EDITORIAL
Reagan's Moral Support
President Reagan is to be commended for his emphasis on human
rights issues during the Moscow Summit, and for meeting with
dissidents and refuseniks, despite displeasing his official hosts.
The extraordinary meeting between the President and about 100
dissidents, including a large number of Jewish refuseniks who
repeatedly have been denied permission to emigrate to Israel, was
a sign of symbolic support from the leader of the free world. "While
we press for human rights through diplomatic channels," the Presi-
dent told the group, "you press with your very lives, day in, day out,
year after year, risking your jobs, your homes, your all."
It was a message not only to the dissidents themselves, offering
moral support, but to the leadership of the Soviet Union, the Soviet
people and the American people as well.
Whether or not Reagan's effort backfires remains to be seen.
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev noted that his country did not like
"sermonizing," and observers feel that if Reagan pushes too hard
on human rights, he runs the risk of embarrassing Gorbachev and
actually slowing the trend toward openness. Gorbachev faces an im-
portant national conference of the Communist Party next month and
he does not want to open himself to the charge from party critics
that he is giving in to American pressure by increasing emigration.
Still, in a summit of symbols, President Reagan acted properly
in raising the issue of human rights at virtually every opportunity.
For in the end that is the only way to improve the situation in the
USSR: through pressure and public attention and more pressure.
parently have not been frightened away by incidents of violence.
Concern — especially by parents of Jewish youth traveling to
Israel — is understandable. But Israel has long appeared to be in
crisis. One could wait until the coming of the Messiah for a quiet
summer to visit the Jewish state.
Yet the fact remains that Israel is an extraordinarily safe coun-
try. It is far less dangerous to walk the streets of Israel than those
of Detroit.
Just as crack-house violence on Detroit's east side doesn't directly
affect those living in Southfield, riots in a Gaza refugee camp don't
touch residents of Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.
American Jews are fond of declaring that they are with Israel
in times of crisis. Yet such words ring shallow if they are not backed
up by actions. Our role as tourists — both by the example we set
and by the very necessary dollars tourism brings into the country
— become all the more important in times such as these. Today, stan-
ding with Israel means spending time in Israel.
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A Safe Trip
For the past several months, Israel has been plagued with a pro-
blem as frustrating and serious as the much-publicized violence in
the administered territories: a severe decline in tourism.
Since December, the number of Americans traveling to Israel has
decreased dramatically. And unfortunately, much of this decline is
a result of Jewish groups cancelling trips; Christians and others ap-
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LETTERS
Shultz Plan
Worries ZOA
The Public Affairs Commit-
tee of the Zionist Organiza-
tion of America, Metro
Detroit District, after review-
ing the U.S.-initiated Arab-
Israeli peace process, called
on 'Secretary of State George
Shultz to reactivate the Camp
David peace formula as "offer-
ing a greater promise of ac-
commodation between the
Palestinian Arabs and
Israel."
ZOA finds Secretary
Shultz's peace-program flaw-
ed in many respects, namely,
its reliance on an interna-
tional peace conference, its
precipitous time-table and its
"linkage" to the riots in the
administered territories. To
date, neither the Soviet
Union, nor Jordan has agreed
to participate in the con-
ference under the conditions
set by Secretary Shultz.
The Soviet Union insists on
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FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 1988
having an "input" in the
neotiations, and in the event
of an impasse between the
parties directly concerned,
dictate its own solution.
Jordan, in a reversal of its
previous position, now calls
for the PLO to be represented
as an equal partner in the
negotiations.
The ZOA warns that in-
troducing the Soviet Union
into the Middle East via the
international peace-
conference is inimical to the
national interests of the U.S.,
Israel and the western
democracies. With the Soviet
Union and Jordan rejecting
Secretary Shultz's conditions
for participation in the con-
ference; putting the onus of
blame on Israel's Prime-
Minister Itzhak Shamir as
the major stumbling block to
the peace process is totally
unwarranted.
Dr. Leon H. Warshay
George Mann
Louis Panush
ZOA Detroit District
A Stamp
Of Legitimacy
The opinion piece (May 13)
"How Not To Fight the PLO"
and the prominence you gave
it, comes under the category
of giving aid and comfort to
the enemy.
The writer claims that the
PLO offices in Washington
and New York should be
allowed to remain open under
the theory of freedom of
speech. This, of course, is
what the PLO is claiming.
Many years ago, the United
States Supreme Court ruled
that yelling "Fire" in a crowd-
ed theater is not protected by
freedom of speech.
Freedom of speech likewise
does not protect: inciting to
riot, treason and conspiracy,
whether it be murder, hijack-
ing of airplanes, ships or any
other kind of crime.
If the PLO's activities are
not covered by any of the
above categories, then the
writer of the article must be
privy to inside PLO workings,
which the rest of us are not.
While closing these offices
will certainly not silence the
PLO, it will remove from it
the stamp of legitimacy,
which maintaining the offices
gives it. Having offices out in
the open gives the ap-
pearance of propriety, and
negates the true character of
the organization, which is ter-
ror and murder.
Unfortunately, the vast ma-
jority of the American people
take a very simplistic view of
the entire situation, and are
all too easily swayed. Claim-
ing that this is simply a mat-
ter of freedom of speech comes
under that category, and
makes us look un-American,
and unfair.
By taking up this argu-
ment, you are giving aid and
comfort to the enemy.
If the Japanese Red
Brigade, the Bader-Meinhoff
gang, or the IRA tried to open
offices in this country, would
you likewise say they should
be allowed to do so?
If you had ever seen any of
the 'literature published by
the PLO, you would realize
that they are fiendishly
clever. They manage to twist
everything they do into and
make it look like a legitimate
fight for freedom, while mak-
ing the Israelis look like
theives and aggressors.
Do you think the American
public should be allowed to
receive this with a stamp of
legitimacy?
Balfour Peisner
Southfield
Let Us Know
Letters must be concise,
typewritten and double-
spaced. Correspondence
must include the signa-
ture, home address and
daytime phone number of
the writer.
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