THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
2 Friday, October 1, 1982
Purely Commentary
Jerusalem Lesson for Pope:
Israelis Keep the City Free
John Paul II has much
mending to do. He has em-
braced a mass murderer,
and in the process he saw fit
to misinterpret the status of
Jerusalem.
The Pope needs a lesson
in history. If he doesn't
know it, he should be ad-
vised that it was under the
Jordanian rule that
Jerusalem was not a free
city. It was in pre-Israel
days that there were battles
there between the religious
sects. It was under King
Hussein that synagogues in
the Holy City were de-
TEDDY KOLLEK
stroyed, cemetery
tombstones used as sidewalks and in latrines, the Western
Wall besmirched.
It is under Israel's administration that the Holy City is
holy again — and free.
Jerusalem's dynamic Mayor Teddy Kollek provides
the necessary lesson for the Pope in his Rosh Hashana
message. Let him read this text:
During these troubled days, one source of
encouragement has been the quiet which has
characterized life in Jerusalem, despite the ten- •
sions and anxieties showed by all. We have found
that the cultural, educational and recreational ac-
tivities we have created throughout the city have
played a significant role in creating a fabric of
harmony and mutual cooperation.
One has only to walk through the Liberty Bell
Garden to see some of these accomplishments
first-hand. We pray that this tranquility will be
the message that emanates from Jerusalem.
This is not the first time Pope John Paul II has been
admonished on Jerusalem. Now he gets the world's reac-
tions to a shocking act of providing respectability for the
head master of ten-or gangs that have invaded many lands
in addition to Israel. Hopefully, history's lessons will not
always be lost on the Holy Father.
* * *
A Revivalist 'Refugeeism':
Realities and Sensationalism
"Refugees" is a title resorted to in a scheme that
arouses prejudices and serves an evil purpose.
When Israel came into being 34 years ago, the figure
was some 400,000. Now it has become four million.
The term is used in the campaign to undermine Israel's
existence. Arabs had come to this country in search for
economic improvement. Now they are portrayed as the
homeless who would rather live in Jaffa than in Dearborn.
There are extremists to be dealt with and hopefully the
voice of Israel will be for a sound and not misspelled
Shalom. The facts are not to be ignored and the current
existence of a Palestinian entity can no longer be treated
blindly.
Now the numbers of those involved must be treated
with the practical view of making Palestinians neighbors,
members of an area involving Jews and Arabs, both living
in a spirit of amity, benefiting both, assuring an end to
A Serious Lesson from Jerusalem for Pope John Paul II .. .
The Muddied Issue of 'Refugees' and an Official
Account Clarifying Many Multiplying Exaggerations
By Philip
Slomovitz
warfare, eliminating a danger that could spell war for all million more in the Gaza and Judea-Samaria (West Bank)
mankind.
areas will similarly be linked with the state of Israel on a
Who are the Palestinians under consideration? On this friendly basis. But the urgency is being translated into an
score, too, there is a great need for facts to be actual and not accusation, with Israel as a villain.
exaggerated: Emanuel Zippori, Israel Consul General for
The objectives are clear: they are to destroy Israel
the Midwest, offered an account of the Palestinians, their under a slogan of Palestinianism. The guilty are those who,
numbers, the areas of their present residence:
as the world's powers assembled in the United Nations,
First, there is no basis whatsoever for talking
have one aim: an end to Israel. That's how the battle lines
about millions of displaced Palestinians. Nobody
are drawn.
knows exactly how many Palestinians there are
Commenting on the self-criticism by UN Secretary
in the world today. However, I think a figure of
General Javier Perez de Cuellar, who outlined the
four million would be more or less accurate. Of
shortcomings of the world organization, Harris 0. Schoen-
these four million, more than three million live
berg, director, United Nations Office, Bnai Brith Interna-
today in the area included in the original Palesti-
tional, stated:
nian mandate made up of 640,000 residents of Is-
The UN Charter, which Mr. Perez de Cuellar
rael, 1,200,000 in Jordan, and another 1,200,000 in
rightly regards as the bible of the UN, makes the
Judea, Samaria and the Gaza district. These
promotion of peace and security a core principle
Palestinians are living in their own homes and
of the organization. Yet the General Assembly has
cannot be described in any way as refugees scat-
repeatedly attacked the peace treaty between
tered around the globe.
Egypt and Israel and the Camp David accords.
About another 800,000 Palestinians are living
The Charter requires the peaceful settlement
in Lebanon, Syria and other Middle Eastern
of disputes. Yet the General Assembly has re-
countries and areas outside of the Middle East,
peatedly endorsed armed struggle against gov-
many of them resettled and no longer refugees.
ernments and states unpopular among the un-
At the same time it should be remembered
democratic majority, denying them the equal pro-
that close to 900,000 Jews were forced to leave
tection due a UN member state.
Arab countries such as Iraq, Yemen, Morocco,
Even within the Secretariat one can find a
etc. Most of these Jews have been fully absorbed
violation of the Charter. Article 100 calls for an
in Israel, thus, in effect, like in so many other
impartial international civil service, one that ref-
cases of conflict after war, a population ex-
rains from seeking or receiving instructions from
change has taken place. The only difference is
any external authority. Instead, the Secretariat
that the Arab states, unlike Israel and unlike
contains a Special Unit which acts as a public
other states involved in such a population ex-
relations arm of the PLO, attempting to make the
change, did nothing to absorb the Arab refugees.
