2 Friday, October 14, 1977
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
Remember Amalek: Inheritors of Venom Combine
Forces Against
Holocaust
Studies... Arabs
Join With Nazis to Revive Hate Campaigns
By Philip
Slomovitz
Merger of Hatemongers and Their Villainy on the American Scene
Perhaps it is the delay in introducing the study of the Holocaust in American schools
that caused the re-emergence of the vilest form of -anti-Semitism on the American scene.
When Holocaust studies were approved in Philadelphia some weeks ago, Germans who
have retained the legacies of Hitlerism protested. Some wanted the years of terror and
the murder of the Six Million forgotten. There were some who scoffed at the very idea by
suggesting that the claimed sufferings of Jews were exaggerated.
Then came the decision for Holocaust studies in the New York schools, and the haters
and the bigots, the advocates of anti-Semitism, came to the fore. It was a strange sort of
partnership, but its ilk is apparent.
A well-known Arab propagandist who has been advocating Israel's destruction came
forth with the usual anti-Israel mania by charging that the idea of teaching the story of
the Nazi crimes was a mere Zionist scheme.
One wonders whether rational people, sensible Americans, can possibly fall prey to
such stupidities. Whatever an Arab dislikes in the Jew he calls Zionistic. Whatever issue
may involve Jews becomes Zionist to such ill minds as means of hurting Jews and Israel.
Teaching about the Holocaust is an obligation for schools and honest historians. It
should have become compulsory immediately after the end of Hitler's domination in 1945.
The truth should have been retained. There would have been no dillydallying over the
facts<nf history. The delay may have been • primary cause for a new platform for neo-
Nazis who now emerge as villainous as the Nazis themselves.
Zionist Congress: Emerging
Problems and Responsibilities
Differing ideologies in Zionist parties will inevitably
arouse disputes and competitiveness in the approach to the
selection of delegates to the World Zionist Congress which
is being readied for commencement on Feb. 18.
The contest fOr domination will be a subject for prolonged
debates in the approaching months. The responsibilities
that rest upon the Zionist ranks are immense. A new lead-
ership is expected to arise as a result of the revolution that
has affected Israeli polities with the defeat of the Labor
Alignment. A change in Israel's government also influences
the Zionist constituencies in Israel. This may mean a
change of guard in the Jewish Agency. and some political
manuvering already is in evidence.
One important factor in the selection of Zionist Congress
delegates must be given major consideration. The earlier
decision to hold popular elections again emerges as a doubt-
ful approach to truly democratic procedures.
Dr. Joseph Sternstein, president of the Zionist Organiza-
tion of America, has issued an urgent appeal to his fellow
Zionists in all political factions to abandon the idea of popu-
lar elections and perhaps to return to the original practices
of choosing delegates pro rata. on the basis of percentages
of membership in the numerous parties. His argument is
logical. It really won't be a conclusive election since the
voting in all probability will be by mail. Dr. Sternstein
indicates that the cost of a mail election as presently propa-
gated would cost in excess of $2.000.000. Since the results
can hardly differ from the proportional representation poli-
cies, resort to the anticipated expense is criminal.
Dr. Sternstein is not only deserving of highest commenda-
tions for his warning of the shocking expense involved in
present planning. He should be given widest support in his
call for resort to reason and avoidance of an expense the
communities can ill afford and the conscience of good Zion-
ists should not permit.
The President and the Jews;
Commentators and Their Bile
The last words 'on Israel from Washington was a quota-
tion from what the President said to a group of 27 members
of the U.S. House of Representatives, a majority of them
Jews. The President reportedly assured the Congressmen
that he would sooner commit political suicide. than hurt
Israel.
This confirms the constancy of President Jimmy Carter's
declarations of what he stands for, in solidifying the U.S.
friendship with Israel.
The charm of the President is endlessly reflected in his
affirmative declarations about devotion to the idea of pro-
tecting the embattled state in the Middle East.
