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2 Friday, May 1,1981
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
The Quest for Oil Brings Cheers for an Inspirer of
An Anti-Israel Joke That Maligns the U.S. Even More
Than Israel ... Oil in the Era of a World's Thirst
pression of support for Israel both as a moral
commitment and a strategic ally.
Safire proceeded to outline the trickery, the manner in
which Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani, oil minister of Saudi
Arabia, resorts to contempt in his dealings with the United
Just because Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, the Saudi States, and- the duplicity of certain American actions. Here
Arabian oil minister, promises a temporary cut in the price is the Safire viewpoint on the new developments:
of oil, there is a bowing to the desert princes.
Sheik Yamani has made a shambles out of Mr.
The U.S. State Department maintains that provision
Haig's anti-Soviet "consensus of concern." After
of destructive arms for the Saudi Arabians is part of the
being appeased to his heart's content, the Sheik
American defense plans against Soviet intrusions in the
contemptuously denounced the Camp David
Middle East. Now the Arabs themselves laugh at this na-
agreement as "a dead-end street" — demonstrat-
tion's spokesmen and keep asserting that it is Israel that is
ing that on his first Mideast trip, Secretary Haig
the menace, not the Soviet Union.
gave the Saudis everything and got nothing. The
How can the major contestant for world power, operat-
sound strategy of refocusing attention in the Mid-
ing from the Kremlin, compare to David the master of the
dle East on the Soviet threat to the region has
sling?
fallen victim to inept negotiation.
Perhaps the Pentagon as well as the State Department
The only ray of light in this . Carterization of
can explain. Both share the guilt for bowing to a Yamani
Reagan's policy was the appointment last week of
promise of a cheapened oil.
Eugene Rostow, a strong supporter of Israel, to
It doesn't seem to matter that the Saudis need the
head the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.
American dollar as much as the need exists for Arab oil.
By law, the ACDA chief must approve in writing
Yamani doesn't pull punches because this country's oil
and then explain to Congress such arms transfers;
magnates drink out of his wells. That's why they cheered
I doubt that Professor Rostow will be rolled over
him at a rally of the oil magnates at the Plaza Hotel in New
by State or Defense.
York last week.
Soon Ronald Reagan will review the botched
It didn't matter to them that the culprit was the United
negotiations with the Saudis. He will ask why his
States. Israel was a mere adjunct to the hatemongering.
Secretary of State duplicitously tried to keep the
AWACS portion of the deal secret from the Con-
That's when Yamani took the liberty, on American
gress and Israel. .He will want to know why the
soil, to tell this anti-Israel "joke," as the media described it:
Saudi appeasement drew the contempt of Sheik
It involved a Bedouin who had lost his son in the
Yamani.
desert. The Bedouin vowed to_ God that if the son
If the President remembers what he told his
was saved, he would sell his camel,_ worth 1,000
PLO visitor six years ago, he will want to take
riyals, to his fellow villagers for only one riyal.
charge and to correct our course — before arms
The son was found and the Bedouin could not
intended to stop an enemy are used to try to oblit-
evade his vow but he attached a condition to the
erate an ally.
sale.
There is a hopeful note here for those who are deter-
"He tied a little mouse to his camel's tail and
mined that the peace should not be undermined in the
declared he would sell the camel for one riyal and
Middle East and destructive weapons should not be
the mouse for 1,000 riyals, and that the two must
supplied to Israel's enemies. We must remain on the alert.
be sold in one indivisible transaction." Sheik
President Reagan must be induced to yield to duplicity. The
Yamani said. ,
plea to him is that he support the peace by eliminating the
"The camel is the U.S.A. and the mouse is Israel.
threats to it.
The price tag attached to the mouse in our case
The concerned must be ready to continue the fight
was much more prohibitive than in the legendary
against
the AWACS and similar offers to those threatening
Bedouin's case."
Apparently it doesn't matter. The great American a jihad against Israel regardless of the length of the recess
giant can take insults. It's an experience this nation has now proposed for action on the arms deal by Congress.
For Israel, it is "Yamani or Ya Life." For the U.S. it is
gotten used to.
And when the quest is for oil, apparently any hater in Yamani or the sense of honor, decency and self-respect.
any robe can offer to quench the thirst, especially if it is
an anti-Israel joke. - Prof. Orlinsky Helps Mayor Koch
That's how it has operated. As long as the wells are not Understand the Toynbee Venom
dry. As long as the American giant is slow in providing a
At the recent U.S. Conference of Mayors held in New
substitute for blackmail.
York to discuss President Ronald Reagan's budget pro-
So it goes on civilized soil!
posals, Mayor Edward Koch of New York commented on a
report of a Presidential commission which stated: "Mature
Needling of Uncle Sam .
cities serve as artifacts that illustrate physically the evolu-
All With Oil as Teaser
tion of society's technological capabilities." Mayor Koch
The postponing action on the AWACS, with the then said, "That sounds like Arnold Toynbee when he de-
President's consent, must not fool anyone. The Saudis ap- scribed the Jews as, I think, something like artifacts re-
pear determined to use the "price of oil" as a threat leveled maining after 5,000 years."
at the United States. The Zionists will always be the vil-
This brought an interest-
lain, portrayed in the outrageous falsehoods called "Pro-
ing explanatory correction
tocols," which are circulated now from Saudi Arabia as well
from Professor of Bible
Harry M. Orlinsky of He-
as the Soviet Union.
Now the Saudis say it is not Russia but Israel who is
brew Union College-Jewish
the Middle East threat to peace. This is the claim from the
Institute of Religion. Dr.
one nation whose partnership with Egypt could make peace
Orlinsky wrote to Mayor
in that area a reality over night. It is not the major obstacle
Koch:
to peace and the Reagan Administration must learn to
Our older son Walter,
president of the City
acknowledge it.
