18 Friday, December 24, 1982 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS AJCongress Article Hits Washington Post Lebanon War Coverage (Editor's note: The fol- lowing article was ex- cerpted from one written by Lenore Siegelman and which appeared in the November-December issue of the American Jewish Congress monthly. The article is sharply critical of the Washington Post's coverage of the war in Lebanon.) Throughout the war, the Post described Arafat as a moderate man — as a martyr-soldier. Thus, the Post's Beirut correspon- dent, Jonathan Randal, de- scribed Arafat as a man who feels obliged to "pay lip service" to the armed strug- gle (June 12); as a man with a 'moderate emphasis on diplomatic and political means' " (June 9). The headline of a June 24 front-page story reads: "Arafat's Dilemma" with a sub-headline, "A Martyr's Death or Banishment." David Ottaway describes Arafat: "Still smiling, un- shaven and unbowed, he stands alone with his mot- ley array of guerrillas." Arafat, Ottaway explains, must choose between "his own death or the eclipse of a cause he has spent a lifetime promoting with ever greater success in every capital of the world." Further, "He must decide within the next 24 to 48 hours whether he is worth more to the Palestinian cause alive or "dead — a martyr on the Beirut battlefield to serve as an in- spiration to future genera- tions of Palestinians or the standard bearer of the Palestinian flag lowered to half-staff in the capitals of the world that still would have him." The Post's correspon- dents, time after time, presented the PLO as an organized military organization which was "well-disciplined," whose "officers" were "honorable" and wanted et . . . to die with honor." The commentary on the death of Azmeh Seghaiyer, a PLO commander who par- ticipated in the attack on a bus on the coastal road of Israel, by the Post's Beirut correspondent Edward Cody, explained that Seghaiyer "had partici- pated in training and opera- tions for a number of opera- tions against Israel, includ- ing the coastal road assault of 1978 in which more than 30 Israelis were killed" (July 7). The front-page story did not mention that "the coas- tal road assault" attacked Israeli civilians only, kil- oar, Tailor Rptioppe 3inc. lb Complete tailoring services for Ladies, Gentlemen & Children 'Professional Cusicm Tailors .LA .r! • Lapels,Nnt-kqs, Neckties sorrowed *Evening Appoin-krAents pti. 552-9575 aternet" ,Ofien4A7 8/ Yea:aft ,DA...44444,, 16500 Nor 1,1)4,1,1Drive Su.Le 108 tior+1, ParkTowers AtrosS crorn .7,x4c.e ryr y .fra Lower Corridor 1.-itl.o5aA IAA, Sfla. ling 37 and wounding 76. Cody says of Seghaiyer: "I always thought of him as an honorable military officer in the closest thing the Palestinians had to an army," and observed that "you can admire a man even when he is part of deeds you cannot admire." In contrast, Israel's tac- tics on Lebanon is described as indiscriminate, or at best, unjustified. Thus on June 12, the Post reports that "Israeli war-ships off the coast of Beirut lobbed shells indiscriminately into the center of the city until early evening . . . Late in the afternoon, shells seem- ingly fired aimlessly from warships into the city cen- ter hit an apartment build- ing . . ." (Ottaway, June 12). On June 21, Branigan filed a story from Aley, Lebanon, in which he de- scribes an Israeli bomb- ing of a hospital: "That the target of the air strike was a hospital, whether by design or acci- dent, is not unique either." A historical think-piece by Jim Hoagland, assistant managing editor for foreign affairs, entitled "The Mid- East's Second Becoming," sported a sub-title, "How Khomeini and Begin are Transforming the Region." Published in the Post's Sunday, July 18, "Outlook" section, the piece drew parallels between Begin and Khomeini on the basis of their alleged fundamen- talism and militarism. Thus Begin is characterized as someone who has "un- leashed" the challenge of "Jewish fundamentalism" and as a champion of the "militant strain of Zionism." Post reporter Jonathan Randal (June 24) suggested that the Picture Yourself or Your Loved One Living Here Be our guest for lunch or dinner. Find out why hundreds of senior adults enjoy an active, secure life at Franklin Club. There are only a few luxury one and two- bedroom apartments still available. Don't miss out. . 6 • 40 07. F N UN CLUB AP TM NTs Call 353-2810 28301 Franklin Road. Southfield Just off Northwestern and 12 Mile Road U.S. is a "hostage to the Israelis" in the Lebanon affair; and Don Ober- dorfer, writing about the resignation of former Secretary of State Ale- xander Haig (June 27), described Haig as "a vic- tim of the drive master- minded by Israeli De- fense Minister Ariel Sha- ron." The Post presented the U.S. as fearful and nervous about Israeli moves; Post reporter John Goshko, on July 3, stated that the U.S. is seeking "to convince Is- rael to wait" for further negotiations. His story, headlined "U.S. Fears Meeting of Israeli Cabinet as Break Point," described U.S. officials as "nervously eyeing" the coming Israeli Cabinet meeting. In the same story, Goshko described Israel as bowing to "American entreaties." These interpretive pieces were not written as edito- rials or labeled as opinion, but rather they were pre- sented as news reports and news analysis by members of the news staff. Equally significant were the stories that the