- 4.4., • - PURELY COMMENTARY The Heartrending TIragedy: The Arab Self-Infliction PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor Emeritus V iolence that has resulted in many deaths causes heartrend- ing for Israel and world Jewry much more than for the violators of the peace. In the instances of sufferings caused by Israel's defenders who resorted to resistance that invited brutality the sadness is as great in our midst as anywhere else. The feeling of remorse is greater in our hearts because our morality and our ethical codes will not be infringed upon by the violent who wish death for the state called Israel. There are some undeniables in the tragic situation. Surrounded by more than a hundred million Arabs who seek Israel's destruction, the Jewish State is not submitting to suicide. Conceding that there is truth in some of the exag- gerations about the current occur- rences, it must be recognized that all the stories about the accusations of organized brutalities stem from "it is reported" or "there are reports" about the depicted brutalities — without proof. We concede there are inevitable instances of reactions. We must insist that an honest appraisal will prove that media depictions of excesses have magnified the guilt that has been call- ed Israel. Then there is the Arab case. The Arab nations have chosen to be silent, to let the continuing condemnations of Israel serve as means of placing Israel on trial, often without defense; of mak- ing Israel the culprit without aiding in providing relief for those described as suffering in "refugee" camps. With the United Nations always acting disparag- ingly toward Israel, the Arab nations have encouraged perpetuating "refugee camps" as weapons in the battle to disgrace Israel. Gaza is exemplary. Not a single Arab state wishes responsibility for Gaza. Egypt dumped it into Israel's lap. It is imposed upon Israel. Not a single force in Arabism did anything to absorb those described as "refugees" into the Gaza economy. It is evident where the guilt lies. Very little has been heard in defense or support of Israel in the pre- sent crisis, and it is now reasonable to believe that many of the accusations and instances of brutalities will be pro- ven either false or exaggerations. It would be unjust, however, to assert that all voices have been silent. One expose of Arab guilt comes from an unexpected source. It is in a statement made in Rome by a visiting dignitary from Bethlehem, Israel, and it appeared a few days ago in the Michigan Catholic, the weekly newspaper of the Detroit Catholic Archdiocese. The Michigan Catholic story is headlined "West Bank Demonstrations `Destroying' Bethlehem University." The story is of sufficient importance to merit a lengthy quotation, as means of judging the sincerity of the cleric quoted and as an application to the cur- rent violence. The Michigan Catholic reports: The turbulent politics of the Israeli-occupied West Bank are "destroying" Catholic-run Bethlehem University, said the university's British vice chancellor, Christian Bro. Anton De Roeper. THe Vatican-sponsored university has been shut down numerous times by Israeli of- ficials in its 14-year history because of student demonstra- tions, he said. The most recent shut-down was also the longest — three months. Added to this are disrup- tions caused by disagreements among Palestinian political fac- tions from outside the campus trying to organize the all- Palestinian, mostly Moslem stu- dent body, Bro. De Roeper said in a Rome interview .. . Arab universities in oc- cupied territory are political as well as academic centers, he said. "They are places where large groups of youths come together for political activities fostered by groups outside the university," he added. "On the whole, (Bethlehem) University has the respect of the community and the occupying power," he added. "We have a serious academic record. When the political ele- ment arises, we try to live through it:' he added. This report is an indication of the existence of another tragedy, that is the destruction of the non-Jewish academic community resulting from violence. Surely, the rioting referred to is not by the entire Bethlehem University 1,600-student body. It is the result of destructive efforts stemming "from the outside." Therefore the conviction that what is happening is an Arab self-infliction, that while Israel and its supporting world Jewish community are being humiliated, the Arabs are the greatest sufferers. The UN and the Arab states are the guiltiest of all. Instead of negotiating and striving for peace, they are "the outsiders" referred to who are in- stigating the rioting by failures to seek an accord. The self-infliction of misery by Arabs upon