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Hentoff attributed this to the desperate need for many American Jews to identify with Israel. "A good many Jews," he said, "don't know why they're Jewish other than the fact that they are Jewish. So they express their Jewish- ness through their support for Israel. The thought that there might be something wrong with a decision of the Israeli government that might make it' a moral leper makes this per- son who has all this invest- ment in Israel scared that he, also, will be a moral leper." A few months after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Hentoff worte that the "most significant result of the inva- sion was the revelation of the `human reality' of Lebanon. If you bomb Palestinian camps, it is human beings who fly apart." Now says Hentoff, this aspect of the invasion was "sadly ephemeral. The TV shots of the invasion were devastating, as were the books about the kids who are now without arms or legs. But all that is forgotten. The most significant thing is what Israel did to itself. Sharon has done more harm to Israel than even Arafat has done. I wonder," smiled Hentoff, "whether he is the most effective 'mole' that the Arabs have. I wonder who his master is." Hentoff appeared to have slightly more respect for another Israeli who usually makes left-wingers livid — Meir Kahane. He seemed to consider Kahane "provoca- tive" in the best senese of that word: Kahane's ideas challenge basic assumptions. They ques- tion several generations' worth of political theories and legal doctrine and Zionist human- ism and humane Zionism. "If you accept his basic premise," said Hentoff, "then the man makes sense. The reason he drives moderate and dovish Jewish crazy is that ' he's really putting it to them. He's saying, 'Look, if you want the kind of democracy you're talking about, then given the demographics of the Arabs in Israel, Israel will be a bina- tional state in time. But change the demographics — kick the Arabs out — and Israel will be a more 'decent' place." "I sense that the racism he espouses is not anything he deeply feels. It's his way of attracting attention. If he were just talking about a Zionist state, he wouldn't get any at- tention. But he talks about throwing Arabs into the sea. Now that gets news coverage." Hentoff ranks Kahane as a "performer" along with an- other racist who is touring the country these days, Black Muslim Minister Louis Far- rakhan. But as a civil liber- tarian, Hentoff is appalled at a suggestion that the two men be squelched. "Try that and you are playing into their hands." And he is further dismayed at moves by Jewish leaders in "city after city where Far- rakhan has been speaking to get together with responsible black leaders and daven a little and hope the black leaders will say some terrible things about Farrakhan. What's it worth if "A good many Jews express their Jewishness through Israel. They fear that if Israel becomes a moral leper, so will they." you have to cajole them? And anyway, if Jews cajole blacks to say bad things about Far- rakhan, he can say they do it because of Jewish pressure." To Hentoff, Farrakhan is "shrewd" and Kahane is "clever." But as a die-hard civil libertarian, he heaps some of his most scathing scorn upon That Man In The White House and his cronies. At least, Hentoff has some re- spect for the intelligence — if not the morality — of someone like Meir Kahane. He has little respect for the folks who are running the country. "Reagan" he said, "hasn't the brains to understand the briefs that his Administration submits to the Supreme Court. So Ed Meese is really running that part of the government. And Meese," said Hentoff, referring to Meese's recent statement equating being arrested with being guilty, "is the first at- torney general in American history, I think, who is so fundamentally ignorant of the Constitution." With Meese in the Justice Department and Reagan in the Oval Office, Hentoff fears for the Bill of Rights. He generally does, that's true, but these days he worries more than usual. He'splacing his faith in the schools to guarantee that the first ten amendments are not crippled. "I don't mean to slight the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic" he said, "but we must remember the fourth basic: How to think. When kids hear about our history, when they hear about what makes our nation different, they come alive. The only prob- lem is that most teachers don't know about it themselves." ❑