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.