EDITORIAL
Buzz Words
Judea and Samaria or West Bank? Occupied or Liberated
Territories? Annexation or Incorporation? Just who is a Palestinian?
To many, words are as important weapons in the Arab-Israeli
conflict as anything in the military arsenal. Joseph Puder of
Americans for a Safe Israel and Leonard Fein of Moment Magazine
revealed as much in their interviews with The Jewish News (Page 5).
They wield their weapons with ease, but one wonders how well their
followers — or anyone exposed to the language in which the Arab-
hraeli conflict is fought — understand the buzz words employed by the
combatants, or their motivation for using them.
Sometimes, it seems, reality gets lost in the rhetoric. "Palestinian"
used to refer to Jews when Israel was referred to as Palestine. Now
that Israel is referred to as Israel (except by those who don't recognize
Israel) "Palestinians" refers to the Arabs of Israel and the territories.
Moreover, Palestinians who live in the territories occupied by
Jordan from 1948-1967 (which the Arabs call the West Bank and
many Jews call Judea and Samaria) are all citizens of Jordan.
Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip, on the other hand, have no
citizenship at all.
Hence the argument that if West Bank Arabs want a homeland,
all they have to do is cross the river and join their brethren to the
east.
All this sounds really simple and clear on paper. But real life is
not on paper. What all the rhetoric and pat phrases fail to take into
account is that the Arab-Israeli conflict is about people, how they view
themselves and their national aspirations. And while Israel's leaders
must think strategically in issues of war and peace, propagandists far
from the Middle East would do well to consider the human factor in
their paper calculations.
should be given to Arab citizens of Israel and Arab residents of the
territories.
The fear could be substantially lessened if Israel had a blueprint,
a constitutional framework, from which to draw its laws and policies.
A basic legal foundation for all of Israel's citizens would lead to the
elimination of separate and unequal application of the law and the
bitterness that such a policy generates.
Is this wishful thinking, pie-in-the-sky dreaming, leftist logic?
Probably. No one can say that such a document could be produced
easily. It is as true of America as anywhere else that politicians do not
easily give up their turf or quickly change a lifetime of ideology. But
if Israel is to avoid becoming another Lebanon or Northern Ireland, it
must take a forward approach. It must work for a system acceptable to
all of its citizens or face turmoil internally as well as externally.
Such a basic solution, tearing deeply at the fabric of entrenched
institutions in a country that has literally been at war for forty years,
will not come easily. The Israelis need only look at the beginnings of
the American system to know how difficult and how long such a
process will be. But 200 years later they, too, could celebrate a system
of law — however imperfect — that would be seen as the protector of
all the citizens of the land.
Constitutional Politics
In this year of celebration marking the 200th anniversary of the
United States Constitution, Israeli politicians should join in the
celebration by taking a long, hard look at this important document.
Much of the rhetoric and justifiable concerns in Israel over a
growing Arab minority and its potential political power stems from
the fear that Jews may eventually be a minority in their own country.
Jews on the right and left have debated for years over the wisdom of
annexing the administered territories, how much power should be
giyen to the Arab minority, and what rights and responsibilities
LETTERS
Youth Center
Was Omitted
I read with great interest
Barbara Sofer's lengthy ac-
count of Ramie in the June 19
edition of The Jewish News
and the great changes
brought about by Project
Renewal of Detroit. To my
great dismay she left out an
important aspect of its
development. I refer to the
Youth Center in the heart of
the Old City given to Ramle
by the Walter and Lea Field
Family in 1983.
We were there before either
the Rose Family Library or
the Goldman-Hermelin pro-
ject for a "head start"
kindergarten.
The Youth Center created a
place for young people to
gather after school to play
6
FRIDAY, JULY 3, 1987
basketball or other sports, to
study their lessons, to learn
arts and crafts, music and
dancing, or just to visit with
friends. Hundreds of children
use this building every week
where before there was no
place for them to go but the
street .. .
Lea D. Field
Birmingham
Other Loans
Available
Regarding your article on
the "Neighborhood Project,"
(June 12), a point was made
that prime interest rates
would be used for home im-
provement loans; however,
there is a deferred loan for
those who qualify, and a three
. percent loan for others
through the Oakland County
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Community Development
Department.
The direct line for applica-
tions and information is
858-0493. If this is a unit or
long distance call then one
may call through the county
switchboard, 645-1150, and
ask for community
development.
Beverly S. Benaim
Member; Advisory Council for
Community Development Block
Grant Funds
Kosher Food
At Hillel
I enjoyed the first page
coverage of kosher
restaurants in the June 12
Jewish News. The vitality of
the Jewish community in this
area is suggested by the grow-
ing number of kosher
restaurants.
I just want to round out the
story by mentioning one more
kosher restaurant in town.
The B'nai B'rith Hillel Foun-
dation at Wayne State
University is open to the
public for luncheon, from 11
a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday
through Friday, during the
entire fall and winter terms
. . . on the sixth floor (room
67) of the Student Center,
5221 Gullen Mall, at Kirby
just east of Anthony Wayne
Drive .
Louis Finkelman
Director, B'nai B'rith
Hillel Foundation
Pollard Not
A Villain
David Holzel's article con-
cerning the so-called Pollard
Affair ("American Prisoner of
Zion," June 26) is long over-
due and therefore very
welcome. It does echo my own
sentiments regarding this
grave matter, mainly that the
life sentence imposed on
Jonathan Pollard can be
regarded as extremely cruel
and unusual punishment
especially in light of the cen-
tral fact that the information
Pollard gave Israel was such
that not only didn't it harm
the U.S. while vital to Israel,
a staunch U.S. ally, but it was
the kind that Israel could ex-
pect to receive free without
resorting to illegal means. It
is no secret that Israel,
throughout its 39 years of
statehood, willingly shared
with the U.S. invaluable
intelligence.
Indeed, the elder Pollards'
Continued on Page 10