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Friday, November 19, 1982
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
The Traps
, That Threaten Israel
Avoidance of A Trap for Israel in the Mounting Crises and
Enormous Challenges Dominate the Scene, With the People
and Its Destiny Constantly Under Scrutiny of the World
By Philip
SiOMOVitZ
country, now levels accusations at Israel as if the Jewish state were the cause of the ,3
fratricide in his country. He is not satisfied that there is less condemnation of his
Everybody scrutinizes Israel. There is no end to the litmus tests and to the criticisms,
and if it were not for the loyalties to the ideal rooted in the preservation of the Jewish
Christian forces for the massacre in the Beirut area refugee camps than there is of Israel.
He is looking for the remains of the old scapegoat called Jew 'and he utilizes it.
state one would imagine that the time has come for a national Kadish. Because Jewry
Therein lies one of the big blunders of the Menahem Begin government and of the
doesn't forget the lessons of history, and the historian in turn is aware of the Jewish
ability to survive, the threats become less worrisome.
Ministry of Defense headed by Arik Sharon: that the misguided Israelis could ever have
believed that the Maronite Catholics in Lebanon and the Amin Gemayel Phalangists
Nevertheless, the agonizing concerns cannot be omitted from one's conscience. The
would seek to provide justice and common sense by means of a peace treaty with Israel
"Jewish onslaught" is especially aggravating. The bitterness sensed in the articles by
rather than a revived combine with the Arab League. They are turning again to the Arab
Jacobo Timerman, soon to be compiled into a book filled with venom against much that is
League and that spells trouble.
Israel, the needling of Israel by writers on newspaper Op-Ed pages and in magazine
Therefore the anxiety: how long will Israelis remain in Lebanon?
articles, in the platform provided for a PLO representative to eulogize Nahum Goldmann
There is a trap for Israel in much that is happening, and the hope and prayer is that it
at a World Jewish Congress memorial meeting in Paris, in the hatred spouted by Noam
can be avoided.
Chomsky and his cohorts — these have formed an agenda for action by Israel's internal
foes.
,
t
There are many traps, and some Jews, in their essays needling Israel, are not helping
o direct Israel toward paths avoiding new dangers.
Therefore, how much criticism can one level at outside enemies?
Of course, Israel will survive the menacing threats, as Jewry always has survived
That's only part of the story. The events in Lebanon are enough to cause literal heart
t he raging anti-Semitisms. The courage that comes from decisions made at the General
failure. Even if the demolition of the Israel headquarters at Tyre had been an accident
Assembly of the Council of Jewish Federations and the support for Israel that is undi-
and not the result of sabotage, it adds to the query, must Israelis remain in Lebanon?
minished are heartening factors.
More challenging: the president of Lebanon, whose country might never have been
Nevertheless, the hope entertained is that Israelis will be on home ground soon, that
rescued had it not been for Israel's destruction of the PLO presence in that unfortunate
t here will be an end to the Lebanese episode. The threatened traps must be avoided.
Fascinating
A
Addendum
to the History and Historic
Roles of the RothiChilds
So much fascination is attached to the name
Rothschild, and there have been so many doubts about the
Jewish continuities in that great family, that a mere letter
published in the New York Times, Nov. 9, emerges as an
historic document.
First, here is the complete text of that letter:
The Measure of Alain de Rothschild
To the Editor:
-
We are writing to correct errors in the
obituary article you published on Oct. 19 upon the
death two days earlier of our father, Alain de
Rothschild, and to take issue with its portrayal of
him..
You pictured our father as a conservative in
his 'role as community leader, part-time banker
and full-time holiday-goer, as a man of all sports
and as a typical Rothschild. That is far from the
image he left to those who knew him.
What is most notably missing from your ac-
count is the measure of his spiritual achievement.