themselves is the most depressing element in the tragedy. About The Moralists: An Editor's Addendum While resenting what's happening in the media, consideration is due the few who do not submit to the prejudice against Israel. Some take into con- sideration the moralists. Charles Krauthammer, a senior editor of the New Republic, after refuting the ar- rogant piece that was written for the NYTimes op-ed page by Woody Allen, made an important comment about the moralists who are "concerned about Israel's soul!' He commented: There is great nostalgia for the Israel of yore, the noble, vulnerable Israel so suddenly beloved by its critics. The cover of the current Economist cap- tures the mood perfectly. It quotes the prophet Hosea: "When Israel was a child, then I loved him." Why loved then, not now? Because, as Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci once complained to Ariel Sharon, "You are no more the nation of the great dream, the country for which we cried." Israel as victim, Israel on the brink of annihilation was so easy to love. It required only pity and a handkerchief. It is, after all, no moral effort to love a charity case. "My goodness!" writes Woody Allen. "Are these the people whose money I used to steal from those little blue- and-white cans after collecting funds for a Jewish homeland?" They are. What happened to them? Forty years of continual attack from every conceivable quarter: Arab armies, terrorists and now angry Palestinians over whom Israel never sought to rule, but for whom no one, other than those committed to destroying Israel, wants responsibility. Under these terrible cir- cumstances, Israel has commit- ted terrible sins: Sabra and Shatila being the worst, the beatings of Palestinians in the territories being the most recent. The beatings are a horror and blot on Israel. They repre- sent the kind of brutality a desperate army resorts to and for which there is no excuse. It is a relief to learn that Defense Minister Rabin has issued orders permitting the use of violence only to stop rioters in the act of rioting, and not otherwise. IT is perfectly legitimate to express revulsion at the beatings. And perfectly frivoloous to stop there. For a moral critique to be serious, it must show concern for princi- ple, not for parties. Serious ethics, like justice, is blind. An amoral Disneyland, however, it is not. So much con- cern for Israel's Jewish soul. Do Arabs, too, not have souls? When they prick, should our hearts not bleed? When the government of Syria killed 20,000 people in the 1982 Muslim Brotherhood uprising in Hama, Continued on Page 40 Hollywood Makes An Attempt At Diplomacy W oody Allen is not lacking in notoriety. He is a good actor, also gains attention as a writer and director. He is not begrudg- ed in what he does and says. When he attempts at being a diplomat, and a moralist to boot, that's annoying. He tried it in a New York Times Op-ed Page article in which he even tried to be the judge over Israel. Ari Z. Posner, a reporter-researcher of the New Republic editorial staff, gave the following addi- tional notoriety to Woody Allen: Being taken seriously has always been something of a hob- by for Woodey Allen. I just hope 2 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1988 he doesn't make it a habit. It has never really bothered me that Allen varied his oeuvre by toss- ing off a laugh-free drama from time to time. After all, with the next Woody Allen film always a mere 12 months away, who could blame him for indulging his dramatic license? This past year, though, the Woodman's gone on a seriousness offensive. In addi- tion to disappointing die-hards with September, he testified before Congress about the evils of colorization, and became a father for the first time Granted, none of these acts is intrinsical- ly bad, but taken together they were beginning to form a wor- risome pattern. Now Allen's entered the public debate about Israel's brutal actions on the West Bank. In a recent New York Times op- ed article, he attempted to de- nounce Israel's policies, but in- stead trivilaized his remarks with nervous humor. "If anything, I'm an uninformed coward;' he protests at the outset, like the self-deprecating hero of Annie Hall. "I mean, fellas, are you kidding?" he huffs, as if in self-parody, on the subject of the beatings. "My goodness! Are these the people whose money I used to steal from those blue-and-white cans after collecting funds for a Jewish homeland?" Few sub- jects remain beyond the ken of a clever satirist. The hemor- rhaging of Israel is probably one. Thus the new light on the image of Woody Allen the Moralist, who attemp- ted to be judge over Israel. Perhaps he'll learn that he is not "a Daniel come to judgment!'