avo Ingfightai::
200,000 Arab Casualties: Will
They Inspire Desire for Peace?
Yassir Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation
Organization, emerging as the top spokesman for his
movement in quest for a place at the forthcoming Geneva
conference that will deal with the Middle East problems
affecting the Israelis in their relation to the Arab states,
has a program that emphasizes continuing policies of
terrorizing Israelis "inside occupied lands." This means
conducting a war on Israel within Israel. It will multiply
Israel's security needs. It will aggravate many Arabs who
have htiherto lived in peace in Israel, as citizens of that
land with the necessary restriction of being barred from
army service. It will cause unpleasant searches. How else
will Israel avoid another Kiryat Shemona, other Ma'alot
outrages?
Arafat, in the limelight as Israel's chief antagonist,
was quoted reporting to the Palestine National Council
in Cairo last week that since the June 1967 war Arabs
suffered 200,000 casualties, killed and wounded. He said
that of this number 86,000 were Egyptians, 80,000 Syrians
and 37,000 Palestinians.
What a horrible loss of lives and limbs! It is possible
that these casulaties do not move Israel's enemies to action
for the prevention of other such horrors? Israel's losses
also have been terrifying, when counted in that nation's
proportion to the population. Viewing the entire Middle
East problem humanely, how can sensible people permit
perpetuation of such frightful losses as those reported
by Arafat?
Every human instinct rebels against such conditions.
Will the sufferers—and all are sufferers!—come to a peace
table on speaking terms? Is it too much to expect that it
will materialize in Geneva?

The Facts About Syria
Meanwhile, there are charges and countercharges
about the treatments that were accorded prisoners of
war by both Israel and Syria. Eye-witnesses disputed Syr-
ian charges, indicating that in Israel the treatment of the
captured was compassionable.
This, too, is a matter to be resolved by responsible
people. Perhaps this, too, will be clarified in Geneva. But
even as military disengagement was being arranged on
the Golan Heights, there Was saber-rattling. There were
threats that what was being enacted did not mean an end
to war. The Syrian foreign minister (Abdel Halim Khad-
dam) claimed that 20,000 Syrian Jews had left Syria for
Israel and that they abandoned Israel because "they
found Israel to be a racist society," and at the same time
he denied that the 4,500 Jews still residing in Syria were
being mistreated. Therefore, we call to witness a Christian,
Livia Caputo, who made a study of conditions on the spat
and, writing in the Italian Epoca on the subject "We
Spoke With the Jews Who Must Live in Syria—Drama
in the Ghetto of Damascus," {he was accompanied by
photographer Mauro Galligani) stated in part (as trans-
lated from the Italian):
"Our official visit to the ghetto of Damascus, where
more than 4,000 Jews have been living for more and 25
years in conditions of semi-segregation, is ending: after
a short inspection of the main synagogue—they (the
Syrians) contrived to show it to us almost empty—we got
our escorts' permission, by insisting a great deal, to walk
through the district and to take some photographs. The
walk is not very enlightening. In spite of the day of rest,
the winding and gloomy alleys of the old district are