A "righteous man," wrote Annie Kriegel in Le
Figaro; a man of "exceptional radiance and moral
rigor," telegraphed President Mitterrand of
France; a "man of tradition and open-
mindedness," said President Yitzhak Navon of Is-
rael. •
But he was also a man in whose memory the
shopkeepers' in Belleville, one of the poorer
Jewish quarters of Paris, closed their shops when
they managed to find out the hour of his funeral,
which had been kept private at his own request.
Our father's entire life centered on the French
Jewish community; he was elected and re-elected
as its head for over three decades.
He will be remembered for his achievements
in solving the particularly complex problems that
this community had to face during his time: the
settling and integration of 400,000 North African
Jews in the 1960s; the French government's radi-
cal change of policy toward Israel after the Six-
Day. War; the terrorist attacks on synagogues,
student homes and schools, and the insidious rise
of anti-Semitism.
His clear perception of these realities made
supporters of many former detractors. He man-
aged to unify the divergent trends of the commu-
nity — the right and the left, the hawkish and the
dovish — and he voiced a dignified yet powerful
message which had no small influence on the
French government and gained respect for this
community.
And our father had not settled in New York;
he was there on a business trip when he died. He
would never have relinquished his respon-
sibilities as mayor of his village and leader of
French Jewry.
Besides the important positions he held be-
fore his retirement from the Rothschild Banking
and Industrial Group, our father — who was any-
thing but solemn in his approach to life — was also
a gardener, a sailor and an explorer of mountains
and deserts, where he loved to apply his expert
knowledge of fauna and flora.
ERIC DE ROTHSCHILD
ROBERT DE ROTHSCHILD
BEATRICE ROSENBERG
Paris, Nov. 5, 1982
In a sense, this text is more than fascination: it is
thrilling.
Its special importance is the family loyalty expressed
by the children of the deceased leader. The Rothschilds
were always viewed as possessing family loyalties. The
above is a sample on a high scale.
Then there is the link with Jewry. For many decades
some of the Rothschilds were considered spokespeople for
Jewry. They were leaders in Zionism and supported Israel.
They were defenders of the Jewish people and the Jewish
name.
Now the children of one of them, who gained fame in
France and appeared there in many ways, on many occa-
sions, as the advocate of Jewish rights, as the fighter for
justice, come forth to assert his Jewish leadership.
This letter is not only an addendum to the history of the
Rothschilds. It provides a very interesting chapter in
Jewish biographical records and in Jewish experience. It is
perfectly chronicled for this generation as a lesson in
Jewish pride and devotion, as a salute to the realities that
perfect Jewish identifications.
More Daniels Begin Judging
as Advisers to U.S. Jewry
quarters, and the U.S. threatened to stop aiding such UN-
protected military activities. But in a letter published in
the New York Times (Nov. 12), Hatem I. Hussaini, deputy
observer of the PLO at the UN, posed as a saint. It was as if
the Red Cross and not the PLO were massing arms against
Israel. For the record,' here is the text of his letter:
In reference to Bernard Nossiter's Oct. 27 news
article on the United Nations Relief and Works
Agency's Siblin School ("PLO Used School Run
by UN Agency"), I would like to submit the follow-
ing facts: -
The PLO provided military protection for many
schools and other Palestinian medical and educa-
tional institutions that were under threat of at-
tack by Israeli commandos and warplanes.
Moreover, the PLO has every right to train young
Palestinians to defend themselves against Israeli
military attacks. Physical fitness and exercises
are part of the educational training of young stu-
dents.
The PLO did not use the school as a military
base or for military training. PLO military bases
and-military training grounds were outside cities
and towns, in mountains and valleys protected
from Israeli aerial bombardments. On the other
hand, the PLO opened and financed hundreds of
kindergartens and elementary schools, clinics
and hospitals for thousands of Palestinian refu-
gees. Most of them were destroyed by the Israelis.
A first impression, after reading Marc Helprin's as-
sumed role as "a Daniel come to judgment" was simply to
ignore it as another pompous assumption of authority. But
the perplexed, the puzzled, kept asking, "What's he driving
at?"
