2 Friday, March 18, 4977

THE DETROIT JEWISH MEWS

Purely Commentary

The Hanafis and Their
Coreligionists in Beirut

Religious -conflicts and a desire for vengeance
were the major instigations of the irrational episode at
the Bnai Brith Building and two other centers in
Washington last week. The terrorist aspect is some-
thing that was utilized because it had been the means
used by the adopted coreligionists of the Washing-
tonian kidnapers. How did the Moslem coreligionists
react to the madness in the U.S. capital? Officially, on
the ambassadorial level, the Hanafis' lunacies were
unacceptable. Three of the ambassadors, the Iranian,
Egyptian and Pakistanian, were helpful in ending the
nightmare for 134 hostages. But the Arab press
merely published news items, although it might have
been expected that there would be a condemnation of
the occurrence, expecially in Moslem quarters. But
from the ranks whence had come the terrorists who
have inspired the spate of hijacking and kidnaping
- • outrages there was an expression akin to endorsement
of what was taking place. As evidence there is this
news report from Beirut published in the March 12
New York Times:
An official of the Palestine Liberation Organization

in Beirut said, "We justify any operation by its goal.-If
it has a just goal, we approve."
There is much talk about peace. A compelling af-

firmation of sincerity in expressions of hopes of amity
in Arab ranks must be a consistent and honest rejec-
tion of all crimes such as were perpetrated in
Washington. At this point there is little evidence that
those suspected of terrorism have shown even the
slightest inclination to end the tactics they employ in
their dominating aim to destroy Israel.

Andrei Sakharov: Soviet Russia's
Courageous Humanist Whose Fearlessness
Restores Faith in . Libertarianism

Andrei Sakharov may not have needed the warm
response to his appeals for human rights in his native
land from President Jimmy Carter. But the free world
needed it and fortunately received it.
Prof. Sakharov has consistently demonstrated his
determination to defend just rights of dissidents in the
USSR. He has
gained the highest
rank of recognition
in the scientific
world as a Nobel
Prize winner and as
an advocate of peace
and decency for
mankind. His fellow
Russians should, as
many may, feel hon-
ored that one of
them has been cho-
sen for world recog-
nition. Mankind has
cause to be grateful
ANDREI SAKHAROV
for the fearlessness
of a truly great man, whose genius is not limited to his
professional gifts to science but extends to the univer-
sal hopes for a better and totally free world.

-

He does not limit his declarations for freedom and
decency to the Russian dissidents. He speaks out in
defense of Jews who wish to leave Russia for freer
opportunities and.for havens of escape from economic
and political oppressions. He speaks out in support of
Israel and the right of Jews to the liberties that are the
basic rights of all humans.
In Midstream, Prof. J. L. Talmon of the modern
general Jewish history department at the Hebrew
University in Jerusalem, provided an important de-
finitive evaluation of the Sakharov spirit and
idealism. It is a very important contribution to the
chapter in world history so significantly influenced by
Dr. Sakharov and has special significance for Jews.
Prof. Talmon helps restore faith in liberalism' The
liberals often betray Jews and Israel. They are not
always faithful to the needs for Jewish historic rede-
mption. Some have gone to the bigots out of an inhe-
rent prejudice that has become difficult to erase. The
Sakharov consistency has given new merit to
humanism.
The Talmon essay thoroughly assesses the enor-
mity of the Sakharov role as a guide for courageous
libertarianism. It emphasizes the sense of justice and
fair play of the eminent Russiantowards the Jews and
the following merits-extensive circulation and there-
fore the quoting of it here:
How does Sakharov's attitude to the Jewish

people and to the state of Israel appear to us in the
present world situation, at a time of the greatest
calamities that have overtaken the Jewish people
since the destruction of the Second Temple?
In my view, it confirms once again the conten-
tion that we, the Jewish people, can breath freely,
more or less, only in -the climate of liberalism.
Jewish civilization in Eastern and Central Europe is
ten, in some countries indeed 15 centuries old. (A

