2 Friday, February 23, 1919
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
Condoning of Distortions
About Tortures in Israel Not
to State Department's Credit
-
Renewal of libelous propaganda about tortures in Is-
rael of Arabs in Israeli prisons created the shock of witness-
ing the U.S. State Department being party to such an
outrage.
State Department spokesmen tried to play down the
charges, but they failed utterly in making it known that a
prejudiced, perhaps also disgruntled, retiree from the De-
partment's services was responsible for a concoction that
deserved the strongest condemnations.
'Like the London Times more than a year ago, the
Washington Post also became party to the spreading of the
libel, and it gained unprecedented space in the American
press.
The libel must be exposed in the best interest of truth
about Israel and her penal system. The Jewish state has
diffiCulty enough overcoming news distortions stemming
from quarters occupied by those seeking Israel's destruc-
tion. It is urgent, therefore, that the facts be known and the
libels refuted.
An important statement elaborating on the latest
anti-Israel libel was issued by the Conference of Presidents
of Major American Jewish Organizations. There is no need
apologizing for the use of such an official American Jewish
memorandum and it is offered here in its totality:
"Clumsy public relations." This was the New
York Times' editorial comment last week on what
it called the State Department's "tortured view of
Israel's conduct." By "selectively quoting" from
the section on Israel in its annual report on
human rights, the Times said, the State Depart-
ment "managed to attract unfair attention to
some alleged lapses."
The basis for that rtart of the State Department
report which spoke of "instantes of mistikeat-
ment" by Israel was a series, of cables from one
Alexandra U. Johnson, a junior Foreign Service
officer serving as a consul in Jerusalem, who be-
came romantically involved with a Palestinian
who came to her for a visa. Ms. Johnson, who was
separated last month from the Foreign Service
when she failed to pass her probation period, ca-
bled the State Department that the "use of brutal-
ity" in interrogating prisoners was a "systematic
practice" of Israeli authorities.
There are powerful reasons to challenge the re-
liability of the information provided to Ms.
Johnson by ex-prisoners (including her fiance)
who were seeking visas. Convicted terrorists are
ineligible for U.S. visas. It is inevitable that they
will insist their confessions were coerced.
Moreover, Israel makes detainees available to the
International Red Cross for interview and exam-
ination within 14 days of arrest — and Red Cross
officials have never brought torture charges to
international attention.
Last year a team of distinguished French jurists
representing the International League for Human
Rights and the International Association of
Catholic Lawyers (Pax Romana) investigated
charges of Israeli mistreatment of prisoners. They
found: (a) "Israel's reactions to the activities
which pose a threat to her security can be de-
scribed as very moderate" and (b) "The frequent
use of torture and ill treatment -is normally im-
possible without the existence of secret centers of
interrogation and detention. It would also entail
the disappearance of prisoners. Nothing of the
sort has ever been reported as happening in Israel
or in the occupied territories."
• Despite its awareness of the origin of the
charges against Israel, the State Department re-
leased excerpts from its report declaring that the
"accumulation of reports, _some from "credible
sources," had made it appear that "instances of
mistreatment" had occurred. Given their origin,
there would appear nothing "credible" about the
sources. Nor does the "accumulation" of such re-
ports enhance their accuracy. The repetition of a
falsehood does not turn it into truth. Indeed, this
was part of the "big lie" technique perfected by
Nazi propaganda. It comes as no surprise that the
same method is employed by Arab propagandists
today in their assault on the legitimacy of Israel.
But it is a grave disappointment that the State
Department should fall prey to it.
• Knowing as it does that no nation in the Mid-
dle East and few countries anywhere have a
higher regard for human rights than Israel, the
State Department might have said so in plain
words when the Washington Post frontpaged its
gory account of Ms. Johnson's cables. That it did
not can hardly build confidence in American in-
The Shock of Irresponsible Permissiveness in
the Spread of Libels About Tortures in Israel
Prisons ... Iranian Crisis and Yielding to Panic
tentions among the leaders of the Israeli govern-
ment. As the Times editorial put it: "Is it really so
hard for American officials to understand that the
Camp David accords and a great deal else in the
Middle East vitally depend on Israel's trust in the
friendship and fairness of the United States?"
There is always the regret that such analytical state-
ments seldom if ever reach the vast audience of newspaper
readers whose minds have already been poisoned by the
distortions about torture spread by and in the media. But
the Jewish ranks must not be misled. If the few who seek
the truth will be alerted to it, perhaps the community at
large will learn to strive for the facts and refuse to be misled
by outrageous libels.
Israel, the Oasis Amidst
a World of Terror
There is terror all around her, yet Israel remains the
most civilized oasis in an area of turmoil and uncertainty.
Assassinations are common among her neighbors, yet
Israel, always in danger, ever-threatened, is at peace
domestically.
Ask any traveler to Israel, whatever the ideology of the
visiting tourist, and the impression is that when in Israel
there is little if any evidence of a warlike atmosphere.
When government officials are questioned they'll express
their views on relationships with the outside world, espe-
cially with the United States. It is always in a framework of
hopes and striving for peace.
That is why Israel is the only wholesome factor in the
area, with unshakable dedication to democratic ideals.
That is why Israel is the best friend for the States,
because she is dependable as an ally.
