1 111.1.1t
2 April 30, 1976
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
Israel's 28th Anniversary
Bathed in Speculative Agonies
Defied by a Nation's Faith
While Israel will celebrate and the Israelis' kinsmen
and friendly admirers will join in acclaiming that nation's
28th anniversary, on Wednesday, the speculators will have
a heyday. The new tensions resulting from the unfortunate
situation in the occupied West Bank territory, the demon-
strations, the protests and the defiance of rioting — these
are contributing factors in a situation that is far from
happy. Nevertheless, the historicity of Israel's rebirth and
existence keep defying the panicked as well as those who
would ruin Israel. The faith of a people is being tested and is
emerging triumphant again, not unscathed, but with life
and vigor.
It would be senseless to ignore the dangers that con-
front Israel, the agonies which mar the nation's normali-
ties. But the ultimate is the faith. Without it the people
would perish, and since it holds fast, the future is not antic-
ipated in peril.
It would be utterly unrealistic to fail to acknowledge
the seriousness of the developing conflict. A Solomonic solu-
tion is needed to resolve the problem of an adamancy among
those who demand the right of Jews to settle anywhere in
the historic Holy Land and the concessions by those who
would conciliate with Arab demands that Israel should end
the expansion of settlements on the West Bank.
The contrasting viewpoints were in evidence last week
when two extreme groups demonstrated in New York City
— one demanding full rights for Jewish settlement any-
where in Israeli administered territories, and the other
composed of advocates of a policy banning the formation of
new Israeli settlements. In the latter group are supporters
of proposals for the establishment of a new Arab state on
the West Bank, as a concession to the Palestinians.
Abba Eban warned that time is running out, that Is-
rael can not gamble too long and too much. His concern was
with the conflict over the reconvening of the Geneva Confer-
ence. Could that resolve the tensions on the West Bank?
What about the attitudes of the Israeli Arabs, many of
whom yielded to community pressures and joined in the re-
cent demonstrations bordering on riots?
There is no doubt that the Communists in Israel were
mainly responsible for instigating the disturbances. But
the spark from their incendiary propaganda and inspira-
tions to rebellious anti-Israel actions have ignited the more
moderate and the dangers have not receded.
Therefore, realism demands that the best diplomatic
minds give serious attention to a condition that is menac-
ing. There is need for a speedy solution lest time really run
out.
In the process of searching for a solution the fact re-
mains, to be emphasized on Israel's 28th anniversary, that
Israel is in the world community to stay, that the people are
not losing faith, that the 29th year will commence next
Thursday in a spirit of confidence that a people with a will
to live has a firm place in the society of nations.
This is the dominant factor in a crucial period in Is-
rael's history. The will to live and the readiness to carry on
regardless of the odds is the supreme task of a nation that
rises above threats and their accompanying terrorism. The
faith that has sustained Israel through the ages is the lumi-
nous power in Israel's 28 years as a nation. They were years
that were marked by great cultural and industrial, as well
as military achievements. They were triumphs that beckon
for repetition. Towards that end the kinspeople and friends
Israel, at 28, Experiences the Agonies of an Embattled
Nation Confronting Antagonistic Neighbors With
Courage, Retaining the Faith That Assures Survival
of Israel stand adamantly with the battlers for justice,
wishing them the strength needed in a life of tension and
pledging to them the aid needed to assure another triumph
for justice in behalf of a nation embattled, yet pleading and
striving for the peace so vital to the entire Middle East.
* * *
Enigmatic Israeli Arabs
While accounting for the general tenseness of the Mid-
dle East conditions it is vital that the views of Israeli Arabs
should be uppermost on the minds of searchers for amity
and an end to discord in that troubled area of the world.
The Communist-inspired riots and the role of the PLO,
no matter to what extent they both may have been exagger-
ated, appear to have stirred uneasiness among the hitherto
very loyal Israeli Arabs. If an article on their status in the
New York Times by Atallath Mansour is to be judged as a
criterion, an added problem may be anticipated in dealing
with the poisoned Middle East atmosphere. Mansour is an
Arab member of the editorial staff of the Tel Aviv Hebrew
daily Haaretz who has hitherto rejected the Arab extre-
mism and has defended Israel's earnestness in striving for
the advancement of the standard of living of Israeli Arabs.
