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.