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July 28, 1978 - Image 2

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1978-07-28

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2 Friday, July 28, 1918

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Purely Commentary

By Philip
Slomovitz

A Puzzle in Interpreting Friendship: The Bind
Created by Sadat for Carter in Cairo Speech . . . In
the News: Detroit's Mayor, S. Dakota Senator

Sadat Acts the Historian Recording Mr. Justice Goldberg's Historic Role

Arthur J. Goldberg was a good lawyer who established an enviable record as an able
judge. He was a highly respected labor leader and was recognized as such in his position
as Secretary of Labor in President John F. Kennedy's Cabinet. He was elevated to the
U.S. Supreme Court and it must have been to his consternation, later, that he should
have given up that coveted post for what had been described by President Lyndon
Johnson as a great duty and a great honor to represent his country as the chief delegate to
the United Nations.
Mr. Justice Goldberg — it is in this role that he may be considered especially honored
— could not have been very happy as the U.S. Ambassador to the UN. He had to take
orders from the State Department. He was in a pivotal but not in an enviable position to
be compelled to deal with the Arabs and the Russians, both elements having contrived to
do everything possible to undermine Israel's existence. But he came through as honora-
bly as one could hope, as his interpretation of the UN Resolution 242 explains (See special

A New Type of Minority
of One in the U.S. Senate



James Abourezk has a unique role. He is completing his
services in the U.S. Senate, since he is not running for
re-election in South Dakota. He is of Lebanese descent, and
has been referred to as the spokesman for the Arabs in the
Senate, although the Christian Lebanese refuse to be called
Arabs. (See editorial in this issue). He has repeated every
argument that has everbeen advanced against Israel, and
while he has not acted the anti-Semite many of his utter-
ings could be interpreted as anti-Jewish.
It is encouraging, in fact,
that Arabs should have a
spokesman. In the Senate it
provided an opportunity to
air the truth on the basis of
many of the misstatements
that have beclouded the
Middle East issue due to
Arab venom poured out
against Israel and world
Jewry.
Senator Abourezk is a
very able legislator and it is
'deplorable that he could not
have been a bit more mod-
erate on occasions. Last
week, he provided the sur-
prise of his career. The Se-
nate voted to place in nomi-
nation for the Nobel Peace
Prize the names of Anatoly
SENATOR ABOUREZK
Shcharansky, Alexander
Ginzburg and other vic-
timized targets of Soviet hatred. It would have been a
unanimous yote except for the Abourezk dissent.
Here was an opportunity to prove the contentions of his
clan that he is not anti-Semitic ("We are Semites ourse-
lves," they keep claiming); that they only oppose Israel and
Zionism. But Abourezk didn't even offer an explanation in
a matter that has aroused worldwide concern. Therefore,
the Minority of One seemed as if he were converting the
Senate Chamber into a Kremlin. He stands alone!

The Philosophy of a Mayor
in the Shadow of Terrorism

Mayor Coleman Young did some philosophizing. He re-
turned from a U.S. mission to Israel in which he was hon-
ored with the role of a participant with a message about
Palestinians, terrorism and the PLO. He agravated many
folk and he faced up to the issues without an apology. He
rejected the PLO as a factor in the Middle East but he
re-affirmed a viewpoint about terrorism by calling it "a fact
of life."
How true, how true! Isn't vandalism a fact of life, and
juvenile delinquency, and shoplifting, and arson?!
Is it acceptable, Mr. Mayor, even if it is factual? Isn't it
also the Law of Life to curtail the disruptive and to seek a
human approach to the relationships among peoples and
nations?
If terrorism is just placed on the agenda and on the
calendar of daily routines as a fact of life without action for
improvement, why did President Carter and the heads of
several of the world's leading nations act to outlaw hi-
jacking?
Well, philosophy is philosophy and could be only
peripheral to realism. But there are historic factors in is-
sues that have arisen from the mayor's hasty views on the
Middle East that need some attention. Did the mayor stop
to learn who are the Palestinians? Are Begin, Weizmann,
Peres, Dayan, et. al. less Palestinian than the Arab mayors
of Hebron and all the border cities in Judea and Samaria
which are under Israel's administration? Is the Detroit
mayor transferring the diplomatic quarters where negotia-
tions must be conducted for a peaceful future in the Middle
East to the Detroit City-County Building?
You could have learned so much, Mr. Mayor, in the few
days you were in Israel! But you must have come to the
Land of Israel with preconceived notions. And since you
could not modify the statements you made in a press inter-
view, why abandon the contentions absorbed before even
going on the mission with Vice President Mondale?
There is no denying it: these are all facts of life, all
created by a venom that seems to insist that Arabs are
entitled to 22 states, all members of the United Nations;
that they must be granted vast territories and immense
wealth, but that the Jews are to be denied a slice of the

