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18

FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 1989

American
Red Cross

Press to provide a forum for a
variety of opinions, including
opinions with which I disagree
and with which my sub-
editors disagree.
There are some exceptions,
though, that I think we have
to maintain. We still have to
be concerned about libel and
fairness to individuals; we
have to be concerned about
blatant misstaements of fact
where we can separate fact
from opinion and we have to
be concerned about what I
consider polarizing religious
or ethnic references. Most of
the time those standards are
clear and relatively easy to
enforce.
But what about the argu-
ment that contains no overt
ethnic slur but in effect adds
up to the libel of a race?
Sometimes, unfortunately,
those instances are harder
than they ought to be to
recognize as beyond the pale.
We had such an instance
recently when we published a
column by Thomas Naylor, a
professor at Duke University.
The decision to publish the
article was made when I was
out of town, made in good
faith by people who didn't
agree with his argument but
thought it should be heard
under the rubric of free
speech. The essence of the
argument was that concern
over Jewish refuseniks in the
Soviet Union had prolonged
and exacerbated the Cold War
and that the United States' in-
terest in improving relations
with the Soviet Union was be-
ing thwarted by those who
keep raising the human rights
issue. That is a polite cleaned-
up version of the article.
When I read it in the paper,
I thought it ended up making
scapegoats of Jews for aspects
of recent American history
that Jews cannot possibly
have controlled. I thought it
was deeply wrong and unfair
to American Jews. So I wrote
a column myself repudiating
the Naylor column and ex-
pressing regret that we had
run it.
The critical mail that fol-
lowed the publication of my
column fell into two very
worrisome categories: the
openly anti-Jewish letters
which accused me of bowing to
pressure from "the Jewish lob-
by" and the seemingly naive
letters that expressed what
seemed to be honest puzzle-
ment as to why Jews and I
would be offended.
I'm not sure which category
worries me most. I believe the
danger from anti-Semitism is
deeper and stronger than I
had thought.
The most interesting ex-
change was with Prof. Naylor
himself. He wrote:

"Dear Mr. Stroud:
"Since you and the readers
of the Detroit Free Press seem
to have such an intense in-
terest in my work these days,
I am sending along some ad-
ditional information of my
background, including my
resume, recent op-ed pieces,
my, latest book on Gorbachev
and reviews of the book.
"I have not been so malign-
ed by a journalist such as
yourself and your readers
since the days of the L.Q.C.
Lamar Society in the late
1960s, in which my critics
were th Ku Klux Klan and the
White Citizens Councils of
America.
"What astonishes me about
your March 19 editorial at-
tacking me was that you did
not present one single ounce
of evidence to support your ac-

.

Our policy is based
on support, but not
uncritical support,
for Israel as our
most important
and dependable
ally in the Mideast.

cusation that my piece was
`corrosive, destructive and
demonstrably wrong on most,
if not al, major counts. You did
not challenge a single fact in
my piece. Your entire case
seemed to have been based on
the sense of rage expressed by
some of your readers . ."
I replied:
"Dear Professor Naylor:
"You are, I am sure a fine
fellow. And from your
background, you are smart
enough to know that, in the
column you wrote and we
published, you have attributed
to American Jews and to
Israel an influence they don't
possess and a scapegoat role in
U.S.-Soviet relations they don't
deserve. Given the history of
the treatment of the Jews,
that seems pretty corrosive."
And so it does. I understand
the pain, the sensitivity and
the passion that the Jewish
community feels about such
insults. I try to make sure that
we recognize them and res-
pond to them. We will always
be less sensitive than we
would like to be and more in-
sensitive than you would
wish.
I pledge to you, though, that
we'll keep struggling to do a
difficult and complicated job,
dealing with difficult and
troublesome issues, as honest-
ly and as openly as we can.
When you think we're wrong,
we'll try to hear what you are
saying, and where we agree on
sober reflection, respond and,
where we don't agree, say so
and try to tell you why.

❑

