THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, March 30, 1984 24 Personal views of Israel coverage by the news media DRAPERIES AND OTHER WINDOW TREATMENTS 20% to 60% OFF WALLPAPER 20% Off plus extra 10% when purchase is for 12 rolls or more from the same book. WINDOW No freight or handling charges. • Energy Saving Shades (Warm Win- dow@ and Window ) • Roman Quilt@ SHADE CO. Shades, Shade Draperies • Translucent and Black-out Shades, • Laminated Shades • Verosol Shades, • Mylar Shades and Decora- tive Shades. Horizontal Blinds • Ver- tical Blinds and Woven Woods. Previous Orders Excluded. Not Valid With Any Other Offers. I t OUR PRODUCT IS A SHADE BETTER OLD ORCHARD Shopping Center Orchard Lk. Rd. at 15 Mile Rd. W. Bloomfield • , 1 r I I Cr . 1. 626-2400 Mon. thru Sat. 10-5 Thurs. til 8 N.W. DETROIT 15150 W. 7 Mi. Rd. 3 Blks. 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Computer Softward On Pesach BORENSTEIN'S Your Jewish Book Store 25242 Greenfield 967-3920 N. o Mile Rd., Oak Park By CARL ALPERT Haifa — I have been queried many times about my choice of subjects to write about. Readers may be reassured that there is no lack of subjects. I could write a daily column, 365 days a year, and never run out of themes in this fas- cinating country. Rather, the question is, what guidelines do I use? How do I determine whether a specific subject is, shall we say, "suitable" for readers overseas. For one thing, everything I write is submitted to and clears through Israel mili- tary censorship to make sure that I am not, even un- wittingly, revealing any- thing that might be of value to the enemy. Beyond that, I subject myself to personal censor- ship. In reply to many ques- tions, let me make it clear at once that I am not objective. To the contrary, when it comes to love of Israel, de- sire to help Israel flourish and be strong, and concern for the quality of life here, I cannot be objective. I am in- tensely, perhaps even passionately partisan. For that reason, perhaps, I am discriminating in my choice of subjects. I hope that not everything I write sounds Pollyanish. I am fre- quently critical, but I am also aware of the kind of coverage which Israel has been receiving on American television, in Time maga- zine, the New York Times and other papers, and I do feel that it is necessary to a degree to offset some of the false and misleading re- ports to which the overseas public is subjected. Carl Alpert In Israel, it appears that many journalists and even the state-owned television have gone wild. That which is negative and critical of Is- rael gets the greatest expo- sure. As I stated earlier, much of this is politically in- spired, perhaps only natural when the "outs" want to be "in" and consider it proper to decry and undermine everything the party in power is doing, whether in defense or in economics. And since there is a dynamics about this kind of criticism, the repeti- tion begins to lead to the creation of a psychological atmosphere in which the worst fears begin to be realized. If one cries "depression" over and over again, it con- tributes to a public response in which depression is bound to occur. The politcal reaction to the war in Lebanon is an- other case. If ever Israel was in a better bargaining posi- tion to make the most of its presence in Lebanon, the constant harping criticism Alas, many of my col- leagues within the country, in both the printed and the visual media, feel no need to exercise any restraint. They believe that as journalists By HASRELL COHEN they are obligated to pub- There may not be too lish everything which many outstanding Jewish makes a "good story." They ahletes i'',- ,,resenting the are subject to no moral or U.S. in the upcoming Olym- national responsibility; to pic Games, but a number of them, freedom of the press is Jewish coaches will be han- paramount. And the savage dling our athletes in Los attacks against the Israel Angeles this summer. Sev- government (most of them eral foreign-born Jews have politically inspired) which been selected to coach some see the light in this country of the squads. With the are reflected in the dis- addition of rhythmic gym- patches sent abroad by nastics as.p. Olympic sport foreign correspondents in in 1984United States Israel. • team wi;fl 131 headed by I value freedom of the coach S vi irsky , the current press, but democracy sets up mento r j ,or , the L S. National certain criteria as the price Team ',Iiid heat f(c.oach and for such freedom. We are all choreo:'g-rapher -r the Los . , called upon to restrain some Ange , l es School o ,_.iymnas- Gymnas- of our freedoms. Israel re- tics., tics. 1\ t; - s. Svirsk who cur- cently passed a strict law which restrains the freedom inntly coaches 11., y 1 .vdia Bree . of people to smoke and Valerie Zimri -ig — two whenever and wherever of the U.S.'s top an. ateurs in they like. We accept restric- the sport — to tions as to when and where, the U.S. in immisTated . t 1974 & ' p mhe we can cross streets, tyre Soviet Union and speed at which we are per- her 0- 1980 her U.S. citizenship i eceived mitted to drive, the d "-gree Ms. Svirsky was hon of body exposure or sexual America's Coach of the' Year `',. activity in which we can in rhythmic gymnastiC s in engage in public. In every 1981. .res case the criterioa is the wel- The Van Nuys, Ca. Ca., J in fare of the greater public. dent is experien cecd the opposition and the by the ill-timed street demonstra- tions strengthened the hand of our enemies and in effect sabotaged our government's efforts. As Minister of Defense Moshe Arens has pointed out, this was not Israel's first war. Following the Six-Day War, Israel was engaged in a long and bloody War of Attrition along the Suez Canal. The Israel army was then lo- cated on battlefields much, much further from home than Beirut. Our troops were pinned down in a Bar Lev Line which ultimately proved to be valueless. The death toll rose con- stantly, but not once in those days did the then op- position do or say anything which might handicap or cripple the Labor govern- ment in its conduct of the war. Too much was at stake. Now, in opposition, Labor has shown no such re- straint, and many of the country's journalists have lent themselves to what is in effect a political cam- paign waged on the backs of the military. I have many faults to find with the present govern- ment, and I certainly do not agree with all its policies. But there are so many jour- nalists and commentators engaged in lambasting the government that my serv- ices are not required in that direction. Rather, I do seek to cover a more neglected aspect, showing the positive, the constructive, the unusual, the cheerful — or even just the normal side of Israel to- day. There is much to tell. I hope my readers approve. Jewish coach helps train U.S. Olympic contingent coaching at both the na- tional and international levels, most recently having coached the U.S. teams at the 1983 World Rhythmic Championships in Stras- bourg; the International In- vitational in Orange, Cal; and the Brother Cup in To- kyo. Prior to her arrival in America, Ms. Svirsky was the head coach for rhythmic gymnasts at the Polytech- nical Institute in Odessa. The World Championship For Masters Runners has been awarded to Israel for staging in 1987. The event features runners over the age of 50. * * * Israel's sports program is developing rapidly in the wheelchair and disabled fields. Recently, 18 wheel- chair basketball teams par- ticipated in a championship series at the Ilan Sports Center, where a crowd of 1,000 spectators watched the Ilan Jaffa team defeat Ilan Ramat-Gan 62-47 for the title. Copyright 1984, JTA Inc. cs;