Friday, February 11, 1983 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 5 Herut's Arab Member from Nazareth By MOSHE RON The Jewish News Special Israel Correspondent TEL AVIV — The inspec- tor of all mosques in Nazareth, Assad Jasbek, is a member of the Herut Cen- tral Committee and an ad- mirer of Israeli Prime Minister Menahem Begin. He speaks about Begin as if he were a holy prophet. He ,calls Ariel Sharon a hero, and he tells his Arab friends that in no other country do Arabs live better than in Israel. Assad Jasbek lives in a large and comfortable apartment. Nazareth is a stronghold of the Com- munist Party, but Assad is a partisan of Menahem Begin and a strong supporter of Herut. "I support everything Begin does," he told us. "If the Arabs would have three or four Begins, there would never have been any wars with Israel. If one needs peace, Begin is a man of peace.. If one needs war, Begin is a man of war. If only Jordan and Syria would have learned from Begin and taken Min as an example . . ." When Assad meets Is- raeli journalists, he ex- presses the .views of the extreme members of SAY IT WITH TREES JEWISH NATIONAL FUND 27308 SOUTHFIELD SFLD, MI. 48076 557-6644 Monday thru Thursday, 9 AM to 5 PM Friday 9 AM to 4 PM 11 KEREN KAYEMETH LEISRAEL I ALK SALE Fri., Feb. 11, 7 p.m.-11 p.m. Sat., Feb. 12, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sun., Feb. 13, 12 p.m.-5 p.m. all merchandise in the mall in front of the studio n 0 7 0 1 OF • Tables 4, Lam ps • upholstered Furniture • A ccessori es FORMICA TABLES Herut. The correspon- dent of Maariv, Avi Be- telheim, wrote in an arti- cle that if he had not met Assad in his apartment and talked to him he would never have be- lieved that such an Arab could exist. Assad, who is 52 years old, was born in Nazareth as a son of one of the oldest and most important Moslem families of the town. He finished his studies in a high school in Nazareth in 1948. When the War of In- dependence broke out, he left the country and served for four years in the Syrian and Jordanian armies. In 1952 he returned home and became a high-ranking clerk in the Municipality of Nazareth. After the Six-Day War, he joined the Mapai Party and was active in the Arab De- partment of the Histadrut Executive. In 1972 he changed parties and joined Herut. He often visited the Herut Central Building in Tel Aviv and met Begin several times. "Begin is today my per- sonal friend," Assad says proudly. When Herut was elected in 1977, Assad ad- vanced to the office of Chief Moslem Custodian in Nazareth as inspector of all mosques. He gets his salary from the Ministry for Reli- gious Affairs in Jerusalem. Today he is the father of eight and grandfather of four. It was not easy for him to change from the ideol- ogy of Berl Katznelson and Ben-Gurion to that of Jabotinsky and Begirt. When he walked in the streets of Nazareth, people pointed at him as the "partisan of Menahem Begin, who wishes to liquidate the Arabs." People spat and threw stones at him. In vain he tried to convince people that the Herut Party was for the Arabs and not against them. Assad said that he had heard about Jabotinsky's Rights Report Scores Israel II Cocktail 30"x60" T-End 24"x24" Pedestal 12x12x24-30-36 Reg. $512 Reg. $239 Values To $188 Now $199 Now $119 Now $69 Assorted Colors • 80 Items Available All merchandise inside studio 3 0 /0 OFF for this event only Sherwood Stu' Fine Furniture to Live With Tel-Twelve Mall 12 Milo. & Telegraph, Southfield 354-9060 .• Open Daily Iti-9,#anday 12-5 WASHINGTON — The Reagan Administration in its annual report on human rights issued Tuesday, cited serious human rights viola- tions in nations around the world, including some that are friendly to the United States. In a section on Israel, the report says that although the nation is a parliamen- tary democracy with full freedom of speech and the press, relations with the Arabs in the occupied ter- ritories have caused "sig- nificant human rights prob- lems." In the West Bank and Gaza, the report said, Israeli forces were observed "roughing up" individuals, freedom of expression was "restricted" and there were cases of Arabs being impris- oned for several months without formal charges or trial. saying, that if there would be a suitable Arab in the Revisionist Movement to be its leader, he should be elected. Assad did not read the books of Jabotinsky but had heard that he advocated equal rights for all. "It is time to translate the writ- ings of Jabotinsky into Arabic," Assad says. Assad advocates coopera- tion between the Palesti- nian Arabs and King Hus- sein. "There is no other al- ternative," he says. He vis- ited Jordan two years ago. The Palestinian Arabs must free themselves from the influence of radical ele- ments. They must give up the dream of a Palestinian state. There should be such a state, but its capital is Amman. Begin should de- cide the future of the West Bank and the Gaza Zone. Assad does not hide his hatred for the Labor Align- ment. "If the Labor Party wishes to solve the Palesti- nian problem with a territo- rial compromise, why did it not execute this solution when the party was in power until 1977?" Assad asks. "Why didn't the Pales- tinians demand an inde- pendent Palestinian state before 1967?" Assad criticizes the Labor Alignment. "The Arabs in Nazareth are not Communists," he said. "The Labor Align- ment turned them in to Communists. At the time of the Alignment power, many Arab-owned areas were confiscated and many Arab houses de- molished." Assad admits that during the Herut regime many Arab-owned territories were confiscated in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. "This is a different matter," he ex- plains. "I was referring to areas of Israeli Arabs. As long as I am a proud Israeli Arab, I must support the country in which I am liv- ing. I cannot do anything for the Arabs in other coun- tries. For them their kings and presidents should care Daily—Hospital Sympathy ,/ FRUIT i--BASKETS 7 :3 Times Daily Nation-Wide Delivery $ 1795 RODNICK- McINERNEY'S 772-4350 fx George Ohrenstein CERTIFIED