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THE JEWISH NEWS

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(USPS 275-5201

Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20, 1951

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Copyright © The Jewish News Publishing Co.

'• Member of American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, National Editorial Association and
National Newspaper Association and its Capital Club.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075
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PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher

ALAN HITSKY
News Editor

CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager

HEIDI PRESS
Associate News Editor

DREW LIEBERWITZ
Advertising Manager

Sabbath Scriptural Selections

This Sabbath, the 16th day of Tevet, 5743, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:

Pentateuchal portion, Genesis 47:28-50:26.
Prophetical portion, I Kings 2:1-12.

Candlelighting, Friday, Dec. 31, 4:55 p.m.

VOL. LXXXII, No. 18

Page Four

Friday, December 31, 1982

NEW YEAR, QLD PROBLEMS

To Dr. Max Nordau (1849-1923), one of the
most eminent Jewish leaders of this century,
the distinguished author, lecturer, physician,
philospher and psychologist, goes the credit for
this definition for pessimism:
"Pessimism is not a philosophy, but a temper-
ament . . . It is evident that a period which
suffers from general organic fatigue must
necessarily be a pessimistic period."
Is this applicable to the farewell to a year that
is now ending in what may well be described as
an accumulation of agonies?
Regardless of the miseries that are so often
rooted in Jewish experience, there is more to be
derived from optimism. A noted scholar, Ed-
ward Chayncey Baldwin (1870-1940) had a
definition for optimism:
"Through the darkest hours of its tragic his-
tory, Israel has kept burning the undying fire of
its inextinguishable hope for the world."
Isn't it interesting that a Christian scholar,
seeking a happy approach to mankind's prob-
lems, should have drawn upon the undying
Jewish role as the hope for all?
Scriptures have much to offer as encourage:
ment for faith even in the darkest hours of hu-
manity's difficulties. In Genesis (1:31) there is
an immediate introduction to the good that
greets mankind: "God saw everything He had
made, and behold, it was very good."
In this era in which the emphasis is often
given on the evil, at a time when hatreds may be
viewed as escalating, there may be a measure of
cheer in a comment that was made in his 1943
essay, "Rumor and Reflection," by the famous
American art critic, Bernard Berenson (1865-
1959):
"Like the ants, the Jews never lose faith in
life . . . Hamans and Hitlers everywhere: yet
they live on, and enjoy life."
This may not be a new philosophy, but to
remain a truism in Jewish experiences it must
not b _ e forgotten when treating the problems
that often cause so many heartaches.
Therefore, the newly approaching era, judged
by the introductions to it that come from a year
that was marked by so many agonizing events.
They must be accepted with realism.

It will be a new year, and the old problems
remain to plague and to bewilder at the same
time.
The problems involving the economic condi-
tions affecting nearly everyone remain on the
agenda.
The continuing unemployment affects the
entire world, because the setbacks in this coun-
try must have an effect on the rest of the world,
and the reverse is true when countries that
benefited from prosperity are subjected to obs-
tacles.
It is on the international front that the chal-
lenging events remain unsolved. East-West
conflicts are unresolved. The Middle East re-
mains an embattled area. Hatreds predomi-
nate, as the continuing bigotries give evidence
to so many prejudicial attitudes in what was
intended to be a peacemaking force for the world
and is instead a hate-mongering United Na-
tions.
If it is difficult to imagine a speedy solution to
these accumulated problems for the world at
large, it will be admitted that it is even more
obstructive for the Jewish people and for Israel.
The conflict with the Arabs continues. Israeli
forces remaining in Lebanon are indicative of a
continuing distress. The threats to Israel from
hateful Arab sources are not vanishing.
Additionally, the rise in anti-Semitism is now
judged as a sad reality. It is in evidence in most
enlightened countries, among the most
civilized, even in the United States.
Therefore, the lessons provided are those
stemming from historic experiences. There are
always the obstacles: there have been and there
will always continue to be the faith and the
confidence that troubles can be tackled and obs-
tacles hurdled.
It is a new year and 1983 will surely have the
miseries of the past. Mankind will confront
them, Jews and Israel will defy them. That's the
way of living by the genuinely optimistic faith-
ful who know how to draw the lessons from
optimism as well as pessimism.
This is the lesson learned and the spirit of the
exchange of the Happy 1983 greeting.

