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.