THE DETROIT JEWISH HEWS
2 Friday, February 21, 1975
Purely Commentary
How the Mighty Mike Wallace Has
Fallen Victom to a Syrian Lie!
Even the mightiest must be on guard, especially when
they get to a land like Syria where 4,500 Jews are in a vir-
tual prison.
Mike Wallace and his "60 Minutes" show were taken in
so glibly that last Sunday evening's program was subjected
to disrespect.
The propagandists certainly made sure that Wallace
and his associates would listen to a rich Jew and a teacher
who would have risked their lives had they told the truth
about events in that country.
It was only a few months ago that the Syrian commu-
nity of outraged Jews dared to hold a protest meeting
against the' Syrian barbarities.
But as in the Soviet Union, where even a man who had
been called "Chief Rabbi" , for years propagated_ the Soviet
line hiding the anti-Jewish acts, it was not so difficult to
find a couple of Jews, especially one rich one, -to speak the
lie.
General Lucious Clay and a group of non-Jews have
been exposing the Syrian anti-Jewish terror for several
years, pleading with mankind's conscience in their behalf.
But Mike Wallace was taken in'
Even more inexcusable than the lack of knowledge
about the expose of Syrian barbarism by Genefal Clay is
the failure of the "60 Minutes" program to take into account
the grave dangers that were encountered by the Jews in the
Huleh Valley from Syrian attacks upon the Jewish settle-
ments. These continuous threats to the lives of Jewish set-
tlers . justified acquisition of the Golan by Israel in 1967 and
retention of the heights as a protection of Jewish lives to
this day. Why'can't the media understand such elementary
rights for Jews? -
Not so long ago, National Geographic Magazine pulled
a blunder similar to Mike Wallace's and for the first time in
its history was compelled to publish a correction and an
apology. Wallace similarly owes it to the millions of Ameri-
can viewers of his programs . to study the facts, indicate the
truth and apologize for an error that could well delay the
rescue of Syrian Jewry from total annihilation.
What a pity — and how difficult it has become to ask a
hearing for the truth:!
Also tragically misled was Garry Wills. He went to the
West Bank, saw the university established there by Israel
in operation and. listened to Arabsfuming against Israel.
He heard about a prominent Arab being expelled from IS-
rael and took it as a sign of discrimination. That Arab must
have been the organizer of terrorists against Jews else the
propagandist against Israel would have been tolerated.
Wills failed to take into account Israel's permitting the
functioning of two Arab newsletters that are spreading an-
ti-Israel sentiments, that Israel is encouraging an Arab uni-
versity in her midst. Should she also encourage those who
propagate her destruction? Be reasonable, gentlemen'
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Even the Mighty Must Be Cautious;
Episode of Reston of New Yorke Times
Mike Wallace's '60 Minutes' Taken in by Syrian Propa-
ganda Tools . .. Another Hitlerian Example of 'Keep Re-
peating the Lie and It'll Emerge as Truth'
Reston was in Israel during the Six-Day War.
He knows that the Israelis feared that their sur-
vival was menaced as a result of Nasser's mobili-
zation, his ouster of UNEF, his closing of the
Straits of Tiran, and the failure of the UN and the
United States to respond, as they had promised in
1957.
It was- the Russians and the Arabs and their
friends who accused Israel of aggression in 1967,
but the United States rejected that accusation,
and the UN General Assembly and Security Coun
cil refused to condemn Israel.
In rejecting the Soviet charge that Israel was
the aggressor, Pres. Johnson said: "If a single act
of folly. was more responsible" for this explosion
than any other, it was the arbitrary and danger-
ous announced decision that the Straits of Tiran
would be closed. The right of innocent- maritime
passage must be preserved for all nations."
Soon after Israel's victory, Reston wrote:
"Israelis are now very popular in Washington.
They had the courage of our convictions and they
won the war we opposed."
Observing that "the art of lying . . . seems to
be in a slump" at the UN, Reston commented on
June 22, 1967:
"What the Soviet Union has done here is to
encourage the Arab peoples to believe that they
were the victims of a monstrous conspiracy, and
that their hope now lies in rearmament and re-
venge. . . The evidence of Nasser's calculated
plot to exterminate one of the member states of the
United Nations lies plain on the table. . . . Yet
most of the speeches have concentrated not on
condemnation of 'these plans but on calling on Is-
rael to withdraw. . . . The devilish thing about the
Soviet strategy here is its attempt to carry the dis-
astrous Arab myths of the past into the future."
supports-the emigration of Soviet dissidents no matter
what their religion.
