2
August 721'i960
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely CoMmentary
+lava Nagila' Matches 'Happy Days'
in Hours for Glory for M.E. Peace
President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Fritz
Mondale rendered justice to the peace efforts with their
emphasis on the Camp David activities in their speeches
accepting renomination for their respective offices. The
delegates' response to these assertions is what counted.
They were demonstrations for justice and they were em-
phasized when the gathered thousands recognized the
validity of "Nava Nagila" sharing musical enthusiasm
with "Happy Days Are Here Again."
The campaign thus was set in full force. The Israel
angle undoubtedly will be an. all-party endorsement. The
record of the speeches and commitments needs to be kept
intact as a reminder to the pledgers after Nov. 4 of what was
said August through October.
There'll be no bluffing. The only negative can only be
betrayal.
The Candidates and Quandaries
Confronting the Electorate
It is repetitive, quadrennially, for concerned citizens to
approach newsmakers for advice: who should we vote for?
Of course, it is more puzzling than ever in 1980. The
two major conventions are now a matter of history. Perhaps
John Anderson now Will call a rump session of his own. He
is certainly in the running and, depending on who is asked,
some may say he will carry a few states. Will Michigan be
Andersonian?
The question was posed and an interesting comment on
candidates was made in Walter Scott's Personality Parade
in the Free Press Parade supplement, Aug. 10:
Q. Here is the major question of our time: How
come in a nation of 220 million of the world's weal-
thiest, most educated, most advantaged people,
the choice of our Presidency comes down to Car-
ter or Reagan? Your opinion, please.
A. Our political system favors men of relentless
persistence and concentrated ambition rather
than Renaissance men of broad background and
experience. The prospect of the next four years
with Carter Or' Reagan is not a particularly op-
timistic one — which is why public opinion polls
show a sizable share of the electorate prepared to
cast a protest vote for John Anderson.
The debates that are certain to ensue surely will serve
additionally as guides for decisions for the Nov. 4 election.
With an apparent unanimity among candidates in
their pledges for Israel's protection, the assumption re-
mains that the America-Israel friendship will noebe hin-
dered by anyone with a sense of responsibility in this
nation's foreign affairs.
The coming weeks will be interesting and exciting. The
results must fit into the confidence a citizen must have that
fair play in all deliberations will remain a dominant factor
in America's political practices.
Solomon Grayzel the Historian,
Teacher Who Inspired Leadership
Solomon Grayzel left so much for the coming genera-
tion to be grateful for that an appreciation for his contribu-
tions to world Jewry would require a full-length volume.
He was a teacher as well as a writer, and his-history of
the Jewish people, the result of genuine scholarly research,
continues to be a leader in its field.
During the years of his editorship of the Jewish Publi-
cation Society of America, to which he devoted his best
years, he guided the movement to the publication of the
most important classics in Jewish literature.
He was a friend and adviser, a colleague. Memories of
him will never be erased.
He was a blessing to Jewry in his lifetime and his
memory will be of a great scholar who dignified learning,
elevated teaching and inspired his students to leadership.
The Thorny Road to Peace:
Sadat and His Obligations
A thorny road to peace is marked by never-ending
anxieties. Negotiations between Menahem Begin and
Anwar Sadat have been broken and keep stalemating.
Pollution of the peace aims has added to the problems
which inevitably are on the road to a negotiated peace and
discussions about autonomy. Jerusalem has been made a
means for obstructions.
Commendably, President Sadat has always accom-
panied postponement of negotiations with declarations
that they are not ending. This is a hopeful sign that the
Egyptian leader approaches a desire for peace with sincer-
ity.
Nevertheless, he must be induced not to permit those
who would introduce a damaging role in the peace planning
because he has talked with and continues to be on speaking
terms with Israel.
An analysis of the Sadat attitude prepared by the Con-
ference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organiza-
tions will hopefully be treated with respect by the Egyptian
'Nava Nagila' as a Refrain for Proper Approach
to M.E. in Presidential Campaign ... The Thorny
Road to Peace Is Marked by Sadat's Obligations
president. The statement declares:
It was a week of
triumph for all the
petty dictators,
America-haters and
anti-Semites in the
Soviet bloc, the Arab
League and the so-
called Third World.
From one UN forum to
another they gleefully
passed resolutions de-
nouncing Israel and
legitimizing the PLO.
In Copenhagen they
succeeded in subvert-
ing the UN Conference
on Women so that
world attention was
ANWAR SADAT
focused not on the
educational, employment and health needs of
women but on the PLO effort to turn the confer-
ence into a propaganda circus for PLO terrorism.
In New York they succeeded not only in calling an
"emergency session" of the UN General Assembly
but in terrorizing the European Economic Com-
munity into abstaining on the most lop-sided
Middle East resolution ever considered by the
UN. The Washington Post put it this way:
"Some 112 nations ordered Israel to withdraw
unconditionally' from territories occupied in
1967, starting by Nov. 15, so that a Palestinian
state can be set up. In return, Israel was offered
not negotiations, not recognition, not agreed bor-
ders, not security, not peace, not even the right of
existence; nothing."
The icing on the cake was Kurt Waldheim's as-
tonishing participation in the UN's attack on
peace in the Middle East. The secretary-general,
abandoning any pretense of neutrality, counted
votes, saw the Soviet-Arab-Third World bloc far
outnumbered those countries still willing to vote
for democracy and freedom, and publicly aligned
himself with the cause of Palestinian statehood,
thereby announcing he was a candidate to suc-
ceed himself in his lucrative and once-prestigious
post.