But in his latest article on the N. Y. Times Op-Ed Page he
pointed to shortcomings of his people who are not provided
with the same housing privileges as the Jewish citizens and
who, unlike the favored Druze population, are denied the
right to serve in Israel's armed forces. Mansour had this to
say in his analysis of the status of the Israeli Arabs:
I recently heard the mayor of Jewish Nazareth-
Elit, Mordechai Alon, elaborating on the plans to at-
tract Jewish residents to his town. He said that 8,800
apartments were planned or already built in his
town and that he was now offering a package deal:
A new Ford with a home in Tel Aviv, and of course,
with a generous government subsidy.
That is the sort of discrimination that lies be-
neath most of the grievances of the Israeli Arab.
Why are our villages and townships lacking in-
dustrial plants, why are educational facilities miss-
ing, why do we not share in Israeli political parties
(except Rakah, the New Communist List) or partici-
pate in the pressure groups that rule and influence
policy (especially that of our own affairs)?
The State Land Authority owns three million
dunams of land (a dunam equals a quarter acre) in
Galilee; Arab private owners only half a million
dunams. Why expropriate our land?
The inability of the Arabs, except the Druze, to
serve in the army sharply limits their mobility and
promotion into the main sphere of influence in Is-
rael. But the Israeli government treatment of the
Druze who served and courageously fought in all Is-
raeli wars does not induce Christian and Moslem
leaders to ask the government publicity to integrate
Arabs into army service and to treat them on an
equal footing with the other citizens. The official
government claim is, We exempt Arabs from mili-
tary service to save them the dilemma of fighting
their Arab brothers.
The authorities say they have a "good" reason
for the special privileges bestowed on Jewish set-
tlers in Nazareth-Elit and similar new settlements:
It is Jewish money donated by Jews for Jews.
But they have not shown any evidence that
those Jews are donationg money to close a danger-
ous and growing gap between Arabs and Jews in Is-
'Phis gap is a time bomb that may eventually .
explode and cause more damage to peace in Israel,
and to its international reputation.
Understandably, the Israeli Arabs, who, as Mansour
reminded his readers, are judged as enemies of the Arab
cause in anti-Israel Arab ranks because of their loyalties to
Israel, are conscious of this charge and are concerned about
it. Therefore, they turn their thoughts to the PLO and to
their kinsmen. Blood being thicker than water, they are
easy prey for the rabble-rousing Communists and the PLO.
That's why so many enrolled in the rioting forces recently
in the Nazareth districts.
Israel's security demands, therefore, a common under-
standing that will embrace all Arabs. Else the thinking of
the Israeli Arabs may always be blurred by venom, adding
dangerously to the tense situation.
But, how can the desired peace be attained if there are
no Arabs to echo the desire for peace? So far there has been
little moderation in Arab ranks. What little evidence of
moderation may have been evidenced came only after an
Arab defeat by Israel's armed forces, and Israel can't re-
main dependent only on military triumphs. The solution
may come either with a diminution of Soviet influence or
honorable USSR cooperation with the U. S. towards a peace
goal. Since this appears remote, Israel and her friends must
carry on a battle for justice with a retention of faith based
on hopes for a better future.
When Gerald L. K. Smith Sought
an Alliance Against Coughlin
and Failed to Get Jewish Support
With a sense of honor as a Christian and as a distin-
guished leader in the communications media, Robert St.
John exposed the vitriolic role of Gerald L. K. Smith most
effectively. The vilest of the American anti-Semites unques-
tionably was motivated by personal gains and St. John indi-
cated how the venomous hater of Jews, Catholics, Blacks
and others geared his aims towards power and personal
gain.
The arch anti-Semite sought every available means to
gain the limelight, to attain power, to enroll financial sup-
port for his hate-mongering. He had become one of Father
Charles E. Coughlin's associates in spreading his hatreds,
but there was a time when he sought Jewish support to
conduct a campaign against Coughlin. He had operated in
Detroit for a time and while here he approached the Variety
Club for an opportunity to expose Coughlin. A luncheon
meeting was arranged for him at the time in the then Sta-
,tler Hotel, in the mid-1930s.
Smith addressed a group of some 50 or more of the
movie industry here and offered to lead the campaign
against the Royal Oak priest and his anti-Semitic cam-
paign. Having failed to secure Jewish financial aid for his
intended drive against Coughlin, Smith soon thereafter
joined Coughlin and soon was heard with his own bigoted
speeches. Before long he commenced publication of his anti-
Semitic literature.
