64 Friday, January 18, 1980
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Yasir Arafat's `Palestinian Secularism' Is Exposed
.
By ERNST CRAMER
(Editor's note: Cramer
is a member of the edito-
rial staff of Axel Springer
Publications in West
Germany. The following
article appeared in the
German language Die
Welt on Dec. 29.)
"Yasir Arafat, the PLO
chief, recognizes the Is-
raelis' right to live .within
secure frontiers." The latest
bearer of this message is the
SPD (Social Democratic
Party) Bundestag member
Lenelotte von Bothmer,
leader of a delegation of the
German-Arab Society sent
to Lebanon.
Has this message any
basis in quotable state-
ments by Arafat? Not at all.
Frau von Bothmer merely
"gained this impression"
(just as on other journeys to
southern Africa she gained
the impression that the
Swapo — the guerilla for-
mation in Southwest Africa
— was an organization serv-
ing the future peace of
Namibia).
At about the §ame time as
the German delegation in
Lebanon met the allegedly
pacific Arafat, his represen-
tative at the United Na-
tions, Zehdi Labib Terzi,
was stating that the armed
fight against Israel con-
tinues uninterruptedly.
And Arafat himself said
that an explosion might
soon occur in the Middle
East unless the problem of
the Palestinians was soon
solved.
The way Arafat and his
PLO conceive the solu-
tion of the problem of the
Palestinians is incompat-
ible with the security
needs of the Jewish state.
For the PLO's aim is not
merely a state of its own
in the areas at present
occupied — dangerous as
that would be for Israel.
No, what still applies for
the PLO is the so-called
Palestine National Cove-
nant, which expressly
calls for the destruction
of the Jewish state.
When Western inter-
locutors refer to the charter,
Arafat always waves away
the subject as though its
contents no longer applied.
But at home, when he is ad-
dressing Arabs, the charter
is repeatedly cited and
counts as almost as immut-
able as the Koran.
Thus if the "impressions"
of credulous persons about
Arafat's readiness to recog-
nize Israel's vital rights
cannot bear the guinea
stamp until he himself con-
firms their correctness (and
even then great caution
should prevail!), his warn-
ing that an explosion may
soon visit the Middle East
must be taken much more
seriously.
The Arab-Israeli conflict
can no longer be separated
from the ferment boiling up
in the whole of the Middle
East. And it must not be
forgotten that Arafat's
Palestinians supplied the
cadres for Khomeini's
struggle against the Shah's
rule and also today back the
besiegers of the American
embassy in Teheran — and
moreover are fomenting the
unrest against Khomeini in
the remote provinces.
Ten years ago, Golds
Meir said the Palesti-
nians were not an auton-
omous group at all. But
they have since then es-
tablished their own iden-
tity. They form almost
two-thirds of the popula-
tion in Jordan. They have
not only destroyed the
state of Lebanon with its
many religions, peoples
and races; they are pre-
venting by force of arms
the recovery of what has
survived.
Palestinians
are
teachers, engineers, offi-
cials, skilled workers in all
the Arabian oil countries.
And there is after all hardly
an activity directed against
the existing order in any of
the many countries of the
Middle East in which Pales-
tinians do not share.
So it is no wonder that
secretly all Arab and other
states in the region are glad
that the Israelis prevent the
emergence of an indepen-
dent Palestine — and in
their clearly comprehensi-
ble own interest must pre-
vent it. This is true al-
though outwardly all these
countries back the PLO. It is
also true although some of
these countries help to fo-
ment discord between the
individual sections of the
PLO.
Now that the Palesti-
nians have achieved the
lowest illiteracy quota in
the Arab camp, it is idle to
ask who is mainly to blame
for the fact that the Arabs in
Palestine, whatever they
used to be; have now grown
together into a people with
their own identity, and that
this came about under the
PLO banner.
A great part of the fault
lies with the Arab coun-
tries, who for decades
treated their brothers
from Palestine as people
of a lower class and from
1948 to 1967 never con-
sidered the idea of letting
a Palestinian state
emerge on the West Bank.
But a good part of the
blame goes to the Israelis,
who after 1967 found no
way of coming to terms
with the moderate Pales-
tinians and now pursue a
policy — necessary or not
— which is driving the
inhabitants of the occu-
pied areas even more in-
tensively on the side of
the PLO.
From this vicious circle
there is no escape. All those
directly concerned know
this. And anyone who ad-
vises the Israelis to give up
their secure frontiers for a
sham peace, thus endanger-
ing the future of their
re-won home, is acting ir-
responsibly.
In the longer term, how-
ever, there must be a solu-
tion, a solution comprising
both realities, the fact of the
recreated Jewish state and
likewise the fact of the
Palestinian identity which•
has now emerged. It must be
a solution acceptable to the
Israelis and more attractive
for the Palestinians in the
long run than the PLO and
its charter of destruction.
The best brains should
start working on this, in Is-
rael, in the Arab countries
and elsewhere. But before
such a solution is found it is
almost criminal to throw
the sand of alleged readi-
ness for coexistence among
the PLO terrorists into one's
own and others' eyes.
Welfare Federation Plans Expansion of Services for the Aged
By GEORGE ZELTZER
(Editor's note: Ex-
panded geriatric serv-
ices, new programs of as-
sistance to the elderly,
pending plans for addi-
tional services at the 10
Mile Rd. Center and un-
interrupted assistance to
Israel and the settlement
here of emigres from
Russia are outlined in
this progress report of
Jewish Welfare Federa-
tion activities by its
president, George M.
Zeltzer.)