Every American with a sense of honor and self-respect
Council of Baltimore,
must be prepared for a battle against the shocking policies
phoned us to tell us that
which involve the excessive arming of the Saudis. The
you had made reference
delay and the weak promises that the AWACS to be pro-
to Toynbee's description
vided for the Saudis will not contain the supersecret black
of the Jewish people.
HARRY ORLINSKY
boxes now on the-American aircraft must not mislead any-
Since the late Maurice
one. There was an outrageous suggestion that Israel could
Samuel and I probably lectured and wrote on
shoot down such planes provided Israel's enemies by the
Toynbee-and-the-Jews more than anyone else, I
U.S. Imagine Israel shooting down planes which will sup-
turned to the report directly. I could not agree
posedly be manned by American pilots!
more with your comment in the matter of the
William Safire, in a revealing essay, "Yamani or Ya
Jews.
-Life," in the New York Times last Monday, exposed the
Let me make one correction. Toynbee did not
hypocrisy of the proposed arms deals. He commenced his
refer to the Jews as "artifacts" but as "fossils."
account of the desert trickery with the following:
Anti-Semitic and admittedly "ignorant" and "ir-
rational" as he was in dealing with Judaism and
WASHINGTON — On March 5, 1975, in Los
the Jews, Toynbee would not compliment them by
Angeles, a Palestinian Arab showed up unexpec-
associating with them the term "artifact," a rather
tedly at the Wilshire Boulevard offices of Ronald
useful item in archeology and in man's material
Reagan. He was Sadat Hassan, permanent PLO
culture; rather it is — to Toynbee — the anti-
observer at the United Nations, and Mr. Reagan
quated and useless fossil that he applied the
agreed to see him.
Jewish people and their culture. (It is ironic that
"All you know about Israel," said the PLO
Toynbee himself has become a fossil, an old fogy;
representative, "is what you hear from Elizabeth
no one reads him or cites him nowadays, and he is
Taylor and Sammy Davis. Jr." Michael Deaver,
mentioned chiefly by Jews — in the manner and
then and now a close Reagan aide, who was pre-
for essentially the same reasons that they mention
sent, recalls that insulting opening and the Re-
Haman. But that's another story.)
agan response: An extended and unequivocal ex-
Oil and Cheap Jokes ...
as Much at the Expense
of U.S. Honor as of Israel
By Philip
Slomovitz
More than the reference to Toynbee in. Dr. Orlinsky's
letter is worth quoting because of the reference to his son
Walter (Velvel), who has made his mark politically in Bal-
timore and the state of Maryland.
The expose of Toynbee was necessary so that the anti-
Jewish Toynbeean indignities should not be either swal-
lowed unknowingly or forgotten.
EDWARD KOCH
ARNOLD TOYNBEE
`Celebration 33' Provides New
Emphasis for Jewish Solidarity
Israel's 33rd anniversary, to be observed on May 10,
will have a special aspect emphasizing Jewish \solidarity
with Israel's builders and defenders.
On May 11, the day after the actual date of the an-
niversary, tens of thousands of Jews in many areas of the
world will assemble to view a film, to be screened six
months in advance of its formal release. The presentation of
the film "The Chosen," based on the best-selling novel by
Chaim Potok, will be in some 1,000 theaters throughout the
world and is expected to net $50,000,000 for Israel's educa-
tional institutions.
The sensational sponsorship
of this undertaking, coinciding
with Israel's 33rd anniversary
and therefore labeled "Celebra-
tion 33," had been popularized in
the co-sponsorship of a score of
national Jewish movements.
The importance is that the
showings are expected to attract
notables in Holland, such as
Queen Beatrix and the Royal Netherlands Family, as well
as in England, in this country, Canada, and Australia and
Argentina.
The significance of this is that the gatherings will
emphasize solidarity, a strengthened Jewish unity inspired
by the accomplishments in Israel during the 33 years since
rebirth of statehood.
"Celebration 33," therefore, is an occasion for a con-
tinuing sense of -pride that Israel is a reality and that the
prophetic hopes of the Jewish people are marked by fulfill-
ment. These give credende by the making of May 11 of a
supplementary occasion for joyous acclaim in "Celebration
33."
Karl Haas Will Be Missed:
His Artistic Message Lingers
There'll be a great void for many when they tune in
from 2:15 to 3 p.m., five days a week, on WJR Radio. They
won't hear the voice of Karl Haas after May 8.
The loss will be felt immensely: He is an inspiration to
music lovers. He is an entertainer and a teacher on a mas-
sive scale.
Haas is the knowledgeable interpreter who knows
music and musicians, who has mastered the anecdotes, and
by means of musically-illustrated stories he taught music
while offering delight to the internationalized approach to
the musical art.
He'll be missed by the Jewish community on the eve of
the Holy Days and Passover and on all festive occasions. He
knew how to represent the spirit of these holiday events
and he presented them with great dignity and with toN
music and tradition.
This applies to all holiday occasions, Christian, Mos-
lem and Jewish, national, patriotic and commemorative, to
which he helped give wider audience.,
On an international
scale, on some 300 stations
in many lands, he. continues
to be heard and is, therfore,
the acknowledged master of
his art.
Hopefully, he will return
for special programs, on
other Detroit area stations,
and as a concert pianist and
interpreter. This will be a
blessing that will compen-
sate for his approaching ab-
sence from the Detroit radio
role which projected- him on
KARL HAAS
to the national music scene.
,s-