Conquering the New Arab Line

By ROBERT ST. JOHN

(Copyright 1978, JTA, Inc.)

Although PLO hotheads
are still spouting (to whom-
soever will listen) the
nihilistic threat that all of
Israel will someday be oc-
cupied and the Jews driven
into the sea, Arab prop-
aganda in the past several
months has taken on a new
and more subtle direction.
No longer do they talk
about Arab refugees, Deir
Yassin, Kfar Kassem, what
happened at Kuneitra, or
the treatment of Arab citi-
zens of Israel.
Instead, the new Arab
line goes something like
this:
• The Balfour Declara-
tion was a British plot to
stifle Arab nationalism;
• The Zionists could have
and should have chosen
another country instead of
Palestine;
• The United Nations un-
justly partitioned Palestine
in 1947;
• Israel was established
to serve Western im-
perialism and colonialism;

• Palestine was always an
Arab-owned country, fertile
agriculturally even before
the Zionists arrived;
• It was Israel who
blocked peace in 1949, after
signing the armistice ag-
reements;
• While East Jerusalem
was in the hands of Jordan,
the holy places were given
proper care;
• Jerusalem is an Arab
city and should be returned
to the Arabs.
As I travel back and forth
across the United States on
lecture tours, I encounter
many people, ignorant of
history, to whom this new
Arab line seems logical and
acceptable.
What is frightening is
that these well-meaning
but uninformed people will
be helping to elect 435 Con-
gressmen and a great many
Senators a few months from
now. Their opinions, there-
fore, should be of vital con-
cern to those of us interested
in the future of Israel.
In order to answer the
Arabs' arguments it is

articles on Page 1).
Anwar Sadat is being portrayed as a very clever — shrewd? ... foxy? . . . politician. He
fell into sort of a trail) when he exposed his inner fellings about President Carter in what
he believed was a condemnation of Mr. Justice Goldberg, the Zionists and the Jews. The
Yiddish saying "vos bei a nikhteren oufel lung is bei a shikeren oifen tzung" —
what is on a sober person's lung is on a drunkard's tongue — applies to Sadat. He created
an embarrassment for the President and the State Department, necessitating a defense
of Goldberg by Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, on a national television hour.
Meanwhile, Sadat remains on the record: he believes Carter would have been a better
protagonist for him than Goldberg had he been in the White House in 1967. That's toying
with a friendship — Carter being so admiring of Sadat is now a very embarrassed man.
Or, isn't he? If Carter isn't embarrassed by what was said about him in Cairo than there is
nothing to cause anyone to cringe over a stumble into stupid diplomacy.

necessary for Israel's
friends to have on hand
some compendium of facts
that are indisputable, sim-
ply stated and logically ap-
pealing to those willing to
listen.
Fortunately a new edition
of such a document has just
come out: "Myths and Facts,
1978, a Concise Record of
the Arab-Israeli Conflict,"
135 pages, of a size to fit in a
coat pocket, published by
the Near East Report (Room
412, 444 N. Capitol Street
N.W. Washington, D.C.
20001).
In the new edition, edited
by an experienced young
journalist, Alan M. Tigay, is
a great improvement over
the 1976 edition. Fresh
material includes answers
to these myths:
• "Israel's demand for de-
fensible borders is unrealis-
tic in this era of missiles and
long-range bombers."
• "The Yom Kippur War
and Arab success in penet-
rating Israeli positions
prove the uselessness of de-
fensible borders."

