EDITORIAL

Israel, Wrong And Wronged

fitz PResiDepr.., IN YOUR 5Fea1
R) h WED *trials, siR,
YoU ihipty CRSX(sesrA LiAIKA6E
Between) -THE Gulf cRisis AND Mt
PALEsTiNiAta ISSUE?

-

Part of the responsibility of a Jewish
newspaper is to criticize Israel when she is
wrong and to defend her when she is
wronged. But what are we to say when she
is both?
Certainly. Prime Minister Yitzhak
Shamir is correct in pointing out the
hypocrisy of the United Nations, and the
one-sidedness of the Security Council
resolution that condemns Israel for killing
21 Palestinians last week but makes no
mention of the rock attack on Jewish wor-
shippers at the Western Wall that
precipitated the fatalities.
How many times has Israel been con-
demned in the halls of the United Nations
while mass killings in Syria, Lebanon and
other countries go unnoticed?
One wonders if the situation might be
less grave this week if Mr. Shamir, in the
wake of the Temple Mount tragedy, had
simply announced regret, suggested that
the police may have overreacted, and an-
nounced an independent inquiry. Perhaps

it would not have made a difference to
Israel's many enemies, but it would have
subdued the anger of Israel's friends, espe-
cially the Bush administration.

The U.S. is so deeply enmeshed in her
new alliance of Arab states opposed to
Saddam Hussein that President Bush
seems more intent on pleasing his new
allies — some of the most illegitimate and
repressive regimes in the world — than
helping maintain the only democracy in
the Middle East. In addition, of course, is
America's moral obligation to support
Israel, whose very survival is always at
stake.
Israel's response to the United Nations
and United States has been one of self-
righteousness and defiance. That is under-
standable, given the emotions and the
stakes involved. However, in a world
where Israel is increasingly alone, such re-
sponse will only serve to isolate her even
further

Music Man

Monday was not the day the music died.
With that day's death of Leonard Berns-
tein at the age of 72, it was the day the
music was most fondly remembered. And
there was all sorts of music to recall: Mr.
Bernstein's creative, energetic interpreta-
tions of classical works, his soaring com-
positions for ballet, and his innovative
scores for the musical theater, especially
for that pioneering production, West Side
Story.
But most of all, there was the man
himself to remember. For Leonard Berns-
tein seemed to be everywhere. From the
moment he burst upon the musical scene in
1943, Mr. Bernstein was seemingly om-
nipresent and indefatigable. His 1958
book, The Joy of Music, was a best-seller.
He lectured on music at Harvard and at
Brandeis. In the summer, he taught con-
ducting classes at Tanglewood. For mill-
ions of baby boomers, he was the man who

made classical music sensible and alluring
in the television broadcasts of Young
People's Concerts.

Mr. Bernstein, also had a great loyalty
and affection for Israel. In 1947 and 1948,
he went to Jerusalem to conduct the
Palestine Symphony; some outdoor con-
certs were held within earshot of fighting
during Israel's War of Independence. He
shared with Serge Koussevitky conducting
assignments for the Israel Philharmonic
Symphony Orchestra's 1951 American
tour. Six years later, he led the orchestra at
its first concert in the new Fredric H. Mann
Auditorium in Tel Aviv.

Mr. Bernstein was called "music's most
articulate spokesman." But he was more
than that. He was a vital, seminal force in
American culture, a man with the kind of
potent energy and talent that is rarely
seen, but sorely needed.

Soviet Progress

That there is a new spirit in the former
Land of the Czars is hard to deny. On Mon-
day, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev
received the Nobel Peace Prize, having
been cited for his "leading role in the peace
process which today characterizes impor-
tant parts of the international commun-
ity."
The selection of President Gorbachev
marked the first time that a Soviet leader
had received the award. Two days before it
was announced, there was another first for
the Soviet Union: a leader of the anti-
Semitic group, Pamyat, was sentenced to
two years in a labor camp for shouting in-
sults and threats against Jews at a writers'
meeting in Moscow in January.

6

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1990

The conviction of Konstantin Smirnov-
Ostashvili marked the first time in its 73
years that the Soviet judicial system had
intervened on behalf of Jews. One Pamyat
sympathizer predicted that life for Jews
would worsen "because this is going to
make Russians very angry." But it is
hoped that the conviction will prove that
there is some legal recourse for those who
are subjected to bigotry.

These developments, soon after the
legalization of the practice of religion in
the USSR and the agreement to begin
direct flights from Moscow to Israel, are
tangible signals that the Soviet Union is
moving closer to the democratic world.

RMD

MY LIPS

Sio*C4LID

i

LETTERS

Arming The Arabs,
Defeating Israelis

So intense is President
Bush's distaste for Israel and
for his need to accept Israel as
a necessary ally that, in try-
ing to form his anti-Iraq Arab
military alliance, he is will-
ing to use the tensions in the
Gulf to so over-arm this
group. To provide the Saudis
with such an abundance of
advanced weaponry, I think,
Mr. Bush may be trying to
fulfill a suppressed hope that
Israel will be defeated in the
next Arab-Israeli conflict.

Abe Medwed
Detroit

Differentiating
Funding Efforts

We appreciated your article,
in the Sept. 28 Jewish News,
about the fund-raising efforts
of the Hillel Foundation at
the University of Michigan.
Your article made the situa-
tion at U of M Hillel clear.
There is one point which
some of your readers may
have found confusing, how-
ever. The Hillel at U of M is
calling its new group Friends
of the University of Michigan
Hillel. We at the B'nai B'rith
Hillel Foundations of
Metropolitan Detroit have
called our fund-raising group
Friends of MetroDetroit
Hillel for several years. There
is no connection between the
two groups, and contributions
to one will not benefit the
other.
Friends of MetroDetroit
Hillel supports the B'nai
B'rith Hillel operations at
Wayne State University, Oak-
land University, Oakland
Community College, Law-
rence Technological Universi-

ty and other institutions of
higher education in the
Detroit area.
We hope that this letter will
be helpful in making this
situation clear.

Marilyn Merdler
Eli Finkelman
MetroDetroit Hillel

A United Berlin,
But Not Jerusalem

It is sad, ironic, shocking,
outrageous that while the
world accepts, applauds and
rejoices over a united Berlin
and a united Germany, the
same world, led by the United
States, is against a united
Jerusalem and a united
Israel.
Joel Brinkley states in the
article "Israeli Bristles About
Terms of Guarantees on U.S.
Loans" (New York Times, Oct.
4), that James A. Baker and
the United States do not
recognize a united Jerusalem
. . . "The United States does
not recognize the Israeli an-
nexation of the land."
Only massive pressure from
the American Jewish people
will bring about a United
States change of policy. If our
people do not pressure
Washington towards
diplomatic recognition of a
united Jerusalem, it will
never happen.
It is imperative that Jewish
leaders abandon their dif-
ferences and join towards one
goal. They should demand
from the United States of
America the full and uncon-
ditional recognition of
Jerusalem as the capital of
a united Israel.

Aaron Swirski
West Bloomfield

