2 Friday, July 29, 1977
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
Menahem Begin Makes His Points Regarding the PLO and
Multiplicity of Palestinians ... Oil Plays Its Role,
Even Among Indians...A Note in Justice -tr, , 17r-;)- —Lamm
By Philip
Slomovitz
The Collective Amen to Warning That Israel's Future Is Not Negotiable
One would imagine, reading some editorials, especially the puzzling one in the Free
Press, that a ghost had arisen in the image of Menahem Begin to be pursued with
venom.
Of course, Israel's acknowledged leader represents a plurality. But in the normal
course of events, in a coalition government, he administers his country's affairs as a
majority spokesman.
Why the FP-created panic? What's wrong with the libertarianism of a nation insisting
upon the same rights as her neighbors and those with whom she is in partnership, such
as the United States? Why the fomenting of suspicion, antagonism, animosity—all bor-
dering on hatred?
That's what our editorial confrere on the morning newspaper did. It has given comfort
to Israel's enemies.
At stake is the_ major proposal: for Arabs and Israelis to meet face to face if possible,
or to confer through intermediaries, to strive for prevention of hostilities, to seek an
accord to benefit both peoples, the entire Middle East and all concerned with an assur-
ance of calmness in an area that has been plagued by wars.
Mr. Begin said all of that, and he spoke with courage in behalf of his people whose
strength lies in holding fast to the banner of freedom and to the elementary rights of a
nation now surrounded by warmongering.
The 'Death Sentence' for Those
Who Would Recognize Israel
A warning was issued in Beirut on July 14 by Bassan
Abu Shariff, who reportedly ranks second to Yasir Arafat
in the PLO movement, that: "Any Arab leader who recog-
nizes Israel will be executed. No one will escape this sen-
tence. - Yet, the gullible, including members of Congress,
return from visits with Arafat believing that he means it
when he says that he is ready to recognize Israel. What
they do not stop to learn and to analyze is that the recogni-
tion espoused for public consumption would not include
even the minutest unprotected pre-1967 areas; that Shariff
and Arafat and their cohorts have spoken in terms of "a
Jewish state centered only in. Tel Aviv." Some of these ex-
tremists who threaten Israel's destruction even claim even-
tual occupation of Tel Aviv. How gullible can people be?
David Frost the Interrogator:
Has He Gone Warm on Arafat?
David Frost is the able interviewer who was unhesitant
to go deep into the mind of Richard Nixon and to tackle
him on the major issues, including the lying, the dis-
tortions, the U.S. presidential scandal. It was to be ex-
pected that he would be equally thorough in his question-
mg when confronting the PLO inciter to violence against
Israel. But the Jewish Observer and Middle East Review
carried this brief item under the heading "Frost Gone
Warm":
"It could not have been easy for David Frost to inter-
view PLO leader Yasir Arafat in his secret head-
quarters in Beirut surrounded by three or four of his
henchmen. No doubt he would have felt much more
at ease if he could have had his subject sitting in a
BBC studio with a live audience. Nevertheless, the in-
terview on BBC Television was a little on the mild
side, allowing the terrorist leader to portray himself
as a kindly, smiling, gentleman whose only concern
was for his people, not for himself. The cutting edge
that made Frost an interviewer to be feared—re-
member Emil Savundra?—seems to have been
blunted with success." -
On the local level people in the media who have "gone
warm" on Nazis by failing to confront them with their vil-
lainy have been severely criticized. Does Frost now enter
the ranks of those who merit severe condemnation for fail-
ure to expose brutality when questioning the man who was
interrogated?
A Realistic Query
A brief one-paragraph letter in the New York Times
pointed realistically to the hypocrisy of demanding with-
drawals from Israel while the Big Powers that made such
demands hold on to what they had captured. Wilson P.
Foss of Katonah, N. Y., wrote:
"I am hard put to equate U.S. demands for the return of
lands to the Arabs with our quiet acquiescence in Russia's
taking Finnish lands, the seizure of Latvia, Lithuania and
Estonia and the annexation of Western Poland. Particu-
larly unpalatable are the takings while Stalin and Hitler
were partners. Add the fact that the Arabs set upon the
Israelis, and there are repeated statements by high Arabs
that they will do it again. If we are to posture as world
dispensers of justice, let's at least be evenhanded in our
preachings."