almost deserted, and, when the two foreigners appear,
shadowed by four 'gorillas' of the secret police, the few
people who are out walking prefer to turn the corner.
The only ones who allow themselves to be approached are
the children—thin children with large black eyes who are
probably unaware of the drama of their community that
has become a hostage in the fight between Israel and the
Arab states.
"The limitations which the authorities have imposed
on our entry into the ghetto are perfectly plain: 'No ques-
tions; no interviews.'
"Suddenly, when we are drawing near the car, a girl
comes out on the roof of one of the buildings and starts
inveighing against our escorts in more and more excited
tones. She must be 20, has a very beautiful round face
deeply marked by grief, her brown haid is coiled high,
a black sweater makes her face even paler. Unfortunately,
she speaks Arabic, and we cannot understand what she
says. But when we shout out, asking her to speak English
or French, she makes a gesture more eloquent than any
words: still expostulating loudly, first she points at the
policemen and then, using her hand as a knife, rubs her
throat over and over agaih to indicate that she and her
unlucky co-religionists could be slaughtered.
"Pandemonium breaks out. TWO of the 'gorillas' grab
my arms and try to drag me towards the car. The other
two face Mauro Galligani to prevent him from snapping
pictures. While I am wriggling, two women make their
appearance near the girl in black—a girl student in a
khaki uniform and a matron about 60 years old—who in
their turn begin to hurl imprecations at the policemen and
repeatedly make the unmistakable gesture with their
hands. A fourth woman, in a corner of the terrace, grips
her face between her hands and worries about the con-
sequences that the boldness of her three friends may have
on the whole district.
"I don't know who the women were; they were still
yelling when our escorts succeeded in pulling us away..I
can only suppose that the girl in mourning garb was a
kinswoman of Sarah, Lora and Tony Zebah and of their
cousin Eve Saad who, two months ago, were raped and
killed when they tried to cross the Lebanese frontier
clandestinely.
"But three things are sure, in my opinion; first, they
weren't 'poor madwomen' at all, as my escorts hastened to
explain; second, their demonstration is the most categor-
ical denial of the Syrian statements that the 4,000 Jews
of Damascus, the 500 of Aleppo and the 300 of Kamishli
`are perfectly happy and pleased with their condition and
have nothing, to fear from the authorities': and, finally,
that, as soon as we turned the corner, the three wretched
Jewesses had to deal with the policemen who were escort-
ing us. We hesitated a long time to publish the 'stolen'
snapshot that records the incident. If, in the end, we de-
cided to publish it, it was to make known to public opinion
three innocent victims of the Middle East conflict who had
the courage to denounce the duress they are forced to live
under.
Till 1948, the Jews of Syria numbered 40,000, and
2,000 years they had dwelt in peace with their Arab neigh-
bors. Neither Damascus nor Aleppo had ever experienced
the terrible pogroms of Central-Eastern Europe. But with
the birth of the Israeli state, the policy of the Syrian gov-
ernment towards the Israeli minority changed radically.
The. Jews, considered now a kind of enemy fifth column,
have been subjected to worse and worse restrictions and
vexations. Most of the members of the community suc-

seeded in emigrating in the 'fifties, but the Ba'ath coup
d'etat in 1963 closed the borders and the survivors are
virtually prisoners in a country which they once con-
sidered their native land. Their situation has become ago-
nizing, especially since the 1967 war, so much so that, in
spite of the very strict controls, as many as 150 have
tried to escape.
(The Caputo report deals at length with the murder
of the four Jewish girls, the Syrian government's denial
that it was responsible for the outrage and the charges
that have been leveled against two alleged Jewish gang-
sters that they •had ,perpetrated the horrible act. It has
just been reported in London that the two accused Jaws'
trial has begun in Damascus in secret and the BOE
Deputies of British Jews has cabled to top Syrian off
asking for open court proceedings).
How long can Syria's hatreds and the Arabs' aims
to destroy Israel continue?
One must hope that the bitterness that motivates the
hatreds in the Middle East will vanish. The heavy losses
incurred, the futility of warfare, the postponement of
progress that is vital for higher standards to be attained
for the innocent masses in the affected areas—all demand
firmness for peace. Right now the Israelis live only with
hopes, praying for similar aspirations for an end to war
among the neighboring peoples.

But the Arsenals Are Growing!
But the arsenals are growing Newsweek reports:
SOMETHING NEW FOR SYRIA'S ARSENAL
Even while the Syrian-Israeli truce talks were going on,
the Soviet Union was escalating the arms race in the
Middle East by giving Damascus half a dozen MIG-23s,
its most advanced fighter bomber. Nicknamed the Flog-
ger, the plane is thought to be faster than the U.S. Phan-
toti jet. Floggers have been deployed on a limited basis
only within the Soviet bloc and were denied to Egypt's
air forces, even during the all-out buildup for last Octo-
ber's Mideast war.
Here are some figures already recorded in thise col-
umns about losses sustained in, the Yom Kippur War:
Tanks
Warplanes Naval vessels
Israel: 1,700 (840 lost)
500 (120 lost)
none lost
Egypt: 2,000 (650 lost)
600 (182 lost)
4 lost
Syria: 1,600 (600 lost)
300 (162 lost)
'7 lost
Iraq:
400 ( 80 lost)
60 ( 21 lost)
Now it is reported, additional to the the Newsweek
revelation, that Syria has already obtained 1,590 tanks,
many of them the heaviest Soviet T-62s; that Egypt now
has 2,445 tanks, including 700 T-62s.
Indeed, all talk of disarmament has turned into a
farce. AP quotes U. S. intelligence as having stated that
16- crated MIG-23 "Floggers" have been sent to Syria
aboard Russian merchant ships, that similar deliveries
were seen at the Black Sea Nikolayev' port from which
Russia ships the military hardware to the Arabs. The top
speed of the MIG-23 planes is 2,000 miles an hour, and the
threats such supplies represent for Israel are cause for
concern.
There is much, very much to be concerned about, in
addition to the possibility that when merchant ships begin
to cross the Suez the Russian vessels will be carriers of
more dangers to Israel.
How long can this go on? Why all the talk about dis-
armament without action to attain it?
Must there be submission to a world in moral bank-
ruptcy?

