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Purely Commentary
Americans of All Faiths and All Races Have Much
to Learn from the Experience Taught by the Lathrup
Episode ... Venom Still in Evidence in Public Life
By Philip
Slomovitz
Lathrup Now Benefits From the Sanctity of Basic Humanism And Americanism
Some villagers in a suburban community of Greater Detroit nearly de- codes that kept them out. Now a sacred right admonishes those who have
stroyed a great tradition of fair play. As usual when there are demonstrations of followed the events in that community to say to all interested parties that
hatred, they are the few who give the impression they speak for the many. They neither religious nor racial animosity is profitable for citizens who glory in the
excellence of basic Americanism and its root, humanism.
leave their mark, but history usually takes care of the venom and relegates it to
Lathrup's community emerged with honor from what was termed a dispute
the disgraceful in human experience.
over principles that were debatable. It was the threatened mob spirit that
- Akiva Hebrew Day School will be in Lathrup. Is it symbolic of what happens
counted in the long run. It is the defeat of that spirit that lends dignity to a
to all spiritual accomplishments, that their roots are often in the mire of hatred
community that will now benefit from the realities of a great school that derives
its heritage from the sanctity of the highest roles in human relatiOns and will
which has to be wiped out?
It is not new, that a community where a Jewish school finally finds its now be a mark of respect and honor for all.
All glory to those who strive for justice. Lathrup now benefits from such an
boding has a background of the vilest in human conflicts, the anti-Semitic.
ideal.
Not so long ago, Jews could not live in that area. There were real estate
Much to Be Done to Erase
Hatred in Civilized Society
Fear can complicate problems. There is so much to
ignite panic that Rational Man and his mate under ERA
influence must think twice before being drawn into fright.
A Klansman is nominated to Congress in San Diego. A
sympathizer with the Nazis registers similar recognition in
a Michigan Congressional district. A mental patient wins a
spot on the•November ballot as a candidate for a Congres-
sional seat.
The Detroit City Council grants the KKK and its Nazi
cohorts the right to march on Aug. 23, while a similar
petition is rejected by a Detroit suburb.
What does all of this, and much more that is developing
in the American society, prove? It just goes to show that
men and women have much to learn while the children
grow up in a mixed-up society.
In the process of registering the 20-year-olds for possi-
ble army recruitment it is discovered that a high percent-
age of the young people can neither read nor write. Is it any
wonder that such "potential voters may cast ballots for -
Klansmen and -Nazis and may participate in demonstra-
tions that lead to violence?
The officially-authot/ted parade of the KKK and the
Nazis on Aug. 23 may evoke trouble. Violence may lead to
serious casualties. If the paraders could be isolated into
derision the problem they create could be solvable. Unfor-
tunately, such marchers re-emerge at the voting booths
and there is no telling what judgments they express to the
detriment of a civilized society.
The obligation is a clear one. The people must be edu-
cated properly. They must be led to an understanding of the
basic realities in life. Society must not be submerged into
the ignorance that now dominates the American and the
world spheres.
How many people truly evaluate the challenges that
come with the privilege of voting for a candidate who as-
pires to be President? If voters can't read, they can't judge
properly. What's the wonder, therefore, that a mental
patient gains a place on a ballot as a candidate for Con-
gress, or that a Klansman becomes a potential legislator?
When a constituency votes down a request for millage
to improve the school system of a great community, is it any
wonder that ignorance becomes a prescription for fears for
Civilized Man?
-
The Moscow Olympics and the
Communist Blessing for Terrorists
games. But terrorism and assassination are not
yet, to our knowledge, on the list of sports open to
Olympic competition. And, until they are, Yasir
Arafat makes a peculiar Olympic trophy, even-for
Moscow.
Such indictments must not be . ignored. The USSR
stands condemned for the manner in which the Arafat
murders were condoned and the mass murderer was em-
braced. Tragically, the menace continues to plague those
marked for victimization by the combined bestialities of
people who have sunk to the lowest levels of inhumanity.
