PURELY COMMENTARY Realities That Demand Protection of Israel Autonomy PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor Emeritus I n a speech on "Conciliation with America," March 22, 1775 in the British House of Commons, Ed- mund Burke (1729-1797) made the assertion: "The concessions of the weak are the concessions of fear." In his judgment on fear, the Irish statesman and author provided an ap- plicability to the ever-saddening developments in Israel. In our appeal to reason in a December commentary, 'there was emphasis on avoidance of panic. Even the U.S. State Department had yielded to a measure of fear over current tragic occurrences. Our immediate concern last month was over the calamities that stem from panicking. The appeal was for a recogni- tion of realities demanded by Israel's right to function autonomously regardless of threats. The explained threats are those of an antagonistic Arab world that fails to recognize the Israeli position as of right and not an sufferance. The shockingly distressing realism is that the rioters and demonstrators use violent cries that "Jews get out," that Israel abandon Gaza and the Judea-Samaria area called West Bank really is a demand that Jews give up everything that was created since the state's rebirth. Sidney Zion, who has been writing extensively on the Middle East, in a New York Times Op-ed Page article Jan. 4 recalled such a demand that was made to him in an interview with the then Mayor Sheik Mohamm- ed Ali Jaabari of Hebron in 1970: In 1970, Sheik Mohammed Ali Jaabari, the mayor of Hebron, had a few of us American journalists to his home for tea. Those were the days when every newspaper- man who went to the Holy Land hunted for moderate Arab leaders who might help broker a peace between Israel and Jor- dan and thus end the three-year occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Mayor Jaabari seem- ed the quintessential moderate: He not only was close to King Hussein but despised the Palestine Liberation Organi- zation. I have reconstructed the in- terview from memory and from talking with a newsman who was present. Sheik Jaabari was asked the jackpot question first: What do the Arabs require for peace? "It is quite simple," he said. "The Jews will have to restore to the Arabs all the land taken from them in the wars:' I said, "Did you say 'wars'? Not the 1967 war, but "wars'?" "All the wars — everything since the UN partition plan of 1947:' "That would mean Jaffa, for example." "Yes;' Sheik Jaabarai said. "There were 70,000 Arabs in Jaf- fa in 1947; there will be 70,000 Arabs in Jaffa now." "And half the Negev, and part of Haifa, all of Jerusalem, Beersheba:' "The whole of the Negev," he said. "And, for sure, Jerusalem, and much of Haifa, and Beer- sheba. Wherever the Arabs were then, the Arabs will be now." I said, "Mr. Mayor, if the Israelis were to accept this ar- rangement, would you then recognize them and make peace with them?" He thought for a moment and said, "I assure you that if the Jews do this, the Arab leaders will be very favorable to them." "But no guarantees in ad- vance," I said. "The Arab leaders will have to meet, of course. But I know them. I know how they think. I tell you they would be very favorable to the Jews:' "First, the Israelis must give back the land and then the Arab leaders meet, is that it?" "Yes, though it might be simultaneously — that is a detail:' "Anyway, the Israelis must make the offer unconditionally?' "For peace, absolutely?' I said: "Mr. Mayor, I have great respect for you. So please do not take what I must say as a sign of disrespect:' "Say anything you like. You are my guest:' "My question is, What would your terms be if you won the war?" This is what the youth of that generation of haters have inherited from their parents and the media who seem bent upon every opportunity to needle Israel. They continue to em- phasize all available negatives to sen- sationalize the means wherewith to por- tray. the Jewish state as a banal and criminally-governed country. The death of an Arab woman on Jan. 3, caused by an Israeli soldier, add- ed to the weapons for hatred. It was a tragically unfortunate occurrence. Israel was as shocked by the accident Continued on Page 40 Historiography Enriched By Jabotinsky Biography B iography has often been judged as the most vital factor in pre- serving archival records. An important life story of the famous creator of Revisionism in Zionism, Vladimir Jabotinsky, proves it. A Detroit-based