Then came the sharp analysis by Gabriel Cohen in the
Jewish Post and Opinion. That could not be ignored.
Gabriel is among the few left as "adherents to personal
journalism," in the Jewish press. He often detects the
faulty, just as much as he watches out for the. defamatory.
The real issue today is the rebuilding of bombed
Here is how he reacted to Marc Helprin's views:
schools, clinics and hospitals to provide services
A long rambling lead article in the Sunday
for thousands of suffering Palestinian refugees.
Times Magazine, which almost approaches being
UNRWA needs. support in its efforts to provide
incoherent, calls for a coalition of the American
educational, medical and welfare services to the
Jewish community and the Reagan Administra-
thousands of innocent victims of the war in Leba-
tion to force Israel to accept the Reagan pro-
posals.
non. By refusing to pay $15 million to the agency,
the U.S. is preventing those victims from receiv-
Written by Mark Helprin, who served in the
ing the minimum aid they need for surival.
Israel army and is an American, it seemed to be
afraid to take an outright stand and approached
Israel's aim is to destroy Palestinian institu-
its conclusion in such a roUnd-about way that
tions and to prevent the rebuilding of economic,
could only confuse readers who are not aware
social, educational and medical structures for the
that the question is being discussed in another
Palestinian people. It thus wants to demoralize
form in the U.S. Jewish community.
the Palestinians, keeping them in miserable con-
ditions and evicting from Lebanon as many of
The article also shows clearly that the writer is
them as possible.
uninformed on what is going on in the American
When Israel bombed Palestinian schools, hos-
Jewish community. The illustrations for the tedi-
pitals and factories in its effort to destroy the
ous article show a headline for the New Jewish
Palestinian people, did the U.S. cut off financial
Agenda, but that liberal organization is never
aid to Israel? Israel' uses U.S. aid for the training
mentioned by the author.
of Israelis , at all ages for war and killing, yet the
The article seems to betray the unwillingness
U.S. does not take any action to stop such train-
of the editor of the magazine to have the issue
ing.
presented frontally, fearful very likely of the
It seems that the Israeli and American aim is to
Jewish response, a not unwarranted concern in
cut off money from Palestinian educational, med-
view of the criticism brought-down lately on the
ical and welfare institutions in order to weaken
press for its exaggerated coverage of the war in
Lebanon.
their economic and social institutions, to deny
them their national identity — in short, to destroy
If the perplexed are still perplexed, this piece will as-
them.
sist them in saying "another plague" to another confusion.
However, the PLO and the Palestinian people
One wonders why anything of this sort should have been
will survive. They will overcome all hardships
given the notoriety assigned to the article in the NYTimes
and retain their inalienable rights. The PLO,
Magazine.
legitimate, • democratic representative of the
But then, one marvels at some of the distorting un-
Palestinian people — and not a "terrorist" organ-
truths that creep into the greatest of newspapers.
ization, as a U.S. law quoted by Mr. Nossiter im-
During Israelis' military presence in Lebanon, enough
plies — will lead the Palestinian struggle for free-
stored munitions were uncovered to arm a million men. It
dom and human dignity.
was the PLO preparation for an attack on Israel.
This is the type of falsehood that is very difficult to
Wherever Israelis and Lebanese turned, they un- fight. Newspapers grab at such distortions and readers are
covered massive arms I- in hospitals, kindergartens, misled into believing that the terrorist is a saint.
The constant revelations that children as young as six
school rooms, underground passages, the existence of
and seven were taught to use the very arms that were
which shocked the Lebanese.
The revelation of such massive efforts forced an admis-
sion of failure to prevent it by UN officials, when it was
discovered that such military preparedness included UN
detected by the Israelis is expected to be treated as a secret.
The PLO aims are not secrets. But great newspapers lend
credence to the Big Lie. That's what decent people have to
battle.