PURELY COMMENTARY Candidates' Speech Continued from Page 2 changes in tactics or priorities, but I assure you that there are some firm premises I will bring to the 'White House that will re- main firm: I will not shrink from using American strength, especially when direct American in- terests are threatened, or when long-term allies, in- cluding Israel, are in danger — and a strong, credible defense will always be in place — but we will always prefer non- military responses to events, not only because they are preferable on humane grounds or because any war could trigger a nuclear disaster, but because they can be more effective and more lasting. There is no more convinc- ing proof that American foreign policy is directed not only against evil forces in the world but for noble goals of mankind than our firm, unyielding support of human rights. Even though our own history is not free from ugly stains — slavery, Jim Crow laws, anti-Semitism, McCar- thyism — we have committed this nation to equality and freedom at home, and we have committed our resources and our influence to human rights around the world. Our perfor- mance, unfortunately, has not always lived up to our profess- ed principles. Precious words from Leviticus adorn our Liberty Bell: "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." These words we proclaim not only for our own land but for all the world. We cannot realistically be directly involv- ed in every struggle on every occasion to win human rights for all the inhabitants of the earth, but wherever the strug- gle does erupt sharply, whenever our strength and our influence can make a dif- ference — whether in leftist or rightist regimes — I want our nation to be responsive in an appropriate manner. That's why we will never abandon the struggle for Soviet Jewry. That's why we must strengthen our efforts to end apartheid. That's why we must seek more than a contra vic- tory in Nicaragua. This remarkable policy statement also introduces attitudes generally advocated by the vast majority of American Jews in all fields of social justice, for human civil rights, for fairness in dealing with the oppress- ed and the less fortunate. 30 FRIDAY, OCT. 2, 1987 Hyman Bookbinder has prepared a very convincing and appealing statement that must be taken into ac- count in the approaching presidential campaign. Some candidates may resort to it. On the record it is a state- ment which, as its author introduces it, will have general approval. What Bookbinder has assembled are facts of life. There is no separating from them. Are There Defectors? Surely, not all candidates will adopt this text as part of their plat- forms. Some may even take issue with it. Some may inject negatives into it. Note the latest Jesse Jackson blunder. He has many Jewish ad- mirers. Once again an uncontrolled temper led to bad judgement. Nevertheless, in the main, even the Rev. Jesse Jackson has a positive approach to the just rights of Jews to strive for the security of the redeem- ed homeland. The positive note on the Bookbinder theme will always challenge the defectors. The Jewish-Arab Debate This is not the first time Hyman Bookbinder is in the limelight. Nor is the advocacy of Israel-U.S. cooperation a new theme. Bookbinder, as the representative of the American Jewish Committee and as an ac- complished debater who dominates the platform, is known for his views in the nation's capital, among legislators and eminent American leaders. The team he has helped form, including himself and former U.S. Senator James Abourezk for a tour of several cities where they will clash on the Israel-Arab issues, is exceedingly interesting. Bookbinder's impending debates with Abourezk are intended to clarify the conflicting views. Hopefully they will. The character of the two men should provide an assurance that the venom previously experienced in such exchanges of conflicting ideas will not be repeated. We had sad examples of discourtesies. They have been con- tinuous and endless. In the mid-1930s an exchange of the differing views was arranged and included the late Dr. A. M. Hershman and an Arab spokesman. There was a packed au- dience for that event at the Detroit In- stitute of Arts. It ended abruptly when Rabbi Hershman's opponent resorted to abuse. In the mid-1940s a similar event was arranged in the Saginaw Conser- vative synagogue by Rabbi Joseph Katz. Judge Frank Picard, then chair- man of the Michigan Chapter of the American Christian Palestine Com- mittee, presided. This commentator was the Jewish representative. There were three other participants, in- cluding a Michigan State University professor whose leanings were pro- Arab. While I was speakin&the Arab spokesman, a University of Michigan graduate student, kept interrupting with shouts: "Jewish propaganda." When I referred to an article in the New York Times he shouted "Jew paper." The audience, some of whose guests were described as leaning toward anti-Semitism, cheered him. The event ended so distressingly that the MSU pro-Arab professor treated my opponent with disgust in his summary. The participants in the ill-fated Saginaw meeting included the Rev. John Grauel. The revered Christian Zionist, who has through the years advocated the Zionist cause and Israel's just rights in the family of na- tions in churches as well as Jewish assemblies, was a shipmate aiding the refugees from Nazism on the SS Exodus which was denied admission to Palestine by the British mandatory power. As we waited for an interurban bus to take us back to Detroit at the Saginaw bus station that midnight, John Grauel and the MSU professor shared their horror that some guests at the synagogue function should have shouted anti-Semitic slogans and the Arab's presentation should have been filled with much venom. Surely, the Bookbinder Abourezk debates could not possibly permit abuses. Hopefully they will lead toward better understanding with leanings toward peace, amity and cooperation in both ranks. There is no reason, in a civilized society, for any other approaches to matters that have hitherto been unhappily bitter. Henry II: A Ford Who Rose Above Hatred An inerasable chapter that could be placed under the title "Expiation" or "Redemption" or half a dozen other synonyms for "Atonement" is present- ly being recalled as an obituary for Henry Ford II. There could be no greater tribute to a man who, carrying the agonized memory of a grandfather who fanned flames of hatred against the Jewish people, rose to great heights in erasing legacies of venom and establishing a name of glory for his own generation. Henry Ford II, who died Tuesday at Ford Hosptial after a grave illness, was well aware of the seeds of hatred that were planted by a sinning grandfather. He must have experienced the mistreat- ment accorded his father, Edsel Ford, by grandfather Henry Ford I. He learned compassion and charity and human- itarianism from his mother, Mrs. Edsel Ford. Therefore, there was a noble shar- ing of kindnesses and devotions by Henry Ford II with his mother. Everything that was rejected in the hatred of the elder Ford was elevated to a high rank in humanitarianism and philanthropy by the atoning genera- tion. While the elder Ford also was known to be kind to Jews: worked in his plants, this was the exception to his way of life that was dedicated to publishing hate articles and the vicious Max Fisher and Henry Ford II at 1979 Technion dinner. fakes known as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. One of the first acts in the life of Henry Ford II was to have his grandfather's chief guide and adviser, Harry Bennett, drive him around the Ford residential area a nd the Dearborn Ford plant. Upon the end of the drive he motioned to the m an who was con- sidered among the evil family spirits and ordered him out that very day from everything associated with the Fords. Then began the four decades of nobility under the Ford name that com- menced with a high grade of decency. The bigotries began to disappear, republication of anything resembling bias against Jews was never to be con- doned. The Henry Ford II associations were to be with the noblest in the community. It is no wonder that Max M. Fisher and his Marjorie became Ford's closest friends. It is no wonder that Henry Ford II and Max Fisher became "buddies" in the noblest sense of the term. It is no wonder that Mrs. Edsel Ford, whose gifts to the arts and literature were blessings for the Insittute of Arts, the Library, the Symphony, should have had Max as a guiding spirit. Thus, when Henry Ford II began contributing $100,000 a year to the United Jewish Appe through the Detroit Allied Jewish Campaign, his mother supplement:: with an annual personal gift. They were among other notable gifts to major causes. There was a deeply-moving ex- perience when Mrs. Edsel Ford died. The annual UJA gifts were not to be ended abruptly. The executors of her will decided to continue the UJA con- tribution for another year as a mark of respect for the deep interest the remarkable lady had shown in Israel and the need to aid Israel's builders and _