Post chose not to cover at all or that were buried. For example, the Post did not report about captured PLO documents that showed the names of PLO leaders who had received training at Soviet training camps and of those countries whose na- tionals had been trained by the PLO in Lebanon; first- person reports on PLO cruelty of civilians in south- ern Lebanon; PLO use of young boys as combatants; the rescue of a U.S. sena- tor's aunt by Israeli troops in Lebanon; and reconstruc- tion and relief aid to Leba- non by Israelis and Ameri- can Jews. These stories were re- ported in other American newspapers that had ap- parently used informa- tion available from sources in Lebanon and Israel, including the Is- raeli radio, which the Post had cited in other stories. Stories that were buried include: PLO military use of refugee camps, residential areas and civilian facilities; the battle at Ein Khilwe, a Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon; and Israeli ef- forts to save civilians dur- ing the fighting in the south. It would be remiss at this point not to describe the Post's policy of support for a Palestinian state. The Post asserts that the Palestinian problem is the central issue in the Middle East, and the paper frequently condemns Israel and Menahem Begin. Arens Angered by the 'Editing' of Letter at Affair for Habib WASHINGTON — The Washington Post reported last week that Israel Am- bassador to the U.S. Moshe Arens has angrily protested the deletion of seven lines from a message from Prime Minister Menahem Begin that was read at a recent tribute to U.S. special Mid- dle East envoy Philip Habib. The deleted lines referred to the efforts of the Israel Defense Forces in removing the Palestine Liberation Organization terrorists from Lebanon. In addition, Arens was in- furiated by the deletion of his name from the list of Middle East ambassadors who appeared at the func- tion. John Wallach, foreign editor for Hearst Corp. which sponsored the af- fair for Habib, told the Washington Post that he edited Bagin's letter after he conferred with several "Senior Administra- tion officials." Wallach said Israel was omitted from the list of ambas- sadors because Israel's response was not re- ceived before the print- ing deadline for the pro- gram. The deleted lines stated: "In the wake of Operation Peace for Galilee, Phil Habib made great efforts to bring about the evacuation of the bulk of the terrorists from Beirut and Lebanon. He worked hard to achieve this goal and, with the vic- tory of the Israel Defense Forces, his diplomatic endeavors contributed to the dismantling of that cen- ter of international ter- rorism which had been a danger to all free nations." Arens' letter, according to the Post, chided Wallach: "In none of the many words spoken that evening was there a single reference to the only reason that we can discuss at all the pros- on the country. This action cost the lives of over 350 young Israelis. MOSHE ARENS pects for a free and peaceful Lebanon: The Peace for Galilee operations this summer which broke the PLO-Syrian stranglehold "I am afraid that the at- tempt to cater to the ostrich-like attitude of some of the ambassadors from Arab countries who refused to meet or negotiate with Israel or Israelis contributes noth- ing to peace in the Middle East," Arens continued. "The attempt to ignore Israel and the message from its prime minister seems to me an act of un- precedented discour- tesy." "If that were the case," said Wallach, "I wouldn't have invited the Israelis." Calif. Senator Rules Out PLO Role in M.E. Talks SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) — Republican Senator-elect Pete Wilson, in what is be- lieved to have been his first major policy address on the Middle East conflict since defeating Gov. Jerry Brown in the general elections runoff last month, has indi- cated here that he will be a strong supporter of Israel when he takes office in Washington as a member of the 98th Congiess. Describing Israel as a "great ally" of the United States, Wilson said it was time for negotiations toward settlement of the Mideast conflict. But he re- jected the idea that peace negotiations should involve the Palestine Liberation Organization. "Those who now say we must enter a time of negoti- ations are right, but let us be clear that we will not negotiate with gangsters, that either the United States nor Israel should ever be expected to entreat with the PLO," Wilson told some 500 persons attending the annual Hanuka dinner of the San Francisco region of the Jewish National Fund. Wilson accused Israel's friends in the United States of being too quick to blame Israel for in- volvement in the mas- sacre of Palestinian civi- lians in the Shatila and Sabra refugee camps last September. Calling the massacre "tragic," the Senator-elect declared: "Quite properly, Jews and non-Jews in Israel and in the U.S. called for an investigation. It was not and is not proper to prejudge the evidence . . . It would not make sense for this country to react or over- react by saying we will cut military and financial aid to Israel." As a member of the Armed Services Committee, a position he was named to by the Senate Republican leadership, Wilson also indicated he is interested in hearing how the Israel De- fense Force was able to de- stroy Soviet-made weaponry used by the Sy- rians and "deal a smashing defeat to the PLO."