2 Friday, June 4, 1982
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
Battle Lines Drawn on Israel's Defensive Position and
Confrontations With U.S. vis-a-vis New Threats ... School
Prayers as a Threat to the Peace of Mind of the Children
By Philip
Slomovitz
Barriers to Peace and Realities on Difficult Road to a Craved-For Dialogue
The issue is in the limelight again. Once again Israel and her foes are on the front
pages. The Falklands battles were a monopoly only for a brief period. Now it is Israel,
Lebanon, the autonomy proposals and massive arms sales for Jordan that are claiming
notoriety. It is something once again to be concerned about.
The agonized matter is simpler than the multiplicity of factors would indicate. Major
under consideration is a simple question: has the Reagan Administration learned the
lessons from the AWACS blunder?
But neither the President nor the Secretary of State would admit that AWACS was a
blunder. The suspected partisanship for Iraq is an indication. Any move in support of the
Iraqis would seem to be giving credence to terrorism and the terrorists and that would be
deplorable.
At issue is the massive arming of King Hussein and the Jordanians. It has become
the cause for major concern and the battle lines are drawn. Congressional sentiments are
contrary to such assistance to the state that is at the top of the list of fomenters of trouble
for Israel. Hopefully, the voice of America will be loud agains- t such manipulations.
Meanwhile, there is continuing talk about Palestinians and many Israelis are
tackling the disputes over a proposed new Arab state as well as the autonomy plans
stemming from the Camp David negotiations. Responsible Israeli academicians and
historians are discussing the issues frankly, are analyzing the Arab-Israel differences,
are taking into account the threats to the peace of the entire area.
Amos Oz, Israel's distinguished novelist-poet, dis-
cusses the problematic in his country and he concluded
with the ususal agonized doubt:
"We are all now in need of a measure of mutual sen-
sitivity and creative imagination, so that agreement be-
tween politicians can open the door to reconciliation be-
tween peoples. Sensitivity and creative imagination will
help us to find a way which does not endanger the existence
of Israel and does not involve exploitation and humiliation
for the Arabs.
"Is such a way possible? I have no simple answer. But
the real question is this: Is it possible there is no such way
— and in that case, where will it all end?"
Amos Oz, whose views were in a NYTimes Op-Ed Page
essay, pulled no punches. It stressed the differences and the
difficulties. It was a measure of hope and it might also be
viewed as a willingness to compromise. Where does such a
AMOS OZ
desire lead to when the total review of the situation is
objectively tackled only by Jews and Arabs who have not moved to the conference table
for an effort to live peacefully as neighbors?
Even more direct to the issue was another NYTimes Op-Ed Page essay by Prof. ( -
Amnon Rubinstein, who is a member of the Shinui Party in the Knesset. He was
thorough in contrasting the differences in Arab-Israeli views. He is far from being
antagonistic to the Arab claims. He, too, would make concessions. Peace is of the essence.
Entitling his article "Annexing Arab Anger," he gave a due account of the differing
approaches to the challenging situation. Dr. Rubinstein also took into account the
Jewish-Israeli attitudes, what to give, what to abandon, how to concede and what to
resist. He concluded by stating:
"Even the most dovish Israelis will justly not accept a withdrawal to the 1967 b
s
and the creation of a Palestinian state, and even the alleged moderates in the Palestine
Liberation Organization are content with nothing less than that. The almost defunct
notion of a Palestinian autonomy — in the true sense of the word, as provided for in the
Camp David accords — could give a decent respite in which a search for a peaceful
settlement could be conducted. It would form a transitional period in which a new
political system could perhaps allay some of the mutual suspicions and decrease the daily
friction and toll of violence.
"If there is any lesson to be drawn from the peace tre
with Egypt, it is that when Israel is given a legitimate partnc.
with whom it can negotiate, there is no end to its flexibility
and readiness to make painful concessions. But the Palesti-
nian leadership refuses to draw this lesson, and the PLO's
militancy and adamant refusal to accept the existence of a
Jewish state, any Jewish state obliterates any chance for the
sort of change of atmosphere created by Anwar el-Sadat's
historical visit to Jerusalem.
"Given these facts of life, one should brace oneself and
prepare for more bad news from the West Bank."
Thus, the issue may be considered as very clear: Arabs
refuse to join in a handclasp with Israel, to talk to Israelis, and
treat the conflict only as an aspiration to eliminate Israel.
Therefore the conclusion that presently there isn't much
hopeful to be anticipated.
All the more reason why Jews, Israelis and their friends,
AMNON RUBINSTEIN
especially the Congress of the United States, must be
encouraged to act unitedly against such dangers as sending excessive arms to Jordan as a
contribution towards Israel's annihilation. While there is a striving to make the au-
tonomy proposals a working reality, how else can the crisis be confronted?
How Prayers in Public Schools Injure Minds of Young People
President Ronald Reagan commits a disservice with
his religious zeal. His proposed Constitutional amendment
to legalize prayers in public schools, already vigorously
rejected in many quarters, including responsible ranks of
religious denominations, could not possibly be accepted as a
contribution to genuine democratic principles.
