2 Friday, Natiniber 18, 1983
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
The New Political Era With
Its Nasty Implications
Name-calling is neither new nor surprising to politi-
cians, and an election, especially Presidential, assures a
wide avenue of abuses and implications.
There is always a kernel of truth in every charge and in
most accusations. There is always the defensive that can-
not be ignored.
The case of Senator Percy of Illinois is an evidence of
concern that has moved the campaign for re-election of the
chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee
outside his state. It is not unusual, however, for a former-
colleague from another state, in this case Jacob R. Javits, to
come to the defense.
Senator Percy's latest explanatory statement on his
Middle East attitudes vis-a-vis Israel could not be taken as
antagonistic. He believes the settlements are a provocative
issue. There is nothing new in such an interpretation and
he has many Jews treating that aggravated question with
anxiety.
Most distressing on the political scene is the role and
candidacy of Jesse Jackson. He proves distressing to many
blacks who do not view his Presidential bid to be wise and
timely. In Jewish ranks there has arisen an opposition
group that views the Jackson name on the ballot as a
menace.
Jackson's embrace of Arafat, his many comments on
Jews and Israel, certainly serve as cause for resentment.
Jesse Jackson can not erase a photo or deny a-published
statement, both linking him with the extreme anti-Israelis
and a measure of antagonism to Jews.
- If all public figures were to adhere to the essence of the
declaration by Pope Pius XI, who spoke of that hatred as
"the sin of anti-Semitism," then it would be fully under-
standable why Jackson would not wish to be aligned with
such sinners.
Therefore, it is also Understandable why Jews should
resent anti-Semitic acts and their perpetrators. It is not
surprising, therefore, that committees should be organiz-
ing to conduct a campaign to counteract the Jackson candi-
dacy. Perhaps Jackson relishes formation of such Jewish
committees and the notoriety he thus receives without pay-
ing for publicity. It's the old story about political shrewd-
ness when a candidate or a public figure will say, "I don't
care what they say as long as they talk about me." Adver-
tisements in the NYTimes by Jewish groups exposing the
Jackson background do just that.Ideological enmities are
unfortunate and most regrettable. Such is the case with
Jackson. There is a much more important issue. It is the
necessity of totally rejecting group hatreds and avoiding
anything relating to a black-white issue involving Jews.
The black-white conflict is repugnant under any circum-
stance and should be condemned. Injection of a Jewish
element in the matter is contemptible.
Therefore, this addendum to a political issue, and the
Jackson candidacy is a political affair: that it must never be
permitted to develop into a conflict between citizens. Let
Jackson be treated on his merits. If he is antagonistic to
certain elements, they have a perfect right to challenge his
candidacy. If he is an irritant socially as well as politically,
voters will know how to judge him. He knows it. Therefore
he won't try to erase an existing record.
Thus, another element enters into the political dis-
putes approaching the 1984 election. It is right at our heels
and Jackson may as well be discussed in advance, on a par
with the seven other Democratic candidates and the lucky
Ronald Reagan who has no opposition within his party. The
scene is the American polling booth.
-
Capitalizing on Celebrities:
Wallenberg as a Reminder of Cardozo
Politics have many facets, all kinds of approaches,
multiple means of capitalizing on celebrities.
Some time in the past, a Democratic group here sought
publicity and notoriety. It undertook to function as the
Benjamin Cardozo Democratic Club. Many who had great
respect for the name of the distinguished Jewish member of
the U.S. Supreme Court were furious. That didn't faze the
club's organizers. They carried on their capitalizing on a
famous name for a number of years.
Now, in San Francisco, another name is being utilized
for political purposes: that of Raoul Wallenberg. Under the
title "Raoul Wallenberg Jewish Democratic Club," a list of
candidates is being endorsed with a capitalizing on the
name of the Swedish hero in World War II rescue tasks.
The pity is that the candidates whose names are used
for endorsements under such titles do not themselves reject
such identifications.
