2 Friday, February 3, 1918
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
Hubert H. Humphrey's Lessons for His Own Family,
for Fellow Legislators and the Jewish Community
is Rooted in the Plea Never to Abandon Justice
By Philip
Slomovitz
Hubert H. Humphrey's Zionist Credo: An Eternal Legacy for All Who Live and Strive for Justice
Hubert H. Humphrey left many legacies—for all justice-loving people who strive for
liberty and for human decencies.
He left one especially to be cherished by the Jewish people. It is a part of his credo in
which he defined his dedication to the Zionist cause which he had embraced early in his
career as a legislator for the American people. When he spoke in behalf of the great
liberatarian cause he therefore also addressed himself to his colleagues in Congress, to
the American constituency that has made the American-Israel friendship one of the
great ideals in the American democracy.
The Humphrey view now is being tem-
porized with in a reported letter the late
Senator had written urging Isreal and
Menahem Begin to be flexible. But even in
thiaassertion he acted, just before his death,
as a friend and adviser. Not to be forgotten is
the fact that when the policies of President
Carter were in question it was he who
headed a Senatorial group's demands for
abandonment of damaging pressures on Is-
rael by this government.
Hubert Humphrey shared his dedication
to the Zionist cause and to Israel with his
son, and he said so in an address he delivered
at the Policy Conference of the American
Israel Public Affairs Committee in
Washington. In that address he also ad-
monished American Jews not to hesitate in
their battle for just rights and to keep active
in their duties to gain the support of Con-
gress for their ideal and for aid for Israel.
That speech must be kept on the record as an
encouragement to all who love liberty and
justice and who share the views of the great
American whose memory will never be
erased from the American and Jewish re-
cords. He said in that important speech of
HUBERT HUMPHREY
May 3, 1976:
It is indeed difficult to discuss these issues without recalling my last .visit to
Israel's capital, the historic city of Jerusalem, just a short time ago. I stood on the
Judean foothills, and I had with me my son who is a state senator from Min-
nesota. I wanted him to know the experiences that his father has had. I believe in
bringing up the sons at least with some of the opportunity to share in the experi-
ences of the father. I wanted that son of mine, who is a state senator, to be
another spokesman for justice and for freedom and for Israel. And let me tell you,
he got the message.
When we stood there on the Judean foothills before the panorama of the City of
David, I could see the Parliament, the Knesset, the Dome of the Rock, Mount Zion,
and the Old City. What a sense that he should know this; what a proud ritual, if
you have any feeling at all.
"Hutzpa" Resurrected
to Haunt Diplomats
Villifications became the order of the agenda in the Mid-
dle East for a few days. The result: a (temporary) cessation
of negotiations for peace.
A Hebrew word, now part of many Hebraized insertions
in the English dictionary, is the central theme of the
emerged dispute. It is the word of much needling: hutzpa.
It is better recognized in the Germanized use of the ch, now
transliterated by scholars as either h or kh.
The term denotes impudence as much as it does arro-
gance. In the current situation the resort to it, which was
caused by irritating terminology from Cairo, is, of course,
deplorable. The New York Times editoralized under the
title "The Middle East Without Chutzpah" and had some
advice for both Menahem Begin and Anwar Sadat, thus:
Together at Jerusalem, Mr. Sadat and Mr.
Begin peered into the promised land of a deal. If
they insist now on pushing each other to the brink
of failure, let them look over the ridge. The disas-
ter that Americans see for them there counts for
very little; they must themselves experience the
fright.
Let Mr. Begin contemplate the loss of this op-
portunity to neutralize the only nation that truly
threatens him militarily. Let him contemplate the
loss, by resignation or ether political defeat, of
Mr. Sadat, hutzpa and all. Let him consider the
consequences for Israel of an American public
turned to believe that Israel shares the blame for
future wars or oil embargoes.
Let Mr. Sadat contemplate the loss of this op-
portunity to shake free of a holy war that should
never have been Egypt's to fight, can never be
Egypt's to win and will only plunge Egypt deeper
into poverty and turmoil. Let him think of another
generation of Americans—now poised to reward
his brinkmanship—judging Egypt to be as inept
in making peace as it has been in war. Let him
think through the potential loss of his recent hold
on Israeli opinion. Let him look ahead to another
cycle of military and economic dependence on the
Soviet Union.
• ;
I walked through the Jaffa Gate down the ancient cobblestones, and I made my
way to the Wailing Wall. Standing before the holiest shrine of the people of Israel
and Jews around the world, I was told that the people of Israel come to the wall to
lament over the destruction of the Second Temple, to shed spiritual tears for
those who had given their lives in defense of Israel and the Jewish people.
For centuries, tears, salt have marked Jewish existence. Jews have shed tears
for the ancient exile, the Czar's pogroms; they have wept for the victims of Nazi
terrorism, the heroes of Warsaw, and the sons and the fathers who
defense of a united Jerusalem and a free, independent Israel in 1948, 1956,
7,
and once again in 1973.
Just think of the tattering destruction, of war, of sacrifice and of suffering.
Think literally of the rivers of tears that have come from these incredible experi-
ences. Too many tears have been shed throughout the centuries; too many young
men have given their lives in defense of Israel's freedom and the right of Jews to
be free wherever they live. It is time, I say, to end the tears, to end Israel's pain, to
restore her confidence and to help to bring her peace—the peace for which she
has fought for 28 years, the peace her prophets spoke of and her sons anti
daughters have prayed for.
