18 Friday, January 13, 1978 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
BURGLAR
ALARMS
War and Peace Through Press Releases
By MURRAY ZUCKOFF
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HURTIG WINDOW INTERIORS
EcDior, Jewish Telegraphic Agency
(Copyright 1978, JTA, Inc.)
NEW YORK — As Middle
East events unfold with diz-
zying and almost unpredic-
table speed, spokesmen for
Jewish organizations feel in-
creasingly compelled to pro-
vide instant comments on
the developments, either
praising or condemning one
side or another and in
for consid-
eration their favorite politi-
cal recipes on how- best to,
resolve the specific problem
on hand. -
The more ambitious gar-
nish their recipes with in-
structions on how to cut
through- the skein of tangled
diplomacy. All, however,
act as if the press release,
rather than the actual
event, is the motor force of
history.
The instrument for di-
verse insights, analysis,
warnings and forebodings is
the press release. The speed
of the releases, which would
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put the Concorde to shame_
is in direct ratio to the
speed and complexity of the
objective developments.
It is implied, in many of
the releases, that history
will be incapable of moving
or may even be derailed
unless these releases are
forthwith made public in the
media.
While the issuance of
press releases hot off the
mimeograph machine is not
a_ new venture its value be-
comes more Oroblematical
than ever given the rapid-
fire development of events.
More often than not, state-
ments contained in the re-
leases,become obsolete even
as they_are being stuffed
into envelopes.
Quite frequently, how-
ever, they. tend to exacer-
bate a situation rather than
solve it.
For example, when Presi-
dent Carter, in response to a
reporter's question, rejected
a Palestinian state on the
West Bank and praised Pre-
mier Menahem Begin of Is-
rael for his peace proposals,
several Jewish organiza-
tions issued instantaneous -
press releases lauding Car-
ter for his statement. '-
The releases added no
new insights into the prob-
lem. Moreover, none were
newswothy and all were ill-
timed.- •
Carter had broken no new-
ground with his statement._
What made it news was that
he repeated it in the context
of the current sensitive
talks between Egypt and Is-
rael. • Carter could have
avoided the ensuing diplo-
matic flap with President
Anwar Sadat of Cairo by
fielding the reporter's ques-
tion on this issue, a time-
honored response by politi-
cans when the issue re-
qiiires sensitivity and tact.
Equally - ill-timed were
press release statements
cautioning that Sadat's re-
sponse was intemperate and
evidence of a hardening of
Egypt's line toward Israel.
Books Exhibited
JERUSALEM (JTA ) —
Books on America and the
Holy Land are currently on
exhibition at the Jewish Na-
tional and Hebrew Univer-
sity Library in Jerusalem,.
On display is the entire
collection of the 72 books in
a reprint series published
by Arno Press, a New York
Times company, in con-
junction with the American
Jewish Historical Society
and the Hebrew University
Institute of Contemporary
Jewry.
One of the exhibits is a
display case containing six
books on connections -be-
tween Egypt and Palestine
at the turn of the century.
The book series features
studies and travel accounts
by noted Christians and
Jews — archeologists, histo-
rians, American consuls and
settlers.
. MURRAY ZUCKOFF
But the press release afi-
cionados were, perhaps un-
knowingly, responding- to
half-baked media reports
about Sadat. The Egyptian
leader did express dis-
appointment with Carter af-
ter being pressed by two
Anierican reporters for .a
response.
What was not reported in
the media, or buried in
mounds of copy, was that
Sadat also said that before
his visit to Jerusalem and
the Ismailia talks -no one
knew what was the fate of
the Palestinians. Begin and -
his government, the opposi-
tion and everyone in Israel
used to say that this (the
West Bank) *is an Israeli
land that has been liber-
ated."
Since his visit to Jerusa-
lem, differing - added, "We
are now differing or quar-
reling among each other in
Israel and here in Egypt
because _they are speaking
of some sort of autonomy or
self-determination." Sadat
then declared: "If after 40
days such a leap takes place
and the differences (are)
between some sort of auton-
omy and self-determination,
I consider this a great leap
and very encouraging for
the future." -
Both releases, therefore
— lauding Carter and cau-
tioning about Sadat — were
counter-productive, at the
very least. Furthermore,
they were reactions to news
developments that had been
only partially reported by
the press in general under
deadline pressure and head-
line-hunting.
Quite frequently, press re-
leases are churned out by
some public relations offi-
cer on behalf of the head
an organiza_tion who is a
ways referred to as a "Jew-
ish leader" -or a "Zionist
leader." These credit lines
more often than not refer to
individuals who lead only in
the number and verbosity of
press release statements,
All too frequently these
releases can be character-
ized by the Yiddish expres-
sion, "er shist mit a bezem
un treft die levanah" (he
shoots with a broom and
hits the moon, a colloquial-
ism for being off target ).
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