2 Friday, September 3, 1982
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
Much Talk About 'the Lobby'
While Enemies of Israel
Plan a Very Massive One
Lebanon's tragedies, the multiplied agonies that stem
from PLO cruelties, continue as a festering sore now dis-
gustingly interpreted as "Jewish fascism," Israel abandon-
ing the Jewish principles of faith and practice, with charges
of Holocaust, Nazism, Genocide having become Jewish cre-
ations. Instead of striving for the peace that is so urgent,
the libels multiply. Some Jews, including rabbis in some
communities, have subscribed to the new anti-Semitism
that has become the order of the era, in some pulpits, in
most of the media.
Out of it all there must emerge the craved-for truth. In
that effort there can be no resting until the facts are estab-
lished and accepted.
While the venom is being propagated, the talk about
"the Jewish lobby" is similarly endless. And while this is
being touted as a sin applied to American Jewry, the really
damaging lobby is in the making. Near East Report, the
authoritative organ of the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee, provides these revealing tendencies:
Twenty-three influential Palestinian figures
decided in a three-day meeting (July 9-11) in Lon-
don to transfer the focus of Palestinian efforts to
the United States and, with Yasir Arafat's prior
approval, allocated $100 million to do so, accord-
ing to the London-based Arabic publication, Al
Majallah.
The conferees agreed that the Palestinians no
longer have "the military option" as a result of
Israel's operations in Lebanon. Therefore Pales-
tinian action should work to secure "the Palesti-
nian people's rights." In this regard, the conferees
concluded that the United States holds most of the
cards for a solution and that "all efforts must be
concentrated inside the United States in order to
change the U.S. stand . ." Dr. al-Khalidi and Ed-
ward Said explained "how political decisions are
made in the United States and ways and means to
confront Zionist influence there."
The conferees decided to hold a conference in a
European capital at which 300 wealthy Palesti-
nians would come up with the $100 million. Ac-
cording to Al-Majallah, Arafat approved this two
weeks prior to the Israeli operation.
"The plan provides for large-scale contacts,
particularly with a number of U.S. figures close to
or within the Reagan Administration who sym-
pathize with the Arab situation in general, with a
view to creating some sort of 'lobby' in the United
States supporting the Palestinians and their
rights. Al-Majallah has learned that among those
to be contacted are Defense Secretary Wein-
berger and former Presidential candidate John
Connally .. .
This is not a new development. The Arab propaganda
machine as a propaganda factor has existed, it exists, and
now there is the $100 million project to enhance it.
Yet, there is the abusive reference to "the Jewish
lobby," and it can be treated venomously because it has
been so easy to create enemies when the target is "the rich
Jew."
Rich? In contrast with a $100 million machine? Do the
antagonists begin to realize that such monies are not in
Jewish coffers, that the three-lettered oil dictum continues
to dominate?
A Revived 'Protocols,'
PLO-Inspired Anti-Semites
It's pitiful, but factual, that a period when the con-
cern should be in the process of reconstruction and
peace-building, there is the continuing need to refute bias,
to ask for emphasis on truth and deflation of the spreading
hatreds.
People like George Ball will claim to be fairminded,
and everything they are into spells anti-Semitism.
He and his cohorts like Bruno Kreisky keep firing
poison into their own spheres, the American and the Aust-
rian. They have platforms and their endorsements of the
anti-Israel campaigns are becoming international aims at
undermining Israel's existence.
The fakes that are known as the "Protocols of the
Elders of Zion" now have their counterparts in the form of
venom Spread by the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of
State and the head of the Austrian government.
Their weapons are the accusations that Israel mas-
sacred tens of thousands of civilians and created carnage.
They keep speaking about hundreds of thousands of victims
who have become homeless as a result of the Israeli bomb-
ings. Such exaggerations have been refuted, but they seem
to do little good with creators of new "Protocols." Therefore
the responsibility to keep emphasizing the facts in the hope
that they will seep in, that the indictments of Israel will at
last be erased, that the United States will not be judged
The Projected $100,000,000 Arab Lobby and the Continuing
Objective to Poison the Atmosphere Against Israel . . .
