in Jewish ranks.
It is one of the developments in the Middle East conflict for which Israel's Arab
enemies can never be forgiven.
The subhumans among the Arabs are waging war by killing innocent children —
and the Arab governments are giving sanction to this type of warfare by their silence
and by providing sanctuaries for the murder-plotting heroes whose victims are women
and children.
It is inconceivable that such governments can ever be forgiven — for condoning
bestialities and inhumanities.
There was a measure of friendship and Cooperation between Arabs in Israel and
their neighbOrS. The best example was the counterpart to ,Ma'•lot, where the horror
against school children was perpetrated on May 15, 1974. The Arab village of Tarshiha
adjoining Ma'alot was an amicable neighbor. The Arab deputy mayor of the two
communities, Jamil Nahaas, was the only one to attend the funeral of the murdered
Cohen family in Ma'alot. The other Arabs, who lived peacefully with the Jews, stayed
away. It is to be hoped that the good relations are being restored and will again be
amicable.
Meanwhile, there is the disruption for which the Arab animosities which caused
them cannot be forgiven:
Arabs had learned to live well with Jews in Israel. They were restricted in some
respects, they can not serve in Israel's' army — for security reasons — but there was
cooperation. Now it is threatened. There is much more than confusion: there are
suspicions, fears, emerging hatreds.
. For this new condition the Arab states cannot be forgiven.

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The Tragedies of War . . . Peace
So Vital to End Human Losses

Samsonian 'Tamot Nafshi
Admonition for Murders

Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, who is reach-
ing his 51st birthday this weekend, is a tired man. It's
amazing that he has not exhausted his energies in the dif-
ficult task of reaching an accord that could end bloodshed.
He has been criticized, and mostly he is admired for
his energetic exertions to achieve good results. All liberty-
and peace-loving people hope and pray for his success.
If only all who are involved in the tragic conflict could
be induced to study the facts, to compare the available
figures on losses sustained by the warring nations!
In its annual report on world military balances, the
International Institute for Strategic Studies, issued in Lon-
don, made known these facts regarding the casualties in
the October Yom Kippur War:
Wounded Missing
Killed
Soldiers
7,500
531
ISRAEL:
270,000
2,812
15,000,
45,000
8,500
EGYPT:
260,000
120,000
7,000_ --- 21,000
SYRIA:
260
18
IRAQ:
30,000
125
The significant report gave these facts regarding the
Israeli and Arab military equipments and their losses:
Tanks - Warplanes Naval vessels
ISRAEL:
1,7130 -
500
none lost
120 lost
840 lost
2,000
600
EGYPT:
4 lost
182 lost
650 lost
300
1,600
SYRIA:
7 lost
162 lost
600 lost
60
400
IRAQ:
21 lost
80 lost
Conclusions and analyses provided by the authorita-
tive Institute for Strategic StudieS should be studied care-
fully. It is indicated in its report that each Syrian bat-
talion was accompanied by a Soviet adviser during the
October war and that Syria had -other Soviet collaborators
on the war scene. Some of these officers reportedly were
killed and •the strategic studies report also observes:
"In the eighteen months before the war, $5 billion
worth of arms were ordered by states in the Persian Gulf
and after the war, major Western powers, anxious for oil
and to balance trade, sought to sell_more. Oil producers
can call the tune and supplying arms may become_a test
of friendliness to their cause;
"The October war ended as- a result of cease-fires
pressed through by the super-powers, who thus demon-
strated the force of their relationship. Yet the limits of
detente between them were exposed: the Soviet Union
apparently thought that exploitation of opportunities to
support the Arabs lay within these limits; the United
States thought otherwise . . .
"In military terms, neither Egypt nor Syria succeeded
in doing what they set out to do, and at the time of the
cease fire Israel was in a better position than her oppo-
nents on both fronts ( and in a much better one after the
second cease-fire.) However, the Arab states made the
point that they are greatly improved and very expensive
to fight, let alone defeat. The casualties that Israel suf-
fered are very hard for a tiny country with such a close-
knit society to bear, and the \ burden on her economy, as
a result not only of the cost of arms and equipment needed
but also of the mobilization of a large proportion of her
manpower, is immense."
Could there be better arguments for peace? The end-
less bloodshed, the horrific losses should induce all in the
Middle East to sacrifice for peace rather than suffer from
wars. But, how can one eliminate the hatreds, the selfish-
ness of 19 large oil-rich Arab nations who would deny the
right to life for a very small Jewish nation?

