2 Friday, December 9, 1983
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
At Last, a Rebuking
Voice About the Critics
Who Only Pursue Kinsmen
They are heard from everywhere. Their voices are loud
from the steps of the Knesset. They are sounded from the
steppes of remote areas and differing climates. They have
gained platforms wherever the Jew weakens. The Op-Ed
pages of leading newspapers are their forte. Why, then, are
they silent when they should speak out in defense, when it
is needed in exposing their antagonists when truth de-
mands it?
Village Voice has been a leading platform for the ar-
ticulate critics. Nat Hentoff possessed a bitterness without
limit. There was rancor in the acts and voices of Anthony
Lewis and I.F. Stone.
At last, there is an admission of guilt -- of all places, in
the columns of Village Voice.
At last, there is an "Al Het" in Village Voice, but the
author of a confessional may have been the least guilty. Sol
Stern, writing there under the heading, "Syria, the Pales-
tinians and the Crime of Silence," admits that he, too, of the
Village Voice crew, had criticized and condemned unneces-
sarily, and he renders an important service in that article
with an analysis of what had occurred, the sins committed,
and the failures to pursue the duties of the present, when it
is so vital to expose the horrors that are the making of
Israel's enemies.
Perhaps Sol Stern will inspire a collective "Hatanu,"
admission of sinning, in the ranks of Village Voice.
In his article on "the Crime of Silence" there is a meas-
ured absolution. The demand must be for more of it, for a
collective "we have sinned!"
Let Sol Stern speak for himself in the following ex-
cerpts from his article in the Village Voice of Nov. 29:
The debate in Israel between "hawks" and
"doves" has always been more than a dispute
about territory and security. It is also a disagree-
ment about the nature of the political world in
which Israel exists, about the possibilities for jus-
tice and fairness in that world. When Israeli mod-
erates make their case for more generous policies
toward the Arabs, they are often answered with a
standard refrain: "The whole world is against us.
Why should we take risks? What will we get for
our moral scruples?"
That attitude was most graphically expressed
'by Menahem Begin during the protests over the
massacres at the Sabra and Shatila refugee
camps. "The goyim kill goyim and they come to
hang the Jews," said Begin. To Israel's outraged
doves the remark typified what they regarded as
the self-righteous ghetto mentality of the consti-
tuency that Begin and Sharon speak for.
I, too, found Begin's remark disgraceful. But
in the light of recent events in Lebanon should we
not concede that it contained an element of truth?
This August, after the Israeli army pulled out of
the Shouf mountains, the Druze militias went on a
rampage through several Christian villages.
There were massacres similar to those that had
occurred in Sabra and Shatila. The Israeli press
gave the story extensive coverage. Eventually it
trickled into some Western newspapers. Even
after the reports were confirmed, however, there
were no editorials in leading U.S. newspapers, no
columns by Anthony Lewis, no demands for tri-
bunals or commissions of inquiry.
An already cynical Israeli public could also
hardly fail to notice, and draw conclusions from
the disparity between the international response
to Israel's actions 'in Lebanon and those of the
Syrians. There have been no demonstrations at
Syrian embassies. In the Arab world, hardly a
voice has been raised in protest. At the United
Nations, no country suggested convening the Se-
curity Council. When Arabs kill Arabs it appar-
ently is regarded a "family" matter. Yet when the
PLO observer delegation asked the Arab delega-
tions to request a Security Council meeting, the
Palestinians were turned down.
Last Wednesday, Nov. 16, the day that Syrian
armor finally overwhelmed the last of Arafat's
refugee camps, there was a demonstrative protest
at the UN — directed at Israel. The Arab delega-
tions (except for Egypt) led a 70-nation boycott of
Israeli President Chaim Herzog's address to the
General Assembly. (It happened to be a remark-
ably conciliatory speech.)