Venom Sparked in Anti-Israel Falsehoods and Deceptions
unfairly and this country's cooperation in genuine efforts to
end terrorism will be applauded.
The George Ball diatribe in the New York Times was
entitled "Divert Aid for Israel to Rebuild Lebanon." It is the
most shocking expression of indecency ever uttered by a
person who was granted space in a great newspaper. This
diatribe, which advocated abandonment of friendship for
Israel under the guise of helping Lebanon is so shocking
that even the vilest anti-Semite might cringe under its
impact.
Here is a person who had an important U.S. position;
who always ignored and continues to ignore what the PLO
did to Lebanon; who fails to admit that Christians and
many Moslems are blessing Deity for the expulsion of the
mass murderers from what had been a country that had the
blessed appellation of "The Paris of the Middle East"; a man
who has not and does not take into consideration the terri-
ble record of 100,000 murdered on PLO orders; a bigoted
person who refuses to acknowledge tlit Lebanese and Jews
are striving with decent people everywhere to rebuild
Lebanon. Without a free and strong Israel, it is now an
acknowledged fact, Lebanon cannot be either rebuilt or
kept safe.
The contrary view was an expression of such in-
humanism, contrary to any approach-to civilized thought,
that its publication in the NYTimes is not to the news-
paper's credit, nor would it be a credit anywhere else except
in the terrorism-advocating press.
Israel's Official Orders
Guiding Pilots to Avoid
Harming Civilians
George Ball, in his latest assault on Israel, resorted to
every means of portraying Israel and that nation's govern-
ment as brutal, as fulminators of carnage. Israelis are in his
view on welfare from the U.S. Every piece of venom used in
the anti-Israeli campaigns are fused into guidelines in the
effort to destroy the American - Israel friendship. Is Ball an
anti-Semite? His defense is anticipated, but his method of
destroying the good will for Israel brands him as a bigot in
spite of whatever denials he may resort to.
So, he and Kreisky keep fuming about a carnage and
Israelis causing it. In fact, here is the order issued to the
Israeli soldiers by their government.:
• It is absolutely frobidden to take spoils from
any source whatsoever. Anyone violating this •
order can expect a trial and a maximum sentence
of 10 years in prison.
• Roadblocks have been placed on all exit
roads from southern Lebanon; everyone leaving
the area will be checked.
• The peaceful civilian population must not be
harmed; in particular, respect for women must
not be violated.
• All IDF soldiers must refrain from harming
sites of cultural value, including archeological
sites, museums and the like.
• It is forbidden to harm the holy sites of any
religion.
James Feron, reporting from Jerusalem for the New
York Times, interviewed an Israeli pilot who had flown
over PLO quarters in Beirut. The pilot offered an explana-
tion which merits being shared by all who are concerned
with the urgency of protecting innocent poeple in time of
war:
Asked whether there was any question that
civilians had died in the raids, perhaps along with
the guerillas who were the Israeli targets, the
major replied: "I have a personal problem. No one
likes to bomb civilians, and we aimed at no civi-
lian targets. We went where the PLO took their
guns, and they sat behind the civilians' backs."
He said he landed twice with his full bomb load
"because the target had been moved."
"This was a controlled situation," he said. "We
knew what we were after, and we did not do area
bombing but rather precision dive bombing.
"I don't like to bomb civilian targets," he went
on, "but if you put a T-34 tank in a civilian parking
area, and you bomb it to prevent injuries to the
I.D.F., then it's their problem. If you can find a
better way, then I'll take it. I don't think the air
force could have done it better."
The major said that "if you want to achieve
peace, you should fight."
"Look at the American - Japanese war," he said.
"In order to achieve an end, they bombed
Hiroshima and Nagasaki."
The Israeli bombing, he said, "created a situa-
fion where they left Beirut — it achieved results
and won the war."
The major also spoke of a conversation he said
he once had with an American pilot.
"In Vietnam," the major said, "he said pilots did
the bombing without believing because they felt
the politicians had decided to lose the war. I don't
want to be in such a struggle that I don't believe in
it."