But, what happens after such utterances? What, makes
the State Department so adverse in judging the President's
views? Is it State versus White House that the doors were
opened to the Soviet Union to magnify the Palestinian
aspect of a grave situation and thereby placing new
obstacles in the path of peace-making?
Time will revolve many of the problems that have thus
far polluted the atmosphere in nearly all of the Middle East
involvements by the United States.
Perhaps the President will be strong enough to erase the
errors of the past—and there were many that added blun-
der upon blunder.
Otherwise, why would William Safire make these sharp
comments in his Op-Ed NY Times article which he titled
"Selling Out Israel"?
In the face of the "not-new" Carter Mideast policy, what
can supporters of Israel—and opponents of the extension of
This became evident when a German who leads the major German organizations in
New York not only assailed the Holocaust studies but had the audacity to question
whether there ever was a Holocaust.
Such is the new trend among neo-Nazis who have become the propagators of new
threats to Jewry and to liberals everywhere. They would absolve Hitler and the Nazis and
whitewash the German crimes.
What has happened is that the new Nazis, who are really offspring of the old beasts
but in the clothing of nations who are granting them new freedoms, are reviving the
venom of the past. They have allies in the Arab potentates who find it convenient to spout
anti-Semitism in the United Nations and in diplomatic quarters. Jewry's Semitic cousir -
have become the leaders in the anti-Semitism that menaces Jewish security. Their p1
form has been a free one in the UN. Now they have another open field through the media
in attacking the Holocaust studies. Will the demand for truth stand its ground?
-One major fact is being overlooked. While speaking of the Six Million there is a failure
to remind the world about the Fifteen Million, who included the Six Million. Hitler's
victims were 15,000,000 people, more Christians than Jews. Therefore, the responsibility
to expose the villainy of Nazism as it links with that of the anti-Israel Arabs is the duty of
all liberty- and truth-loving people. The new test is at hand with the belated introduction
of Holocaust studies in the schools of this country.
Soviet influence—do to restrain a missionary whose mis-
guided zeal could lead to war?
First, we can call for an end to duplicity. If Mr. Carter
has a deal in his back pocket he plans to spring at Geneva,
putting all the pressure of the superpowers and the third
world against Israel, then we ought to know its outlines
now—in time to urge Israel to wait a year or two.
Second, we can expose the campaign to isolate and
weaken Israel. This includes the Carter decision to withhold
anti-missile-bunker weapons; the Israel-is-a-burden philoso-
phy that afflicts the Joint Chiefs under Gen. George Brown;
the plants by the Carter press office about a "Jewish
lobby" that portrays as sinister any call for the U.S. to
honor its commitment to its only democratic ally in the
IVfideast.
Third, we can lean back on those who lean on Israel. The
President has shown, above all else, how susceptible he is
to pressure. No better example of that could be found than
in his abandonment of the subject of human rights in his
UN speech on the day the Belgrade conference opened.
After the infamous Soviet-U.S. agreement, Senator
Hubert Humphrey rose from a sickbed to reach the Presi-
dent and his Minnesota colleague, Vice President Mondale,
and is said to have stunned them with the force of his argu-
ment and the depth of his feeling.
As a result of the mini-firestorm, Mr. Carter held a late-
night meeting with Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan to work
out a way for the Israelis to avoid recognizing the represen-
tatives of terrorism in the working sessions at Geneva, so
that a Palestinian presence does not force Israel to .nego-
tiate a Palestinian state.
That's not much, but it puts our Arab-tilting President on
notice that Israel will not accede to one man's notion' of
their needs for survival. If the deck is stacked at Geneva by
the Carter plan to impose a settlement that turns the West
Bank into a Soviet staging area, Israelis will find a great
body of public opinion in the United States supporting their
refusal to walk meekly to their doom.
There may be criticism for resorting to this quote. But
the threatened Israel-U.S. rift calls for action, and if there
were errors these should be corrected on the basis of an
openly-recorded analysis of misjudgements.