PLO seem as benevolent as a PTA.
But quite the contrary, together with the PLO,
The Secretary General gives special attention
they acted deliberately to keep them in camps
to the Security Council, which, under the Charter,
preventing their integration in the surrounding
has the primary responsibility to cope with
Arab countries and fostering a spirit of hatred
threats to peace and security. In 1981, it met 60
among them. All this in spite of the often declared
times but failed to deal even once with the Soviet
devotion of all these states to Arab unity and the
invasion of Afghanistan, with Vietnam's invasion
oneness of the Arab homeland.
of Cambodia, with Iraq's invasion of Iran or with
Libya's invasion of Chad. Instead, 21 of its 45
It should be remembered that whatever injus-
meetings devoted to substantive issues dealt with
tice that was done to those Arabs who fled from
complaints by Arab states against Israel.
Palestine in 1948 was done by their own leaders
From June to August of this year, the Council
and rulers of the Arab countries who exhorted
adopted 10 resolutions dealing with Israel's strike
them to leave and who have consistently refused
against the PLO in Lebanon. But in the previous
to make peace with Israel and have refused to
seven years it adopted not a single one dealing
absorb them in Arab countries.
with the carnage in Lebanon by Syria and the
The problems of Palestinians must be consid-
PLO. Passed over were 100,000 deaths and wide-
ered in two ways. First, there is a humanitarian
spread devastation of sections of Beirut and more
problem of the remaining few hundred thousand
than 100 Lebanese villages.
Palestinians living in camps, primarily in Leba-
If we attain a serious commitment to the
non, and there is no reason why these Palesti-
Charter, we can begin to think about the efficacy
nians could not and should not be settled in Arab
of trying to resolve conflicts in the Security Coun-
countries desperately crying out for skilled man-
cil by placing 15 sovereign states in the position of
power. Already today hundreds of thousands of
passing judgment on a 16th based on the standard
Palestinians are living in the states of the Persian
of their own national interests.
Gulf where they are working and prospering and
the affluent economies of those countries could
The guilt is apparent. The target is in evidence. What
easily absorb more.
hope is there for civilization under conditions of so much
hate-spreading, with the world organization the medium
The second problem is a political problem
for revived and spreading bigotries?
that has to do with the status of 1,200,000 Palesti-
nians living in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza dis-
trict, under Israel occupation.
Israel is not gilding the facts. They are provided here
officially.
The entertained hope is that the 640,000 Arabs who
have Israeli citizenship will retain it honorably, that the
The Price of Independence
Was Paid in 1948 Bombing
Israel as Chief Judge Over Her Moral Codes
Israel will surely be the Chief Judge over her moral standards. This must be anticipated in the light of what has
transpired.
When the verdict is pronounced over whatever guilt there is of members of the Israeli government and its army, it
will be rendered by Israel. It is because the conscience of that nation was expressed by the people itself.
American Jews have influenced an interest toward a just solution of a problem that needs study and will now
receive due consideration on a national Israel scale. The findings will be Israel's in the spirit of the democratic
functions of that nation.
But the judgments cannot be by a mob on Kennedy Square in Detroit, or in newspaper headlines, or in the form of
caricatures by cartoonists who have much power in their utensils.
An investigative process may lead to the firing of Ariel Sharon, to the demotion of General Raphael Eitan. An
election in Israel may be detrimental to Manahem Begin. These will be treated democratically by Israel, and in such
procedures that the issues must be respected worldwide, and certainly by American Jewry, the American people and
the press. That is why the Chief Judge in the deliberations will be Israel itself, and the confidence in it will surely be
regained globally.
The 75th Anniversary of Communal Aid for the Elderly
Celebration of an important anniversary commences
toward the end of this month.
For 75 years, the Jewish Home for the Aged has had an
important aim. It provides shelter for as many elderly as
can be accommodated. It pursues the traditional aims of
caring for the aged, of providing the sanctity necessary in
such an environment.
There has been a greater demand for accommodations
than space has permitted, but the Home adheres to the
fullest needs of the growing number of elderly. It is to the
credit of the responsible leadership that it has sought and is
seeking means of fulfilling the needs. The new facilities
now in the construction stage indicate that there are ap-
proaches to reaching these aims.
During the 75th anniversary celebration, the needs
and aspirations will be properly evaluated. The traditional
Moshav Zkeinim, the Home for the Aged, has earned the
acclaim it is receiving on its 75th anniversary, observance
of which is an activity of the entire community,
In February 1948, during Israel's War of Inde-
pendence, 4,, bomb exploded in Jerusalem's Ben
Yehuda Street, killing 54 persons. It is commonly be-
lieved that the bomb was set by anti-Jewish terrorists
in the British police. The Ben Yehuda Street explo-
sion occurred three months after the United Na-
tions voted to partition Palestine and three months
before the Jewish state formally declared its inde-
pendence.