,
2 October 10, 1975
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely
Commentary
By Philip
Slomovitz
"A Child Shall Lead Them . . .":
The Guidelines to Genuine
Peace Between Nations
The peace of mankind may hinge entirely upon the
children. If the little ones will be feuding, hope for good will
among men may be ended, and may even be abandoned. It
is when the children of the neighboring nations meet in har-
mony that a world emblazoned in kindness can be envi-
sioned.
As the battleground of the world, the Middle East has
become the testing ground for the eventualities of children
becoming the inspirers of amity.
Isaiah (11:6) offered the world the great hope for peace
with a child to lead. In the new revised translation of Isaiah,
the Jewish Publication Society's most recent classical
achievement, the prophecy reads:
(9
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
The leopard lie down with the kid ;
The calf, the beast of prey, and the fatling together,
With a little boy to herd them.
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Tragically, in the Arab-Israel relations, the minds of
children were poisoned, the schoolrooms served to instigate
the young to hate and to aspire for bloodshedding.
Therefore, the products of the schools in Israel, where
the children of both peoples are taught their languages, Ar-
abic as well as Hebrew, without venom, provide the hope for
the aspired better day.
They may not all speak of peace, but many of them do,
and the result is one of peace-offering. A contest was con-
ducted in the Israeli schools, in the Arab villages as well as
all of Israel, and the result was an enriching evidence. Thou-
sands of paintings, drawings, poems and expressions of
hope for an end to war were produced by the Arab and Jew-
ish children.
Expressive and impressive samples have been incorpo-
rated in a great book published by McGraw-Hill.
FLAGS OF PEACE
0, flags of Peace, on every house they fly!
0, wings of the dove with olive branches in the sky!
When will you spread your blessings everywhere to view —
That the most beautiful tale of all's come true.
Fathey Moharnd Agbaria, Age 13 1 2, Um Elfahm (Arab Village)
"My Shalom, My Peace" is the title of this volume with
the wisdom of children.
In Arabic and Hebrew with their English transla-
tions, some in Russian by the children of new immi-
grants, many of the verses written in English, the poems
evidence the children's experiences in shelters during
the war periods. They are expressions of personal ago-
nies, of losses suffered by some, of the mutual wish for
an end to warfare.
FREEDOM BIRD
Tell me, tell me, freedom bird
The sum total of the poems is an outcry against wars.
How will they stop the guns
from shooting.
Bring us Peace, bring Shalom
"My Shalom, My Peace" is an indictment of hatred.
Freedom bird, freedom bird
The producers of this book are mere youngsters, some
are early teenagers.
Designed by Jacob Zim, Israeli artist and graphic de-
signer, it is work with an appeal for people of all faiths, all
ages.
The poems, paintings and drawings — many of them
reproduced in the book in full colors, were selected by a
noted Israeli writer, Uriel Ofek. Dov Vardi, well known au-
thor and translator, did the translations.
McGraw-Hill rightfully reminds the readers that
this book is reminiscent of an early one published by this
publishing house, in 1964 — the collected poems and
drawings by the children who suffered in the Theresien-
sta dt Concentration Camp. That volume was entitled "I
Never Saw Another Butterfly," and to the 64,000 copies
of that book already sold many more readers are con-
stantly being added.
This is predictably the fate of "My Shalom, My Peace,"
an anticipated new weapon for amity among Jews and
Arabs.
The reproduced pages from the book, shown here, tell
the story graphically, impressively. Perhaps this notewor-
thy expression of the children of Israel, the Arab and the
Jewish, is the anticipated step towards peace in the Middle
East.
Bring us Peace,
Shalom.
Michal Sharon, Age 7, Savyon