By Philip
Slomovitz
The major argued that the accusations of ran-
dom or indiscriminate Israeli bombing were
"completely untrue."
"Look," he said, "suppose the PLO took Kiryat
Shmona or Tiberias," two northern Israeli towns.
"The Israeli Air Force might have to issue orders.
What did we do at Maalot, or the airliner at Lod or
the bus on the highway" when Palestinian guer-
rillas struck.
"Our forces attacked," he said, aid people died.
"You can't wait until the sword is at your throat
to act," the major said. "If you take the first step,
sometimes it saves lives from both sides. I think
we saved lives in Beirut. I don't think we bombed
in vain.
"The aim was just," he said. "We want to live in
peace in Tel Aviv, and if we want to live in peace
so sometimes we have to fight. That's how I see it."
The realities of the existing situation and the horrors
resulting from warfare should compel a knowledge of all
the eventualities, with an avoidance of branding those who
are contributing towards an end to terrorism that is menac-
ing many nations in addition to Israel. What sense is there
in a Barnett Brickner and his associates, a few rabbis
among them, in contributing toward making Israel the
scapegoat? Begin and Sharon are subject to much criticism,
but that does not justify a hatred for the head of a govern-
ment and his military chief of staff to be utilized as the
means of harming an entire people that is battling for its
very existence.
Even-Handedness Toward Jews,
Even by Jews and Those
Who Admit Being Part-Jewish
Frequently, the cry for "even-handedness" is heard
when Jews and Israel are dealt with by tacklers of the
Middle East problems. There is need also for even-
handedness by Jews themselves and the claimants to being
part-Jewish. Two such personalities are on the scene in the
current situation.
One is the eminent Dr. Henry Kissinger. Here is an
excerpt from one of his relevant statements:
Israel's negotiating method is "to haggle even
over the slightest concession, never to make an
unexpected compromise, and to settle only when
everyone has reached a state of exhaustion that
deprives the conclusion of exaltation or even
good will."
Then there is U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater of
Arizona, who during his candidacy for President never
hesitated referring to his Jewish background. He was
interviewed by the Washington Times, the new daily
newspaper launched by Rev. Sun Myung Moon, and ex-
pressed the bitterest views in criticism of Israel.
Goldwater went after Israel for the Lebanon
invasion more strongly than any Congressman.
Asked "is the Israeli tail wagging the American
dog?" the Arizona solon replied: "Oh hell, yes. It
has for a long time.
"But I see signs of the wagging slowing down.
Begin has been a very, very bad actor. The fact
that he won his last vote of confidence by only one
vote indicates that Israel is not 100 percent behind
him. Now what he can't understand is that
America promised to help if Israel was attacked.
We didn't promise to help Israel if she was going
to attack other countries and as fas as I'm con-
cerned I don't want to sell another thing to Israel
as long as Begin is in the driver's seat. Replace
him!"
Goldwater answered another question just as
sternly, what he would do were he the President.
"I would just stop sending any supplies and any
equipment, and let them know it — we're through!
. . . I know it would raise hell among the Jewish
people of America. Hell. I'm half Jewish myself;-
but there's a limit. My country is America, not
Israel, that's my attitude." •
Goldwater couldn't possibly have hinted at double
allegiance. Could ke possibly have been blinded to the
American role in the Middle East and Israel's place as the
most important friend and collaborator of the U.S. in war-
threatening areas of the world? Full-fledged Jews are as
American as he is and do not claim dual citizenship. As
Americans, they adhere to the privilege of never abandon-
ing kinfolk under stress, wherever they may be, whether
they are in the Soviet Union or have a concern for Roma-
nian Jewry and the dispossessed in Moslem countries.
Kissinger knows the facts. Goldwater apparently has
not acquainted himself with the basics of the Lebanese
situation. They are expected to be cautious in consideration
of problems involving life or threat of destruction confront-
ing peoples everywhere. They can be equally cautious with
Jews, whether they are Israeli or under threat in Moscow or
Baghdad.
It shouldn't require additional courage to be equally
even-handed with Jews and Israelis.