Talk of Compromise on 'Who Is Jew?' "Suggests Return of NRP to Government

JERUSALEM (JTA) —
Labor Party circles have ex-
pressed renewed optimism
that the National Religious
Party will soon join Premier
Yitzhak Rabin's coalition
government on the basis of a
mutually acceptable com-
promise on the Who Is a
Jew? issue.

The NRP would, first, have
to obtain, if not the sanction,
at least the non-opposition of
Israel's Chief Rabbinate and
the blessings of influential
Orthodox rabbis abroad.
Former Finance Minister
Pinhas Sapir, now visiting
the U.S., has reportedly met
with Rabbi Joseph Soloveit-
chik of Boston on the issue;
and the Labor Party may
find out when he returns this
week-end whether a com-
promise is possible.
Rabbi Soloveitchik, who

2 Friday, June 14, 1974

—

wields considerable influence
in Orthodox circles in the
U.S. and Israel, told Israeli
correspondents Monday that
he was not mixing in the
dispute between the NRP and
the Israeli Chief Rabbinate
over joining the Rabin gov-
ernment. He also warned
against the use of his name
in controversial issues in
Israel without his specific
written permission.
According to talk in the
Knesset lobbies, the com-
promise that would allow the
NRP to join the government
is one that was raised during
the last weeks of the Golda
Meir regime. The Orthodox
establishment is demanding
amendment of the Law of
Return Co specify that only
conversions carried out ac-
cording to Halakha (religious
law) are valid in Israel.
By Orthodox interpretation,

only Orthodox rabbis are
qualified to perform Halakhic
conversions. The Labor Party
is now rumored to have pro-
posed to the NRP that within
a year's time it would sup-
port a private member's bill
in the Knesset specifying
conversion as "carried out
among the people of Israel
through the generations."

Labor's coalition partners,
Mapam, the Independent
Liberals and the Citizens
Rights Party, would not be
required to support the pri-
vate measure and, the Labor-
ites hope, would not actively
oppose it.
The NRP could be confi-
dent that with Labor support
and some backing from
Likud, the new formula
would be adopted by the
Knesset by a comfortable
margin, Labor sources say.
NRP leaders, for their part,
remain non-commital, at
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS least in public.

The new Israeli govern- refused Labor demands for
ment narrowly lost a vote in a recount which led to an
the Knesset Monday evening uproar in the house.
and cried foul.
Moshe Wertman, chairman
The measure on foreign of the government coalition
currency control, introduced faction in the Knesset, said
by Finance Minister Yeshay- it was unprecedented in Is-
ahu Rabinowitz, was defeated rael's parliamentary history
43-40. Deputy Speaker Pinhas for the speaker to refuse a
Scheinman, of the NRP, recount. But Scheinman, • an

MK only since the last elec-
tions, remained adamant.

The government had the
support of the Aguda bloc
MKs who were present. but
still unable to muster
jority on the first re,
Labor re-enforcements
summoned to reverse
vote—but to no avail.

Nasser Said Six-Day War Was Not a Surprise

JERUSALEM — In a book
of memoirs published in Bei-
rut, exiled former Sudanese
Prime Minister Mohammed
Ahmed Mahgoub recounts
how the late Egyptian Presi-
dent Gamal Abdel Nasser,
told him that the Israeli air
strikes at the start of the 1967
Middle Ea4 war were not a
surprise attack.
"I predicted that the Is-
raeli attack would come
either on Sunday, June 4, or

Monday, June 5," Nasser was so few forces were left, and
quoted as saying about a Nasser reportedly replied,
month after the Six-Day War. "Because we have about 50,-
000 of our troops in Yemen."
Although he ordered that
one-third of his air force-stay
Mahgoub commented in the
airborne at all times, Nasser narrative:
said, his commanders ig-
"Thus, at the vital mo-
nored the order.
ment, Egypt's defenses were
By June 9, he said, only wide open—while at least a
400 Egyptian soldiers' stood quarter of its army was on
between the Suez Canal and the other side of the Arabian
Nasser's house in Cairo. peninsula fighting an inter-
Mahgoub said he asked why Arab war."

