THE JEWISH NEWS USPS 275 520) Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20, 1951 Copyright "O') The Jewish News Publishing Co. Member of American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, National Editorial Association and National Newspaper Association and its Capital Club. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 Postmaster: Send address changes to The Jewish News, 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 Second-Class Postage Paid at Southfield, Michigan and Additional Mailing Offices. Subscription $15 a year. CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor and Publisher ALAN HITSKY News Editor Business Manager HEIDI PRESS Associate News Editor DREW LIEBERWITZ Advertising Manager Sabbath Scriptural Selections • This Sabbath, the first day ofAu, 5741, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Numbers 33:1-36:13,28:9-15. Pi'ophetical portion, Jeremiah 2:4-28, 3:4. Candle lighting, Friday, July 31, 8:34 p.m. VOL. LXXIX, No. 22 Page Four Friday, July 31, 1981 LOBBYING AS AN ISSUE Crises in the Middle East have become com- monplace. While they always dominate over most other world developments whenever the conflict between Israel and her enemies, now mostly represented by the PLO, arises the media make the confrontations the most press- ing news. The latest in the developments, Israel's mili- tary actions at the very base of PLO headquar- ters, in the heart of Beirut in Lebanon, continue to cause anguish. Israel's determination to de- stroy the very roots of the antagonisms, engendered in the PLO covenant, has aroused more criticism than any other occurrence. Yet there is a measure of understanding of the motivations, and they are evident in the Ameri- can position of assailing the attacks yet refrain- ing from basic threats against Israel. The U.S. position is now one of emphasis on the need for peace as a solution to the problems rather than one of sanctions and of condemning Israel with- out taking into account the threats from Arab quarters and the shelling of Israeli areas which keep wreaking vengeance on the Jewish state. In the process of judging Jewish attitudes, American Jewry being consistently concerned with Israel's traditional friendship with the United St rtes, there has emerged a renewal of charges tnat the Jewish lobby" has caused difficulties for this country and is responsible for an American dilemma in the relations with the Arab nations and with the oil-producing powers. This raises once again the dispute over lobbying and its role in this country's foreign policies. If lobbying were a crime it would be outlawed. It is practiced and it is always subject to scrutiny. The propagated causes are either ac- ' cepted if judged proper or rejected when differed with. In Israel's instance it has an entirely different connotation. It deals with human rights, with.a people's insistence on the right to live and survive. Most of the criticisms of the so-called Israel and/ Jewish lobby are leveled at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — AIPAC — and its news and feature organ the Near East Report. What is dealt with, therefore, is not only the contact AIPAC's leaders have with mem- bers of Congress and other public officials but also the 'printed matter. When confronted with the negativism in the accusation of lobbying it ROOTS OF should be mandatory for the critics to study the contents of Near East Report.-If conducted ob- jectively there must emerge the realization that this news-feature bulletin- deals with facts and figures, that is it is an educational medium, that it probes the issues involving the Middle East, Israel, the Arabs, the Jewish opinions and atti- tudes and the reactions to them by the non- Jewish world. Related to lobbying, therefore, is a principle involving pamphleteering. There is a very hon- orable aspect in pamphleteering. It is an estab- lished way of educating people to 'certain as- pects of political and social attitudes. True: it contains. a measure of propaganda. But it need not be destructive propaganda. In Israel's ease, and the role of that nation's Jewish kinfolk and Christian friends, it is a matter calling for action to prevent the state's destruction. The expose of the PLO and that group's supporters is a compelling matter cal- , ling for protection against the threats to destroy the state. The friendship Israel has established with the United States, this nation's commit- ment to Israel's security, the Israeli position of assuring the principle of democratic govern- ment in the Middle East, combine to give Israel the right to propagate her views. It becomes an obligation for Israel to inform her friends everywhere about existing conditions in the Middle East. That's the role of an organized effort which antagonists would convert into a menace under the title the Jewish lobby." Lobbying in Israel's instance is the legitimate right to the struggle for life. It becomes a search for, criminality on the part of those who would undermine the existence of the Jewish state. Many in the media share the guilt for traducing Israel's right to present her case through the media of public officialdom and in the press. To the credit of the heads of our government it should be emphasized , that the call is