If he has yielded to advisers who have misled him on
the subject, it is deplorable. If it is of his own making, it is
highly regrettable.
Experience is the best teacher on the subject.
In his (subsidized) column in the Week in Review sec-
tion of the New York Times (April 9), Albert Shanker,
president, United Federation of Teachers, on the subject
"Nothing `Voluntary' in School Prayer," related this per-
sonal experience:
My own experience is probably not unusual. I
was in the seventh grade in elementary school. My
official class teacher was the music teacher, and
she liked me very much — mostly because I had
just started taking piano lessons. I soon stopped (I
proved unable to play with two fingers simul-
taneously), but my teacher continued to encour-
age me to take lessons, and we continued to have a
very good. relationship.
As the Christmas season approached, my
teacher announced to the class: "For the next few
weeks we'll be singing Christmas carols, but Al-
bert is Jewish, so he won't have to sing them, since
he doesn't believe in God." (Of course, she didn't
mean I was an athiest — she was trying to explain
that I didn't share the Christian view of God.)
My teacher was trying to be helpful and sensi-
tive. But what happened was that I was subject to
frequent beatings by other students outside of
school because of her remark.
This was Shanker's personal experience some years
ago. There is a current parallel. The Journal-Constitution
of Atlanta, Ga., in its issue of May 16, in a front page article
under the heading "School Prayer's Battle Lines Drawn,"
commenced with the following:
A Cobb County first-grader came home near
tears one afternoon last week with a problem that
started when her classmates bowed their heads to
pray.
The principal of King Springs Elementary
School in Smyrna said it was a voluntary prayer
— the kind President Ronald Reagan last week
proposed allowing through an amendment to the
Constitution.
The teacher told the girl — the only Jewish child
in the class — that she did not have to say the
blessing before lunch with the other children.
Since it was not a Jewish prayer, the girl did not
participate.
The problem was the other children.
"They made fun of her," said the girl's mother,
who asked that she and her daughter not be
named. "One boy said that because she doesn't
believe in Jesus, that she doesn't believe in God."
The mother complained to the principal, the
Cobb County school administration and the
regional office of the Anti-Defamation League of
Bnai Brith.
"I have a lot of anger toward the school system
because they put my daughter in a position of
having to say she's different," the mother said.
"And it's illegal."
How much more is needed as an emphasis that schools
must be free from possible injection of prejudices, that in a
free society the prayer can be recited at will, but it can not
be made a public policy in an atmosphere where many
faiths are linked in amity but could be subjected to an-
tagonisms when the religious differences are given gov-
ernmental acclaim.
The home and the house of worship are the places for
prayers. The desire to recite blessings is never curtailed. A
Jew who wishes to recite the HaMotzi can do it anywhere.
But the public arena where citizens are assembled under
one flag should be kept free from possible conflict.
The President has committed himself. It is assumed as
a certainty that his proposal will be rejected. It would have
been a blessing if he were to learn from Jefferson and
Madison that public prayer legalized can become a curse for
American society.
Political Bickering in Israel and Old Bones
By MOSHE RON
.
The Jewish News Special
Israel Correspondent
TEL AVIV — Prime
Minister Menahem Begin
has reached the conclusion
that a coalition of 61 Knes-
set deputies out of 120 in the
Knesset cannot continue.
Not long ago the outcome
of a no-confidence vote
against the government
was a tie — 58-58. The deci-
sion of the government to
stop El Al flights on the
Sabbath and holidays, as
demanded by the coalition
agreement with the Aguda,
has annoyed the public. It
put the Liberal Party,
whose leaders had signed
this agreement, in a deli-
cate situation.
The Sabbath ban and the
events on the Lebanese bor-
der had a harsh epilogue in
the Knesset. There was a
strong confrontation be-
tween Prime Minister
Begin and deputies of the
Labor Alignment who
criticized his decisions.
Labor Party deputy
Yossi Sarid called on the
Knesset members to
boycott the controversial
burial ceremony for the
bones of the Bar Kochba
heroes. He called the
ceremony a "spectacle
for Rabbi Shlomo Go-
ren." Begin reacted
strongly, "You are a fresh
and dissatisfied youngs-
ter and a hooligan." Sarid
retored, "You are using a
low levelof style, accom-
panied by threats, in
order to silence any cri-
tic. We shall not be deter-
red and intimidated and
will not keep silent."
The burial ceremony for
the Bar Kochba heroes, who
perished 1800 years ago in
the Judean Desert, created
a public storm.
Israeli archeologist Yigal
Yadin found the bones 20
years ago, but he boycotted
their state burial. Prof.
Yadin maintained that the
bones should be buried in a
mass-ceremony on Mount
Herzl and not in the
Judean Desert, where only
dozens, who had to be
brought there by special
helicopters, could partici-
pate.
There was no need to
spend $250,000 for this
ceremony, he said. Yadin
was also opposed to Chief
Rabbi Goren, the "father" of
the law of giving control of
archeological excavations
to the Chief Rabbinate,
being, the chief speaker at
the burial ceremony.
Water from the Ser-
-
MOSHE RON
Shown is a water desalination plant at Israel's
southernmost town, Eilat.