2 Friday, June 5, 1981
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
Ex-VP Mondale's Expose of the
AWACS Menace and Its Lesson
Tracing the Henry Ford I Anti-Semitic Record, the Spreading
Venom, the Apology and the Inerasable Guilt . . . Diplomacy Is
Tested in the AWACS Case . . . The Community-Minded Paul Borman
nore information, over the entire battlefield,
about Israel's air combat preparations or opera-
tions in its own defense? Would the Saudis permit
the U.S. to have a veto on how this information
could be used? Could Saudi Arabia itself stand
aloof in the face of intense pressure from its Arab
allies to join confrontation or battle with Israel?
And could Israel tie its security to hopes that it
would? The answer to all these questions must be
"no." In fact, in my judgment, the same answer
applies to our agreement to increase the range
and effectiveness of the 62 high-performance F-15
aircraft we will begin delivering to Saudi Arabia
next year.
Writing in the Jerusalem Post (May 15), under the title
"Against AWACS," former U.S. Vice President Walter F.
Mondale had some firm commitments on the subjects. His
essay could be defined as one of the most penetrating ex-
poses of a major danger confronting Israel. Here is what the
former Vice President had to say, in the main, on the
subject:
Selling air-borne warning and control systems
(AWACS) to Saudi Arabia is the wrong decision,
done in the wrong way, at the wrong time.
It is the wrong decision. It has been clear for
some time that the security of the Persian Gulf is
The legitimate requirements of Saudi defense
vital to the United States.
do not justify introducing such sophisticated
It is also clear that Persian Gulf security must
equipment which can only complicate — and in
begin with efforts by regional countries, even
the case of AWACS perhaps confound — Israel's
though we will also need to be involved — as out-
ability to provide for its own security. Overall
lined by the Carter Administration and followed
regional security would go down. Tensions in any
by the Reagan Administration. That means Saudi
Arab-Israeli crisis would be immeasurably in-
Arabia must have the ability to defend itself, and
creased.
if need be, to help defend its immediate neighbors
on the Gulf, as well. But how should this be done?
AWACS would represent a substantial and
One key element is air defense, as dramatized by
dangerous increase in the level of sophisticated
the potential Iranian threat to the Gulf oil fields
arms in the Middle East. Israeli measures to
last fall, and the dispatch of four U.S. AWACS to
counter the Saudi AWACS, if effective at all,
Saudi Arabia to warn of attack and to coordinate
would involve new expenditures of a magnitude
operations of U.S. aircraft based on carriers in the
this small, badly strapped nation cannot begin to
Arabian Sea.
afford.
That was a good
President Sadat has already indicated that the
stopgap effort, cen-
sale of the AWACS to Saudi Arabia will require
tered upon what we
Egypt to think about more sophisticated
might have had to do
weaponry, and no thoughtful observer believes
militarily. But going
this new arms race would end there.
from there to say that
Why repeat these arguments which have been ad-
Saudi Arabia needs
vanced in the past few weeks? For the obvious reason that it
these highly sophisti-
also poses a question related to "statesmanship" and "dip-
cated aircraft, under
lomacy." Mr. Mondale did not object to arms for Saudi
its own control, is an-
Arabia when it was a serious challenge to President Jimmy
other issue entirely —
Carter and his foreign policies. Would be have been as firm
and in my judgment
against AWACS when he was in power and in the responsi-
ill-conceived.
ble national position as he is now when out of it?
Is it realistic to be-
lieve that, in an Arab-
It is the sad experience that when opposition assumes
Israeli crisis, the Saudi
power it forgets the criticisms uttered when it was easy to
AWACS would point
be the challenging minority. Is it different now?
WALTER MONDALE
the other way and ig-
If the Mondale warnings will be limited to the
By Philip
Slomovitz
Jerusalem newspaper, those concerned with fairness in
politics and in diplomacy may just as well retain tongue in
cheek. If they mean business, they will join the battle
against the threat to Israel's security regardless of party
affiliations.
