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CANDLELIGHTING AT 8:33 P.M.
VOL. LXXXIX. NO. 23
Beyond Rhetoric
Slowly, slowly, almost imperceptibly, there has been some movement
on the Arab-Jewish front. No breakthroughs, mind you, but the sort of
human contact that has too often been missing from relations between these
two troubled peoples.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres met with King Hassan
II of Morocco, made some splashy headlines and briefly raised hopes that the
almost-petrified impasse in the Mideast would be broken.
It wasn't. But it indicated that the slow and painful process toward
peace is under way.
Also last week, a Jew and an Arab testified together on Capitol Hill.
Speaking against ethnically motivated attacks on Arab-Americans in the
U.S. were Hyman Bookbinder, the American Jewish Committee's
Washington-representative, and James Abourezk, chairman of the
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Bookbinder and Abourezk
generally hew to opposing sides of issues that affect their particular
communities. But they shared a table and a microphone before a House
Subcommittee.
The Bookbinder-Abourezk testimony made no headlines. But in its own
small way, it is as significant as the Hassan-Peres meeting. Both events
illustrate that it is still possible for leaders from both sides to sit side-by-side
in the same room and civilly discuss their differences or even, momentarily,
to act in concert on issues that are abhorrent to both. It gives us hope that
underlying the feisty rhetoric and the political showmanship that has
accrued to Jewish-Arab relations, there still remains an underlying strain
of hope and humanity waiting to come out.
Lonely Election
Michigan voters face short lines at the polls on Tuesday. Historically,
August primary elections that lack issues as warm as the weather outside
draw small percentages of registered voters to the voting booth. Tuesday's
election seems destined to repeat the pattern, and increases the chances for
"fringe" candidates to be voted onto the November ballot by small groups of
loyalists.
Bedsheet ballots of judicial candidates, opportunists taking advantage
of familiar last names, the lack of a strong state-wide i s sue can all lead to a
repeat of this spring's Illinois experience when two Lyndon LaRouche
proponents defeated regular Democratic Party nominees for placement on
the November ballot. Michigan Democrats are confident that it cannot
happen here on Tuesday — "the element of surprise is gone" — but a
complacent electorate in Michigan could allow the same mistake to happen
again.
On the Republican side, should an evangelist television preacher's
support help or hurt a gubernatorial candidate's chances? Should the Jewish
community worry about the coattail effect of a possible Presidential hopeful
who only recognizes "Christian" morality?
Tuesday's election is a test for all the candidates, as well as a test of
individual responsibility for all of us.
4
Friday, August 1, 1986
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
OP-ED
Dual Loyalty: Perspective
From An English-Israeli
ERIC GUTWILLIG
Special to The Jewish News
A
mong the SegineLaa 1.1..a+. go +"
131, Drael's population
there is that group, often
referred to as "Anglo-Saxons," who
came mainly from American and
British Commonwealth countries.
They came to Israel not because of
any persecution or need for refuge,
but because they felt it was right to
do so.
Many of these immigrants faced a
personal dilemma. The country of
their birth, or in some cases of their
adoption, had given them their educa-
tion, their upbringing, their rights as
citizens, their livelihood in dignity.
Was it not ingratuitous, if not dow-
nright disloyal, to turn your back on
all these, to say goodbye and pitch
your tent elsewhere?
The question was even more
acute for some who had fled the Nazi
scourge and found refuge on the
shores of England or other free coun-
tries in the 1930s. They had found
friendship and hospitality there, ob-
tained their education, in many cases
learned a profession, and now were
turning their backs on the countries
of their adoption. The dilemma did
not end with their decision to go on
aliyah. For having lived in Israel for a
certain length of time they auto-
matically acquire Israeli citizenship
unless they specifically request not to
do so.
Now, when the time comes to
renew the passport of their country of
origin, the question of dual loyalty
arises once more. Can one be really
and genuinely loyal to more than one
country? And if one cannot, how can
one justify the retention of the old
passport?
narak_o
Gutwillig lives in Haifa, Israel.
Some felt they could not be hon-
est with themselves if they retained
two passports or allowed their old
ones to lapse. The majority felt no
compunction in retaining their old
nationaii y 6,4E
+ hair_ TiPW
one. In fact, they not only retained it,
but fought to do so. Thus, when the
Australian government recently pro-
posed a law banning dual citizenship,
Australian citizens fought tooth and
nail till the threat was removed.
The question is often asked, and
again arose during the Australian
,
Can one be really and
genuinely loyal to more
than one country?
controversy, why should Israeli citi-
zens be so keen to retain the citizen-
ship of their country of origin?
In some cases the answers are
purely practical. Many immigrants
have left family behind which they
want to visit from time to time. Now,
if they have forfeited their original
nationality it may become necessary
to obtain a visa each time they want
to visit, which is both cumbersome
and time-consuming. The question of
pension rights also arises. Then there
is the matter of travel restrictions to
other countries. Some countries which
require visas from holders of Israeli
passports do not require them from,
for example, holders of British
passports. Anyone who has to do a lot
of travelling on business may find it
prudent to retain their original
passport for purely practical reasons.
But practical reasons apart, is
there any reason why an Israeli citi-
zen should not hold an additional na-
tionality — or indeed, why a citizen of
one country should not also hold the
c.