2 Friday, August 24, 1919
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
Deplorable Results of Search for Scapegoat . . . No Excuse
for Engendered Hatred Inspired Among Black Community
By Philip
Slomovitz
Of the Many Wars, This Is the More Serious, With U.S. Jewry as Combatant
Even the most sanguine, the ultra optimistic, must admit that what occurred last
week aggravated another Middle East war, affecting the United States.
There were more than four major wars involving Israel's battle for life. Not only in
1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973, but also in 1970, when the threats to Israel were embodied in
the War of Attrition by Egypt and its Arab allies, and the continuing war of the past few
years which George Will called the PLO War. Therefore, the Andrew Young resignation
resulting from his undiplomatic conferring with a PLO spokesman could be viewed as
having started the Seventh Israel War for Survival.
Try as one may, this cannot be denied. It is yet to be proven that negotiations, no
matter how secretive, how off-the-record, by American officials with PLO representa-
tives signified some sort of "recognition" for PLO. Since Andrew Young was inclined to
resign the important U.S. post at the UN, it is proper to pose a question about Milton
Wolf, the U.S. ambassador to Austria. Will he resign or will he be ousted as a rebuke for
having conferred three times with an Arafat associate? Being Jewish, Wolf's indiscre-
tions are to be judged not only as undiplomatic but also as irrational.
This being a new war, the seventh for Israel, all the consequences of the former and
the dangers of the present should be considered in all seriousness.
Jews were concerned about the consequences of all the conflicts. In the present one
the American Jew is more involved than ever. He has become a combatant. And the
contending forces are no longer the PLO alone. Now the black community has assumed a
role that is causing grave concern. It feels as if ti and not Andrew Young were rebuked
and ousted from the inner circles of the U.S. government and seems to have embarked on
An Excellent Opportunity
to Analyze Scapegoat Theory
All reactions begin by creating a case against
the Jews.
—Luigi Luzzati, Italian premier, 1841-1927.
So long as the world is a place in which life to
the ordinary man means insecurity, frustration
and unemployment, so long will he need some
scapegoat for his feelings; and the position of the
Jews, and their powerlessness, make them the
perfect scapegoat.
—James Parkes, English clergyman.
Nothing gratifies the mob more than to get a
simple name to account for a complex phenom-
enon, and the word "Jew" is always at hand to
explain the never-absent maladies of the body
politic.
—Israel Zangwill, English author, 1874-
1926.
What could and should have been dealt with as a mat-
ter of justice in the protection of the redemption of Zion
became a cause for a campaign of unnecessary vilification.
Andrew Young is the recognized darling of the black com-
munity, and rightly so. He was the first black since the
post-Civil War years to be elected to Congress. He has been
an advocate of justice for his people. He was the first black
to rise to the glory of speaking for our government in the
sphere of foreign affairs. To have been viewed as "on proba-
tion" because of what had been considered diplomatic blun-
ders and then'to be forced into a corner whence he emerged
with a resignation was not a pleasant experience for the
black community.
The anger generated by Andy Young's resignation had
to be compensated in some form. It found its course in the
choosing of a scapegoat, and who is more natural for such a
role than the Jew.
So, for a brief period there was a fuming and accusatory
period during which there were all sorts of threats.
Blacks threatened to negotiate with the PLO and to
create a platform for Israel's• enemies.
They blamed the Jews and some predicted a break-
down in the otherwise friendly black-Jewish relations.
Jesse Jackson was angry the night when the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference met and vented its feel-
ings about Andrew Young. Someone was needed as a target
for that anger and the Jew was available.
It was something that should not have come from the
blacks. They need friends. Jews need friends. Often they
need such friends jointly.
Andrew Young had been such a friend of the Jews and
in Congress he was among the strongest supporters of Is-
rael.
So were many other blacks. .
After a few rational thoughts, the anger subsided.
Young himself spoke out against the scapegoat nonsense.
In the final analysis, it is well to believe that resort to
the Jew as a scapegoat was temporary, that the thinking
blacks know better than to foment hatred for the Jew over
an American diplomatic incident.
It is reasonable to believe that friendships will be re-
tained and those temporarily interrupted will be resumed.
In the process, Israel's friends in the black community
must be instrumental in repudiating the PLO. This is the
group whose covenant leads off with an aim to destroy
Israel and retains that as its goal.
a war 'all its own. -It blames the Jews for ousting Young, instead of considering his
blunders which caused him, in the emphases of stories involving his role in government
as already having been "on probation" for previous indiscretions.
It certainly is not a welcome war with the black community. There are so many
kindred interests in the two elemental factions, so much that is demanded by the blacks
in the civil rights struggle is related to the Jewish quest for resistance to prejudice, that a
loss of unity in the two ranks would be disastrous.
Therefore, there is need for an understanding, for an accord, for the blacks to
understand that, world Jewry cannot abandon the struggle against anyone seeking
Israel's demise and PLO is the leader in such threats to Israel.
The blacks should be invited to join in that struggle and the Andrew Young or Milton
Wolf incidents must not become deterrents to amity in the American ranks.
It is the American people that will suffer from a black - Jewish - Arab - PLO war and
anything that stands in the way of peaceful relations in American ranks must be resisted.
This is indeed a war to be fought with good sense, and the internal American battle is
for amity among racial, religious and other elements in the nation.
While recognizing such obligations there remains the duty to prevent intrusion of
PLO in American ranks and into the political and diplomatic thinking of Americans. In
pro-Israel ranks there remains the obligation to prevent PLO's gaining a foothold
anywhere and its being recognized by the United States. Towards that end the battle in
Israel's defense calls for unity in Jewish ranks and understanding of it by fellow Ameri-
cans.
