LEST WE FORGET...

Revival of
Ben Franklin
Forgery Must
Be Treated
With the Contempt
It Deserves

HE JEWISH NEWS

A Weckl\' Review

Commentary, Page 2

Copyright

VOL. LXXIX, No. 12

The Dignity of
Yom HaAtzmaut
Emphasized in
the Human Spirit
That Rejects
Threats to
Civilized Society

of Jeu'ish Events

Editorial, Page 4

The Jewish News Publishing Co

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$15 Per Year: This Issue 35c

May 22 1981

Syria Obstructions Hit Peace
Hopes With Monkey-Wrench

Refusnik Skills

A near agreement between Israel and Syria framed by the United States neared collapse this week because of
obstructions from Syria.
Shuttle diplomacy conducted by the U.S. Special Envoy Philip Habib produced proposals which generated
optimism for a single day. It appeared shattered by a statement made by Syrian President Hafez Assad.
Assad told newsmen in Damascus that he had not seen any American proposals to end the crisis in Lebanon. He
characterized the proposals shown to him as "Israel demands." After Israeli Premier Menahem Begin and Habib on
Wednesday said the two-week-old shuttle diplomacy mission would continue, Begin attacked Assad's statement.
This was "absolutely not true," Begin said. There had indeed been an American proposal presented by
Habib. It called for a return to the status quo ante by withdrawal of the Syrian anti=aircraft missiles from
Lebanon and of Syrian troops from the Sennine Ridge overlooking Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.
Begin said this statement by the Syrian leader was "very extremist" and it meant that "today we cannot say if
there will be a peaceful solution . . . I cannot say if I am optimistic or pessimistic."
Begin revealed that Assad had been silent through much of his last round of talks with Habib. This might be a
good sign," the premier remarked.
Despite the flash of public criticism by Begin, some Israeli observers detected hopeful indications in Assad's
statements Wednesday to two groups of American newsmen in Damascus. In particular, Assad said the missiles were
a defensive requirement for his soldiers legitimately in Lebanon and noted that for the past five years Syria had not
deployed such missiles in Lebanon — but had only done so after the Israeli attack on two Syrian helicopters on April
28.
Both Begin and Assad stressed the Saudi role in
seeking a peaceful solution. Begin said the Saudis had
WASHINGTON, — Ar2
offered "ideas" and "proposals — especially during the
thur Burns, 77, chairman of
last 24 hours." This did not, however, bring him to
the Federal Reserve Board
change his mind "about the nature of their regime or
from 1970 to 1977 and an
their attitude to Israel, or the proposed sale to them of
economic adviser to
AWACS and such like."
President Ronald Reagan,
Earlier this week Begin sharply attacked the Saudi royal
was nominated by. Reagan
house as ". . a corrupt medieval family . . . incapable of
on Tuesday to be the new
contributing positively."
U.S. ambassador to West
Assad for his part said Syria was satisfied with the sup-
Germany.
port it • had been receiving from Riyadh, and indicated, sig-
In recent years Burns has
nificantly, that he expects the Saudis to play a key role at a
served as scholar-in-
meeting of Arab League ministers in Tunis today on the
residence at the American
Enterprise Institute.
Lebanon crisis. Assad seemed to anticipate that an inter-
Arab plan would' emerge from that meeting for a political
Previous. Reagan ap-
pointments include Max-
solution to strife-torn Lebanon.
well Rabb as ambassador to
Reports that the Syrian-Israeli confrontation may
Italy and Ted Cummings as
be easing were augmented by news from the United

Reagan Nominates Burns

Anya Kogan, a 13-year-old Jewish refus-
nik in Leningrad, displays the hallot she
baked for the Sabbath. The Student Strug-
gle for Soviet Jewry in New York says
Anya is an example of the growing number
of young Soviet Jews who are discovering
their Jewish heritage through clandestine

study sessions.

(Continued on Page 6)

ARTHUR BURNS

ambassador to Austria.

Anti-Zionist Ernest Bevin Was Part of Israeli History

By SIMON GRIVER — World Zionist Press Service

JERUSALEM— This year sees the 100th anniversary of the birth of the,late British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin.
Many still remember the statement he made in 1945, only months after the full horror of the Holocaust had come to light,
when he told a packed news conference that "everybody would,be taken care of but the Jews must not push themselves to
the head of the queue." Israelis have not forgotten his stubborn opposition to the establishment of the Jewish state.
The centenary is being marked extensively in Britain in recognition for a man who did much to lead the British
working classes out of the mire of poverty and ignorance. But few Jews are celebrating. It has been a time for bitter
recollections.
The late Richard Crossman, a former Labor Cabinet Minister, once commented that Bevin has "made
peace between Jews and Arabs impossible forever." In a recent article in the London Jewish Chronicle, S.J.
Goldsmith described Bevin as "the sort who attempts to undermine the very existence of the Jewish people.
Such anti-Semites are far more pernicious than the hooligans."
Others, however, judge less harshly. Moshe Rosetti, clerk of the Knesset between 1948 and 1969, was spokesman of
the British Poale Zion movement when he lived in London. He feels that Bevin's statements only reflected the tough talk
of the docks and the fact that there was an enormous range of problems in post-war Europe.
(Continued on Page 10)

"Exodus 47" and Ernest Bevin.