Friday, February 13, 1981 THE bETROlt itillSH NEWS Purely Commentar y The Anti-Semitic Virus Again a World Plague So voluminous the accumulating record of anti- Semitic occurrences, so vast is the number of incidents in scores of American cities, that the plague is no longer limited to neo-Nazism or the Ku Klux Klan or their related hate movements. The unrecorded incidents overwhelm those already on the record. The resurgence of Jew-baiting is the subject of discus- sion in the capitals of the world. Arab anti-Israel prop- aganda has surely contributed towards the spread of the poison, but hatred for Jews is not limited to Moslem coun- tries. It is reborn in'Germany, it is evidenced in England and France, it is a danger for Jews in Latin America. Even the Scandinavians are not immune from the virus. It is so shocking in New York that the wave of anti- Semitism there was reported to the Jerusalem Post. Leon Hadar, Jerusalem ,Post correspondent in New York, re- ported in January: The theft this month of seven Torah Scrolls Val- ued at $15,000 each from one of the oldest synagogues in Brooklyn marked another peak in the rising wave of break-ins into synagogues and vandalism at Jewish cemeteries in the New York area. The latest report of the Anti-Defamation League of Bnai Brith indicates a sharp increase in assaults on Jews and vandalism against Jewish institutions, synagogues and cemeteries in 1980 over 1979. The largest number of incidents — 120 — took place in the New York area, the report says. In addition to frequent thefts, swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans have been painted on build- ings, homes and automobiles belonging to Jews in the area and the area has seen several fires of suspicious origin. Some 60 anti-Jewish incidents were recorded in the last three months of 1980 alone. So serious is the revived and growing menace that the historian-editor of Jewish Currents, Morris U. Schappes, warned against the planned staging of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice." He pointed to the danger of dramatiz- ing again the vicious character of Shylock in a time of spreading anti-Semitism in this letter that appeared in the New York Times; It was important to learn from John J. O'Con- nor in the Times of Jan. 26 that the BBC produc- tion of "The Merchant of Venice" scheduled for a Feb. 23 screening on Channel 13 will be "an un- compromising portrait of the period's anti- Jewish attitudes" and that "the production, bound to be controversial, makes no effort to make Shylock sympathetic in ways that have since become conventional." In other words, the full anti-Semitic impact that is' built into the play by Shakespeare, the master craftsman, will be let loose among us at a time when the Anti-Defamation League of Bnai Brith has just reported that there was an ominous up- surge of anti-Semitic incidents in 1980 throughout the country. It is interesting to remember that in 1960 Orson Welles abandoned what he said was a lifelong ambition to play Shylock and canceled a produc- tion ready to take the boards in London when on the Continent there was a widespread outbreak of swastika smearings on synagogues. In The Lori- don Express, Welles then wrote: "No, until all the church walls are clean — and safely clean, too — I think Shylock, with his Jewish gabardine, his golden ducats and his pound of flesh, should be kept on the bookshelves until a safer epoch." Are we in that safer epoch? In the U.S.A. or anywhere? Is the ADL report of no significance? If BBC and the Public Broadcasting Corpora- tion will not withdraw the production, what will they do to mount swiftly an educational effort to demonstrate the evil of anti-Semitism today? Whether BBC and PBS can effectively counter the baleful image of the vengeful Shylock implanted in the Western mind by the genius of Shakespeare may be questionable, but unless the BBC and PBS make an earnest effort, they may well be consid- ered irresponsible. - 1- The curse, of anti-Semitism struck many. It outraged some with a sense of fair play who became staunch defen- ders. Robert St. John, among the latter, relates experiences in his student days. He witnessed a Jewish freshman being harassed in his college days under the guise of being hazed. The two became good friends and St. John's role as a philo- Semite is a matter of record. This also was the experience of Pete Hamill. He tells, Anti-Semitism as a World Threat Again Torments Jewry ... World Jewish Congress Critical Report on Israel Must Be Treated as Guide to Positive Action in . a syndicated column, of his days as a youth when he became aware-.of Charlie Robbins. He learned that Charlie was Jewish in a neighborhood of Catholics and one Protes- tant. When they all learned Charlie was Jewish they harassed, taunted, abused him. Chaflie was Jewish they twice struck a lad much taller and heavier than he. Pete never forgot Charlie. He related the experience in his col- umn and then called for action against anti-Semitism dec- laring: All of that was 35 years ago, but I thought about Robbins the other day when I saw the report from the Anti-Defamation League of .Bnai Brith about the startling increase in anti-Semitic acts in the past year. I thought about him, with his stunned face, when I traveled around the country last autumn, and picked up anti-Semitic talk almost everywhere. Jews are being blamed for high oil prices (because of U.S. support for Israel); for the loss of the war in Vietnam (supposedly for leading the opposition to the war); for the general decline of the economy. I thought about Robbins when I heard a lot of this anti-Jewish nonsense last fall, and then I re- membered what Richard Nixon had muttered on March 23, 1973, in a taped conversation with John Dean: "Those Jewboys are everywhere," said- the President of the United States. You can't stop them." Today, a lot of the old Nixon crowd is back in Washington, to pick up jobs from the Reagan Ad- ministration. They can't