THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Israel in Lebanon
By DEENA PEARLMAN
(Editor's note: Miss
Pearlman is a free-lance
writer and producer and
former associate director
of the Michigan office of
the Anti - Defamation
League of Bnai Brith.)
Last Friday night, actor
Peter Strauss (Rich Man,
Poor Man; Masada) spend
15 of his 20-minute segment
on the Carson show describ-
ing his recent trip to Leba-
non.
"It's truly a cinematic
'ar," he emphasized. As
--,hey were driving past the
"devastated" coastal cities
of Sidon and Tyre, he noted
that if you focus your cam-
era in one direction, you
might see .a row of buildings
in total ruin. "If you shift
your focus, however, you
might take in a row of per-
fectly intact apartments
with hanging laundry and
flower pots in the windows."
The impact is not lost on
American Jews. First,
Strauss testifies to the sub-
jective nature of what the
camera brings into our liv-
ing rooms each evening.
Someone chooses which way
to turn the earners. Sec-
ondly, he reminds us of the
impact that a single voice
can have — if it's the right
voice, and if it's broadcast
coast-to-coast over one of
the highest rated programs
on TV.
It appears to be a les-
son we are, unfortu-
nately, learning entirely
too late in the game. Star
Power Sells! A well-
placed celebrity will be
heard by millions more
than a top-ranking offi-
cial interviewed on net-
work news. He or she
may even be believed
more readily because
they are not suspect for
having a special interest
at heart or, specifically,
not a "Jewish special
interest."
There is nothing that will
tug at the heart strings
more quickly than hearing
a personality, with whom
we identify emotionally,
decry the horrors of a war
we want to make unpopular
and, in the process, point a
finger at its alleged perpet-
rator.
The PLO knows that!
That's why they've used
Vanessa Redgrave as their
spokesperson/filmmaker
and general mascot for
years. It's why they invite
American Senators and
Congressmen to tour Pales-
tinian hospitals at their ex-
pense and return home with
second-hand tales of Israeli
atrocities. It's why Yasir
Arafat is making a career of
kissing babies before
American television
cameras these days; why
Palestinian women cry on
cue for those same cameras;
and why local Arab groups
are hiring PR agencies to
coordinate their prop-
aganda campaigns.
Now, by heaven, even
Mother Theresa is going
over to lend what solace she
can to the children of war. I
am not suggesting that
Mother Theresa is in any
way a pawn for the public
relations hype of the PLO;
only that the personality
has impact; and that we are
lagging four to- five years
behind in that "public rela-
tions war" — in some meas-
ure, because we have not re-
sorted to that same hype.
Strauss "didn't want to
say anything political,"
as Johnny Carson
pointed out after the
break, "because there
are so many ramifica-
tions on both sides." But
it didn't matter. It was
almost better that he
didn't betray his political
views.
What we heard was pure
human drama: -children
playing in the streets, with
rockets flying overhead; the
PLO Katyusha rocket that
exploded 40 feet behind
Strauss' bus, bringing him
the "closest (I) ever came to
being killed!"; the
psychological horror of find-
ing themselves on a Beirut
airport runway on the day of
the heaviest fighting of the
war; and the bizarreness of
being in a hospital with a
roomful of Israelis and
walking into -an adjoining
room filled with Syrians.
Of course, there was the
obligatory comic relief. As
Strauss painted the almost
surreal picture of "standing
outside the Queen Mary
`A Cinematic War'
Pastry Shop in West Beirut
and eating pastry," Carson
threw to a commercial
break, quipping "what I've
learned so far is that the
best place to hang out is the
pastry shop!"
What we learned from
Strauss' story is that war
stinks. What we didn't learn
is whose fault it was that it
stinks. And what we have
yet to learn is that, in the
public relations battle over
who gets to wear the white
hat and who gets stuck with
the black hat, images that
evoke the horrors and futil-
ity of war can be used just as
much to Israel's advantage
as they can to her detri-
ment.
Talk of PLO horrors since •
1975; comparisons to the
Lebanon that existed before
that reign of terror; the ter-
rorist attacks they have
spawned all over the world
in recent years; the brave
PLO soldiers hiding behind
the skirts of innocent
Lebanese women; the
Palestinians kept mer-
cilessly in refugee camps at
the whim of their own
brethren; and the countless
Israelis (across their own
northern border), Jews and
Americans abroad who
have died at the hands of
Arafat.
_ On
_ this battlefront, our
task is to win a war of words,
rather than a military vic-
tory. The letters pouring in
to American legislators are
now running 10-1 against
Israel. If we are at all to im-
pact upon American public
opinion, and hence the
representatives we sent to
Washington to vote for or
against aid packages to Is-
rael, we must finally begin
to fight fire with fire!
If that means hiring PR
agencies to set up rallies,
newspaper ads and press re-
leases; if it means sending
half a dozen or more nation-
ally kneiwn celebrities a
Friday, August 20, 1982 17
*GOOD WOOD is
easy to custom-
finish in color you
choose. We show
you how, or do It
for you, little
cost.
year to Israel or Lebanon or
Jordan to survey the truth
for themselves and then re-
port it back to the American
public; if it means sending
our own camera people to
point the lens in the other
direction; or even if it means
appealing to the same crude
emotionalism of bombard-
ing our senses with war
scenes — so be it!
TV CART
sup•r-solid
on easyloa castors
LAZ,F =
24071 Orchard Lake (at 10 Mite)
Farmington .478-01$25
3C .40
Mon., Thurs. 10-9 • Tues., Wed., Fri., Sat. 10-6 • Sun. 12.4
War* Chicap, St Low Alkla, Toms ht Wsrm SISSI.SS
rrewnrAt 19(12 NOW Fuen.11. v,c ,
RELOCATING THIS FALL
ouING
Jewelry
2 5 % 0
60% OFF
Earrings . . . Bracelets . . . Diamond Necklaces
Diamond Rings . . . Diamond Earrings . . . Watches
Charms . . . Pearls . . . Excluding Loose Diamonds
ci
Since 1925
Creanve Je,A.eiers
29173 Northwestern at 12 Mile • 356-2525
Franklin Shopping Plaza
Daily 10-6. Thurs 10-8
Lachman - Needle Vows Spoken
Janice Marsha Needle
and Michael David
Lachman were married re-
cently at Cong. Beth Achim.
Rabbi Milton Arm of-
ficiated.
The bride is the daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Philip S.
Needle of Southfield. Par-
ents of the bridegroom are
7r. Nathan Lachman and
.ne late Mrs. Shirley
Lachman.
Sandra Needle was mat-
ron of honor. Bridesmaids
were Rochelle Koloff and
Arlene Lachman, sisters of
the bridegroom, Pamela_
Gilbert, Sue Hoff and Mau-
reen Marton. Tara Stricks-
tein was the flower girl.
Edward Weberman
was the best man. Ushers
were Ernest S. Needle,
brother of the bride,
David Koloff, Ken Block,
MRS. LACHMAN
Joe Kesner, David
Lachman and Dov
Sczlamkowicz. Scott
Strickstein was the ring
bearer.
Following an Acapulco
honeymoon, the couple are
residing in Southfield.
THE ENTERTAINMENT CHANNEL"
Coming To Southfield Next Week
CONTINENTAL CABLEVISION
Watch Your Mail For Details
353-3900