Schlesinger's-Arrogance as
Israel's Judge for Three Days
.
It's an old experience. Self-ennobling writers have
gone to foreign countries for a week and returned as
authorities. Some have written books based on such exten-
sive experiences.
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. had been honored by
presidents. He was accepted as a confidante by people in
high official positions. Therefore he assumed the right to go
to Israel for a three-day visit and return as the jurist hold-
ing court over that nation and its prime minister. He even
passed judgment, in an article in the Wall Street Journal,
about the contending parties in Israel. He judged between
Menahem Begin and the opposition in the contending lead-
ership of Shimon Peres versus Yitzhak Rabin.
So lacking in taste, in the humanism with which a
responsible person is expected to visit a foreign country,
that Arthur Schlesinger earned the rebukes that were ex-
pressed in a letter of refutation by Alfred Eris of Kew
Gardens, N.Y.:
Arthur Schlesinger ("Middle East Quandaries,"
July 3) groped about in Israel for three days be-
fore he could find "anyone prepared to defend the
Begin policy." This seems to imply that Begin's
support is minuscule. He then plunges into the
world of hobgoblins by discovering - pessimists
who believe that Begin, out of power, could "whip
up . . . emotions" and "accelerate the disintegra-
tion of Israel's democratic institutions."
Labor Party supporters have found a prestigi-
ous dupe in Mr. Schlesinger for this is precisely
the same argument they used 32 years ago. For
example, when the Irgun attempted in 1948 to
bring in arms, Ben-Gurion ordered the ship sunk
and Irgunites were murdered, as they swam to
shore. The excuse was that the Irgun was about to
seize power and do away with democracy — and
this at a time when the people overwhelmingly
supported Labor.
- In what way do Israeli soldiers "practice
against the Palestinians brutality of a kind prac-
ticed through history against Jews themselves?"
Does he mean, specifically, forced conversions,
death camps, crematoria, yellow stars? How does
he equate this with the fact that there is open and
free intercourse between Jordan and the West
Bank, that West Bankers come by the thousands
into Israel each day to work and that the standard
of living on the West Bank has never been higher?
How long could "brutality" persist undetected?
Why is it that even the expelled Arab mayors have
not stooped to use such language — which comes
so easily to Schlesinger? The West Bank problem
will not be solved by pretending that about 20,000
Jewish settlers menace one million Arabs.
How Schlesinger hates those traditionalists and
messianists! How he loves those pejoratives —
"traditionalist passion," "messianic bigotry,"
"repellent messianisms." The voice is that of
Rchlesinger but the language is that of Arafat.
SOme of my best friends are traditionalists and
messianists. — and I know of no people less likely
to brutalize Afabs or any others, or to menace
Schlesinger's freedom to thumb his nose at over
3,000 years of tradition.
What's to be regretted in making Menahem Begin a
scapegoat is the manner in which party politics enters into
the fray. The opposition in Israel has an obligation to differ
and to challenge the politicians in power, but the way in
which a hatred for a man in leadership is utilized as means
of regaining power is atrocious. A political party in an
embattled state like Israel should be above that.
Hadassah House Heir Seeks Gush Eviction
By MOSHE RON
The Jewish News Special
Israel Correspondent
TEL AVIV — A resident
The Moscow Olympics have ended. The lessons learned
of Tivon, near Haifa, Mrs.
from the experiences are unforgettable. Not to be forgotten Kohava Gershon, has an-
or ever to be ignored is the manner in which official Com- nounced that she is the legal
munism gave credence to terrorists by legitimizing the
leading advocate of another Holocaust for Israel and Jewry. heiress of Hadassah House
The manner in which an open door was created for in Hebron, which was the
of her father.