Iran and Lebanon typically portray the troubled
region, in marked contrasts with Israel. But when the need
_arises to Plead for security for Israel even the best of friends
nee* to be convinced that in Israel there; is a semblance of
humanism and democracy. - —
Perhaps the world, and especially the American lead-
ers, will labor with greater conviction in Israel's behalf out
of the experiences in Iran and the horrors in Lebanon.
American Jewry Equally Tested
in These Periods of Crises
American Jewry also is put to the test at every erup-
tion of inhumanism in the Middle East. There are the
frightened who ask unnecessary questions. Because
Menahem Begin differs with Moshe Dayan does not mean
that Israel is on the verge of a crisis or that her government
might collapse. On the contrary, at every eruption of dis-
pute there is evidence that the disruptants represent the
basics of democratic thinking and normal statesmanship
and diplomatic skill in the confrontations with the West
and more notable with the United States.
Is Israel to blame in making appeals for her security
and for the state's survival because Jimmy Carter or the
State Department dislike the demands for what is justice
for Israel and therefore for world Jewry?
American Jews are put to the test when they yield to
panic in time of crisis. When there is a philanthropic cam-
paign, as in the current Allied Jewish Campaign, there
may arise, as happens often, an element that needs con-
vincing and being, led to self-confidence that one doesn't
trifle with a just cause.
Magazines, general as well as Jewish, and numerous
new books now deal with the status of American Jewry. It
could be imagined from the approaches that a people of
some five-and-a-half million are nearing extinction. True:
youth is largely estranged, there is a growing assimilation,
a rise in mixed marriages. The historic lesson of recurrence
of such experiences should encourage greater effort to
counteract the negatives. They do - not teach despair.
The current world situation, the horrors that domi
many areas of the world, the dangers affecting Je
communities, all must be combatted by creating a new
spirit of confidence. .
In this sick world, Israel and Jewry could well be
judged as being among the healthiest. That's the way to
judge the civilized who are like an oasis among -the un-
civilized. Put to the test, Israel and world 'Jewry must
emerge in strength. To make it a certainty, it is the chief
duty of American Jewry.
The Iranian Marranos:
Tragic Echo of the Past
Diaspora Jews of the free world continue to have much
to contend with. There may be a need to rescue Jews from
lands hitherto unaffected by the anti-Israel elements of the
Third World and the Communist bloc. Iranian, Turkish and
other Jews are in danger. Will they, too, need Israel as a
refuge?
Meanwhile, in Iran, there is an echo of the past in
Jewry's reactions to the crisis of horror. Young Jews repor-
tedly paraded in the Khomeini ranks. Now Jews in Iran are
quoted as saying, "We are Iranians first, Jews second."
Where was that heard before?
Shades of the Spanish experience and of the Marranos!
They.are rpt hiding their Jewishness: how can they when
Jews are mar ked for recognition? Yet under insecure cir-
cumstances, dews often shout their loyalty for fear of being
challenged and condemned.
Who is to judge these "I am Iranian first" Jews? How
does any one know how he'd react unless placed in the shoes
of the endangered? Yet, there is a lesson here for those who
do not have to shout their patriotism, who live in a land like
the U.S. where Jews can say with pride:
"We are Americans and Jews on an equal basis,
Americans who will match our loyalties with anyone, and
Jewish with the right'of human beings to care for our kin, to
protect them, to have a loyalty to them as human beings
and even to challenge the America of our love and our
devotion when in the name of America there is injustice by
some who cannot understand the right to strive for fellow
beings as free as we are and to differ with those who would
deprive us of that humanitarian principle."
Meanwhile, there is oppression and Jews in lands of
t yranny live in utter fright lest even a word spelling free-
dom is uttered. The messianic day of redemption will arrive
only when such fears are muted. Until thatday,th
e kinfolk
of the frightened will themselves be panicked by the condi-
t ions and may have to view with toleration the desperation
0 f the less fortunate in world Jewry's ranks.
Jerusalem and I
Was I meant to be
myself
or the one that was supposed to be
and yet never was?
If I am who I am and not who I could be
then where am I? and
where should I be?
With you, Jerusalem, I am
who I was meant to be.
Without you, I am
nothing.
When I hear the music of peace
I hear the melodies of Jerusalem.
And when beauty saturates my soul
I know it is the unique beauty of Jerusalem.
When grief and desolation engulf me,
Jerusalem is there to console me.
When I teach or preach,
I pursue the knowledge of Jerusalem.
And when I reach for God
I reach for the God of Jerusalem.
Usurp or divide Jerusalem again,
and you might as well
kill my soul,
dismember my body,
cut off my arms,
behead me;
for I will be nothing,
I will sense nothing,
I will decay anc4die,
for Jerusalem is I.
By Philip
Slomovitz
Copyright 1979
—By ALON BEN-MEIR
Remove your bloody masks,
you hypocritical creatures.
What do you know
about Jerusalem and me?
I lived there a millenium
before you arose
and I will survive millenia
after you fall.
I am the victim.
Suffering, pain and agony,
misery, fear and tyranny,
torture, persecution and death.
But Jerusalem lives,
has lived through the ugly pages
and infamous chapters of history
that you have written and played.
Remove your dirty disguise,
for Jerusalem and I
have a bond,
unshakeable, unstained,
never to be broken;
a bond
stronger tir;In your most ominous arsenals,
mightier than your deadliest weapons;
a bond
profound, pervading and pure.
And thus
never again
would I capitulate or desert,
neveragain would I abandon or surrender.
For I am Jerusalem
and. Jerusalem is I.