REACHING 6 0U R BRETHREN'

Jordan's King Hussein had a salute to
President Reagan, at their meeting in Wash-
ington last week, when he gave an assurance he
would cooperate in peace tasks. There has al-
ways been a cleverness in his approaches to the
Middle East needs, and he gained a new dip-
lomatic status when he told the President he
would pursue the assigned task after consulting
"our brethren."
It could be judged as a hint, and also as warn-
ing that he won't act independently, emulating
Anwar Sadat.
This is understandable, because Sadat suf-
fered th9 fate that seems to be promised in the
Middle East to anyone who fraternizes with Is-
raelis. For Israel and her friends the link with
"our brethren" means one thing: not to expect

the courage that is required to associate with
the Camp David aims for an accord between
Israelis and Arabs.
The ranks of "our brethren" can not be ig-
nored. They must be given due recognition.
Thus, Ibrahim Sousse, PLO representative in
France, on Nov. 30, 1982, in a statement to the
French newspaper Le Monde, gave this warn-
ing:
"The PLO will never recognize Israel . . .
Our goal is the establishment of a Palestinian
state, which will then decide whom it wants to
recognize."
How long will the White House and State
Department fall prey to such brotherly states-
manship?

Dinstein-Edited Volume
Dissects Autonomy Issues

Autonomy continues as a central objective in the planning for a
solution to the problems involving Judea and Samaria, which the
press treats as the West Bank.
Attaining autonomy relates to so many involvements on a world
scale that the treatment of the subject in "Models of Autonomy"
(Transaction Books) assumes special significance in the consideration
of international and legal considerations.
Edited by Yoram Dinstein, professor of international law and
rector at Tel Aviv University, this volume contains an important
analysis by the volume's editor and studies of the issues as they apply
to a number of countries by authoritative writers.
Harvard Professor Louis Sohn discusses "Models of Autonomy
Within the United Nations Framework," dealing with issues relating
to non-solving territorial issues in the trustee system; special rights of
minorities and some post-war problems.
"Federalism and Autonomy" is the topic covered by Prof. Rudolph
Bernhardt. Other participants with essays in this volume include
Prof. Haggai Erlich of Tel Aviv University, Prof. Isi Foighel of
Copenhagen University, Prof. Robert A. Friedlander of Ohio North-
ern University, Israel Minister of Justice Mayer Gabay, Eliezer
Yapou, former Israel UNESCO representatives and a number of other
scholars. They deal with problems of autonomy in Europe, Greenland,
South Tyrol, the Baltic states, and the Latin American and African
countries.
In his concluding essay, Prof. Dinstein provides a definition for
autonomy, providing this basis for judging the current Israeli issues:
"The term autonomy is derived from Greek: auto means self,
nomos is law; autonomy — in the legal-political vocabulary— denotes
self-government. Like many other abstract terms, such as democracy
or peace, autonomy lends itself to different applications in different
contexts.
"Every constituent entity in a federal state (such as a Swiss
canton or a Canadian province) enjoys wide autonomy. In fact, every
municipality and local council — even within the bounds of a unitary
state — benefits from a certain degree of autonomy.
"Moreover, numerous professional and other bodies (e.g., the
Israel Bar Association) have some autonomous powers. The feminist
movement occasionally refers to a woman's right to abortion in terms
of autonomy over her body. But all these contexts are irrelevant to the
Middle East conflict."
Conceding the contradictory elements in the Camp David agree-
ments, Prof. Dinstein thoroughly analyzes various aspects and points
to the obstacles that have been injected into the issue by Egypt. He
especially places emphasis on the conflicting Egyptian-Israel ap-
proaches to the challenging problem and he states:
"The Palestinian Arabs, for their part, are not content even with
the maximal demands made on their behalf by Egypt. They want
nothing short of an independent state.
"While the controversy between Israel and Egypt centers around
the immediate parameters of autonomy, the underlying issue is one of
growth potentialities. Israel is reconciled to the idea of autonomy as a
conduit to drain Palestinian Arab nationalism and direct it to goals
other than political independence. Egypt, on the other hand, adheres
to the concept of autonomy only because it believes that it will serve as
a channel to ultimate statehood."
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