Arafat, despite memories of what had happened in Munich property
Mrs. Gershon has already
in 1972, was briefly told in an editorial in the Toronto Globe
steps to have the
and Mail, July 22, while the outrage was being committed: taken
Gush Emunim settlers
When Yasir Arafat, the leader of the Palestine-
evicted from the house. She
Liberation Organization, was given a red carpet
argues that the squatters
tour of the Olympic Village in Moscow, his Soviet
have occupied the house il-
guides escorted him through an elaborate system
legally and by force.
of security barriers, bristling with armed guards.
Her father, Dr. Benzion
The tour was among the most incongruous
Gershon, was a resident of
events of these incongruous gashes at which no
Hebron, and was known as
political dodge is too blatant to be exploited in
support of the fiction that the games are apoliti- : Hachom ben-Ziontschi. He
was a pharniacist and prop-
cal.
rietor of Beit Hadassah.
For it is thanks, directly, to Yasir Arafat,
"My father was origi-
whose Black September terrorists murdered 11
nally a resident of
Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics of 1972,
Jerusalem," Kohava told
that an Olympic Village now looks naked without
us. "He bought the house
massive security.
in Hebron from a Turkish
This year all that trouble and expense seem un-
effendi at tile beginning
necessary. No Israeli athletes are there. And if Mr.
of the 20th Century. He
Arafat, the man behind the Munich bloodshed, is
connected the old Hadas-
allowed in, who can possibly be left to be kept out?
sah building with a two-
It is not hard to understand the Soviet Union's
story house in which we
urge to get all the mileage it can out of any visitor
lived. I was porn there.
with claims, however dubious, to celebrity in
"My parents had 11 chil-
some field that is relevant to the stature of the
dren. We lived on the
ground floor and the upper
story was made available by
my father to the rabbi of the
Hebron Jewish community,
Rabbi Hassoun, who found
it difficult to find a suitable
apartment."
On the first story were the
pharmacy and a small am-
bulatorium. Dr. Gershon
was the only physician and
pharmacist in Hebron. He
cared for Jews and Arabs
alike. Many pharmacists
learned their trade at his
pharmacy.
"In 1901, Henrietta Szold
asked my father to allow her
to build another story on the
house in order to place there
a modern clinic of Hadas-
sah. My father put in one
condition: on the same floor
must also be a synagogue.
This condition was accepted
and synagogue Hessed Le
Avraham was established.
"Afterwards, al-loiter
floor was built. My father
also rebuilt the first floor
and turned it into rooms
for sick people. He was
the director of the hospi-
tal called Hacham Ben
Ziontschi. He had more
property in Hebron, but
gave it away to the
Sephardi Kolel. He did
not agree to the name
Beit Hadassah. The place
was called the am-
bulatorium of Benzion
Gershon.
"My father was murdered
at Hadassah House during
the bloody Arab pogrom on
Aug. 23, 1929. My mother
Zehava and my older sister
Esther were also killed.
Sixty-seven Jews were
murdered and over 60
wounded.
She has visited Hebron
several times recently and
argued violently with Gush
Emunim leader Rabbi
Moshe Levinger.
Mrs. Gershon demands
that the people occupy-
ing Hadassah House be
evicted. She wants to
open a clinic and
synagogue in the house.
She wishes to mobilize
volunteer doctors and
nurses to give medical
help to Jews and Arabs in
Hebron as it was in the
days of her father. "This
should renew the good,
neighborly relations be-
tween the Jews and the
Arabs in Hebron," she
said.
In a letter to the military
commander, she asked f
the house to be evacuate
"Our family dreamt all t
time that the day shou
come when we could retu
to our house in Hebron. But
now the-Jewish authorities
refuse to return to us our
house. At the same time
they allow people who have
no right to the house to oc-
cupy it and to inflict pain to
the remnants of a family
that has been murdered in
this house."
Mrs. Gershon says that
these people have taken her
property by force, illegally,
against the decision of the
government. "I shall not
give up my claim and my
right to my property. The
real settlers in Hebron were
my parents and the Jews
who lived in Hebron before
the pogrom."