He might have misled some Jews into joining him in an
anti-Coughlin campaign, but he had already revealed his
venom against others and the Jews he approached were cau-
tious. There were some Jewish members of the American
Legion who were then ready to assist the bigot in his pro-
jected campaign. Better judgment prevailed. But the poison
of the great hater found its way in many places. Not, how-
ever, where the honesty of a Robert St. John prevails.
An Eyewitness Account of Israel's Re-Birth
JERUSALEM — Friday,
the 14th of May, 1948, was a
hot day. The public learned
that the last British High
Commissioner, General
Cumingham, removed the
British flag from the Gov-
ernment House in Jerusa-
lem. The British Mandate
over Palestine had come to
an end after 30 years.
The tension mounted
from hour to hour. News
was spread that the British
soldiers tried to prevent
arms and installations from
falling into Jewish hands.
The Jewish population
knew about difficulties in
proclaiming the establish-
ment of a Jewish state.
Moshe Shertok returned
from the U.S. and brought
with him a warning from
American Defense Secre-
tary Gen. George Marshall
to refrain from such a step.
The question was: because
tthe Arab countries might
turn this state into a pool of
blood, would the state be
proclaimed or not?
David
Ben-Gurion
maintained that if this
chance were not used, we
might miss it. The leaders
of the 121 demanded the
immediate establishment
of the state. They pro-
nounced over their secret
radio that they would put
their forces at the disposal
of the Israeli government.
Suddenly, Jewish watch-
men surrounded Rothshild
Bvld. near the museum. The
news spread that the procla-
mation establishing the
Jewish state would take
place in this historic build-
ing in which the founder
and first mayor of Tel Aviv,
Meir Dizengoff, had lived.
The few who received an
invitation to this historic
ceremony were requested to
keep it secret.
By 3 p.m. there was al-
ready a big crowd waiting.
They had heard over the
radio, that there would be a
4 p.m. broadcast of a meet-
ing of the Moezet Hoam (the
pro-Israeli parliament) and
everybody understood that
this meant the forthcoming
proclamation of the Jewish
state.
When the invited guests
appeared, the crowd was
sure. They included the
former secretary of Dr.
Theodor Herzl, the late
Dr. Isidor Shalit; Zionist
leader Dr. Meir Ebner;
writer Dr. Sony Groemon;
Chief Rabbis Unterman
and Toledono; the mayor
of Tel Aviv, the late Israel
Rokach; the chairman of
the Journalist Associa-
tion, the late Josef Heft-
man.
When David Ben-Gurion
and his wife Poale arrived,
there was much applause.
Only a few hours earlier a
severe argument was held
about the formulation of the
Declaration of the state of
Israel, whether to call the
state "Israel" or "Zion" and
whether to mention God in
the declaration. A special
commission, Moshe Sher-
tok, Ahron Zisling, David
Remez, Moshe Shapira and
Pinhas Rosen, was set up to
reach a compromise.
Rabbi Maimon was asked
to recite the "She-
hechyanu." The leaders of
the newborn state were full
of worries. They knew what
the Arab countries intended
to do. Gush Etzion had al-
ready happened. Hundreds
of Jewish youngsters were
By Philip
Slomovitz
By MOSHE RON
captured and dozens killed.
David Ben-Gurion and
the assembled group sang
the Hatikva. When they
reached the words "to be
free people in our free
country" tears were glit-
tering in their - eyes. A
shudder seized them. A
2,000-year-old dream had
become reality.
Dancing and rejoicing
began in the streets. The
main crowd concentrated on
Mograbi Square. The Minis-
ter of the Mizrolhi, Moshe
Shapiro, stated in a "public
newspaper" in the Mugrabi
hall dedicated to the fall of
Gush Etzion, that from now
on Israel was an indepen-
dent country with open
doors for all Jews. Jewish
refugees arriving at the
homeland, would no longer
be turned back to Germany
or to camps in Cyprus.
Jewish News Special
Israel Correspondent
A t midnight, when the
British Mandate officially
ended, the crowds shouted
"Long live the state of Is-
rael". Dancing and rejoicing
reached their peak in the
streets of Tel Aviv.
But at the same time
news arrived that Arab ter-
rorists were attacking Jew-
ish buses and taxis.
Difficult days and nights
followed for the newborn
state. The armies of seven
Arab states invaded Israel.
The new Israeli army had
no heavy weapons and no
planes. But it fought val-
iantly with rifles, machine
guns and mortars and drove
the invaders back. They suc-
cessfully defended the Is-
raeli towns and villages.
Twenty-eight years ago
the state of Israel was es-
tablished and one can say
today that since then Israel
has had no quiet day.