The test in the AWACS case seems to be postponed
until September. The vigilance must not subside, if trouble
is to be averted. Mondale can be a hero if he leads in the
battle both in his own party and on a non-partisan basis. It
is the bipartisan action to squash the proposed arms deal
that is needed.
Community Deservedly Honors
Paul Borman and His Firm's
Associates for Notable Services
A current Detroit social and industrial contribution
so vital in its significance that it must not be overlooked.
A new Farmer Jack supermarket is being added to the
chain of the firm's stores in this state. The ground breaking
for such a store is significant because it marks the recon-
struction of a destroyed area, it points a finger of shame to
the time when there were riots and murders, during the
1967 disturbances, on what was Twelfth Street.
Hundreds of stores were de-
stroyed that sad week in 1967.
Many died, the rioting marked a
tragic chapter in American his-
tory.
A supermarket on the scene of
what had to be described as
shameful means a return to the
human spirit in the community,
the recapturing of the spirit and
the restoration of American fair
play.
Iri cooperation with the De-
troit Economic Development
Atikk
Corporation, together with the
PAUL BORMAN
Virginia Park Citizens Council,
public and private financing is being made available to
cooperate with the Farmer Jack chain in establishing the
Twelfth Street supermarket. It is the public spirited re-
sponse of Paul Borman as head of Farmer Jack that the
commendable project is a reality. The cooperating agencies,
Farmer Jack and Paul Borman, earn the recognition being
accorded them for an act of true citizenship and social
understanding.
Voluminous Record of Henry Ford's Anti-Semitism
Ford is an inerasable root
name. It dominates indus-
try. It is among the most
famous in modern world
history. The founder of the
Ford empire, the pioneer
leader in the automobile
manufacturing sphere, will
be a subject for discussion as
long as there is evidence of
anti-Semitism, whenever
there is the expose of the
outrageously fictitious and
truth-distorting Protocols of
the Elders of Zion.
Interest in Ford will con-
tinue as long as any effort is
made to depict the object of
his hatred as the Interna-
tional Jew.
Since the creation of his
Flivver, as it was referred
to, Henry Ford was the sub-
ject of much discussion, of
scrutiny and character
study. Many books have
been written about him and
the automobile bearing his
name. The subject is in-
exhaustible, as the numer-
ous new books, magazine
studies, reviews of his
anti-Semitic tendencies
now indicate anew.
"The Public Image of
Henry Ford: An American
Folk Hero and His Com-
pany" (Wayne State Uni-
versity Press) by David L.
Lewis retains major value
in the thoroughness of its
research. Dr. Lewis (profes-
sor of business history,
Graduate School of Busi-
ness Administration, Uni-
versity of Michigan) de-
tailed the Ford anti-Jewish
attitudes in his extensively
researched volume about
the life and activities of the
"hero" in the realm of auto-
mobile manufacturing. It is
a reference work of great
merit and it is invaluable
for students of the auto in-
dustry.
Since the Lewis volume's
appearance more than a de-
cade ago, several writers
have returned to the "Ford"
topic, adding voluminously
to the expanding Ford book-
shelf.
American Jewish His-
tory, the quarterly maga-
zine of the American Jewish
Historical Society, in a re-
cent issue, carried an arti-
cle, "Henry Ford and the In-
ternational Jew" by Dr. Leo
P. Ribuffo, assistant profes-
sor of history at George
Washington University.
Prof. Ribuffo presents many
hitherto unknown facts and
outlines many of the anti-
Semitic trends which moti-
vated the Ford hatred for
Jews.
* * *
Ribuffo Article
Shows Ford Bias
DAVID LEWIS
Periodical literature in-
cludes many revealing ac-
counts about the Ford
legend. Exemplary is the
article in the current Uni-
versity of Michigan Quar-
terly Review by the eminent
Jewish author and essayist,
Charles Madison, who ex-
poses the myth of the Five-
Dollar-a-Day Ford grant for
which he applied in his
pre-U of 111 student days.
