92

Friday, April 5;1985

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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Elie Wiese!

Continued from Page 112

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stacles familiar to all Jewish
journalists of the world: our
publishers were interested
mainly in Jewish subjects. If
an event didn't have an Is-
raeli angle, a Jewish perspec-
tive, a Jewish element, I was
obliged to abandon it and to
surrender that territory to
the general press.
Now it is different. The
Israeli papers have grown
and become prosperous. Cer-
tain ones can be compared to
the best international dailies.
But in the 50's they pub- •
lished four pages, or eight,
not more: it was necessary to
be modest, not to burden the
reader, not to aim too high,
not to digress from family
life, not to leave the
framework of the Jewish
people.
Later, in New York, I
worked also for the Morgen
Journal, at first, and then for
the Forward. I edited and
translated press releases, I
wrote literary criticism, po-
litical and social commen-
tary: there the scope was
broader, but next to, or
rather in the shadow of, the •
powerful New York papers,
the Yiddish dailies couldn't
help but feel a certain in-
feriority complex.
Wrongly. They were not in

competition. All performed

essential functions and each
in its own way. Moreover, the
Yiddish press could be proud
of prestigious by lines: Glats-
tein and Zeitlin, Singer and
Margoshes, Lieverman and
Rogoff, Auerbach and Grade
...The columns were often of
exceptional quality. Why
worry if the news was a day
or two old?
Twenty years: twenty
years of my life in the realm
of journalism. They taught
me a lot. I owe them my con-
cern with precision, exact-
itude, and brevity. And my
ability to write in all places:
standing at the station, or
seated on the terrace of a
cafe, in an airplane, or in a
doctor's or dentist's waiting
room.
Why did I abandon this
fascinating profession? An-
other profession, not less ex-
citing, attracted me: teach-
ing. I hope to continue. Some-
times I take up my pen to
write an investigative report
or a commentary on subjects
close to my heart, but it is no
longer as a newspaperman
that I write.
Journalism is not like
religion: once you leave it
there is no returning. •
It 'is also like youth.

Translated from the French by
Ann Stiller

Senators Differ On Israel
PR Attitude In U.S. Press

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"For me, keeping the joy and
tradition of Passover means
having everything just right .
And it's a lot easier without
too much caffein.
That's why I drink Sanka.""

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Washington (JTA) — Two U.S.
Senators differed last week
whether. Israel should pay atten-
tion to public opinion in the
United States.
Sen. Steven Symms (R-Idaho)
told the 150 person participating
in the 1985 Washington Mission
of the New York United Jewish
Appeal-Federation of Jewish
Philanthropies that Israel, by
bowing to the U.S. pressure in
Lebanon in 1982, "snatched de-
feat from the jaws of victory."
Symms said that at the time he
told the then Israeli Ambassador,
Moshe Arens, to "ignore" the
American press and do what you
have to do to prosecute the war to
a victory."
He said that if Israel had kept'
up the fighting in Beirut for an-
other 72 hours, despite the heavy
casualties it might suffer, every-
thing would have worked out. "I
think the Syrians would have
been forced to come to Israel to
make a settlement. The way it
happened, they got off the hook,"
and the situation has worsened
with terrorists returning to south
Lebanon, Symms said.
He added that Israel has bowed
to this type of pressure at the end
of three wars. He said the same
thing happened to the U.S. in
Korea and Vietnam where, he
said, the wars were won on the
battlefield but lost in Washing-
ton.
But Sen. Christopher Dodd

AMMO.. vErr

air .11.

.atalha.41

(D-Conn.) said that although he
supported Israel's objectives in
Lebanon "it is extremely impor-
tant what the American public
thinks about Israel and you can't
ignore it."
He said while Israel is the "best
ally in the world" of the U.S. there
are forces here who want to see
the strong ties "fractured and
. -broken apart." He said to tell Is-
rael to ignore public opinion is not
in Israel's interests.
"Maintaining and building the
political base of support for the
State of Israel in this country is
absolutely and fundamentally es-
sential to its survival and secu-
rity," Dodd declared. "Without
that fundamental base of support
in a democracy Israel's security is
jeopardized."
Symms replied that while he
agreed with some of what Dodd
said, The New York Times, be-
lieve it or not, does not always re-
present what mainstream
America thinks," Symms said.
This was greeted by loud
applause.
Dodd and Symms were among
seven Senators who appeared in a
forum on "American Strategic
Role in the Middle East" on
Capitol Hill which began the
day-long program of the UJA-
Federation Mission. The other
were Senator majority leader
Robert Dole (R-Kans.) and Sens.
Joseph Biden (D-Del.), John
Glenn (D-Ohio), Robert Kaston
(R-Wis.) and San Nunn (P-Ga.)