At the UN, you might expect politics to over-
ride the principle, but why is it that so many inde-
pendent writers, partiularly those who vented
such moral outrage at Israel last year, are so con-
spiculously silent when Arabs kill Arabs, when
Palestinians kill Palestinians? Nat Hentoff hasn't
written a column on this season's killings. An-
thony Lewis hasn't said a word in criticism of the
Syrians for the recent carnage in Lebanon. In-
A New 'Al Het' for the Sinners Who Judged Israel
Mischievously While Ignoring the Crimes Against
Humanity in Tragedies Imposed on the Middle East
stead, he is still bemoaning Israel's original sin of
launching last year's invasion.
I once asked Tony Lewis why, in writing
about the Middle East, he devoted so much space
to Israel's failings, and so little to the iniquities of
countries such as Syria. The reason, he said, is
that he held Israel to a higher standard; Israel was
not just another Burundi.
It was a similar vein that I. F. Stone justified
his savaging of Israel at a public meeting in New
York last week. What's wrong with holding Israel
to a higher standard? asked Stone rhetorically.
We hold America to its own highest standards, the
standards of Jefferson. Why then should we not
judge Israel by the moral standard of Isaiah and
the prophets.
Let us take Lewis and Stone at their word, and
grarit for the moment that their harsh criticisms
are a mark of respect for Israel's historic tradi-
tions. What, however, are they trying to tell us
about the Arabs when they invoke a high
standard only for Israel? When they decline to
register moral outrage at Arab behavior, is it
because they hold the Arabs to no standards?
That does sound somewhat racist — and a
strange mirror view, considering the source, of
Arik Sharon's view of the Arabs, Stone's and
Lewis's approach hardly offers much comfort to
the peace forces in Israel that they claim to sup-
port. Because if you really can't hold the Arabs to
standards of decency, how are you going to con-
vince the Israelis to trust the same Arabs in the
risky business of making peace?
If ever there was a crime in being silent, it is certainly
described in these excerpts.
If ever there was need for admission of guilt, it is now.
Jewish critics of Israeli Jews are heard as often as the
defenders. They get a platform. Perhaps they will, in their
demand to be heard, also listen. If they will read the facts
about the great crime just analyzed, it will be a form of
listening. Perhaps a new "Hatanu" will soon be heard more
as an obligation to a people always under attack than an
expiation.
In the Interest of Peace,
Let There Be a Cessation
of Support for Terrorists
In the search for peace, it is necessary to take into
account the extent of Arab support for Arabs — especially
when those who are comforted with weapons and financial
assistance are the fomenters of terrorism.
In the quest for peace, Saudi Arabia is vital as a hope-
ful participant in creating amity in the Middle East.
It is apparent that the financial assistance provided for
Israel's enemies stems in the main from the Saudis. There-
fore, the facts must be placed on the record.
Here is the sadly accumulating record of encourage-
ment to the terrorists that stands in the way of good rela-
tions and the human factors in the embattled area:
Saudi financial commitments to the PLO and
confrontation states appear in unclassified mate-
rial which was published at a recent summit con-
ference. There is no confirmation on actual
transactions, but the Saudis are known to stand
by their monetary obligations.
At the Khartoum Summit (1967), Saudi Arabia
committed itself to transfer annually $147 million
to Egypt, Jordan and Syria.
At the Rabat Summit (1974), Saudi Arabia
agreed to increase the sum to these three coun-
tries to $391 million.
By Philip
Slomovitz
At the Baghdad Summit (1978), where the
term "confrontation states" was coined, Saudi fi-
nancial aid was fixed at: $589 million to Syria, $357
million to Jordan, $114 million to the PLO (includ-
ing the joint fund with Jordan and funds for the
Palestinians in the territories). The total is $1 bil-
lion a year. This financial obligation has been ful-
filled to date.
In addition, there have been reports in the
Arab press of a special and one-time payment to
Syria in 1982 amounting to $500 million covering
the damages from Operation Peace for Galilee.
Similarly, a special payment of $28.5 million was
made to the PLO, according to an announcement
by the PLO representative in Saudi Arabia on
Radio Riyadh on July 9, 1983.
Within the framework of Arab aid to Iraq
since the war with Iran broke out in September
1980, Saudi Arabia transferred massive sums es-
timated at between $10 and $18 billion. The major-
ity has been in cash and a part of it through the
sale of oil.
