THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, December 6. 1985
CLOSE-UP
Freedom Has Not
Made Jerry Levin Happy
Back in the United States after being held for 11 months in
Lebanon by Islamic terrorists, newsman Levin finds himself
reviled and his cause of getting other hostages out ignored.
BY ARTHUR J. MAGIDA
Special to The Jewish News
Jerry and Sis Levin are
frustrated. For more than 15
months, their lives have been
shadowed by events in the
Middle East. They have been
called naive, un-American and
dupes of the PLO. Jerry, a
Jew, is saddened by the fail-
ure of Jewish organizations to
rally to his cause. Sis, a Chris-
tian, is almost tearful at what
she labels press and govern-
ment "distortions" of their ef-
forts to achieve their goal: To
free the "Forgotten Six"
Americans now held by
Islamic extremists in
Lebanon.
Levin has a personal stake
in the release of those six
Americans. The former head
of the Cable News Service's
Beirut bureau, Levin was held
by extremists in Lebanon's
Bekaa region for 11 months.
Whether he escaped last Feb-
ruary or whether his captors
had allowed him to escape
may never be known.
But what is clear is that the
Levins feel inextricably link-
ed to those U.S. citizens still
held captive in Lebanon.
"If I was still over there,"
said Levin recently at
(Top) Levin as he appeared upon escaping from his terrorist prison last
February. (Bottom) Sis and Jerry Levin in their Washington home.
his home in Washington, "I,
too, would still be 'forgotten.'
While I was a prisoner, I had
assumed from the knocks that
I had heard on the bathroom
door in the morning that fel-
low Americans were being held
with me. When I got out, I
was bound to them. I felt an
obligation to them. I couldn't
stand back and let them re-
main in captivity. And I
couldn't let this happen to
anyone else."
Along with his wife, Levin
is among the more outspoken
critics of American efforts to
win the freedom of the "For-
gotten Six." This is what the
U.S. captives are often called
by those seeking their release
because of the alleged lack of
attention they receive from
the news media and the
American goverment.
Giving a new impetus to the
Levins' efforts is a letter,
released in Beirut in Novem-
ber, from four of the remain-
ing hostages. One of the let-
ters begged President Re-
agan, "to negotiate with our
captors," adding, "Mr.
President, how long do you
suppose these people will
wait?"
The White House issued its
expected response to the plea:
"We do not negotiate with
terrorists." Official Washing-
ton has long maintained that
negotiating with terrorists
would only encourage future
acts of terrorism.
Retorted Levin to this
stance, "The State Depart-
ment has gotten itself out on
a limb by saying it won't
negotiate for their release. Yet
all good hostage procedure re-
quires talk and negotiations.
We tell everyone else to negoti-
ate. We tell the Israelis and
the Jordanians to negotiate
with each other. The Presi-
dent went off to Geneva two
weeks ago to negotiate with
the Russians. But the State
Department won't negotiate
for the release of its own citi-
zens."
Added his wife: "The aston-
ishment of the captors was
that it seemed that no one in
the United States cared. To
them, it all seemed to be
brushed under the rug."
Despite the Levins' charges
of government apathy toward
the kidnapped Americans, an
Administration official said
efforts to obtain their release
were continuing, presumably
through influential third par-
ties. And Secretary of State
George Shultz said on Mon-
day, "We're doing everything
we can think of."
Continued on next page
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