It's an old story and it cuts. no ice in international ex-
poses, but it's still worth retelling.
When Arabs Sought Jewish Friendship
It was not always rivalry. There were Arabs who sought
Jewish friendship, even in the years of the Grand Mufti's
domination. A clipping from old files, from a 1936 Palcor-
Palestine Correspondence (the now defunct Jewish news
service) cabled report, tells an interesting story:
"An appeal to the Arabs of Palestine to work in coopera-
tion with the Jews was issued by the Arab workers club of
Haifa which is affiliated with the Arab-Jewish workers con-
federation. The manifesto denounces 'the incitement which
It is possible that the fanning of prejudicial attitudes will be molified and modified
more by Arab leaders themselves than by the sufferers from such venom. Then the edi-
torial writers who see only gloom will eat crow. There is the possibility that President
Carter's agreement with Prime Minister Begin on an Oct. 10 date for the reconvening of
the Geneva Conference on the Middle East may be a reality. Such a conference may or
may not develop into the hate-slinging by Arabs as has been their habit at the United
Nations. But a door will be kept open for negotiations. That's what counts, not the pre-
judicial tones of one or more editorials.
Israel's Security Not Negotiable
Two elementary facts, emphasized by Mr. Begin are worth reiterating.
One is in reference to being a Palestinian. Jews also were Palestinians, much ion ,
than Arabs. Therefore there is equal ground in bandying around terminology. \
There there is the PLO question. Prime Minister Begin pointed out that the PLO's
aim is the destruction of Israel. To deal with them would mean negotiating Israel's de-
struction. That did not and will not work. Any Jew or any libertarian who will even
think in terms of negotiating on such terms—involving Israel's demise—would be reviv-
ing another Holocaust. This won't work. It's not acceptable and Begin said so. To that
there is a collective Amen!
is ruining the country' and appeals for 'a common life,
peace and labor.' "
This 41-year-old news story reveals many things about
Jews and Arabs. There was a rational element that de-
sired peace. But the Grand Mufti's incitements to rioting
and to mass murders of Jews frightened even that small
segment of Arab peace-Seekers. It is the Grand Mufti's
spirit that continues to rule as an incitement to hatred in
Arab ranks.
A Strange Alliance:
The Indians and the Arabs
A rather puzzling report was circulated from Denver ear-
lier this month. It told of a meeting of representatives of
23 western Indian tribes who are seeking . the aid of OPEC
nations to help them develop vast uranium and coal re-
serves beneath their reservations.
Why should Indians turn to Arabs for assistance? Surely,
it is because of oiled money, which is part of the pro-
cedures in evidence in many democratic and less free
countries because of the quest for funds and from oil in a
parched world.
Arabs are buying up everything that is available. They
have bought hotels in the American South, they are bid-
ding for newspapers in England. It's a great bargaining
game.
It's disturbing for many and especially for Jews. Would
an Indian-Arab alliance create new enemies for Israel and
therefore also for Jews?
Already on the record is the Jewish experience with the
blacks. Jews have been and remain in the front ranks of
battlers for civil liberties, yet blacks have lined up with
Arabs to molest Jews and black anti-Semitism has been
among the most distressing factors in Jewish life in this
country in the past few years. Serious efforts are being
made to end- such unjust reactions by the black community
and it is a slow process in bringing proper results.
Now there are the Indians. Have they forgotten that
Jews have been among their best friends and defenders? A
pioneer in the struggle to prevent descrimination against
Indians and to restore just rights for them was a Northern
Michigan author, Robert Gessner. He had written several
books on the Indian question and he devoted his life in
their behalf.
(Interestingly, Robert Gessner, unlike his father who
was a pioneer Zionist, opposed the movement. He was at-
tacked by this commentator and by Ludwig Lewisohn for
his antagonism to Zionism in his book "Some of My Best
Friends Are Jews," written in 1936, and a great debate en-
sued between us at that time. But that's merely an aside
in referring to an interesting man with whom we differed
on the Jewish question. That's how it often i..s--that a Jew-
ish liberal goes to great length for others while being un-
fair to his own people.)
The present purpose is to introduce the hope that an In-
dian-Arab alliance will not mean a new force in anti-Zion-
ism.