Recalling LaFollette, Other
Senatorial Greats, Deploring
Many Who Are Forgotten
In the 200-year history of the U.S. Senate, who were its
greatest, its outstanding personalities? Reply to this ques-
tion was assigned to 26 professors of history and political
The American Polling Booth as the Scene of Action
With Jesse Jackson Being Tested and Ideological
Embracing of All Elements in American Electorate
science. They named Henry Clay of Kentucky and Robert
LaFollette of Wisconsin.
The two who came closest to them were listed as John
C. Calhoun of South Carolina and Daniel Webster of
Massachusetts.
Those who followed in a list of top 20 included Robert
Taft of Ohio, Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota, Lyndon B.
Johnson of Texas, as well as J. William Fulbright of Arkan-
sas and Richard B. Russell of Georgia.
The surprise is that Jacob R. Javits of New York did
not merit selection that Arthur H. Vandenberg of Michigan
was ignored.
At any rate, the selections served as a reminder for this
reporter that he voted for LaFollette in 1924 — the first
time he had the privilege of casting his ballot in a
Presidential election. It was also a reminder of the Bull
Moose days inaugurated by Theodore Roosevelt in his quest
for another term as President in 1912. It was also a recollec-
tion of the Bull Moosers' primary popularity in Michigan
and Wisconsin.
Chronicling the Record:
How Saudi Money Paves
Road for Assad Domination
Perhaps it is not too late after all for the State Depart-
ment and the Reagan Administration to realize that what
had been portrayed as Saudi Arabian partnership is mud-
died in support for terrorism.
Everything currently stems from fears — Arabs panic
in their relationships between their nations, the striving
for power divides in the quest for rulerships and fratricide
dominates the Middle East.
Now it is becoming apparent that Syrian President
Hafez Assad is in line to succeed Yasir Arafat as chief of the
PLO, and the warnings are that there can be much worse to
fear than if Arafat were to remain in power.
The Saudi role was exposed in an editorial warning in
the Nov. 9 Wall Street Journal, "One Hard Lesson," which,
as indicated in that completely quoted editorial, sums up
dangers galore:
So you want to understand the Middle East.
We all ought to try, considering that American
soldiers are suffering regular casualties there for
the first time in U.S. history and that the mobiliza-
tion of American, Israeli and Syrian forces there
looks like the prelude to a major dust-up.
Here is Lesson One. The most dangerous ele-
ment in the current face-off is Syria's network of
SAM-5 batteries. These antiaircraft missiles have
the range to intercept flights from the U.S. Sixth
Fleet off Lebanon, from airfields in Israel and
even air traffic over eastern Turkey. They are
supplied, controlled and manned exclusively by
the Soviet Union, using about 1,000 Russian
soldiers, out of 7,000 to 8,000 Soviets stationed in
Syria.
The SAM-5s were supplied in October 1982
after Israel wiped out Syria's entire Russian-
supplied air defense, and Moscow billed Damas-
cus about $2 billion. Given that part of the Ameri-
can mission is to protect "moderate" oil pro-
ducers like Saudi Arabia against radicals like
Syria, who do you think footed the bill for the
SAM-5s? Answer: Saudi Arabia.
Lesson Two. The second-most-dangerous
element now is Russia's supply of SS-21s to Syria.
This ground-to-ground missile has a range of 120
kilometers, partly countering the firepower of the
USS New Jersey and putting Israel's heartland
under the threat of a weapon with nuclear capa-
bility. The bill for these missiles will be around $3
billion. Who do you think will pay it? Answer:
Saudi Arabia.
Are you getting confused? Let's try to
straighten things out. Why is Saudi Arabia, a
friend of the U.S. and a foe of the Soviet Union,
paying for Soviet weapons that threaten Ameri-
can forces? The first round, the $2 billion for the
SAM-5s, is relatively easy to explain. The Saudis
helped Syria rebuild its shattered military to buy
protection from Arab militants, including those in
Syria.
