38 Friday, January 12, 1919
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
A National Jewish Energy Lobby Advocated to Help U.S. Policy
.
posted price of crude oil for
the year 1979. After a few
days of deliberation, the
organization resolved to
raise the price by 14.5 per-
cent. According to OPEC
spokesmen, the price-hike
was related to the general
deterioration of the dollar
and to inflationary trends
that have swept both the
U.S. and its oil-consUming.
allies. No one at the meet-
ing even whispered a word
about the "rights of the
Palestinians" or the wicked
By ALON BEN-MEIR
ST. , LOUIS — In mid-
December the members of
OPEC convened in Abu
Dhabi to determine the
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Israelis.
In the face of the obvious,
the myth of a connection be-
tween the supply and price
of oil and the Middle East
conflict remains as real in
the minds of many Ameri-
cans as it was during and
after the Yom Kippur War
of 1973. Israel and its sup-
porters in the 'U.S. have
failed so far to show that oil
prices are determined'in di-
rect relation to supply and
demand, and that regard-
less of what might happen
in the Middle East, OPEC
will act in response to eco-
nomic, not political, consid-
erations.
The Arab oil-producing
countries and especially
Saudi Arabia, however,
were extremely successful
in linking oil supply and
prices to the Arab-Israeli
conflict. Wishing to in-
gratiate itself with its radi-
cal Arab neighbors as well
as the Palestinians, Saudi
Arabia has insisted, on the
connection and has thus
demanded that the U.S.
pressure Israel for greater
political concessions in re-
turn for moderate prices
and a steady supply of oil.
The U.S. was forthcom-
ing in complying with the
Saudi demands and- in-
deed, Israel has been sub-
jected to growing Ameri-
can pressure. Given the
U.S. response, it is hardly
surprising that the fal-
lacy of connecting the
supply and price of oil to
the Arab-Israeli conflict
continues its hold over
the American public's
imagination. And
through it all, U.S. oil
companies continue to
reap increasing profits in
the name of oil shortages
And uncertainty of future
supply.
As Israel and Egypt enter
a new phase of negotiation,
the Arab oil producers will
undoubtedly pursue the
same strategy and use the
tactics of changing oil sup-
ply and prices to extract
maximum concessions. The
time has come for Israel and
U.S. Jewry to take the in-
itiative and dispel once and
for all the myth of the oil
connection.
The leaders of the Jewish
community in the U.S. must
shift gears and move from a
strategy of defense, of react-
ing to situations, to a
strategy of offense — in-
itiating and pioneering
some new programs and ap-
proaches aimed at the goal
of making the U.S. energy-
independent:To the extent
that the U.S. remains de-
pendent on foreign oil and
continues its policy of
deficit-spending, we can
count on the Arab states to
capitalize on U.S. weakness
and exert all efforts to
achieve their aim through
manipulative methods in
which oil plays a prime role.
The new oil price-hike
will cost the U.S. an addi-
tional $4 billion to $5 billion
in 1979. This additional ex-
pense will undoubtedly
create a new economic
handicap and increase the
possibility of a recession,
combined with a double-
digit inflation rate and in-
creased unemployment.
These trends could trigger a
new wave of anti-Semitism;
a scape-goat will have to be
found for America's eco-
nomic ills and Israel will
once again be put on the de-
fensive.
Jews in the U.S. and
elsewhere have fre-
quently pioneered new
and at times radical so-
cial, economic and politi-
cal programs. Perhaps
the time has come for U.S.
Jewry to take upon itself
the project of American
energy independence. To
be sure, U.S Jewry, even
with all its resources and
ingenuity, will not be able
to do the job alone. An ef-
Shcharansky Birthday Noted
NEW YORK — The Stu-
dent Struggle for Soviet
Jewry is distributing
thousands of pre-addressed
post cards to 'be sent to
Anatoly Shcharansky for
his 31st birthday on Jan. 20.
Shcharansky was sen-
tenced to 13 years in a
Soviet prison last year, os-
tensibly for spying against
the Soviet Union.
To obtain free copies of
the post card, write to the
SSSJ, 200 W. 72nd St., New
York 10023.
ANATOLY SHCHARANSKY
Persons can write directly Prison, Uchr. - 5110/1 UE,
to Shcharansky at Chistipol Moscow,.RSFSR, USSR.
Physicians Probe Israeli Medicine
BROOKLINE, Mass. —
The American Physicians
Fellowship and the Founda-
tion for Advanced Educa-
tion in the Sciences of the
National Institutes of
Health will sponsor an in-
ternational seminar on
medicine in Israel March
29-30 in the Masur Au-
ditorium of the Clinical
Center in Bethesda, Md.
For registration informa-
.
tion, write the American
Physicians Fellowship,
2001 Beacon St., Brookline,
Mass., 02146.
This heart of mine, well
aware of the frailty of man,
refuses to condemn my
neighbor because he failed
to find the strength to be-
come a martyr.
— German-Jewish
philosopher Martin Buber
fective program will re-
quire the cooperation
and support of the oil
companies, the U.S. gov-
ernment and the Ameri-
can people. Yet a Jewish
lobby for energy inde-
pendence can achieve
several results that can-
not be ignored:
• Through an intensified
educational campaign, a
Jewish lobby can expose the
artificial relationship be-
tween the Arab-Israeli con-
flict and oil supplies and
prices.
• A Jewish lobby can
conduct an independent
study regarding price and
supply of oil by the oil com-
panies and make public its
findings. For example,
when Shell announced in
mid-November that it had
decided to cut its supplies of
unleaded gasoline to its cus-
tomers, was this due to in-
adequate supplies or was it
because Shell anticipated
the OPEC price hike?
• Jews who hold high
offices in the federal, state
or local government can and
should set the model for
others to follow in pioneer-
ing projects aimed at con
serving energy, promotin
mass transportation, an
cutting government trans-
portation expenses.
• Jewish Senators and
Congressmen should intro-
duce further legislation.
when needed, aimed at les-
sening U.S. dependence
foreign oil (the preset
Energy Bill notwithstana
ing).
The task will not be easy
but it may be the best option
for American Jew wh y
, be
will, for the first
n
treating causes a
merely symptoms.
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1977
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