2 Friday, March 20, 1981
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
How to Sterilize Prejudice
Without Harming the Innocent
Can Prejudice be sterilized so that it won't harm the
innocent?
A sickly minded person who threatened Jewry with
another Holocaust even worse than the Nazi barbarism
used as a title his affiliation with Ford Hospital. Since
prejudice may indeed beget prejudice, there were a few
misguided who developed a grudge against the hospital in
which the fellow who lost his sense of honor is employed and
linked the hospital with his inanity.
There are so few who thus categorize a criminal
thought that -i-t--must be stated: at Ford Hospital there is
presently an impressive staff of medical experts that in-
cludes Jews and non-Jews, blacks and whites, Arabs and
others, Occidentals and Orientals.
Therefore, the corrupt mind of a single person must not
become accusatory on the larger sphere with which the sick
minded is affiliated.
It should be noted that the reason space was allotted to
a Holocaust-inciting letter in this column is because the
identity of the endorser of barbarism was not hidden and
was linked with an important hospital here. The director of
research at Ford Hospital, Dr. Raymond H. Kahn, states, in
a letter to the editor published elsewhere in this issue:
"Dr. Khalifa's manner of signing his letter implies that
his opinions are representative of the philosophy of Henry
Ford Hospital. While the hospital supports the right of
every employee to express his or her personal opinions, we
do not believe that any employee has the right to use the
name of the hospital to lend credence to his or her views."
Does a public institution brush off barbarism ex-
pressed by an employee without rebuke or repudiation?
How much freedom can be accorded a person who advo-
cates terror?
The evolution of the regrettable occurrence began with
an item in this column rejecting a distortion in a proposed
school manual with the plea that "Detroit Is Not a Suburb
of Beirut," that Jews and Arab have lived together in this
great community in friendship, that this amity must and
will continue, with Jews and Arabs fraternizing as fellow
citizens. Thereupon came the threat of another Holocaust
from a sick mind.
One of the most eminent of the Arab spokesmen in this
country, Dr. M.T. Mehdi, secretary general of Arab People
to American People, having read that epistle, commented:
"Please forgive Dr. A. Khalifa. He cannot write and prob-
ably cannot read."
H.L. Mencken had some words on the subject of prej-
udice when he said:
"One may no more live in the world without picking up
the moral prejudices of the world than one will be able to go
to hell without perspiring."
Let this be a lesson to the prejudiced and a warning to
those who permit themselves to be mislec• by it without a
common sense approach.
The State Department's
Flirting With the Saudis
Opposition to the sale of planes which could be used as
a threat to Israel is much more than a political ploy. It is a
human matter.
The Saudis are making pledges not to use the planes to
be provided by this country against Israel. It is merely, as
claimed, a defensive aim against the USSR. What, how-
ever, is to stop the Saudis from turning the planes over to
Jordan or to Syria? Aren't they combined in schemes
against Israel, taking sides against Iran in the war with
Iraq, and in unceasing attacks on Israel? Why aren't the
State Department provisions linked with a condition for
the desert diplomats to stop threatening Israel with a
Jihad?
There is something unholy about ,the State Depart-
ment policies and it should be continually exposed.
State Dept. Repudiation
of Haddad Raises Question:
Who Does Speak for Christians?
Lebanon's tragedy continues as a disgrace for nations
and diplomats, as well as for those who condone the fratric-
idal war that divides peoples in a power struggle involving
two religions. -
Israel was inevitably dragged into the shuffle because
the PLO maintains its headquarters in that unhappy land,
once the paradise of the Middle East.
A Christian is involved in the struggle. Saad Haddad
leads Christians in defense of their rights in Lebanon.
There is a partnership between the Haddad forces and the
Israelis because Israel has provided haven and succor for
many Christian Lebanese.
State Department repudiates Haddad. Its spokes-
people have condemned him as unrepresentative of the
Christians in Lebanon. An entirely different version was
offered in Near East Report. In its issue of Jan. 16 a series of
basic facts are presented, in an editorial comment Leonard
By Philip
Slomovitz
A Puzzle for Libertarians: What Price Freedom When
It Is Offered to a Terror Advocate? . . . Haddad and
the State Dept.: Who Speaks for Lebanese Christians?
J. Davis stated the following in a special article entitled
"Peace Adventure in Lebanon":
Israel is not the only place in the Middle East
where Christian, Moslem and Jew cooperate and
co-exist. They work together in southern Leba-
non, where Israel assists the local inhabitants.
The message of their co-existence is broadcast
throughout the Middle East by California minis-
ter George Otis.
Otis, the head of High Adventure Ministries, is
the founder of Voice of Hope radio station in
southern Lebanon. Ray Saidel, correspondent for
the Manchester Union Leader, has just completed
an extensive series on Otis, his work in the area
and his relations with the commander of the Free
Lebanon forces, Major Saad Haddad.
While visiting Israel in 1979, Otis met Haddad
and learned about the plight of the Christians and
Moslems who live under PLO guns along Israel's
northern border. "We feel very alone, very iso-
lated, abandoned," Haddad told Otis. To help
him, Otis established his 30,000-watt station in the
region Haddad controls.
Broadcasting in English and Arabic, the station
mixes American country music with Bible
readings and calls for peace. This station has
brought hope to many people in devastated
Lebanon, north and south," Saidel wrote.
But the radio station has brought no peace of
mind to an agitated State Department. Saidel re-
veals that State has warned Otis that his ministry
could lose its charitable status if he does not cease
operation. The Union Leader correspondent re-
printed a startling State Department letter on
Haddad's forces, the area he governs and Otis'
Voice of Hope.