As Israel's national anthem, Hatikva, proclaims: "Once again, the land of Israel
must be filled with hope," and with that hope, she will prosper. When this comes
to pass, people will rejoice for the miracle of Israel whose people will make the
desert bloom in security and peace.
That's my testament to you tonight; that's the way 1 believe, and those are the
thoughts that will govern my actions in the Congress. Those are the thoughts that
will govern my votes, and will indeed inspire whatever 'egislation I can put my
hand to.
And I say to you now, don't you waste a single day or a moment while you are
here. You contact every member of Contress, and tell them that all that you ask is
that America show its dedication to democracy, that we show our dedication to
those who are willing to die for freedom.
What I love about Israel so much is that she reveals in her existence what I
think are the best objectives of American foreign policy: a people and a country
who are insisting for their right to be free and independent; a people and a
country who are willing to use their. resources to enrich the lives of their own
people; a people and a country who are willing to play a responsible role in world
affairs. If every country that we've helped would do as much, then tonight the
world would be a happier and a safer place in which to live.
This, more than one person's credo, is a legacy for Americans. It must be kept glorified
among the very great declarations by one of the greatest Americans. Let it serve as a
reminder to Congress never to deviate from a policy so impressively enunciated. Let it
serve as a reminder to Jews to remain active for their people and their sacred cause,
continuing ever vigilantly in the libertarian ranks. And let it serve as an encouragement
to Israel's friends, never to tire in the ideal they, too, embraced, and in a friendship to
Jewry and to Israel for which Jews and Israelis will always be grateful.
Only at the brink will Mr. Sadat and Mr. Begin
obtain a clearer idea of which of the issues bet-
ween them justify the cry of deadlock in a dash to
the television studios.
If it is true, as Mr. Sadat believes, that the Is-
raelis now see their security tied to the retention
of defended settlements in the Sinai desert, then
he is clearly right to call it a joke. More likely, the
Israelis seek only to establish the precedent, for
the subsequent negotiations about the West Bank,
of leaving some settlements when their army
withdraws. Even then the objective may not be
worthy or attainable, but it would not be frivol-
ous.
If it is true, as Mr. Begin now charges, that Mr.
Sadat has changed the proposed forward line of
Egyptian troops in the Sinai by 100 miles in just a
few weeks, then the Egyptian President's legen-
dary unconcern with "details" is indeed a cause
for Israeli concern.
And if it is true, as Americans report, that the
central issue in the week's disruption concerns
the terms under which some Palestinians are
eventually brought into the negotiations, then
neither side should expect that difficult problem
to be resolved in public debate.
It should be the American objective now to let
the fears of failure, in both Israel and Egypt, over-
come the name-calling and posturing. It should be
the goal of the Carter Administration to insulate
the American public from the passionate televi-
sion appeals of each side. That means shelving
any discussion of weapons sales to Egypt. It
means ignoring Israel's bid to be acknowledged
as the more injured party. It means resisting the
impulse to stretch a safety net beneath the daring
highwire diplomacy of both.
Of course, this makes sense. If there is to be an end to
villifications it must come from both ranks.
Regrettably, whenever there is anti-Zionism it almost
inevitably either stems from or develops into anti-
Semitism. Call it anti-Jewishness, since Arabs also are
Semites. Since Jews alone suffer from anti-Semitism this is
the exact term for the abuse that was leveled at Menahem
Begin in the Egyptian press.
The deepest regret is in the tragic workings of the minds
of Israel's antagonists. There were shouts of Shalom in
Cairo when Israelis arrived there seeking peace; Sadat's
reverberations brought a reversal in Some ranks, especially
in the media, to the days of hatred for Israel which were
enacted into hatred for all Jews.
The hope now is that the period of hate not only will be
shortlived but that the Egyptians who welcome an assur-
ance of an end to warfare will keep shouting Shalom and
Salaam. Jews are selfish enough to insist that they hope for
and think only of peace.
Hitler Lie Gains Ground
Among Nazis and Arabs
Hitler believed a lie will be accepted as truth if repeated
often enough. That theory seems to be gaining ground.
The lie about Israel torturing prisoners has spre^T to
Lansing. Now the way has been found by letter wri to
give credence to the spreading of the accusation.
Admittedly, it is possible for conditions that have
brought about ruptures between Israeli and Arab cousins
to cause some irresponsible people to be crude and un-
civilized in treating fellow man. All Jews are not saints.
But whoever has studied conditions in Israel, whoever has
been there long enough to study conditions, knows that the
charges of cruelty cannot be true in their application to the
government.
Letter-writers now seek a platform in spreading that lie,
since the American press is free and publishes all views
without restrictions. There is an obligation on the part of
responsible public affairs groups, together with Israeli au-
thorities, to establish the facts before they turn into the Big
Lie.
The Big Lie is gaining ground among American Nazis.
What a pity that they should have been given encourage-
ment to parade freely among survivors from Nazism in
Skokie by the Illinois Supreme Court! What these Nazis
advocate, in addition to calling for a revival of genoCide, is
to attain the freedom that will give them the power to deny
freedoms to others. The American community of free people
must be on guard against such a danger.