Despite the denunciations of Israel and the ef-
fort to isolate the Jewish state on the world stage,
the achievement of Camp David still stands. For
the first time there is peace between Israel and an
Arab neighbor — the largest and strongest Arab
state. For the first time there is a framework for a
continuing peace process. And for the first time
there is Egyptian criticism of the rest of the Arab
world for refusing to enter that process. During
the UN debate, Egypt's Minister of State for
Foreign Affairs, Boutros Ghali, poured scorn on
his country's hard-line Arab brothers for (as the
New York Times reported) "their pretense that
By Philip
Slomovitz
Israel's secure existence is not a fact of political
life."
The current wisdom is that future progress
toward Middle East peace must await the out-
come of the American PreSidential election. That
theory, presumably, is behind Sadat's latest ac-
tion in postponing the peace talks. But any delay
in achieving a settlement will only strength - -
those very forces that Boutros Ghali criticizer
his UN speech. If President Sadat expects that
every time he breaks off negotiations he will get
new concessions from Washington, he must be
disabused of that notion. The Egyptian leader
must be made to understand that there is nothing
to be gained by further delay — indeed he must be
told that he is tempting fate by his on-again, off-
again attitude toward negotiations. If Washing-
ton has any influence left in Cairo that is the mes-
sage it must get across to the Egyptian President.
Perhaps Sadat is not alone in the process of polluting
the peace aims. The media, always grasping at the nega-
tives, may have encouraged judgments leading to destruct-
ive approaches to the issue. This should be avoided. There
must be a way of treating the issues reasonably, • with a
sense of justice for Israel's position. Will Sadat listen to this
appeal?
When Good Will Strikes' Happy
Note: The Lathrup Solution
Let it be recorded in the interest of American fair play
that the American people act justly when major issues
emerge.
The Lathrup incident is the proof. Say all you wish
about the media, the way they fan controversies, the man-
ner in which they might exaggerate, as is often charged. In
a matter that was heralded as stemming from anti-
Semitism, the Detroit Free Press took proper note of the
debate over granting school rights to the Akiva Hebrew
Day School. It welcomed editorially the happy solution and
the right to operate a school in that area by Akiva and
stated:
The Lathrup City Council's unanimous ap-
proval of the location of a Hebrew school in the
community is a refreshing conclusion to an unfor-
tunate controversy.
The spirit of brotherly love in Detroit and its
suburbs has been sorely tested on a number of
recent occasions. Not all of them have resulted in
as happy an ending as the Lathrup incident.
Yeshivat Akiva Hebrew Day School leased a
closed elementary school from the Southfield
Public School District, and the flak arose. The
opposition held that the action violated zoning
restrictions. The Lathrup City Council could not
see why the zoning ordinances permitted a public
- school but not a private institution on the site.
The world is big enough for all sorts of people.
But it is not big enough for intolerance and suspi-
cion if it is going to be comfortable.
This comment is worth applauding — and we do so.
Likud Tries to Mix Politics and TV
through advertising and
The Jewish News Special
create a more optimistic and
Israel Correspondent
favorable , atmosphere
TEV AVIV — Likud among the population
members of the Cabinet are towards the Likud govern-
attacking the newsmen of ment.
the Israel radio and televi-
Cabinet members ac-
sion, accusing them of show- cuse the TV newsmen of
ing mostly the negative serving the interests of
sides of life in Israel.
the PLO. One Knesset
Likud maintains that the member, a former Sup-
media are criticizing the reme Court justice, Dr.
government and keeping si- Binyamin Halevi, even
lent about positive de- termed the TV newsmen
velopments. Some Likud as criminals. After a pub-
ministers such as Finance lic storm of anger, Dr.
Minister Yigal Hurwitz and Halevi apologized to the
Energy Minister Yitzhak newsmen.
Modai have come to the con-
The newsmen themselves
clusion that onlya commer- reject these accusations
cial TV channel can save very strongly. They argue
Likud during the next elec- that TV and radio are not
tions.
party instruments but free,
Public opinion polls show democratic information
that the Likud would lose a services which have to pro-
third of their votes and vide impartial information
could get something like 25 to the public.
seats in the Knesset instead
The Israel press is leading
of the 43 it won in May 1977. a strong campaign against a
Prime Minister Begin also second TV channel. The
is in favor of a second TV members of the Journalists
channel, believing that it Association met with lead-
would cover its expenses ers of all the political par-
By MOSHE RON
ties. They pointed out that a
second TV channel based on
advertising could damage
the critical economic situa-
tion. In a time in which the
population is advised by the
authorities to save money,
it should not be tempted by
TV advertisements to buy
more luxury goods.
A second TV channel
could threaten the exist-
ence of the Israeli press
which is undergoing
hardships owing to the
high cost of printing and
labor. It could lead to the
closure of some news- .
papers .
Likud's political opposi-
tion announced they would
oppose a second channel.
They declared that when
the Labor Alignment was in
power, TV and radio con-
stantly criticized the gov-
ernment and the situation
inside the country and
broadcast satirical pro-
grams. They said democ-
racy is based on a free press,
television and radio.
Members of the Jour-
nalists Association also met
with the minister of educa-
tion and culture, who is re-
sponsible for TV and radio
in the Cabinet, and with
Likud leaders. The mi-
told them that he
against a second channel.
The newspapers ve
editorialized against . t-
ond TV channel, with
Yediot Achronot conclud-
ing:
"After three years, a
way has been found to
correct all the mishaps
that have befallen the
government: inflation,
emigration, improving
relations with European
countries, strengthening
contact with Jews in the
Diaspora, improving
methods of education,
etc. All this should be ac-
complished by opening a
second TV channel."
If after all this general
criticism a second TV chan-
nel is opened, it still may
not be controlled by Likud,
which may lose power after
the next Knesset elections.