I EDITORIAL
The Rally Is Not Over
With One Meeting
Last Sunday's rally at Congregation
Shaarey Zedek attracted more than 3,000
people and contributed to the raising of
about $1 million in hard cash critically
needed by Israel to settle Soviet Jews who
keep coming, war or no war.
We waved our flags; we cheered; we con-
demned Saddam Hussein; we listened to
rousing speeches; we painted signs; we
volunteered.
But now comes the hard part.
Now, we've got to make sure that the rally
wasn't just anti-climactic. The rally has to
be a spearhead for a community that needs
to raise another $8 million by the end of
March to fulfill Federation's obligation to
the United Jewish Appeal.
The Allied Jewish Campaign is long on
pledges but short on cash. This cash is part
of a $400 million national campaign. For
those who can't relate to $8 million, it
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translates into dollars that will literally
pay the airfare for Soviet Jews who are
more afraid of oppression in their
motherland than missiles in their
homeland. The $8 million will pay for
whatever it takes for hundreds of
thousands of Jews to start a new life in
Israel.
Rallies are wonderful ways to bring
communities together. But the best rally is
the quiet rally that happens within each of
us. As the years pass, during these times of
history-making events, many of us won't
remember the speeches and noisemaking
of Sunday's rally. But all of us will re-
member with quiet inner resolve and satis-
faction that individually we helped make a
miracle happen.
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And it can only happen that way, one in-
dividual rally at a time.
Ecological Terror
In Persian Gulf
On Wednesday, Tu B'Shevat, the
"Jewish New Year of the Trees," our
thoughts turned to the earth. We thought
of all that grows upon it and all that is nur-
tured by it: Fruits and vegetables, flowers
and trees, grains and nuts. We thought of
the life generated and sustained by the
earth and of our duty to treat it carefully
and respectfully.
And with great sadness, our thoughts
also turned to Saddam Hussein's desecra-
tion of the Persian Gulf.
Late last week, Iraqi forces opened the
spigots of oil pipelines and poured upward
of 460 million gallons of petroleum into the
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1991
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OPINION
Gulf. This ecological terrorism is an un-
precedented crime against the planet. To
save his "mother of battles," as Saddam
has called his war against the allies, he has
also declared war against the mother of us
all — the Earth. He has violated the very
religion to which he professes to be so
devoted. As a Muslim saying advises, "All
creatures are the family of God; and he is
the most beloved of God who does most
good unto His family."
As if further proof were needed that
Saddam, who wages war on civilians, is a
despot who must be stopped.
• •
I--
Israeli Loyalists
Given A Salute
NECHAMIA M,EYERS.
Special to The Jewish News
I
f conductor Zubin Mehta
wanted to be president of
Israel, he would be elected
— citizenship permitting — by
a landslide vote.
This is because Israelis are
so grateful to him for dropp-
ing everything else and flying
in to join them when Iraqi
missiles began falling on Tel
Aviv and Haifa in
mid-January.
Another, less famous non-
Jew who did exactly the same
is German chemical engineer
Herbert Zimmerman, now
on the campus of the Weiz-
mann Institute of Science for
his 15th visit.
A researcher at the Max
Planck Institute for Medical
Research in Heidelberg, Mr.
Zimmerman was scheduled to
come to the Weizmann on Feb.
12 for consultations with his
Israeli colleagues. But within
an hour of hearing that war
had broken out in the Middle
East, he decided that he must
leave for Israel immediately.
Mr. Zimmerman rejects any
suggestion that he is some
kind of hero. "It was the least
I could do to show my support
for Israel," he declares.
At the very moment that
Mr. Zimmerman was decided
to come to Weizmann, two
graduate students who had
been there since August 1989
— Morgan and David Hirsch-
berg — were on the verge of
leaving for their home in
Seattle. It was only after a
night of heart-searching that
they decided to stay put. Now
they are glad they did.
"It has given us the oppor-
tunity," says David, "to see
Israelis at their best, to
witness their extraordinary
desire to help us and one
another in a time of crisis."
A large majority of the
American blacks playing
with local basketball teams
certainly left when Israel
needed them most, namely in
the midst of European tour-
naments. But those who re-
mained have been hailed as
heroes.
Earl Williams was extreme-
ly pleased this week when
passersby called out to him:
"Good for you Earl!"
One thing for sure: the peo-
ple of this country will not
soon forget those non-Israelis
who, by choosing to be here
during a period of con-
siderable danger; have proven
that they are more than fair-
weather friends.
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