THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Another View of The Little Drummer Girl' (Editor's note: This re- view of John Le Carre's "The Little Drummer Girl" appeared in the April 8 issue of Near East Report. Charles Madison reviewed the book in The Jewish News April 1.) After considerable pre- publication publicity, it seems impossible that any- one interested in the Middle East would not know that John Le Carre, author of "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" and "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold," has written a highly con- troversial book about Mid- dle Eastern skullduggery. Le Carre is back in his familiar world of aliases and agents. This time, how- ever, he has made a spy story a metaphor for the Arab-Israeli conflict and in so doing transcended his genre. He tells the tale from the point of view of Charlie, a confused English actress of muddled radical sym- pathies who is used by Is- raeli agents to track down a particularly dangerous Palestinian terrorist. Le Carre's work was sharply criticized in the Washington Post for dis- playing a knee-jerk sym- pathy for the underdog. The book was also attacked in the New Republic by David Pryce-Jones, a journalist who has covered the Pales- tinians. He calls "The Little . r Drummer Girl" sophisti- cated "agitprop." Why the controversy? Partly, it is because the book is ambiguous in a situation where alle- giances and perspectives tend to be black and white. In places, Le Carre is extremely sympathetic to the PLO and harshly critical of Israel. Palesti- nians spout PLO rhetoric which goes unanswered. While in Beirut, Charlie falls in love with the PLO fighters and their cause as well. Some readers will con- clude that Le Carre is jus- tifying terrorism. Why then can't "The Lit- tle Drummer Girl" simply be dismissed as prop- aganda? The reason is that Le Carre is not altogether one-sided. Is the PLO viewed sympathetically? It is. But then there is its dark side: its gaining camps for budding terrorists, its roc- kets and guns, its ruthless disregard for civilians. Does the book justify terrorism? In places. But it also' depicts its mad- ness, its indiscriminate bloodshed and the irra- tionality of its practition- ers. Are the Israelis ruthless? They are. But they are also individuals with per- sonalities and consciences, people who, Le Carre points Flint News Community Calendar Saturday — USY Con- vention, Columbus, Ohio. Tuesday — Bnai Brith Women luncheon, 11:30 a.m., International Insti- tute; Bnai Brith Women meeting, 7:30 p.m., home of Bette Heidenrich, 1194 Woodkrest; and Bnai Brith executive board meeting, 8 p.m., River Valley club house. Wednesday —Hadassah elections, Temple Beth El; and FJF/Hadassah adult education, 7:30 p.m., Beth Israel. Thursday — ORT meet- ing, noon; FJF men's deli night, Beth El, 6 p.m.; and FJF Community Relations Committee, 8 p.m. Flint Obituaries Leo Binder Leo Binder, founder of the Reliable Furniture Store, died March 18 at age 93. Born in Poland, Mr. Bin- der lived in Flint since 1916. He was a member of Cong. Beth Israel, Jewish War Veterans, Zionist Organiza- tion of America and the Flint Jewish Federation's Senior Friendship Club. He is survived by two sons, Harry and Albert; a brother, Arthur of Miami Beach, Fla.; and six grand- children. Bnai Mitzva James Riseman will be- come Bar Mitzva 11 a.m. Saturday at Flint's Temple Beth El. Elana Grossman will become Bat Mitzva 9 a.m. April 23 at Cong. Beth Is- rael. Terri Kasle will become Bat Mitzva 9 a.m. April 30 at Cong. Beth Israel. June Institutes at Brandeis U. WALTHAM, Mass. -- Registration is now open for three summer institutes at Brandeis University that offer continuing education to Jewish educators, com- munal workers and reli- gious leaders. The Jewish Communal Workers Institute, June 27-30, will feature a one- day workshop on manage- ment skills for professionals working in a variety of Jewish communal settings as well as seminars on con- temporary Jewish com- munal issues, professional skills and classical Jewish perspectives on community, leadership and tzedalia. The Rabbinic Leadership Institute will be held June 27-30. The implications of pluralism in the contem- porary world of Jewish edu- cation will be the focus of the Jewish Educators Insti- tute, June 28-30. out, serve an ideal and seek to protect the innocent. A reader may, in the end, be left exhausted, holding neither side better than the other and regarding each as equally elevated and equally depraved. Le Carre's is a grim objec- tivity and balance which no straight reporting can achieve. And that is where the moral ambiguity be- comes immorality; the Is- raelis, after all, are pursu- ing terrorists, people who have committed crimes. They are not engaged in battle for its own sake but are seeking to punish the guilty and to prevent new crimes against their pepole. Le Carre does not seem to perceive the difference be- tween that and the choice of terror as a substitute for political action. Ultimately, factors out- side the book may influ- ence how it is perceived. Le Carre has given inter- views in which he strongly criticizes Israeli policies. There is talk of a movie which may end up as propaganda of one sort or another. This much is certain: . Friday, April 15, 1983 A Lasting Impression Give your guests a memory they will keep forever — an instant photoparty favor "The Little Drummer Girl" seems destined to be this year's major work of fiction on the Arab-Israeli conflict. 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