THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
An Open Letter to a Friend of Israel
By CARL ALPERT
HAIFA — My dear friend:
I address this letter to you
publicly because, alas, I find
the views you have ex-
pressed appear to be shared
by many other Jews over-
seas.
You wrote me, with an air
of excited condemnation;
you will recall, that "Israel's
name is not what it used to
be, and Begin should give
bask his Nobel Prize."
()fliers have used even
stronger language. Some
said they were "ashamed to
be Jews."
I was saddened to note
that some Jews took to the
public press, via letter to the
editor, or even by way of
paid advertisements, to join
in the blanket condemna-
tion of the state of Israel.
Obviously all this was in re-
sponse to the world-wide
publicity given to the tragic
massacre of some hundreds
of Arabs in Beirut.
May I tell you a short
story.
Many, many years ago,
in the Pale of Jewish set-
tlement in Czarist Russia,
when Jewish life was
conducted in an
environment and atmos-
phere of poisonous anti-
Semitism, a young lad
reached the age of 13 and
was Bar Mitzva. He went
though all the religious
ceremonies and the so-
cial festivity which ac-
companied the event. It
was impressed upon him
that he was now a man,
accepted as member of a
minyan, and counted as a
full member of the
Jewish people.
Upon his shoulders would
be all the duties and also all
the responsibilities of a Jew.
He listened earnestly.
When the excitement of
the day had passed, and he
found opportunity for a
quiet talk with his father,
he spoke up: "Daddy (or
maybe he said Tateh or
Abba), now that I am an
adult member of the con-
gregation, bearing my full
responsibility as a Jew,
surely I should also know all
the innermost secrets of our
people. Tell me, frankly,
what are the details of our
use of blood of a Christian
child at our Pesach Seder!"
My dear friend, like the
innocent little boy who has
unonsciously been affected
by the evil fabrications of
our enemies, you and many
others have also been influ-
enced by the pernicious re-
petition of lies and gross
exaggerations.
Yo _ u will recall the hor-
ror stories which came
out of Beirut in the early
days of the war, and the
awful pictures on the
television screens. You
know, I assume, that
many of these stories
have now been revealed
to have been false, and
the lurid pictures in
many cases deliberately
leaked through) our
enemies were only too
happy to pin the guilt on Is-
rael, the whipping boy of all
those who place Arab oil
above the truth.
Israel will soon be out
of Lebanon, and I do not
believe that any Israeli
wishes to remain there
one moment longer than
is necessary; and the var-
ious factions in Lebanon
will go on killing each
other as they have indeed
CARL ALPERT
been doing for several
What happened more re- hundred years. Perhaps
cently is that a band of under those circum-
Lebanese, in the ancient stances Israel will be
tradition of Arab culture, condemned for having
perpetrated a mass killing abandoned the helpless
of another group of Arabs, population.
in retaliation for a mass kil-
As you know, an objec-
ling only a few days earlier,
in which the president-elect tive, judicial investigation
of the country had also been is now being conducted in
Israel. No one questions the
killed.
In numerical terms, the objectivity of the members
hundreds of people killed in of the commission. I do not
the retaliation was far, far seek to pre-determine its
less than the tens of findings, but even if it
thousands of civilians killed should establish that there
during the bloody civil war has been an error of jud-
in Lebanon which had pre- ment or timing on the part
ceded Israel's entry into the of some Israel factor, this is
country, killings. which a far cry from the incen-
were noted by the rest of the diary news reports which
world with only a moderate made it appear that Israel
was guilty of encouraging
degree of revulsion.
the massacre or worse.
But because .Israel troops
happened to be in the - You see, my dear friend,
neighborhood (troops who you and many others fell
stepped in and stopped the victim to the propaganda
killings as soon as the truth and the emotionalism, thus
IN THE DINING ROOM or CARRY OUT.
playing directly into the
hands of all those who bes-
mirch Israel so that in the
end it may be destroyed.
When the excitement dies
down, and you return to
your usual scientific ap-
praisal of situations based
on verified facts, you may
yet be ashamed that you
were so easily influenced by
the propaganda, and joined
in the international lynch-
ing party against Israel.
Will you be less susceptible
when the media of com-
munication blow up the
next incident to the propor-
tions of a further character
assassination campaign
against this country?
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Brunch with Beethoven...
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Return with us to the delicious Sunday
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Violin -Stars
in 1-lubermania'
—
Seven of the world's
greatest violinists will per-
form at a week-long
"Hubermania" in Tel Aviv
Dec. 12-19 to mark the
centenary of the birth of
Bronislaw Huberman, the
violin virtuoso who founded
the Israel Philharmonic Or-
chestra 50 years ago.
The violinists who will
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Zubin Mehta, musical di-
misleading. The statistics rector of the IPO, are Isaac
which had been bandied Stern, Pinhas Zuckerman,
about in those days have Yitzhak Perlman, Shlomo
also all been discarded Mintz, Henryk Szerying,
as, shall we charitably Ida Handel and Nathan
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Concert Aids Day School
The Hebrew Day School
of Ann Arbor will present
pianist Dr. Louis Nagel in a
benefit concert 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 5 at Beth Isrel Congre-
gation, 2000 Washtenaw,
Ann Arbor. Dessert and dis-
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Dr.
Nagel earned
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with numerous orchestras
and in chamber music con-
certs.
He has been professor of
music at the University of
Michigan School of Music
since 1969 and in summer,
he teaches at Interlochen.
He will be joined by his
11-year-old daughter
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For ticket information,
Friday, November 19, 1982
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