THE JEWISH NEWS
THIS ISSUE 60r
SERVING DETROIT'S JEWISH COMMUNITY
AUGUST 26, 1988 / 13 ELUL 5748
What If The PLO
Calls Israel's Bluff?
HELEN DAVIS
Israel Correspondent
J
U.S. Rep. David
Bonior has
madea name
forliMillf as
one of Israel's
most outspoken
critics on
Capitol Hill
erusalem — The current debate
among senior officials of the
Palestine Liberation Organiza-
tion (PLO) over abandoning some of
their most cherished dogma has
presented Israeli leaders with a
monumental challenge.
No longer are the Palestinians in-
sisting — at least not so emphatical-
ly — that the "Zionist entity" must be
destroyed and that an independent
Palestinian state must rise, Phoenix-
like, on its ashes.
Here, at last, are credible Palesti-
nians talking about pursuing the
"diplomatic option" rather than arm-
ed struggle; accepting a mini-state in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip
alongside Israel; even recognizing the
right of the Jewish state to exist.
The main impetus for the PLO's
dramatic re-evaluation of its sterile,
20-year-old positions — which produc-
ed a great deal of heat but shed very
little light on a solution to their pro-
blem of homelessness — has come
from the Palestinians who are cur-
rently living under Israeli occupation.
Last December, the PLO leaders
abroad were as surprised as the
Israeli authorities to find that the
Palestinians in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip had taken to the streets in
an open display of violent revolt and
civil disobedience.
Now, more than eight months
later, with little sign that Israel is
crumbling under the hail of stones
and firebombs, there are increasing
demands for the PLO leaders abroad
to translate the "battlefield victory"
of the shabiba — the Palestinian
youths — into solid political gains.
An added incentive for the PLO to
act was provided last month by Jor-
dan's King Hussein when he decided
to cut his historic ties with the West
Bank, leaving a gaping vacuum in
ANALYSIS
the daily lives of the Palestinians liv-
ing under Israeli rule.
The PLO leaders have not, to be
sure, formally renounced their
demands for the liquidation of Israel
or officially accepted anything less
than an independent state in all of
Israel and the occupied territories.
But at least they are now talking
about it, and the past three months
has produced a flurry of un-
precedented public debate within the
PLO about the continued efficacy of
their worn-out slogans.
In June, Bassam Abu Sherif, a
close aide to PLO chairman Yasser
Arafat, published an article calling
for direct negotiations between Israel
and the PLO.
In early August, a document ad-
vocating the declaration of a Palesti-
nian state, was found among the
papers of a leading PLO activist in
the occupied territories and leaked to
Continued on Page 18
B'nai Moshe Will Vote
On Bloomfield Move
ALAN HITSKY
Associate Editor
FAMILY/
SCHOOL
SECTION
See Contents, Page 7
Congregation B'nai Moshe in Oak
Park has purchased an option on 10
acres of land near the Jewish Com-
munity Center in West Bloomfield
and has scheduled a congregational
vote Tuesday evening to authorize the
purchase.
The site is located on the west side
of Drake Road, approximately one-
quarter mile south of Maple Road.
Synagogue president Robert P. Roth
is negotiating for additional land ad-
jacent to the site.
"If the congregation approves the
purchase, we will retain an ar-
chitect, get site plan approval and
build;' said Roth. "Our concept is to
do it in stages, but we would expect
to construct a sanctuary and social
hall for a 600-to-700 family shul."
The land and building are ex-
pected to cost between $5 million and
$5.5 million. Roth said the congrega-
tion willfinance the move through the
sale of its present building, a bequest
from the Rose Staub trust that is cur-
rently in litigation, and fund-raising
efforts.
B'nai Moshe also has pursued
merger talks with two congregations
but, Roth said, "one is in abeyance
and one did not work out." He declin-
Continued on Page 20