Sad Example of Arab Reactions to the Outrageous Occur-
rences in Washington . . . Community Must Encourage Youth
to Participate in Maccabiah Games in Israel in July

few months ago I was told by the noted scholar,
Professor Scheiber who keeps alive the spark of
Jewish learning in far-off Budapest, cut off from all
contact with world Jewry, that an inscription about a
Syndiciis Judeorum was found in Hungary dating
from the 3rd Century, from the days of the Emperor
Alexander Severus — five or six centuries before
the Magyars poured out of the Asiatic steppes and
invaded Hungary!) Jewish civilization came to an
end in countries in which liberalism had never taken
root, and which in modern times were carried away
by a wave of extreme nationalism focused on biolog-
ical determinism. With all its weaknesses, faults and
crimes, the main values of the liberal tradition were
not entirely wiped out in the West even during the
severe test of the momentous ideological confronta-
tion, and across the ocean, within the greatest power
of all time, there emerged a Jewish community of
unequaled strength and possibilities in the
framework of a liberal society, contractural nation-
hood and ethnic and cultural pluralism.
In the Roman-Hellenistic period, of all the
people who were conquered by Alexander the Great
and by Rome, only one culture retained its indepen-
dent identity in a world of nations entirely absorbed
by Hellenistic, by Roman, and in the course of time
by Christian civilization — Jewry. From then on and
until today Jews have never been able to flourish
under a biological or ideological exclusiveness.
Even if it does not proclaim explicitly its anti-
Jewishness, there is no room in such a regime for
Jewish non-conformism, for universal Jewish unity,
and for a specifically Jewish foreign policy.
There are increasing signs that an old constella-
tion is forming anew, this time in relation to the state
of Israel. In the 19th Century, Jewish emancipation
served both as a test and a milestone. The inclusion
of the Jews within the scope of general equality of
rights became a touchstone of the victory of the
liberal-democratic tenets, a sign of the acceptance
of the principle of human rights. Their exclusion was
proof of the'unshaken potency and paramountcy of
the idea of the Christian state, hierarchical social
structure and authorization modes of thought.
Countries of the Third World, with a past devoid
of the Jews and also of the liberal tradition, and the
Communist countries which have denied liberalism
and 'refused to acknowledge the uniqueness of the
Jewish phenomenon, lack the openness, the
generosity of spirit, the tolerant wisdom, the aware-
ness of the destiny and of the peculiar contribution
of the Jewish people. They experience therefore
none of the feelings of shame, gratitude and indebt-
edness towards it that move the hearts of the
peoples of the West, and that Sakharov has become
the spokesman for in the East. "I regard [Jewish
immigration to Israel] as a phenomenon that has
meaning for all mankind and is of basic importance
in the tragic thousands-of-years history of the
Jewish people." Such sentiments cause the follow-
ers of Western liberalism to react with instinctive,
almost reflexive recoiling to any voice or hint de-
manding the liquidation of the state of Israel, what-_
ever their egoistic calculations may be, or whatever
uncomfortable thoughts about that or other man-
ifestations of Israel's policy they may have.
The state of Israel and the Jewish people are
once again in that siege situation which engenders a
siege mentality. Public voices proclaim that the en-
tire world is aligned against us; some spread slo-
gans.that the world was ruled by nothing but force,
and that the only response to bruteforce was force.
Such sentiments are calculated to justify the' doc-
trine that in an hour of emergency accepted norms
do not apply and are not binding. Here lies the
danger that our enemies will drive us into an at-
titude, and force us into a situation which will cause
us to forfeit the moral case which puts us in a special
light in the eyes of liberals such as Sakharov. Our
moral justification, however, is in the long run the
sole guarantee of that enduring sympathy, which
does not depend on fleeting circumstances. Such a
sympathy is . a basic condition for the readiness to
stand by us, to help us and to offer aid in need.
The example of Sakharov ought to serve as an
inspiration and challenge to Israeli intellectuals to
safeguard the spiritual fiber of this tortured and
bewildered nation. They are called upon to comfort
it, to strengthen it, to prevent it from shrinking into
the mood of an isolated sect, full of resentment and
rage, steeped in bitter thoughts and dreaming of
revenge. It is necessary to inspire the people with
the feeling of pride at being heirs and descendants
of one of the most ancient, nobel and vital civiliza-
tions in history, a highly significant strand in the
tapestry of universal history, a fellow member of the
family of nations that is struggling for the dignity of
men, for the right of all ethnic and cultural entities
to free expression, and for the creative unity of
mankind.
It is avery- lengthy quotation but it is inerasable

from a record that will form an important chapter in
this generation's struggle against tyranny.
• Andrei Sakharov is a name that will retain his-

