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;1986 by The Detroit Jewish News (US PS 275-520)
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CANDLELIGHTING AT 4:54 P.M.
VOL. XC, NO. 12
Upside Down Policy
When Richard Nixon ran for the presidency in 1968, he said he had a
secret plan to end the war in Vietnam. "Trust me," said Nixon. "I will
send our boys home."
When Jimmy Carter was president and trying to obtain the release of
American hostages from Iran, then-presidential candidate Ronald Reagan
repeatedly attacked Carter for his "inept, weak" handling of the crisis.
Now Ronald Reagan is president and he appears to have combined
the worst elements of his predecessors in one plan of his own — to try to
facilitate the shipment of military spare parts to Iran in return for
assistance in gaining the release of American hostages in Lebanon. The
plan is not only secret (or it was until last week) but proves us to be liars
to our allies, professing integrity while engaged in efforts to undermine
our very own public policy. That's worse than weak, it's dangerous.
_ For years now, the United States has publicly struck a high note by
saying it would not negotiate with terrorists. This moral tone has been
consistent over several Administrations, Republican and Democrat.
Further, we have publicly scolded nations such as France for making
deals to free their kidnapped citizens. And the U.S. has tried to organize
a worldwide embargo against arms sales to Iran — while the White
House itself has been breaching that embargo secretly.
Such behavior, of not only talking to a nation accused of terrorism
but secretly supplying it with arms, has raised serious questions about
America's credibility, her foreign policy strategies and goals, and the
management of her intelligence operations.
The plan is guaranteed to embarrass everyone involved, including,
apparently, Israel, which reportedly has been the conduit for
American-made weapons to Iran. The Israeli involvement underscores its
strong ties to the U.S. and the complexity of Mideast politics.
We had grown accustomed to this Administration talking tough and
doing little, as in its continued threats to punish Syria for supporting
terrorists while taking no tangible action. Now we have a case of the
White House confusing and angering allies by turning stated policy
upside down.
OP-ED
Holocaust Center Must Go
Beyond One Man's Dream
ROBERT ROTH
s. Welch's revealing article
(Nov. 7) on the Holocaust
Memorial Center will
hopefully commence a much needed
debate on the thrust of the
institution. Particularly noteworthy
are the references to the HMC's
ironic lack of success as a source of
educational outreach and research —
an issue inextricably intertwined
with the nature of Rabbi
Rosenzveig's control of the
institution.
Rabbi Rosenzveig deserves the
credit he receives for establishing
the center. Without his tenacity, the
institution simply would not exist.
However, by the very nature of the
subject matter, the focus and direc-
tion of the institution cannot con-
tinue to be defined by one man's
vision.
What is the purpose of the
HMC? If it is to educate the general
populace about the Holocaust in an
effort to avoid a repetition, what is
the best means of doing so? Pre-
sently, the HMC is a resounding
success as an exhibit, a museum and
a memorial. However, to limit the
center to a moving exhibit is a mis-
sed opportunity of the greatest mag-
nitude. To quote statistics of the
number of bodies that have visited
the building is as accurate a
barometer in measuring the success
of the institution as the body count
method utilized by the Pentagon to
gauge success in winning the Viet-
nam War.
Why not a two-track approach?
The HMC must begin to serve as an
educational outreach and research
center. A brief enumeration of what
Robert P. Roth is former associate
chairman of HMC Oral History Project
and son of two Auschwitz survivors.
Rabbi Rosenzveig
deserves the credit for
establishing the center
. . . but the institution can
not continue to be defined
by one man's vision.
catalogued and useless as a research
tool. More importantly, the center
has relied too much in the past on
part-time volunteers, such as myself.
There is an urgent need to pursue
more oral histories before it is too
late.
(3) The "library" is a misnomer.
A real library is a room where books
are shelved in an organized fashion
and where a system exists whereby
one who enters the library can locate
a particular book. As this capability
does not exist at the HMC, it is use-
less as a research tool.
(4) Course offerings for the pub-
lic are non-existent.
(5) Holocaust film series are
non-existent.
(6) Cooperation with educational
institutions in such areas as recip-
rocal sharing of tapes and other ar-
chival material is not only absent,
but has been discouraged! What jus-
tifiable reason exists for Sid Bol-
THE PIED PIPER OF LEBANON
Religious Persuasion
"Kelly & Co." did a mitzvah this week in presenting "Christian
Jews" on its Tuesday morning program. Granted, the proselytisers were
seeking a wider audience for their ideas, Channel 7 was seeking higher
ratings, and Jewish spokesmen and other opponents could do no more
than try to be as glib in the few minutes allowed either side.
Who won or lost this electronic debate is immaterial. Of importance
to the Jewish community is the warning that this was one small skirmish
in the much larger war for the hearts and minds of our children. We can
no longer_dismiss reports about cults, proselytisers and conversions as
happening somewhere .else to someone , else's family. And if we are
concerned about our own, our battle plan lies within the daily choices we
make within our Judaism.
4 Friday, November 14, 1986
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
the HMC has inexplicably failed to
implement is in order:
(1) Rabbi Rosenzveig's refusal to
co-sponsor a high school curriculum
project was a critical error. What
better avenue of outreach exists
than to institutionalize Holocaust
education in the public schools? An
attempt to duplicate this project is
an obvious waste of valuable re-
sources.
(2) 150 survivors painfully re-
lived their horrors on audio and
video tape so that others may some-
how benefit. After two years these
tapes sit collecting dust, un-
t ,
I
Of 017, .