2 Friday, September 16, 1977

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Purely Commentary

David Bar-Illan's Piano as a Symbol of Justice for the
Faithful Who Seek to Reclaim Desert That Has Been
Laid Waste ... Human Rights and Anti-Israel Greed

`Settlements' of the Faithful...the Right to Build Peacefully

By Philip-
Slomovitz

Human Rights in the Claim
of Palestinian Propaganda

"Settlements" have become a subject for dispute. They
will be on the agenda of the United Nations Security Coun-
Next to the anti-Israel advertisement that appeared in
cil, and once again the proposal will be to condemn Israel.
some newspapers under the heading "Palestinianans Have
Since the issue has been spearheaded not only by th e
Human Rights Too..." should have been listed the names
lined-up enemies of Israel, whose rhetoric remains a mat
of the 22 Arab nations who have combined their forces
ter of record in the UN but also in U.S. government cir-
with the aim of destroying Israel.
cles, the planned condemnation may even receive the sup-
And linked with it should appear a sociological note
port of our government. This will only aggravate the issue,
about the freedoms Arabs enjoy in,Israel, the fact that hun-
especially since it was spearheaded in • great. measure by
dreds of thousands of Arabs from many of the lands that
the White House.
are bound to annihilating the Jewish state, have visited Is-
rael; that there are Open Bridges and the Open Fences
What really is this evil-seeking in the problem created
by "settlements?" What crimes are being committed by
which provide passage for Arabs into Israel.
Jews who seek to populate Judea and Samaria, to reclaim
Linked with that advertisement should appear the story
land that has been neglected and turned into deserts, to
of the New Exile, the refugee army of some 800,000 Jews
make the soil of the Holy Land blossom again?
who were forced out of Moslem, countries, their posses-
Gush Emunim has been bandied around as an evil, yet it
sions confiscated, their rights suppressed.
is a peaceful movement of believing Jews, of erstwhile set-
Human rights only for the Arabs? It's difficult to believe
that Americans will . be so gullible as to believe that high-
tlers in areas where Arabs can live in peace with Israelis
because no one is being dispossessed.
priced propaganda from Arabs who now clamor for a 23rd\
An Israeli lady has given her impressions of the Gush
state as a passageway into Israel and as a means of de-
stroying her.
Emunim devotions in a New York Times Op-Ed Page ar-
ticle which she titled "Appointment in Samaria." It began
a
i
.' k.0,
with a clamor for justice. It expressed a hope for fairness
,,, :,
vofo 'ogiw:,, ,:wa,-.,:kr,
ACLU's Membership Drops
in a peaceful environment. Beverly Bar-Illan, the wife of
For
Defending the Nazis
the well-known concert pianist David Bar-Illan, writing
from Gillette, Wyo., told of an experience in one of the
Defense of Nazis and their 'right to parade in -Skokie,
new settlements. This is her story as told in "Appointment
Ill.—anywhere else, for that matter--has resulted in the
in Samaria":
American Civil Liberties Union losing more than 2,000
Through a window near the small airport here, I see a
members in that area.
snow-capped mountain. I don't know what's on the other
The losses may be much larger because of dis-
side—I'm only a traveler—but this is the United States and
This drawing illustrated the Beverly Bar-Illan article in
illusionment with the ACLU position is a normal one. The
I'm a WASP, secure in the knowledge that the whole of the New York Times.
ACLU program is commendable: it protects the civil
the mountain belongs to my people and that, should I de-
* * *
rights of all regardless of race or creed and it is consistant
sire, I could probably settle there.
sense of home, hospitality and "digging in" permeated the
in its adherence to the basic American principles. But it
There are no enemies lurking, there are no hostile bor- air.
goes just a few steps too far. When propagators of Gen-
ders within my sight-range, indeed none border my coun-
A Jerusalem Post article about the hostility of the set-
ocide
are given a clean bill of health, it is. like saying to
try. I think I can be certain that I'm the first person to tlers came to mind: "Could we really hate young people
the hoodlums in many areas that freedom of speech is
look at that mountain and remember the hills of biblical who, in this day and age, willingly leave their comfortable
more important-, than human decency.
Judea and Samaria. Last year, I spent an evening in those homes in the city to pitch their tents on a barren hill sur-
There is such a thing as wandering with an idea into dan-
hills. Since then, there isn't a day that I haven't "gone rounded by hostile crowds—for the sake of an abstract
gerous areas. It's bad enough that our judicial system has
back." I left something of myself there but I got more ideal rooted in love of their people and country? Even if
become so wishy-washy, so conciliatory to criminals. That
than my share in return.
he disagrees with their views, can a man of sound reason
a defense group should be willing to grant freedoms to
It's been a long time since I became aware of a faction hate them?"
mass murderers or their supporters and advocates is intol-
in Israel called Gush Emunim (Bloc of the Faithful) and
The settlers were no longer in tents, but I couldn't envy
erable. The good that is in ACLU is corrupted by the irra-
its struggle to populate the hills of Samaria and Judea.