be blamed for everything their old boss said or did, of course, but it might be a good time for the triumphant conservatives to make themselves clear on this subject. The new President should openly, strongly denounce anti-Semitism, making clear that certain fun- damentalist Christians are crackpots. He should also instruct his attorney general to use the full force of the law against all those whose anti-Semitic virus bursts into overt criminal ac- tion. And in our own ways, all of us should make certain that no more American kids are scarred up the way a kid named Charlie Robbins was, in a lost summer after the war. That it should be necessary in this enlightened age even to write such a column is an outrage. It is still the shame of the non-Jewish world. It is the renewed signal to Jews to hold their heads high and never to submit to tyranny and bigotry. "To bigotry no sanction," George Washington told a Jewish congregation two centuries ago. This remains the echo of true Americanism. WJC., Critical Israel Report Must be Treated With Respect A two-year task, emerging as a 119-page review of conditions affecting Israel and her needs, commends the interest, concern, as well as the respect of world Jewry. It has a special aspect involving the Jews.of the United States and Canada. World Zionist Organization leadership would have been more realistic to welcome the study for additional deliberations. The problems posed are serious and they affect all of world Jewry. The Israel-American Jewry rela- tions, the question of the right to criticism being given a note of emphasis, cannot be minimized. If leadership is to be inspired, criticism must be permitted and encouraged. Then there is the matter of aliya which is under such decline that no matter what the differences, realism de- mands thorough study without equivocation. WZO super- visors of aliya planning may as well admit failure and the need for a new halutziyut can be realized only by conceding errors and striving to correct the obstacles that exist for newcomers within Israel. Very serious is the issue of religious freedom and the denial of it to Conservative and Reform Jews. It is to Israel's utter disrespect that the situation affecting the non- Orthodox has been permitted to continue through the years of Israel's sovereignty. Now the Labor Party offers a solution — if it regains power. Where was it when it was in power? Didn't it yield in the interest of power and of acquiring a coalition with the Orthodox power-dictating factor? Where was the Labor vote several months ago when a resolution to give due recognition to Conservative and Re- form Jews was defeated in the Knesset'? Labor then had the vote to achieve what the fairminded who seek total freedom of religion in Israel have been striving for. The issues are brave, the WJC study tackled them, they Must be given due consideration and WJC is to be commended for a serious task that challenges all who wish for improvements in Israel-Diaspora relations and in Is- rael's protected future. By Philip Slomovitz The Hooded Pistol-Carriers: The Comfort to Lawlessness NRA, the National Rifle Association, makes no apologies for being the strongest lobby in the land. It will not yield to gun control. Therefore, the quest for a more lawful society is becoming more difficult. It is even more difficult when the Ku Klux Klan boasts of arming young and old. That's how disregard for the law is encouraged. When, therefore, the Jewish Defense League publicly acclaims plans to establish camps for the training of youngsters to handle firearms, it is cause for deepest regret. This Jewish group not only boasts about such plan- ning: it has even selected California, New York and Michi- gan as settings for such scenery. Photographs in California newspapers have displays. 1-4 year olds in gun-toting training. Does this make the heart of the NRA palpitate with joy? Doesn't it mean im- itating the KKK? And if the KKK can train gunners in its hatred for blacks, why shouldn't blacks imitate? And if Jews will not brand such imitations as shameful, what hope . is there for protection under the law? U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger's warnings of the increased, dangers posed by the rise in crime, and the horrors perpetrated in Los Angeles which have resulted in a rash of gun sales for a self-protective purposes, indicate a national problem affecting all Ameri- cans. It is not a Jewish problem. It is being treated as a human ailment to be resolved not by vigilantes but by the force of law. KKK becomes the criminal in some areas. It will be a tragedy for Jewry if JDL is to be equated with-the lawbreaking of the KKK. Only loss of faith in this nation and its institutions can possibly encourage gun-toting. May such faith continue to dominate this land in the realism of the self-respect of the American people. Mischa Mischakoff as a Symbol of Musical Attainments Here Mischa Mischakoff symbolized notable musical pro- gress in this community. He gained national fame while retaining a high role in the Detroit musical circle. It is on this score that the earns even greater recognition for having been ready at all times to encourage students, to inspire organizers of orchestras, choirs, string ensembles. This is where the Center Symphony Orchestra played a role in the life of Mischa Mischakoff. Having befriended the Center Symphony's organizer and conductor, Julius Chajes, he often appeared in concerts with the orchestra. He inspired its ensemble and director. He left a commenda- ble mark everywhere and his name merited _honor and respect. Woman Beats Own Record in Annual Galilee Marathon Zahava Shmueli was the first woman to cross the finish line in the Sheraton - Sea of Galilee Interna- tional Marathon in January. Her time of 2:52:45 bet- tered her own record for the race. Jim Dingwall of Scotland won the event in 2:16:19. Some 300 Israelis and 200 runners from 19 other countries participated in the annual race.