What is needed at present is the reassertion of a citi-
zenry's right to speak out and to strengthen the sentiments
in Israel's behalf, whether in Congress or White House or
State Department or in any other sphere of influence. The
primary need is to assure a good understanding in the
media. When a nationally prominent newscaster can have
the audacity to ask whether it is White House or American
Jewry that has domination over Congress, it is time to
inquire into the conscience of some such sinners who spout
in the media. There is need for a conscience and for decent
reaction to a need for justice, whether in press or radio and
TV. Jews have an obligation to strive for justice for kin-
smen whose fate is endangered. And the American tradition
is to provide comfort to the strivings for fairness and jus-
tice. There can be no yielding on that score.
What Hope for Peace When
Arabs Refuse to Talk to Israelis
Several years ago, there was an Arab-Israel exchange of
views on a TV program in New York. But there was no
confrontation. They spoke behind a partition. The Arab or
Arabs refused to meet Israelis face to face.
On Sunday, on the Face the Nation broadcast, something
new materialized. 'There were two half-hour interviews, one
with the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ismail Fahmi and the
other with Israel Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan. The rea-
son: Fahmi refused to ,meet with Dayan and was quoted
saying he would not even be under one roof with him.
Under such conditions, what hope is there for an early
contact between the two contending parties ? Aren't there
some fairminded Arabs who would object to the
inhumanities pursued by their leaders? Wouldn't anyone
among the rational protest the statement by an Arab propa-
,gandist in New York who berated the teaching of the
Holocaust ?
What a tough road for Israel!
Anti-Car Theft Campaign
"Michigan Anti-Car Theft Campaign" is a mobilization
for action not only to prevent car thefts. In a sense it is a
move in the direction of curbing crimes in a broader scale.
This is a campaign that merits community-wide interest
and unlimited support by police. the courts of law and by
the Michigan residents whose properties and security are
involved.
It is reasonable to believe that car thefts lead to other
crimes, and the curbing of this special aspect of law-break-
ing may help considerably also in limiting violence.
The sponsors of the Michigan Anti-Car Theft Campaign
deserve commendation for their efforts and support in ful-
filling the task undertaken.
Schindler's Political Action Plan in Interest of M.E. Peace
NEW YORK (JTA)—A derous band of terrorists
four-point program for who call themselves the
"political action and public Palestine Liberation Organ-
education" to serve Ameri- ization are permitted to
can interests and the cause take part in the Geneva
of Middle East peace was peace talks. By word and
outlined Tuesday, by Rabbi deed—by its charter and by
Alexander M. Schindler, its frightful acts of vio-
chairman of the Conference lence—the PLO has dis-
of Presidents of Major qualified itself from any
American
Jewish table at which the peaceful
Organizations.
settlement of disputes is
In a letter to the presi- discussed.
dents of the conference's 32
• Through political action
national constituent organi- and public education we
zations, Schindler declared:
must make clear that there
• Through political action can be no peace in the
and public education we Middle East, no security for
must make clear that there America's ally Israel and no
can be no peace if the mur- protection for American
interests in the creation of a terms of the negotiations
so-called Palestinian state. determine their outcome.
By its very existence, such
• Through political action
a state would offer a base and public education we
for terrorist incursion and must make clear that there
Soviet political intrusion of can be no peace if it is
the Middle East. thus based on the joint U.S.
exploding whatever settle- Soviet declaration of Oct, 1.
ment is reached by Israel 1977. Productive negotia-
and the Arab states.
tions at Geneva can be
• Through political action based only on U N Resolu-
and public education we tion 242, which calls for a
must make clear that there `just settlement of the refu-
can be no 'peace unless it is gee problem' and which
a negotiated peace, agreed affirms the 'sovereignty.
to in treaties signed by the territorial
integrity and
parties. and that neither the political .independence of
United States nor the Soviet every state in the area' liv-
Union—separately or acting ing within 'secure and rec-
in concert--can set the ognized boundaries.'