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Friday, December 7, 1984
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CANDLELIGHTING AT 4:43 P.M.
VOL. LXXXVI, NO. 15
White House creche
The Supreme Court ruled last March that a nativity scene, displayed at
Christmastime, could be construed as a purely cultural symbol, and that its
exhibition on public land did not therefore constitute a government
endorsement of Christianity or a violation of the Constitutional injunction
against church-state alliances.
Now we have the logical result of that decision: The National Park
Service has announced that after 11 years without one, it is going to put up a
creche on the White House Ellipse in time for Christmas.
It seems to us that the high court's ruling was singularly narrow-minded.
Made in the context of a Fundamentalist upswing, and urged by a McLean,
Virginia group calling itself Citizens for God and Country, the decision failed
to take into consideration the pluralistic nature of our society. It might, in
' fact, have been made in the 18th Century, before the great immigration
waves from Germany, Russia, Ireland and the Orient changed the religious
flavor of the nation forever.
The court seems to have flown in the face of the very philosophical tenets
of our Constitution, which is rule by the majority for the benefit of the
minority.
The United States is no longer just a Christian society, and even if it
were, the majority religion has the responsibility to refrain from steamrolling
those faiths that exist in the minority. We feel that the Supreme Court is
obligated to reconsider its creche ruling.
Peace dilemmas
Resumption of U.S.-Iraqi diplomatic relations has raised many
eyebrows. It introduced many questions regarding the practicality of the
move, the effect it will have on Israel's position in the Middle East and the
constant war-threatening messages directed from Baghdad against Israel.
An interesting note that can be directed toward the new U.S. move
permitting the raising of the Iraqi flag over that country's embassy in
Washington was introduced in an article by Karen Elliott House in the Wall
Street Journal under the long title of "Precarious Nature of Peres' Israeli
Coalition Makes It Difficult to Broaden Peace Efforts." On a positive note, the
author of this important essay points to Israel's hope to improve its relations
with Arab neighbors, with "quiet, indirect dialogues with Jordan's King
Hussein on practical issues such as maintaining the water level in the Dead
Sea, a body of water shared by both nations." Then, in relation to Iraq, the
House article makes this revelation:
"Another practical issue for discussion: Israel's willingness to see an
Iraqi oil pipeline constructed through Jordan to the Gulf of Aqaba, a major
tourist site for both Jordan and Israel. Some Israelis believe such a pipeline
would give Iraq, an implacable foe of Israel, a modest economic stake in stable
Arab-Israeli relations."
This is intriguing and suggests an exciting way of ending animosities.
While this, like many other suggestions, sounds like a mere dream, it also
emphasizes the way peace can be achieved: by negotiations. If that can be
attained, there will be_ glory for the Middle East and for mankind; 1 11 • a 1)-•
OP-ED
Eban-for-President campaign
has supporters in Israel, U.S.
BY ROBERT ST. JOHN
Special to The Jewish News
As the biographer of Abba Eban, I
have for more tharr 35 years closely
followed the rollercoaster career of
this paragon of personalities, with
ecstasy as well as agony.
In Israel, I have defended him
against the slanders and snide slurs of
his compatriots, many of whom have
never understood him; never ap-
preciated his wit and wisdom; seen
only his pomposity, his arrogance, his
colossal conceit.
In this country I have defended
him against the smirks of professional
and amateur Zionists, many of whom
give money so that someone else can
make aliyah but would never even
dream of going to Israel themselves
except for a short visit. I have tried to
explain to them (as I did in my biog-
raphy) that Eban never knew poverty,
never experienced anti-Semitism, lost
no members of his family in the cre-
matoria, is not fluent in Yiddish as he
is in so many other languages. He has
only remote roots in Eastern Europe,
which makes him one of the very small
percentage of Israelis who went to the
Promised Land back in the dangerous
days entirely because of his burning
commitment not only to the principles
of Zionism, but to its fulfillment, by
helping in person to establish the
Jewish state.
For more than 35 years I have suf-
fered with him when his political
dreams were frustrated by others, as
when Yitzhak Rabin, upon becoming
Prime Minister, out of personal pique
replaced Eban as Foreign Minister, a
position for which he was exception-
o
Abba Ebdn's political ambitions have been
frustrated.
ally well suited by experience, train-
ing and skills. Or when Shimon Peres,
for political reasons, reneged on his
promise to make Eban an important
member of the Cabinet, if the Align-
ment, with Eban's help, did well at the
polls. Or when he was denied election
as Speaker of the Knesset, a post in
which he had served temporarily with
such brilliance that even the Likud
opposition began saying that Eban
was bringing some dignity to sessions
of the Knesset, which, until then, had
often resembled a rowdy saloon brawl
more than a solemn parliamentary
Continued on Page 24
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