Dr. Norman Lamm's Views
on Mehitza Clarified
Clarification of the Mehitza question, that of separating
the sexes at religious services is provided by Dr. Norman
Lamm, the distinguished president of. Yeshiva University.
Referring to a quotation from his address appearing in the
July 1 Purely Commentary column, which sounded as mak-
ing concessions on its practice, Dr. Lamm writes:
'When I maintained that Orthodox Jews have 'over-
stressed... the issue of mixed pews' and that this was 'the
wrong issue on which to fight the battle of traditional
Judaism,' I did not mean to minimize the importance of
separate seating during services. Quite the contrary, I
made the point again and again that I am not at all debat-
ing the validity of the stand of Orthodox Judaism per se,
but questioning rather its scale of priorities. I -would have
preferred that our major effort be directed to even more
significant issues which are generally ignored in the Jew-
ish .community today.
"Hence, it was erroneous to interpret my stand as 'anoth-
er conciliatory gesture for those who treat the mehitza as
a debatable commandment.' "
The quotation in this column was from a news report.
The correction by Dr. Lamm is welcome in the interest
of accuracy.
Editorial Criticizes U.S. Treatment of Israel
(Editor's Note: The follow-
ing editorial is reprinted in
its entirety from the Okla-
homa Eagle, a black week-
ly published in Tulsa.)
Is somebody using the Is-
raeli elections as a political
whip to force the Israelis to
accept unpalatable terms
for an Arab-Israeli peace?
The near hysterical out-
burst over the election of a
right of center politician by
the Israeli voters has not
been matched by such con-
-cern over election returns
in any other country since
Allende won election in
Chile.
' We have no way to gage
such concern over Arab
elections since they are
practically non-existent.
The overturn of the Is-
raeli Labor government
should have been foreseen
or at least anticipated,
what with all of the charges
of corruption, some of
which were proven to be
more than charges; the res-
ignation of the prime min-
ister, the trial of his wife;
the rising cost of living in a
country where it is already
astronomical and other in-
ternal problems which had
no direct bearing on foreign
policy but which were gut
issues for the people.
The boys who read the
signs should have not been
as surprised as they have
pretended to be over the
outcome, that is if they are
the "experts" that they
claim to be.
Even us country yokels
would have been surprised
if the Labor Party had not
lost. Which makes us won-
der if this change of govern-
ment by the Israelis is not
being used as a propaganda
device to weaken world
opinion favorable toward Is-
rael by painting her as an
arrogant war-mongering
people who are determined
to resist peace initiatives ex-
cept on their terms.
Such a world view of Is-
rael could so weaken her in-
fluence that she could be
bludgeoned into accepting a
peace which would be detri-
mental to her interests.
The Israeli haters are not
above using such propagan-
da to further their own in-
terests but we are sur-
prised at the Carter admin-
istration joining the yapp-
ing dogs.
Quiteobviously a country
like the United States
where free elections make
sometimes for strange bed-
fellows because of over-
riding domestic concerns.
should be much more so-
phisticated in assessing the
true situation in Israel than
we appear to have been in
recent weeks.
adminis-
Carter
The
tration especially should
know better since they rode
into office strictly on domes-
tic concerns, not foreign pol-
icy.
When inflation is high and
employment is low, it
should not be surprising if
the voters look around for
somebody else to mind the
store.
The 1967 cease fire line
would mean that Israel
would once again have to
abandon the Golan Heights,
the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip. She would also
have to pull her troops out
of the Sinai Peninsula.
Hence, she would be at the
mercy of the uncertain dip-
lomatic whims of the UN
whose bias already favors
the Arabs and the erratic
whims, dreams and hatred
of Arab nations who have
vowed to drive her*to the
sea.
This is like having the
Russians take over Califor-
nia, New England, and
Texas, all under UN approv-
al and trusting the Russians -
not to try for the rest of the
country or if they did, tru-
ing the UN to stop them.
All of which makes us
wonder if the U.S. is using
this election as an excuse
to join the rest of the West-
em allies (who are cowed
by the Arabs), into demand-
ing a cease-fire line which
would put Israel at the
mercy of her enemies once
again. If so it would mean
that we are tired of the
problem and we have de-
cided that the best way to
solve it is.by the extinction
of Israel.
That oily path from
Riyadh to Houston seems to
have traveled right up our
national spine leaving a yel-
low streak.