A tragic aftermath of the Ma'alot outrage is the doubt
that has been raised whether Israel should have retaliated
with attacks on Lebanese guerrilla bases. Perhaps it is a
debatable subject. Perhaps Israel would have benefited
more from world public opinion if there had been re-
straint. But when had there been a sentiment of compas-
sion with Israel? Was there a single Arab state that did
not, concurrently with the horrible massacre of young
children, express cordiality and compatriotship with the
murderers?
The lesson is for the Arabs and the world at large,
that every action usually—in the scientific terms of phys-
ics—have an opposite and equal-reaction; that when people
are attacked—especially---in a Levantine setting—they re-
taliate.
There is much more to the Middle East danger. There
is the threat that if Israel is faced with destruction the
enemy will go down with the afflicted. The lesson is in
Judges 16:28-31:

2—Friday, May 24, 1974

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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As stated in this quotation:
I pray Thee, and strengthen me, I pray Thee,
only this once, 0 God, that I may be this once
avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.' And
Samson took fast hold of the two middle pillars upon
which the house rested, and leaned upon them, the
one with his right hand, and the other with his left.
And Samson said: `Let me die with the Philistines.'
And he bent with all his might; and the house fell
upon the lords, and upon all the people that were
therein. So the dead that he slew at his death were
more than they that he slew in his life. Then his
brethren and all the house of his father came down,
and took him, and brought him up, and buried him
between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burying-place of
Manoah his father.
Samson was to die, and he pulled the structure down
with him, destroying his enemy.
To avoid destruction, there must be 'an end to war-
fare and the commencement of peace.
It is useless to debate the ethics of retaliation when
the relatiators' children are being murdered, when an ene-
my fights a war by murdering innocent women and chil-
dren.
Let there be peace, and there won't be another Sam-
son to die with the Philistines.

Practicalities for Yiddish;
Harm in Exaggerated Boasting
Yiddishists have emerged on the American Jewish

scene like a consecrated element determined to perpetuate
a language they love.
It is a language worthy of saving, and the devotion
•
of its protectors is admirable.
Nevertheless the realism is lacking and the approaches
to the upbuilding of the rich tongue that had been the
medium of expression for millions are embedded in doubts.
If there had really developed a progressive and cre-
ative task leading to the revival of Yiddish, we'd see its
evidences in the press, in the theater, in public functions.
What do we have now? There is a boasting about
Yiddish courses in universities, and the most impressive
public effect of these tasks is a publication from Queens
College, Flushing, N.Y., called "Yiddish," which is de-
voted to Yiddish literature in English. The entire 102-page
second volume of this publication contains a poem in Yid-
dish, to illustrate an article on "Bialik's Yiddish Poetry."
Such aspects of popularizing Yiddish are valuable. To
retain popularity for Yiddish it is important to give status
to all that has been created in it. But in translations the
objective becomes a farce. Jews aren't needed for that.
Japanese or Peruvians or French scholars could render a
similar service. What is needed is to assure those resort-
ing to Yiddish studies to learn the Hebrew alphabet —
that's step number one in an effort to make Yiddish a
living tongue; and then to teach the language in all its
aspects. But limitation of Yiddish studies to its literature—
and that in ranslaion!—and resort to many of the banalities
that have marked a sort of stage — Yiddish quotability,
makes the very attempt farcical.
The service to Yiddish can be productive if it is actual
and factual, studious and dedicatory. The language earns
it. It is to 'be proven that all the claims for its recent
successes are true. From the available evidence the claims
are exaggerations — and to exaggerate is to harm the
effort once again to make Yiddish a living tongue.

Fulbright's Glamour Tested
Injection of "the Jewish issue" in the senatorial cam-
paign in Arkansas must be viewed deplorably. From the
outset, when it became apparent that Governor Dale
Bumpers may defeat Senator J. W. .Fulbright, who is
seeking re-election, rumors began to fly that Jews are
anxious to defeat the senator.
While Fulbright is one of the most antagonistic to
Israel, and in some respects to Jewry, in Congress, it
could never be proven that Jews had contributed heavily
to gumpers' campaign to assure his election.
The man who rendered the greatest disservic
making such accusations was James Reston, who incoi
rated the slur in one of his columns. To say that Jews
were providing funds to defeat Fulbright, much as we
hope that he will be rebuked for his animosity toward
Jewry and Israel, the accusation by Reston and others
who resorted to claims that "Jewish money" went into
the Arkansas campaign was a slur.
As a matter of fact, Bumpers is known as a candidate
who encourages only limited gifts, and he has steered
clear of the Jewish issue. If Fulbright resorted to it, he
would be subject to condemnation as utilizing prejudices
to be re-elected. It is not even known whether he resorted
to the race issue in his campaign, even though he is far
from being a supporter of civil rights.
On a par with the country at large, Jews will be
watching results of the May 28 Arkansas election with
great interest. If defeated, •Fulbright's failure to retain
his constituents' affections will not necessarily be based
on his Middle East attitudes. But the ranks of Israel's
antagonists will thereby certainly be reduced.

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