"Because the armed elements in 'Free Leba-
non,' led by Saad Haddad, have refused to accept
the authority of the constitutional government of
Lebanon," the State Department country officer
for Lebanon wrote, "the United States has not and
will not recognize the. legitimacy of their
authority, nor render any support to them . . . The
Voice of Hope is an additional obstacle in the way
of those who seek peace in the area . . . For High
Adventure Ministries to collaborate with Haddad
in defiance of a friendly government is contrary to
the objectives of the United States and the UN . . ."
Saidel accuses State of seeking to throw the
85,000 Christians and Moslems of southern Leba-
non to the PLO lions. Lebanon's central govern-
ment, the correspondent contends, is "100 percent
a puppet of the Russian-controlled Syrians.
"Washington has displayed amazing vigor and
persistence in its efforts to aid the PLO terrorists
gain control of southern Lebanon," Saidel con-
tinued. "Why doesn't the State Department press
the PLO, who certainly aren't Lebanese, and the
Syrians, who certainly aren't Lebanese, to leave
Lebanon? Why press the residents to give up con-
trol?"
U.S. policy also troubles Haddad, who told
Saidel: "The Americans complain if Israel
supplies us with one American shell. But all the
Russian equipment, all the Russian ammunition,
they can shoot against us — that's okay — with the
Americans that's okay."
Haddad said that Israel supplies his forces with
arms and supplies, but, he asked, "Why should
I only Israel give us support? Is Israel the only free
country in the world? As an American aren't you
ashamed . . . that Israel is supporting us and you
Americans are not supporting us? Why?"
The PLO, Haddad charged, has captured Leba-
non and made refugees out of Lebanon's citizens.
"We are very thankful for Israel," Haddad con-
cluded. "It's the only country, amongst the so-
called free countries, which has dared to say, this
minority and this people shall live.' "
Last June, at a press conference in the White House,
U.S. Middle East Ambassador Sol Linowitz, responding to a
question by this reporter, asserted that Haddad did not
represent the Christians in Lebanon.
If Haddad does not represent the Christians in Leba-
non, who does?
Dr. Franklin H. Littell is among the concerned Chris-
tians who recognizes Haddad's role in the current crisis.
The State Department does not. This is how a critical Mid-
dle East situation remains muddied.
Resurgence of Anti-Semitism:
How Can the Poles Condone It?
A decade ago, during an internal Communist feud in
Poland, the few remaining Jewish members of the govern-
ment were maligned in an anti-Zionist campaign. It was
part of a more extensive anti-Semitic crusade.
The Jews who were the targets of the Communist
clique were themselves either non- or anti-Zionist. They
had little interest in Jewish affairs. They were available
scapegoats in the campaign of hatred.
There were at that time some 25,000 Jews left in Po-
land. Now there are either 6,000 or 7,000 Jews who survive
there out of a pre-war Jewish population of 3,500,000. But
the Jew continues to serve the hatemongers well as a
scapegoat.
The anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic manifestations in
Poland of the past two weeks also register another appal-
ling demonstration of barbarism that has shocked respon-
sible Polish leaders. Will the expression of disgust o
such a resumption of hatred for Jews awaken the Polt_
people?
How can they explain that these manifestations of
venom are now finding echoes in the American Polish
press, in letters to the editor that ignore the tragedies, and
resume and dignify the hatreds?
It should not be too much to expect that the tragedy of
Polish Jewry, the memory of the more than 3,500,000
Polish victims of Nazism, will never become a matter of
ridicule out of inherited hatred for Jews!
Bernard Postal as a Pioneer
in Journalism, Public Relations
Bernard Postal had an enviable career as a journalist.
He was the editor of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency for
a brief period. He studied journalism and wrote and lec-
tured about them on many occasions. He was the co-editor
of Jewish Week of New York. A founder of the Jewish
Digest, he edited the interesting monthly magazine with
skill.
Perhaps the most creative years of his life were in
public relations. In that capacity, during the many years of
his service with the Jewish Welfare Board, he made notable
contributions to educational programs for the people in the
armed forces and for the Jewish center movement.
The educational material inspired by Mr. Postal in
that capacity continues to serve American Jewry's needs
and form a veritable library on holiday celebrations, an-
niversaries and other occasions.
Bernard Postal possessed a genius for research. His
historical works are guides for writers, for schools and
students. He left a rich legacy and will be memorialized
with great respect in recognition of his many accom-
plishments.
The Purim Guideline
•
This day introduces a joyous weekend, commencing
with the reading of the Megilla, the Book of Esther, as a
continuation of the previous evening's introduction of the
Purim festival, and events in which youth especially will
rejoice in the recollection of the rescue of Jews from threats
of annihilation in an ancient era.
The days of rejoicing, Shushan Purim as well as Purim,
and the masquerades and home observances, contain the
repeated message that is double-edged: it is a warning to
anti-Semites that any one in the cloak of Haman the Vici-
ously Terrible never survives and that anti-Semitism is
always doomed; and that survival depends mainly on the
courage of the threatened who refuse to buckle under the
whips of barbarians. It is because Mordecai and Esther
were firm in their stand against the Hamanic that the Jews
of Persia were rescued.
Anti-Semites always render harm that frequently
leave sad marks on Jewish experience. But in the long run
the Jew is indestructible — as long as there are Jews who
will not submit to tyranny and will be vigilant even under
most crucial conditions.
The message of Purim is clear. The greeting is into-
minable. Happy Purim!
A Kosher Guide to Israel
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"Stay Kosher in Israel," a quarterly guidebook
with a circulation of 60,000 copies, has gained wide
popularity in the year that it has been published. The
book lists kosher restaurants and religious facilities.
It is distributed free to major hotels and tourist offices
and to El Al and Maof Airline passangers.