for a greater striving for peace, that an assurance of amity is necessary to end hostilities. A basic problem is involved here. To attain peace it is vital that Arabs and Jews sit together, speak to each other, talk peace with an aim at attaining it. Refusal by Arabs to share such a round table with Jews for peace talks is the obstacle to good will and harmony. This is the tragedy: the fail- ure by Jews in their invitation to Arabs to sit together at a peace table. M.E. TRAGEDY A recorded tragedy, resulting in. the death of hundreds of people in the Beirut area headquar- tered by the forces seeking Israel's destruction, naturally resulted in much sadness. It was a heartbreaking occurrence. It was not the usual way in which Israelis resisted the forces seeking her destruction. While deploring loss of civilian lives, it is nevertheless important that the realities of the situation not be ignored. The consistent _Arab threats to Israel's existence compelled attacks on the arsenals created by Russia and Libya. If these arsenals were to be permitted to remain operative it could mean an end to Israel's secu- rity and the very life of the nation. The cause of the tragedy must be charged to those destruct- ive forces. What happened was most regret- table, but blame must be placed where it be- longs. It is attributable to the forces of destruc- tion financed by Saudi Arabia, militarily pro- vided by Russia and Libya. Lebanon's agonies also stern from the horrors perpetrated in the territory of that unhappy land by the PLO. It is because the bankrupted world public opinion and the hypocritical world powers permitted the PLO to become the "authority" for events in the Middle East that most of the troubles emerged in that area of the world. A realization of it may compel prevention of the continuation of such a condition of horror. %.rraa Joan Comay's 'Diaspora Story' an Historical Gem Joan Comay has already earned recognition as a classicist in tackling Israeli historical data, as author of a guide for tourists in Israel, as • an anthologist of Bible topics and as a biographer. Her newest work, "The Diaspora Story" (Random House) enriches the bookshelf of her many works and adds significantly to published Jewish historical data. Because she links her researched and collected material, the splendid text and the valuable photographs, to the most recent out- standing Israeli accomplishments, the establishment of the Beth Hatefutsot, the Nahum Goldmann Museum in Tel Aviv, utilizing the massive material in that significant structure and its archival data, The Diaspora Story" gains in importance. Mrs. Comay has a notable record as an author and lecturer, as a researcher in historical data and as an advocate of Zionism. As the wife of Michael Comay, the former Israel ambassador to Canada and the United Kingdom and as Israel's delegate chief representative to the United Nations, she had an important role in behalf of her nation in the United States, Great Britain and Israel. She lectured extensively in this country, making numerous appearances in De- troit. Born in South Africa, Mrs. Comay settled in Israel at the end of World War II, being involved in her new nation's war of liberation, later joining the JOAN COMAY editorial staff of the Encyclopedia Judaica. "Who's Who in the Old Testament" is among her widely - acclaimed works which include, "Who's Who in Jewish History," "Introducing Israel," "The UN in Action," "The Temple of Jerusalem" • and "The World's Greatest Story." "Diaspora," which stems from the Greek "dispersion," represents Jewish history as it functioned prior to the redemption of Zion and the rebirth of the modern state of Israel. In "The Diaspora Story," subtitled "The Epic of Jewish People Among the Nations," Mrs. Comay traced and depicted history, ac counting for Jewish migrations, travels from country to country under the duress of the persecutions. This is a story of 19 centuries of Jews who both attained-their identity while being challenged by assimilatory temptations to adopt the ways of the lands in which they settled, pursuing the goals that led many to great successes in the arts and the sciences, in literature, • medicine. Beth Hatefutsot is the means of drawing material for many periods, many lands, including the triumphs in survival as well as ''le hardships occasioned by the prejudices under which they lived Adherence to faith, keeping the home strong, lending dignity it) existence even under, the whip, "The Diaspora" also spells survival. While the new Joan Comay book deals with the synagogue, holiday celebrations and the way of life in the ghettoes marked by oppression counteracted by survival ism, her book also deals with relations with the non-Jews of all faiths. This lends her portrayal the necessary totality in covering a very vital subject exploring the Jewish historic experiences. With definitions of the biblical and talmudic teachings, describ- ing Judaism as having become "a portable faith and a way of life that could function without a state, a temple or a fixed abode," Mrs. Comay leads up to the emergence of statehood, the merging of the cycle. Thus her work is both historically descriptive, fascinating as literature, adding "The Diaspora Story" as an enrichment to her previous works.