Surely, the blacks who love the Bible, who cherish
libertarianism which is the basis for Zionism, will not con-
done hatred and harm to Israel.
Let the goals for friendship also be the aims to assure
security for Israel and realism in adhering to Prophecy
which the spiritually-inspired black community often es-
pouses as its own goal for freedom and justice for all.
SCLC Tactics and Roots
of Comfort Given to PLO
Southern Christian Leadership Conference tactics in
this community were not unique in themselves. They were
part of a pattern introduced'by the SCLC nationally, which
makes the policy of giving comfort to the PLO all the more
deplorable.
The local incident remains cause for serious concern
because of its harmfulness to the quest for a cooperative
friendship between blacks and Jews. Now the occurrence
here and the introduction of a policy of providing a platform
for the PLO by the important movement in the ranks of the
blacks creates anxieties on that score that have become a
cause for major sensationalism in the media.
Especially distressing is the root of the problem. It is
the emerging U.S. policy of giving a platform to the PLO,
under the guise of inviting the Palestinians into ,peace
discussions, that gives substance to the SCLC activities
which are far from helpful in retaining the best relations
between Jews and blacks.
Is it possible that the involvement of the U.S. ambas-
sador to Austria gave impetus to the Kreisky-Brandt asso-
ciation with Arafat?
Whatever the roots of the unfortunate development,
the fact is that Israelis are innocent of the charge of having
asked for Andrew Young's resignation, and there were too
few American Jews who spoke in such terms to have caused
the uproar.
And it is hardly to the credit of the retiring American
chief delegate to the United Nations that he should have
chosen to attack the present Israeli government as "stub-
born and intransigent."
One matter to be resolved is the contention that there
is a racial rift in this country, that there is a black-Jewish
dispute. There is no excuse for the injection of such a con-
troversy into the American social system. The entire issue
is shameful and should be erased from the records of inter-
faith and inter-racial American experience. To accomplish
this becomes a test for the best and the clear-thinking
elements in this land. Every effort to restore fair play and to
assure adherence to basic American principles must be
resorted to. Whatever danger there is of rifts must be re-
pudiated and obviated.
Facing Up to the Challenge Fearlessly and With Dignity
A moment had arrived for a response from the Jewish
community to the inexcusable hatreds that developed with
the creation of a black-Jewish issue over the Andrew
Young incident at the United Nations. The concern that
arose in Jewish ranks is understandable. It needed prompt
action in the Jewish community. It came with normalcy
and speedily and should be highly commended.
Spokesmen for Greater Detroit Jewry reacted
promptly to the developing situation, just as national lead-
ership moved into action unhesitatingly.
There is a call to all concerned not to panic. This is
vital. Those who have dragged Jews into an unnecessary
dispute must understand that there is no ground for hatred
and anything approaching it should be rejected with all the
vehemence that is within human control. Those, in Jewish
ranks, who may become either frightened or embittered
should be guided into calmness and should have faith in the
American approach of demanding the type of unity among
all citizens that is based on decency and adherence to jus-
tice as well as common sense.
While striving for unity, the Jewish position of refus-
ing to give credibility to the PLO remains intact. The
Jewish community has a right to ask adherence to such
principles and to ask the black community to embrace that
principle. It has been suggested that the blacks be asked
whether they would dignify the Ku Klux Klan, as some of
them now give comfort to the PLO. No decent American can
give encouragement to the KKK, and the Jewish admoni-
tion to all Americans, black or white, is that no decent
human being can encourage recognition of a PLO which
has boasted of having engineered the worst crimes against
human beings in the past decade.
While seeking calmness, the Jewish community has
cause to resent some of the expressions in the media, espe-
cially cartoons like the one in the Free Press on Tuesday
which portrayed a delicatessen with a sign No PLO, No
Blacks." This is an outrageous implication of prejudice in
Jewish ranks and should not be condoned.
No one implies that everything is holy in all American
ranks. But distortions, as the ones regrettably noted in the
media, and hatreds have no place among Americans and
these should be disputed. Recognition of the PLO cannot be
countenanced and that should be understood. At the same
time, the basic principle, that of cementing unity among all
Americans, must be strengthened. This is what the
spokesmen for the organized Jewish community are asking
in an appeal for calmness, in the effort to diffuse whatever
semblance of discord may have arisen.
The American principle of fair play and of common
decency cannot, must not, be shattered by an incident that
has occurred among the framers of American foreign
policies. Differences of opinion are acceptable, but credibil-
ity for terror cannot be condoned. In resolving the issues
affecting human relations there must be calmness and an
elimination of hatred. This is the plea to the community.
This is the obligation resting upon all Americans.
Fear Not!
There is nothing to fear but fear.
— Ludwig Boerne, German author, 1786-1837.
Fear is a surrender of the succors which reason offers.
— Apocrypha: Wisdom of Solomon, 17.12
Fear builds walls to bar the light.
— Baal Shem Toy
I'd be ashamed were God to see me fear anyone be-
sides Him.
— Bahya, Hobot HaLebabot, 1040
The most dangerous person is the fearful; he is most
to be feared.
— Boerne
Whoever wishes to accomplish a great task must be
free of the fear of men, utterly free.
— Brod, "The Master," 1951
We cannot banish dangers, but we can banish fears.
We must not demean life by standing in awe of death.
— Sarnoff, 1954
There is no hope unmingled with fear, and no fear
unmingled with hope.
— Spinoza
Is there any worse slavery than the fear of man, how-
ever you may gild and polish your chains?
— Varnhagen
Jacob must be distressed because of fear of Esau.
— Yehiel Michael