Until 1978, Egypt received the largest portion
of Saudi aid which stopped as a result of the
Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. Syria has taken
Egypt's place as the largest recipient (with the
exception of Iraq). As a result, aid to confronta-
tion states and to the PLO is not tied to any par-
ticular project, but instead is given as a grant.
Judged by latest Saudi comments on the American
approaches to peace in the negotiations with Israel and
Lebanese leaders in Washington last week, the Saudis
nevertheless continue on a path of militancy marked by
blindness in dealing with, or appeasing, the terrorists.
Even the danger to themselves does not seem to affect their
myopic policies.
Such are the root causes of the cauldron that creates
the battleground into which nations subscribing to Israel's
demise have been drawn with animosities that have up-
rooted human decencies.
In the process of negotiations for peace, perhaps an end
can be called to the armaments race. If it can begin with the
Saudis, perhaps the entire conflict can be resolved sooner.
The facts must be known and the record accounted for.
The truth is relevant to the record.
James Waterman Wise:
His Unforgettable Charm
James Waterman Wise was out of the Jewish limelight
for more than two decades. To his friends and former asso-
ciates he is unforgettable.
He gained wide fame as an art collector and he was no
longer a Jewish activist after settling in Paris. Prior to that
time he was a personality to be reckoned with.
Those who knew him, as did this reporter, when he was
in the company of his distinguished parents, Stephen S.
Wise and Louise Waterman Wise, as a co-worker in Jewish
movements with his sister, Judge Justine Wise Polier,
cherish the memories of him.
He had great charm. He shared rhetorical skill with
his father and he inherited love for art from his mother. He
was as fearless as his sister.
Remarkably, James Waterman Wise earned admira-
tion from non-Jews as well as Jews. He was admired by
Christians for his courage in the search for interfaith
understanding and for genuine good will in his approaches
to many world issues.
This is a -sharing of respect for a good friend and an
expression of admiration for his many good qualities.
Memories of him are valuable.
Russian Denounces Soviet Anti-Semitism
NEW YORK (JTA) —In a cause there had been no
dramatic and apparently move to expel Korneyev
unprecedented gesture, a from the scientific commu-
non-Jewish Russian nity, "a professional bank-
scholar, Dr. Ivan Martinov rupt ignoramus and fal-
of Leningrad, has re- sifier who disseminates the
nounced his academic de- most vicious Black Hun-
gree to protest mounting of- dreds (notorious Czarist
ficial anti-Semitism in the pogromists) type of anti-
USSR, most vehemently es- Semitism in the pages of the
poused by the notorious Soviet press."
anti-Jewish writer Dr. Lev
In his recent book, "On
Korneyev.
the Course of Aggression
According to the Student and Fascism," printed in
Struggle for Soviet Jewry, over 100,000 copies, Kor-
Martinov stated in an open neyev details Zionism's al-
letter to the presidium of leged "criminal alliance
the Soviet Academy of Sci- with the Fascists" and con-
ences that he was giving up cludes that the figure of six
his title of Candidate of million Jewish Holocaust
Pedagogical Sciences (equal victims
ated by "has
the Zionists
been exagger-
by at
to a PhD) particularly be-
least 2-3 times. It is the
Zionists who bear the re-
sponsibility for the exter-
mination of non-Zionist
Jews in Europe between
1941 and 1945."
sian culture is both my life
work and gives meaning to
my existence. To para-
phrase Maxim. Gorky's
famed words, I boldly state:
`Everything good in me I
Martinov charged this owe to the Jews.' " Martinov
was "a blasphemous re- recalled that he received
vision of the number of much help from Jewish
Jewish victims." In an- teachers and scholars in his
other recent book, "The career.
Class
Essence
of
The Leningrad academic
Zionism,"
Korneyev went on to protest official
flatly declares Jews to be retaliations taken against
"a fifth column in any his Jewish scientific col-
country."
leagues seeking to emi-
According to the SSSJ, grate, including the elimi-
Martinov said, "I am a Rus- nation of their names from
sian bibliographer and his- their published works. Mar-
torian of Russian Orthodox tinov demanded the publi-
background. I was brought cation of his letter in the
up in a Russian home. Rus- Soviet scientific press.