Middle East that is their historic heritage! Fortunately, the
problems enunciated, even if they are branded as facts of
life, need not be solved in the Detroit City-Country Build-
ing.

A Rumpus in the Knesset:

Recalling Ben-Gurion's Anger

Guilt-charging and personality disputes occurring in the
Israel Parliament undoubtedly cause distress in Jewish
ranks. The dispute between Menahem Begin and Shimon
Peres on the Knesset floor received front page notoriety in
American newspapers and must have been given sensa-
tional treatment in newspapers in other lands. It served as
a reminder that it was not a new experience.
Parliamentarians battle among themselves very often,
in many legislative chambers in democratic countries. In
Israel's parliament, controversies have often been very bit-
ter, especially between the Herut and Labor parties. Didn't
David Ben-Gurion and Menahem Begin conduct a feud over
Israeli foreign policies during B-G's leadership as Israel's
prime minister? Now Begin is in Ben-Gurion's seat and
Peres is the opposition critic who challenges the one-time
antagonist to Peres' mentor.
"How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell
together in unity," chanted the Psalmist. But in politics,
and in an era of such serious disputes as those which create
serious differences of opinion in the struggle for peace,
there can not be unanimity. Besides, there are political
aspirations and Labor is not to be blamed for seeking a
return to power; just as Begin's aims to retain power must
be recognized as human. Therefore, if the rumpus con-
tinues there will be no surprise.
Those who view rationally-realistically the spats among
legislators also may recall the type of Congress that
typified America a generation ago. Congressmen used to
resort to vulgarities, they ate apples and other fruits and
threw pits at each other. Dignity has been restored in
Congress, even if there is an occasional scuffle. Regardless
of the human experiences that often explain the revulsions
that emerge among humans, the mud-slinging in the Knes-
set, even if it is merely episodal, leaves a bad feeling.
Perhaps it will not be repetitive.

Updated Volume Presents Facts

• "The Israeli occupation
of the West Bank has split
families and violated inter-
national guarantees for the
reunification of families."

• "Israel has bulldozed
hundreds of Arab homes in
- leaving
Jerusalem,
thousands of Arab residents
homeless."

Most important of all is a
new chapter on "Oil,"
answering these myths:

• "The United States is
critically dependent on
Saudi Arabia for oil."

• "Saudi Arabia has had a
moderating influence on
OPEC pricing policies."

• "OPEC pricing policies
are related to the Arab-
Israeli conflict and fourfold
increase in prices since 1973
is a direct result of the Yom
Kippur War."

• "An Arab embargo like
the one imposed in 1973
would have an immediate
and devastating impact on
the U.S. economy."

•"The major American oil
companies stayed neutral
during the 1973 war."
If you already have in
mind short, clear, factual
answers to all such ques-
tions, then you may not
need "Myths and Facts." If
so, as an educational act you
should at least buy a few
copies to give to friends who
may not be as well in-
formed.
But be warned: unless Is-

rael's friends, Jews and
non-Jews alike, in large
numbers enlist in this war
against Arab falsehood, the
complexion of Congress
may change, support for Is-
rael in the United States
may lessen,_ and the future
of the only democratic state
in the Middle East may
come in jeopardy.
And that could be a
tragedy like unto the
Holocaust.

JNF Reclaims Dead Sea Area

JERUSALEM (JTA) — tlement is bisected by small
The Jewish National Fund valleys and river beds. The
recently completed the re- JNF had to remove some
clamation of land for the 68,000 cubic meters of land
new settlement of Mitzpeh to alter it for use. The
Shalem, by the Dead Sea. natural land in the area is
Mitzpeh Shalem was settled very salty.
The JNF coated the land
several years ago on a
mountain ridge overlooking allocated for agriculture
the Dead Sea as a military with fertile erosion land,
(nahal) settlement. It will transported from nearby
now become a regular civi- riverbeds. The JNF has al-
lian settlement, at a diffe- ready reclaimed some 50
rent location, closer to the acres of land, on which it
Dead Sea.
planted palm trees which
The site of the new set- already bear fruit.

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