the thought of their living, year-round, behind the gates
tionality of absolute freedom which benefits only the crimi-
In December 1975, the New York news media carried and barbed-wire fences of an army camp in tiny trailers.
nal.
the story of Gush members who were making their second
Nothing seemed to faze them. They were so proud, so con-
attempt to settle "in the heart of Samaria." A hundred or vinced that their little group would grow and create a
so men, women and children were gathered at Camp thriving community, that here they were, extrenching
Kadum,.in Samaria, with the intent of establishing a settle- themselves deeper and deeper, with absolutely no guaran-
ment there. For reasons not quite clear to me then, the Is-
tees of anything.
raeli government disapproved and ordered the settlers to
When we returned to the concert site we were as-
leave. They held their ground. Then the government told tounded. Hundreds of people had gathered while we were
the settlers that they could stay for three months while the
away. They had come from all over the country. It must
Cabinet decided on West-Bank settlement policy.
have meant a great deal to those settlers, so isolated and
Something about this story raised my hackles. The gov- removed from their countrymen in their everyday exist-
ernment's stance produced the kind of sensation in me
ence, to see the crowd gather, to realize that their struggle
that occurs when I must intervene in a dispute between to make Judea and Samaria a place where Jews can live
two children I love equally, knowing one will be proved was the dream of so many.
wrong. I would have just as soon pretended that I had
For the settlers and for the 1,000 or so who traveled
Missed the whole sequence of events.
from their homes to Kadum and back, it was more than The new Shaare Zedek Medical Center being built opposite
I found valid arguments on both sides, but shorn of the just a musical experience. Undoubtedly, each had a highly
Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.
legalistic niceties, one fact remained glaring: Jews were
personal reaction to sitting high up in the hills of Samaria
being denied—by the government of Israel—the right to with the moon and stars overhead and the sound of music
e where they wanted. I wondered: Was it possible that
filling the night.
tl !. West Bank was to be like Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Jordan
When the last note sounded, a woman came to me with
' , rd Saudi Arabia, where no Jew is allowed to live?
a beautiful piece of ceramic jewelry, saying, "This is for
The more I thought about the issue, the more I felt as if
you from the women of Elon Moreh." When I touch it now,
[ was doing combat with myself. However, I remember a in this Wyoming airport, it feels warm on my fingertips,
se nse of relief when my husband said he had decided to and my pulse quickens.
give a recital for those settlers when he went to Israel.
Another young lady, her eyes brimming, handed me a
I was surprised at his decision since, frankly, he's the
bouquet of wild wheat and I wondered as I clutched it to,
East person that I would have expected to support the ac- me, how ancient were its seeds. How is it that I smell it
ions of a group whose roots are in the Orthodox commu-
still on a cold Wyoming night?
ity. However, once he'd told me he'd do it, I knew it
Finally, as I stood trying to collect myself, trying to
would be done—even if he had to take the piano on an ox-
drink it all in, a man approached me, hesitatingly. "It's
'irawn cart.
We arrived in Israel in June 1976 and were driven to been nearly 3,000 years since music was heard in these
Damp Kadum, less than 35 minutes from Tel Aviv. It was hills. And you know, Mrs. Bar-Illan, the musician then was
called David, too." Three thousand years. An eternity.
I ! shock to realize that this area deep in the West Bank is
I K) close to the heart of Israel. (Thirteen months later, the Such an agonizingly long time for anyone to wait.
Such is the sentimentality of realism and devotion that
iew government would recognize the settlement and its lo-
ation, Elon Moreh.)
links the Emunim, the believers, with the "settlers." Who
My husband went like a homing pigeon to the piano, an are the settlers? They are the redeemers of the land, the
ipright that had arrived just before we did. It stood on a builders, the reclaimers of the soil who turn desert into
garden and set the same standards for neighbors who are
wooden stage covered by a slanted roof. There were color-
lights strung around the structure, and huge tins filled being instigated to hate but who in historic experience
with flowers and small, delicate young trees.
can, as they must, benefit from the progress attained by
I looked up to the edge of the roof of the stage and saw those who are the targets for attack at the oncoming ses-
white banned with a quotation from Jeremiah: "Thou sion of the UN.
'halt again be adorned with thy ‘tabrets, and shalt go forth
Yes, there also is realism in the sentiments of Gush
a the dances of them that make merry."
Emunim and the Bar-Illans. Without the "settlers" there
Before the concert, I toured the settlers' homes. I noticed can be no security for Israel. Remove the settlers on se-
hat many of them were already gardening and were at-
cure borders and Israel is reduced to insecurity. Isn't this
empting to beautify the immediate surroundings. The
An aerial view of Moshav Gnai HaDrom. The rooftop solar
why a piano also became • a symbol of justice?

Building Up the Land of Israel

i

panels are visable as dark squares.