It is good that the man who is confronted with such a question
had
the proper and correct answer to all the angles in the Jackson-
.
ian activities. The suspicion that prompted the question is certain
to be repeated while Senator Jackson campaigns for the Presi-
dency.
An interesting experience, related to such suspicions, is worth
recalling.
The late W. K. Kelsey, who was perhaps the most popular De-
troit News columnist for more than two decades, was an avid
reader of The Jewish News. He also read the Michigan Catholic. He
lived in the Belcrest and many of the Jewish women who had apart-
ments there thought he was a Catholic because of- it.
Once he took The Jewish News with him to the lobby and as
was reading it one of the ladies stepped .up and said: "Oh, ,
Kelsey! I didn't know you Were a Jew!"
Bill Kelsey got a great kick out of it, as he related the incident.
That's how it is. Some judgments are casual. Some suspicions
border on prejudice.
.
When and Where Freedom Rings: Prof. Irving
Howe Exposes Abuses, University Lecture Racket
Prof. Irving Howe of Hunter College, editor of Dissent maga-
zine, has earned many distinctions as an able analyst of social
problems. He is among the very distinguished scholars who have
contributed
_ in great measure
_ towards a revived interest in Yiddish,
) and his several books on Yid-
-
dish literature are among the
valuable elements in that stiug-
gle.
Now he earns added en:
comia for exposing the exagger-
ated lectureships and especially
in his insistence that there are
limitations to granting too
much freedom to rabble-rous-
ers and self-seekers and those
who seek to capitalize on noto-
riety.
It is possible that the Reston correction was a result of
He expressed his views ad-
the challenge contained in the Near East Report.
mirably in an Op-Ed Page New
Which- goes to prove that insistence upon truth is im-
York Times article on the topic
perative; that even when dealing with the most reputable
"The Watergate Money-Trust
columnists it is necessary to insist upon truth in relation to Harvest." Because it is applicable to many others besides the new
Jewry and Israel. What Near East Report accomplished in crop of Watergate conspicous characters, his views merit most seri-
the Reston case was not propaganda: it was a quest for and ous consideration.
an achievement of justice.
• Dr. Howe makes the point in relation to the high fees for lec-
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tures at universities commanded by Ronald Ziegler, former Presi-
dent Nixon's press secretary, John Dean and other members of the
Non-Interference in Israel's Politics:
Watergate cast of characters. He points to the plight of Universi-
JDL Program Unacceptable
- ties in meeting their financial needs and deplores the spectacles of
sensation-creating lecture series at prohibitive fees.
A Jewish Defense League appeal -for support of a move-
Key figures in the Watergate scandal are not only capital-
ment to influence the kind of government Israel is to have
izing on their notoriety: they are given top positions in publicity, in
in a task of retaining the presently administered territories
coverage of their lectures in which they do no more than repeat
is, at best, farcial.
An American Jew can have preferences. He can favor what's already on the record, and they now must dress their best
because their photographs get front page priority in most newspa-
a Government of National Unity for Israel of the type de-
pers. That's how a crime is being converted into a spectacle of glori-
manded by the Likud Party and Menahem Begin. But he is
fication!
not a citizen of Israel and all he can do is advise. He hasn't
His conclusions are admonitions against granting undeserved
the right to propagate militancy in matters involving Is- freedom
-to those who would disrupt and pollute the air of free dis-
rael's political status.
cussion. He states:
.
As long as the media search for and ascertain the
The role of American Jews vis-a-vis Israel has been de-
truth, there will be gratitude for the value of our press and bated for many years. No doubt, there could be 'justified
related communications sources.
cooperative tasks involving immigration, the universities,
The New York -Times regularly prints corrections in a
the school systems that receive support from Diaspora Je-
special spot on the first page of the second section. - wry, the institutions for the aged. On the score of such serv-
On Feb. 7 an unusual one appeared under the column ices the contributors to philanthropic needs which are so
"Scoop!" by James Reston. In his correction, the prominent vital to Israel's existence-have a justified demand for active
New York Times columnist stated:
participation. The political sphere is Israel's.