Our Jewish community is
coming to grips with longev-
ity as a fact of life: a growing
number of elderly persons
require our help so they
may live their remaining
years in dignity.
If the idea appears simple
enough, the solutions are
more difficult. They require
a wide range of services that
reflect varied needs: medi-
cal, social, housing, nutri-
tional. And we are speaking
not just of the economically
deprived aged; they do not
have a monopoly on loneli-
ness.
The joy with which the
second Prentis Tower of
Jewish Federation Apart-
ments is being greeted by its
new tenants is truly satisfy-
ing to behold. This beautiful
100-unit structure at 10
Mile and Greenfield Roads
will be fully occupied by the
end of next month.
Another development
this month is the implemen-
tation of an experimental
apartment program under
the auspices of the Jewish
Family Service and funded
by a three-year grant from
Federation-United Jewish
Charities' Jewish Commu-
nity Foundation.
Unlike the residents of
Jewish Federation
Apartments, who are cap-
able of independent living,
participants in the JFS pro-
gram can no longer live
entirely alone but do not
need institutional care.
Already, six persons are
sharing two of the four
apartments which the
Jewish Family Service has
leased in a high-rise subur-
ban apartment building.
Their youthful (ages 79-89)
enthusiasm is shared by the
two agency homemakers
who shop, prepare dinner
and do general housework
five afternoons a week.
The two homemakers are
recent arrivals from the
Soviet Union.
It is expected that in the
coming month all four
apartments will be occu-
pied, and six more members
of our community will be ac-
commodated.
At the same time, ex-
panded social opportunities
will result from the Jewish
Community Center's re-
modeling of the 10 Mile
branch, to be initiated in the
near future.
The enlarged and moder-
nized facilities will be for
the use of all community
members in the neighbor-
hood, including a large con-
An art project at Jewish Home for Aged.
centration of senior adults
living in Federation
Apartments and in other
nearby buildings and resi-
dences.
I might add that the
government-funded nutri-
tion program for older
adults, which takes place at
the Oak Park civic center
and whose kosher meals are
subsidized by Federation, is
to be expanded this month
from 40 to 60 meals a day.
Following the first year's
experience with Federa-
tion's partial supplementa-
tion of the costs, the federal
government will now fully
fund the program.
• The Jewish Home for
Aged's geriatric services
have always been in the
forefront of advanced care.
Capital improvements —
including a grant of $50,000
for remodeling recently
awarded by the Federation
board of governors — insure
that the structure is in
prime condition. But pro-
graming improvements are
even more important. This
month, the agency proposed
establishment of research
and teaching institute to
encourage staff upgrading
and training plus a con-
certed exploration of new
developments in the field of
gerontology.
Some older persons do
well in an institutional set-
ting where care and spe-
cialized services are at a
maximum. Others prefer
the independence of a
communtiy-sponsored
apartment building.
Still others want to live
on their own or with their
families but to participate
as hundreds do every week
at the Jewish Community
Center or at the Jewish
Home for Aged day pro-
gram, which includes a hot
lunch, crafts and socializa-
tion.
Shut-ins and those who
remain at home by choice
benefit from the delivery
program of Meals on
Wheels, sponsored by the
National Council of Jewish
Women with Jewish Family
Service. Some 125 persons
are receiving two kosher
meals a day, five days a
week.
Some who are blessed
with good health — and
energy — are helping the
community through their
volunteer role with the
Jewish Vocational Service-
sponsored Senior Service
Corps. Forty-eight have
been placed in community
and social service jobs, and
the feedback from both vol-
unteers and "employers" is
gratifying.
None of these programs
would be possible without
money. And the serious con-
cern, with rising costs and
the declining value of the
dollar, is that some of these
programs will have to be cut
back or curtailed. We can-
not break our promise to Is-
rael or to the growing
number of Russian immig-
rants who are being allowed
to live in freedom.
To continue our services
to the elderly, then, will re-
quire an extra measure of
devotion by each of us. It
will require increased giv-
ing to the Allied Jewish
Campaign — and not just
this year alone — for that is
our community's main
source of funding.
Basse: U.S. Yiddish Humorist
By DAVID SCHWARTZ
(Copyright 1980, JTA, Inc.)
Eli Basse, who wrote
comedy for such performers
as Joe E. Lewis, Red But-
tons and Milton Berle has
passed away. America has
lost one of its top masters of
the one sentence witticism.
Basse was one of a
number of comics who wrote
for the Yiddish as well as
the English audience.
The Yiddish influence on
the American stage and on
American life in general
has not been given its due
credit; especially its mark-
on American humor.
The Yiddish influence
was of course not confined to
the stage. In the commercial
world, the Yiddish speaking
Jew was almost forced to
move in new directions.
The Yiddish influence
has not been without
considerable effect polit-
ically also. The country
after the Civil War until
the days of Wilson was
really a one party affair.
The only President
elected by the Democrats
in that long period was
Cleveland.
The conservative, the
business interests, were in
almost complete control. To
be sure, there were the more
radical Populists but they
had their own party and the
division of the country into
three separate parties re-
sulted in actually weaken-
ing the Democratic Party.
Things began to change
when the labor unions
under Samuel Gompers'
leadership entered the pic-
tore and the Yiddish speak-
ing unions, notably of the
garment workers, exerted a
powerful effect. The old con-
servative ascendancy was
challenged.
Perhaps the Yiddish
influence reached its high-
est point in the administra-
tion of Franklin Delano
Roosevelt. Sidney Hillman,
who was often lampooned
for his Yiddish accent, was
able to make the voice of
labor heard. "Clear it with
.Sidney," became a kind of
by-word of President
Roosevelt.