18 Friday, February 11, 1983 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Reagan Continues Historic U.S. Mideast Policy of Appeasement By VICTOR BIENSTOCK The policies currently pursued by the Reagan Ad- ministration promise to make the United States the major obstacle to the at- tainment of peace in the Middle East. Washington — and this Administration was not the first to be guilty of the error — has failed to understand the underlying conditions in that sorely troubled area. NOW... OPEN TO THE PUBLIC National Dry Goods Co. 1200 Trumbull Ave. 961-3656 It has consequently failed to perceive how best to protect our own national interests there. Basically, our policy in the Middle East is one of ap- peasement. We have yet to learn the lesson of Munich that appeasement is not the pathway to peace. Our strategists tell us that the Middle East, be- cause of its geography and its vast oil reserves, is of vital importance to us in any clash of inter- ests with the Soviet Union. Israel is the only country in the entire area which stands ready to give the U.S. complete cooperation and the use of bases and facilities in the event of need. It has been likened to an un- sinkable aircraft carrier at our disposal if we need it. But we have not assigned Israel any role in our strategic planning to pro- tect the Mideast oil reserves and transportation routes for fear of angering the 'Arab states whose security, in the long run, depends on us. Further, we appear to be ready to weaken this ally to the degree that it might not be able effectively to assist us if the need should ever arise, in order to. buy Arab friendship. We would, apparently, go this far to appease the timid sheiks of the House of Saud who distrust their own people and fear their jealous brethren beyond the bor- ders of Saudi Arabia more than the threat from the north. The Saudi regime. has never willingly aided or supported American policy nor showed any willingness to cooperate with us in or- ganizing the defense of the Persian Gulf area. In fact, it distrusts us equally with the Soviets. Yet, put simply and bluntly, the U.S. is acting today as the obedient agent of the Saudi regime in seeking to impose a solution of the Arab- Israeli conflict that wilt weaken us in the Middle East by weakening a trustworthy ally and that will not solve the problem but merely add another discordant note to the Middle East cacophony. It is ironic; the Reagan For your special Valentine, give a gift „of gold . . . something to treasure for years to come. Valentine selections from $15 to $15,000. A. DIAMOND 14 KT. GOLD HEART PENDANT .52 Ct. T.W. Regular $550 Special Price B. 14 Kt. Gold Neck-Clip with 1.00 Ct. C - Z Regular $490 Special Price $412 C. 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If Arafat had the acumen and the guts to proclaim tomorrow that he recognized the right of Is- rael to live in peace behind secure, recognized borders and agreed to meet the Is- raelis at the negotiating ta- ble, he would torpedo our position in the Middle East. But Arafat won't do that. King Hussein of Jordan, on whom Washington, closing its eyes to his past record of double-dealing, woos to re- scue the Reagan Plan for a Palestine settlement, won't negotiate unless he first gets what he wants. Saudi Arabia wants the U.S. to de- - liver Israel's head on a plat- ter. The fatal flaw in Wash- ington's perception of the Middle East situation is that it believes the Pales- tine question, which in it- self is only one of the many elements of the -Middle East ferment, is the root cause of the Arab-Israeli conflict and its belief that if that cause were eliminated, the con- flict would disappear. It is not as simple as that. The Arab leadership re- gards Israel as an alien element in the heart of the Moslem world that has to be extirpated. If it cannot be destroyed, then it must be kept isolated; it must not be accepted and integrated into the life of the Middle East. Much the same feeling existed to wards a Lebanon that was in large part Christian even though the Lebanese Christians are predomi- nantly Arab. The Lebanese EXCELLENCE CANINE REF Let our completely original designs for your home or office reflect you! Call for an appointment today. 782 Denison Ct. Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48013 (313) 334-6633 Christians are a tiny minor- ity in a vast Moslem sea and the current Lebanese re- gime feels it must establish some kind of bond with the Moslem powers surround- ing it to ensure survival — even at the expense of a potentially fruitful rela- tionship with Israel. Right now we are subject- ing Israel to a tremendous amount of heat, including unofficial threats by un- named high officials to cut off American aid to Israel. We have let it be known that Prime Minister Menahem Begin won't be welcome at the White House as long as he con- tinues to be "obstreperous." We want Israel to agree to give up elements it deems vital to its security without any assurance of peace from its Arab neighbors. We want Is- rael to pick up and pull out of Lebanon, bag and baggage, without any commitments for peace nor any assurance that PLO terrorists won't re- turn to southern Leba- non to harass Israeli vil- lages and towns. President Reagan greets President Mubarak of Egypt as a partner in the quest for peace in the Mid- dle East although Mubarak has reneged on his com- mitments to Israel under the Camp David peace ac- cords and has almost com- pletely severed relations with that state. We are obsequious before Hussein, promising him planes, guns and dollars if only he will come to the negotiating table. We go to every extreme possible to satisfy the Saudi sheiks. And we are getting nowhere with these tactics. If we want peace in the Middle East, let Ambas- sador Habib advise President Gemayel to stop treating the Israelis as lep- ers and to negotiate with them in good faith to estab- lish a basis on which Israel can safely withdraw its forces with the assurance of freedom from attackers based on Lebanese territory and a decent, neighborly re- lationship. Let Mr. Habib also tell him bluntly that Ameri- can troops will not be stationed in southern Lebanon to be sniped at by PLO terrorists. Let us make it clear to Hussein that we are not going to bribe him with the guns and planes he threatens otherwise to ob- tain from Moscow and re- mind him that he can miss the bus once too often. Let us tell Mubarak that we expect him to live up to the letter and spirit of his peace treaty with Israel and not to make it another scrap of paper. Let us tell all the Arab states that we are not going to destroy Israel to appease them and that if they have the legitimate demands and claims on Israel, let them meet Israel face-to-face over the conference table and settle their differences in good-faith bargaining. Let them remember that Israel returned the Sinai Penin- sula to Egypt in negotia- tions, not under duress. That is the path to peace. There is no other. Koch Defends Position on Aid to NY Homeless NEW YORK — Mayor Ed Koch has responded to charges by Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum of the Ameri- can Jewish Committee that the mayor was guilty of "scapegoating" synagogues when he suggested last month that the Jewish community was not doing leensosugh to shelter the home- The mayor's rebuttal was broadcast over New York radio station WINS-AM last weekend. Rabbi Tanen- baum, in a commentary' ,aired by the radio station earlier this month, said Koch was "suggesting that Jews, unlike Christians, are callous to human suffer- ing." The mayor, who made his remarks concerning the ci- ty's homeless in a speech at the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, accused Rabbi Tanenbaum of "playing fast and loose with the facts." The Arabs trace their de- scent from Abraham and Ishmael. In Custom Furniture, Closets & Kitchens