In this space the other day, I asked: "Who are
How can American Jews contribute towards Israel's se-
the friends of Israel? . . . those who urge her to
curity and her protection against the pressures to drive the
give up territory ottupied by aggression or those
embattled state into a ghetto? On this score it is obligatory
who urge her to hold on to everything she has?"
for American Jews to assert themselves with the responsi-
The use of the word "aggression'! instead of
ble government leaders that the United States should not be
"force" implied that Israel was responsible for
a party to denuding Israel of just rights and of secure
starting the 1967 war, which I did not intend, and
borders.
was a mistake. The Arab blockade of the Gulf of
The JDL has caused Jewry a great deal of annoyance.
Aqaba and the Strait of Tiran, and the dismissal
Its members have resorted to violence and some of the acts
of the United Nations Emergency Force by the Ar-
were inexcusable. Just rights for Jews are not obtainable by
abs were widely regarded as acts of war which
violent means. Therefore JDL has been and remains under
led to the Israeli blitz. Both the United Nations
suspicion and an appeal of the sort now circulated by that
and the United States Government avoided the
movement, at a time when there is so much urgency for a
question of who was the aggressor. I am sorry -I
fair solution leading to peace emerges as irresponsi-
was not equally careful.
ble.
There is a background to this not to be ignored. Near
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East Report (edited by I. L. Kenen) carried this item, as
Suspicions That Border on Prejudice
part of an article "Are the Media Fair to Israel?", in its issue
It was to be expected: that a prominent legislator who consist-
of Feb. 6.
ently defends Israel and advocates support for Russian Jews seek-
We know that memories are short, and we be-
lieve that people have the right to change their
minds; but we are astonished to read James Res-
ton's column in which he writes that Israel occu-
pies territory -by "aggression."
Reston has covered the Arab-Israel conflict
since 1947 at the UN, and he well knows that the
Egyptians used the Sinai peninsula and the Gaza -
strip as a staging ground for invasion and terror-
ist penetration into Israel in 1948, in 1956, in 1967,
and again in 1973.
By Philip
Slomovitz
ing the right of emigration -to Israel should be suspected of being
a Jew.
Walter Scott's Personality/Parade in the Detroit Free Press
included this question and Scott's reply:
Q. Is Senator Jackson a Jew, or is he subsidized by Jew-
ish interests? The reason I ask is that he spends all his
time trying to get Jews out of Russia and ignores other
Russians who would like to escape. — John Lawrence,
Westfield, N.J.
A. Senator Jackson (D., Wash.) is a Presbyterian. He has
Jewish as well as non-Jewish campaign contributors. He
- There are grave murmurings on editorial pages that
to "disinvite" Ziegler is a violation of academic freedom.
Why? No one said Ziegler is prevented from talking at
Boston University, only that the original fee of $2,500
would have to be cut to $1,000—which his agent appar-
antly wouldn't accept. If Mr. Ziegler is so passionately
desirous of telling us about the abuses of power, he might
find it in his heart to do so for $1,000 a shot.
The whole business of forking out vast sums from
hard-pressed universities to unsavory public figures
needs some critical scrutiny. In the fifties, when I was
teaching at Brandeis, every year a tiny- group of students
tried to "embarrass" the administration and faculty by
proposing to invite as a speaker George Lincoln Rock-
well, the American apostle of Hitlerism.
Did we care enough - about academic freedom,
sneered these students, to give this Nazi the use of "
Brandeis forum? And the answer we kept giving\ %-
that, even as we believed in Rockwell's right to sperm_
freely, that didn't mean we had to welcome him to a Jew-
ish-sponsored school or pay him a nickel for coming
there.
Let Rockwell get up on a soap box—as many of us
have done for far better causes—and talk for nothing. To
believe that I have no reason to invite him to my campus
is in no way to- abridge his freedom of speech. I may grant
people the right to indulge - in all sorts of habits, but not, if
you please, in my house.
There is a still larger moral issue. What sort of a so-
ciety is it in which people who have been publicly con-
victed of betraying their trust as officials of the Govern-
ment; or people who have shamelessly defended those
who betrayed that trust, are then "rewarded" with en-
ormous advances for book contracts, enormous fees for
lectures?
This is clearing the air of misconceptions and of the fears that
have gripped the democratically minded communities. Freedoms
can be abused under the guise of unrestricted liberties in the demo-
cratic society . It has been a perplexing problem for a long time.
Prof. Howe helps to clear the air of the pollution of freedom.
.