Dr. Ribuffo shows how
Ford had begun to believe
that "Jews defied Anglo-
Saxon law."
Commenting on the
apology when he was sub-
poenaed to appear at the
trial conducted in the fed-
eral court in Detroit in
1927, the American Jewish
History article makes this
revelation:
"Unfortunately
the
apologies of 1927, like the
remission of 1922, did not
mean that Ford had 'got
right.' He closed the Inde-
pendent on Dec. 30, 1927
but — contrary to his
lawyers' promise to Mar-
shall — kept (Ernest)
Liebold and (William)
Cameron, both unrepen-
tant, in his employ. He or-
dered destruction of
thousands of copies of The
International Jew; yet, de-
HENRY FORD
spite entreaties by Marshall
and Bernstein, barely pub-
licized his retraction in
Europe. His subordinates
intervened to halt circula-
tion abroad only when
pressed by Jewish leaders.
"Furthermore, Ford in-
formed the Manchester
Guardian in 1940 that 'in-
ternational Jewish bankers'
caused World War II. At
roughly the same time, he
told the nativist Gerald
L.K. Smith that he had
allowed Bennett to forge his
signature on the retraction,
hoped someday to reissue
The International Jew and
urged Smith to do so if he
could not.
"Partly due to Ford' lax-
ity, the series continued to
circulate among the 'rabid
Jew-baiters' whom the In-
dependent professed to dis-
dain. Norman Cohn esti-
mates that The Interna-
tional Jew 'probably did
more than any other work to
make the Protocols world-
famous.' The Nazi youth
leader Baldur von Schirach
recalled the "great influ-
ence" of the books on young
Germans of his generation.
In Mein Kampf, Hitler
applauded Ford's efforts.
"Within the United
States, The International
Jew provided a 'usable past'
for anti-Semites like Smith,
who ultimately published
an abridgement. As early as
1922, Norman Hapgood an-
grily held Ford responsible
for setting 'loose a malicious
force that added fury to
similar forces already in
existence.' "
Dr. Ribuffo should be cre-
dited with having indicated
that Ford's son Edsel dis-
agreed with his father's
anti-Semitic views. This is a
point of compelling impor-
tance in view of the em-
phasis upon it in one of the
books on Ford under review.
Former Detroiter's
Book Is Revealing
Dr. Carol Gelderman,
associate professor of
English at the University of
New Orleans, a native De-
troiter, had access to diaries
and hitherto unpublished
data on which she based her
book "Henry Ford: The
Wayward Capitalist" (Dial
Press). Prof. Gelderman
provides basic information
on Ford's mechanical
genius, on his rise to power,
his skill in developing his
Flivver.
It is the industrial revolu-
tion in the making of his
automobile that is em-
phasized in this book, and
the anti-Semitic role of the
genius is not ignored.
Mrs. Gelderman, who was
intimate with Ford's
grandchildren and turned
to writing about Ford be-
cause of her childhood asso-
ciations with members of
the family, states in her
book that she was especially
interested in the Peace Ship
sponsored by Ford in World
War I, one of the magnate's
great fiascos. Therefore, the
reference to Rosika
Schwimmer in her volume
has some significance.
This
interesting
Schwimmer reference,
which was among the reve-
lations of the anti-Semitism
of Henry Ford I, is -wor
quoting:
"When the Aug. 20, 192 r,-
Independent named Her-
man Bernstein as the man
who alerted Ford to the
warmongering Jewish ban-
kers, Bernstein sued for
libel. Rosika Schwimmer
maintained that Ford had
such ideas before the sailing
of the Peace Ship. 'I met Mr.
Ford first on Nov. 17, 1915,
at a luncheon in his Detroit
factory . . . There was Mr.
Yonkers of the Detroit
Journal who had arranged
the appointment; Mr. Fred
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