The second-round payment, actually $4 bil-
lion, came last month. (Syria is using the money
left over after the SS-21s to improve its "command
and control" capacity.) Pay attention now. The
Saudis slipped this bundle to Syria to buy a
cease-fire in Lebanon's Shouf Mountains, where
Syrian-backed Druze were fighting the Lebanese
army.
Why would the Saudis pay so much? Well, on
two previous occasions, the U.S. State Depart-
ment had relied on Saudi mediators for important
missions, namely getting Jordan's King Hussein
behind President Reagan's peace plan and get-
ting Syrian troops out of Lebanon. Both times the
Saudis failed. Secretary of State Shultz was be-
By Philip
Slomovitz
ginning to get fed up with "the weight of Arab
opinion," and Saudi influence in State was wan-
ing. So the sons of Ibn Saud needed one last politi-
cal triumph to regain their clout in Washington.
Wait a minute, you say. The Saudis (?!?) were
supposed to get the Syrians out of Lebanon.
Wasn't there fighting last summer, something
about Israel wiping out Syrian resistance and tak-
ing Beirut? Why didn't that get Syria out? My, you
are a beginner. The U.S. stopped Israel from
crushing Syria and then made Israel pull back
while Syria sat still. Syria, you see, had promised
George Shultz it would leave when Israel did. And
anyway, the "weight of Arab opinion," namely
Saudi megabucks, would force the Syrians out by
paying to rebuild its military. (We forgot to men-
tion that Syria, after losing 500 tanks last year,
now has 2,000 tanks in Lebanon alone.)
To review: The U.S. is moving up to three air-
craft carrier battle groups into the Mediterranean
to face down Syrian troops backed by Russian-
manned SAM-5s and advanced Russian-made
SS-21s. We are there to protest "moderate" oil-
producing Arabs. Yet the Russian equipment is
there because the oil-producing Arabs paid for it
(an act known in some quarters as exercising the
"weight of Arab opinion.")
Do you think there is something peculiar in
this situation? Well, congratulations. You have
just learned a lesson it took George Shultz six
months to master. Now that Secretary Shultz is
beginning to understand, perhaps he can educate
the rest of the State Department.
The reason for the many blunders in the Middle East is
obvious. The tendency to mollycoddle Arab chieftains out of
often unjustified fears leads to calamities. It is fortunate for
the entire affected area and the U.S. role therein that Israel
adheres to policies of absoluteness in defending state and
people.
Intrigues among Arabs, often leading in the directioz
of Russian intrusions, should open many eyes. The immor-
ality of tendencies in the existing squabbles and the threats -
to the U.S. and Israel presently demand realism. The issue
is firmly defined in the quoted Wall Street Journal warn-
ings. Perhaps the dangers will now be recognized in the
framing of American foreign policies.
`Judaism as a Civilization':
Mordecai Kaplan's Legacy
for All the Generations
"Judaism as a Civilization" revolutionized Jewish
thought. It served as an inspiration for the generations and
continues to inspire Jewish thought. It was among the
major legacies of Mordecai Kaplan.
The sage in Jewry, who passed on last week at the age
of 102, was the great teacher who gave to the title rabbi thc. ,
glory treasured in Jewish traditions.
He was the champion of Zionism and among its chief",
protagonists and interpreters.
He pioneered in advocating fullest and equal rights
with the men for the women of Israel.
• He introduced the Bat Mitzva ceremony and his
daughter Judith was the first of the Bat Mitzvas in
American Jewry.
Distinguished as a lecturer, his sense of humor added _
to the welcome he enjoyed wherever scholars gathered.
Mordecai Kaplan was one of the very great personalities of
the century and as such he will be revered in the
chronicled records of world Jewry.
Hanuka Play in Russia
„
These Soviet Jews, in a photograph obtained by
the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry, are performing
an "unofficial" Hanuka play in the USSR. The Soviet
secret police, the KGB, have cracked down on the
teaching of Hebrew and Jewish culture.
c