By Philip

Slomovitz

toric significance in.the chronicled story of Jewish ex-
periences.
'Breira' Stirs a Hornet's
Nest and Gains Opprobrium
"Breira" struggled for recognition and suddenly
attained it. By association with a movement not too
friendly to Israel—the Quakers—and by enlisting as a
conference at-public discussions a non-Jewish author
whose book on the Middle East is one of the most
damaging to Israel (Edward Sheehan) and a Jewish
journalist who notoriously assumed to criticize his fel-
low newsmen, the movement became a subject of
wider discussion. Actually it is more notoriety than
acclaim, more sensationalism than eminence.
The entire Breira (Alternative) question has been
muddied unnecessarily. There are Jews who wish to
yield a great deal to the Arabs and there is disagree-
ment on the subject. Those who would make extreme
concessions include prominent Israelis as w-^11 as
Diaspora Jews. Arye Eliav and General Mv. -
Peled are names to be reckoned with, as are „dose'
prominent American Jews who are advocating collab-
oration with the PLO as a means of attaining peace.

They are to be differed with, but they are not bet
rayers of Jewish trust. Contrary to some attacks upon
them, they are not traitors.
But even if it is merely by association the
Breirarists begin to lose their case. When an anti-
Israeli Christian author and sensation-seeking jour--
nalists become the spokesmen for Jewry, when these:
concession-offering collaborationists avow an associa-
tion with PLO representatives at a time when the
latter reiterates a desire to destroy Israel, they lose
their case.
, And there is another important factor to consider:
in a serious matter like dealing with the Arabs and
with such Arab spokesman as the PLO who lead in the -
terrorists' threats to Israel and to Jewry. Action must
be on a basis of wider Jewish decision-making than
that of a hai-idful of dissenters, no matter how serious
their intentions. "Breira" doesn't inspire respect by
its tactics and extremism.

'Seven Sisters' Not Mythical:
The Cause of the Energy Crisis

Who are the troublemakers and the fomenters of
energy crises? Who are the "Seven Sisters"? ,
Much more than the OPEC machinations are re-
sponsible for the pressures from oil drilling sources.
The Seven Sisters are the guilty.

In his book, "The Control of Oil," John Blair enum-
erates. the "Seven Sisters": Exxon, Mobil, So/Cal,
Texaco, Gulf, Royal Dutch Shell and British Petro-
leum..
Blair has charged that OPEC, the so-called "car- '
tel," of .petroleum exporting countries "didn't break
down, and the reason it didn't is because the seven
companies make more money by maintaining and en-
hancing the OPEC price structure than they do by
bringing about reductions in the OPEC priCe struc-
ture." He emphasized that although the OPEC coun-
tries appear to have the will and political cohesion,
they lack economic muscle — the technological and
marketing facilities — to increase world prices. The
"sisters" provide these instruments of power. Without
the consent of the "lucky seven" OPEC's power would
not be possible, Blair maintains. •
. Suspicions persisted about the oil interests, and
the Blair revelations expose them to the fullest. Now
the question is whether the mulcted American public
will exert enough influence and utter sufficient de- -•-
mands to assure corrections in the grave abuses of
economic power. Judged by the expose, the energy
crises are more easily soluble than economists and
politicians would admit.
Maccabiah Games as Inspiration ..
The Lagging Interest in Michigan

Many hundreds, perhaps they'll run into the --
thousands, of Jewish athletes from free Jewish corn-,
munities throughout the world will surely be among
the participants in the Tenth International Mac-
cabiah Games to be held in Israel July 12-21.
Advance listings anticipate that some 2,000
Jewish athletes from communities whence athletes
can travel freely will.share in the many sports e7 -- nts.
Concern is shown in the failure to enlist , ici-
pants from the Greater Detroit and other Micnigan
areas in these games which have gained worldwide
recognition. This state is not without its earlier high
ratings in Israeli sports events.'But what was once a
Michigan chapter of Sports for Israel is now non-
existent. When Sports for Israel was able to enroll
local athletes for roles in the Israeli games it was duc.
to the leadership of the late Robert Morris, Herman
Fishman and other associates who were sports-
minded. Fortunately, a new committee is formizig.
Surely there are gold athletes in these corn-
munities who should be encouraged to enroll for par-
ticipation in the Maccabiah Games, and- the Michigan
communities should be fully represented in the na- --
tional ranks of Sports for Israel. There is enough time
to mend the shortcomings.

