Israeli Has Revealing Glimpse of Poland

TEL AVIV — "The Communist Party does not rulealone iri Poland,"
according to Prof. Asher Arian, dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at
Tel Aviv University, and a recent visitor to that Communist-bloc country.
Prof. Arian said that Poland's free trade unions, involved in continuing
disputes with the Polish government and the ruling Soviet authorities,
were "the deciding factor" in Polish politics today, deriving their main
support from the country's powerful Catholic Church.
Prof. Arian, who had previously visited Russia and East Germany,
found Poland unquestionably the "freest of the three," although not free
by Western standards. Travel by Poles, even abroad, was generally unre-
stricted, and there were few if any rules regarding foreign currency used
by Polish citizens. "People were not afraid to speak, and there was no
feeling of a police state," Arian said, although those that did speak to him
were anxious to stay "off the record."
The question on the minds of most Poles, according to Prof.
Arian, is how long the Russians will allow the current situation to .
continue. He described the Poles as going through a period that
was "an exciting time for them, full of optimism, but also full of
apprehension." Despite the tension, the standard of living in Po-
land seemed quite high, and Arian spoke of a "bountiful" supply of
Asher Arian at the goods and long lines of customers.
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Prof. Arian, a Tel Aviv University political scientist and president of
monument in Warsaw.
the Israel Political Science Association, was also struck by Poland's in-

Israel's Role
as a Testing
Ground in
Parliamentary
Procedures

tensely religious nature. "The Archbishop of Poland is the most important
person there," he said, noting that Poland was a very religious and
nationalistic community. On a religious holiday during his visit, the
impression was that the overwhelming majority of the Polish people spent
much of the day in church, or visiting cemeteries, religious or patriotic
sites.
The Pope's visit to Poland this year was "a milestone in the Polish
development of freedom," according to Arian. A unique system of coexis-
tence between the Catholic Church and the Communist Party had evolved
in Poland, where there are 3,000,000 Party members, 90 percent of whom
belong to the Catholic Church.
Visiting Poland's Jewish community was a sobering experience for
Arian, who said that today the community numbers some 10,000 Jews
nationwide, with some 2,000 in Warsaw.
"There are still some remnants of what was the Jewish commu-
nity," Prof. Arian said, describing the Warsaw Jewish cemetery he
visited, where he discovered graves going back as much as 200
years. Sadly, the graveyard was large abandoned, and desecrated.
At Auschwitz, prison blocks still stood as part of a Holocaust museum,
but the sign outside the exhibit did not mention Jews. Museum personnel
questioned about the oversight maintained that "there were 4 1/2 million
people killed at Auschwitz, and only 2 1/2 million of them were Jews."
(Continued on Page 11)

THE JEWISH NEWS

Commentary, Page 2

A Weektv Review

Copyright

of Jewish Events

Solidarity
Urgent
in A World Filled
with Hatreds
Isolating
Israel

Editorial, Page 4

The Jewish News Publishing Co.

VOL. LXXVIII, No. 15 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075

424-8833

$15 Per Year: This Issue 35c December 12, 1980

Rea4an's TranOtional. Team
Joins in PerCy-- :Condetthation

Sen. Levin Joins Colleagues
Repudiating Percy on PLO

Tekt of Statement by Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) in the
U.S. Senate, Dec. 9, 1980:

By HELEN SILVER

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Richard Allen, President-elect Ronald Reagan's foreign
policy adviser, said Sunday that Sen. Charles Percy's advocacy of a Palestinian state
headed by Yasir Arafat "certainly would not reflect policy of an incoming Reagan Adminis-
tration." But he stopped short of an unequivocal repudiation of the views expressed by the
Illinois Republican, slated to become chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
in the next Congress.
Allen, appearing on the ABC-TV "Issues and Answers" program, was questioned
about reports that Percy told Soviet leaders during his visit to Moscow two weeks ago that
he favored a Palestinian state federated with Jordan but headed by the Palestine Libera-
tion Organization leader because it "would permit Arafat to realize his wish to be a chief of
state before he dies."
The contents of Percy's conversations with the Kremlin leaders were contained in
classified cables sent to Washington by Thomas Watson, U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet
Union, which were leaked to the media over the weekend.
Allen is a member of the Reagan transition team. According to news reports,
most members of the team were angered by Percy's statements for two reasons:
One was Percy's impending accession to the chairmanship of the Foreign Rela-
tions Committee which will give him powerful leverage in foreign policy matters.
The other was the report that Percy told the Soviet leaders that "much of what he
was about to say had all been coordinated with President-elect Reagan," implying
that the new Administration favored a Palestinian state. Reagan has stated pub-
licly that he does not, and branded the PLO a "terrorist" organization.
Allen, however, asked if Percy was speaking only for himself in Moscow, replied, "Yes,
he was, and I think Sen. Percy made it abundantly clear. It is not at all unusual that a
distinguished Senator would consult with members of an incoming administration before

It has been reported that Senator Percy, our friend from Illinois, on his
trip to Moscow told the Soviet leaders he favored a Palestinian state which
"would .permit Arafat to realize his wish to be a head of state."
Such reports are a cause for the most serious concern. Since the birth of
the democracy which is Israel, it has been the stated policy of the United
States to protect its security and its well being.
The protection of Israel's very right to exist is not compatible with the
promotion of a Palestinian state dominated by the PLO. To discuss the
development of such a state before the PLO has taken even the most minimal
step toward peace is to encourage the continuation of present PLO policy
whereby it receives international recognition in exchange for nothing. In-
deed, its terrorist acts are continued and the situation is polarized even
further.
It must remain the policy of the United States, as it is of Israel, to be
willing to sit down and talk with anyone who is willing to recognize
Israel's right to exist in peace and security. To reverse that policy or to
stray from it is to compromise U.S. opposition to terrorism and our
commitment to peace.
I hope the report of Senator Percy's statement is not true because it does
not represent the policy of this country, either of our political parties, the
President or the President-elect.
(Continued on Page 5)
(Continued on Page 5)
In the Nov. 23 issue of the New York Times (Sunday: The Week in Review), the American Civil
Liberties Union has a full-page advertisement appealing for new memberships and support in a fight
against "The Moral Majority — and other groups like them." According to the ACLU they represent
the new anti-Bill-of-Rights movement. The advertisement is headed, IF THE MORAL MAJORITY
HAS ITS WAY, YOU'D BETTER START PRAYING.
As usual, the ACLU waffles the issues — primarily because, as in the ACLU defense of the KKK
and the Nazis, they are unable to distinguish between teaching wrong-headed ideas and practicing
violence toward loyal citizens. The ACLU defends masked terrorists who threaten genocide and, if
they got power, would gladly practice it. Then they turn around and try to frighten us into supporting
them in a crusade against loyal fellow-citizens whose mistake is that they dream of "the good old
days" of "Christian America."
Jerry Falwell, founder of "The Old-Time Gospel Hour" and chief spokesman for the "Moral
Majority," advocates some religious and political ideas which I find less than appealing. He does some
other work which I find commendable: for instance, he is a stalwart and vigorous supporter of Israel.
By REV. FRANKLIN H. LITTELL
As a loyal American he has a perfect right to preach and teach ideas which some of us think wrong,
Chairman, National
as well as ideas which we think right. Neither would I deny the right of the ACLU to preach their
Institute on the Holocaust
19th Century legal fundamentalism.
At a time when the national consensus is badly shaken, the ACLU does no good service
(Continued on Page 11)

• Lest We

Forget:

ACLU and. Legal
Fundamentalism

FRANKLIN LITTELL