philanthropic fami- ly is fulfilling an important need by re- issuing the two-volume Rebel and Statesman by Joseph B. Schechtman. This important Jabotinsky biography has many vital elements to commend it. Primarily, it is the story of the man whose philosophy inspired the Israel Likud political and social foundation. Then there is the significant introduc- tion. It is the only essay Menachem Begin had written since his retirement from the Israel prime membership. It is a Menachem Begin declaration of respect and admiration for his mentor, Vladimir Zeev Jabotinsky. Then there is the biographer. Joseph B. Schechtman worked side-by- side with the hero of his biography. Perhaps no other person was so closely associated with Jabotinsky in his rela- tionship with all the contending groups in Jewish life and primarily in Zionism. The Menachem Begin essay, the foreward to the Schechtman biography, is much more than a tribute to the leader of the political Zionist party that called for militancy in achieving the aims of the Jewish national movement. It is an excoriation of the critics and an appeal for gratitude for Jabotinsky's idealism. Begin also took occasion to pay 2 FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 1988 honor to the biographer. He acknowledged Schechtman as one of Jabotinsky's collaborators "in times of crisis and achievement, in the hours of joy and worry." The linking of the two personalities is important because the Jabotinsky- Schechtman ties are vital for an understanding and appreciation of the massive material imbedded in this biography. The first volume of the Schechtman biography is devoted to the early years of the eminent personality depicted af- fectionately. Here the life of Jabotinsky also is revealed like a romantic story of genius emerging on the Jewish horizon. It is the initial step to Zionist leader- ship. It is an introduction also to Jabotinsky's Jewish loyalties and his acquaintance with Jewish life. The se- cond volume, The Last Years, is the vital appendix to Jewish history of this cen- tury, of the Zionist idealism and the dif- fering with the most powerful. Jabotinsky's encounters with Jewish leaders included an early one with Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis and The Brandeis-Mack group in American Zionism. Brandeis had faith in the British and their pledges, Jabotinsky did not. According to Schechtman: "Brandeis replied coldly: 'Sir, I can only see that we do not speak a common language.' To this Jabotinsky retorted: `Your Honor is certainly an excellent judge, but you don't possess a bit of political understanding if you cannot Vladimir Jabotinsky in Jewish Legion uniform. see what is taking place under your very nose.' This exchange of darted remarks is being reported here on the authority of the late Mark Schwarz, to whom Jabotinsky related the memorable conversation almost im- mediately after it had taken place. Mr. A. Remba recorded Schwarz's evidence in his unpublished study `Jabotinsky the Defender and Prisoner.' Mr. Robert Szold, who was present at the Brandeis- Jabotinsky meeting, did not confirm this report and only stated that `Brandeis listened attentively to Jabotinsky's exposition of the (political) situation.' However he admitted to this author that Brandeis 'did not take to Jabotinsky.' There undoubtedly was a clash of personalities which left its mark on all their further relationships, opened a rift between the two men and kept them apart almost until the end of their lives." This is selected from the scores of in- cidents of rancor and often recrimina- tion between Zionist leaders and the roles played by Jabotinsky. Yet there were subsequent occasions when Jabotinsky was in close contact with Brandeis on Zionist matters, as he was with the other leaders. The emphasis is on the ideological encounters and Jabotinsky could apologize as well as attack, as he did in several disputes with Chaim Weizmann and others. The entire history of Jewish ex- perience is covered in the Schechtman biography with the involvements of Americans like Brandeis and Judge Julian W Mack and scores of others. It was with Labor Zionism that Jabotin- sky had many disputes and much of the opposition to his Revisionist views stemmed from these sources. The women:s Zionist groups were similarly aligned with the opposition and it was a battle so deeply involved ideological- ly as well as politically, in the struggle for control of power in the World Zionist Continued on Page 40