UP FRONT
Can Israel Solve
Its Terrorist Problem?
The answer, from exclusion of all Arabs
to Israeli withdrawal from the territories,
offers a wide range of unknowns.
NECHEMIA MEYERS
Special to The Jewish News
T
here is only one polit-
ical issue on which
Amnon Rubinstein
(leader of the center-left
Shinui Party) and Rehavam
Zeevy (head of the ultra-
right Moledet Party) agree:
Arabs from the territories
should not be allowed into
Israel. Only in this way can
Arab terrorist outrages be
sharply reduced (as they
were when the territories
were sealed off during the
Gulf war).
The agreement between
Messrs. Rubinstein and
Zeevy ends, however, when
it comes to the next step. Mr.
Rubinstein's ultimate goal is
an Israeli withdrawal from
the territories, which, as he
sees it, the Arabs should run
themselves.
Mr. Zeevy, in sharp con-
trast, wants to transfer those
same Arabs over the Jordan
River so the Jews can enjoy
unfettered control of the en-
tire Land of Israel.
While Mr. Rubinstein and
Mr. Zeevy think that there
may be a solution to the
terror problem in the
foreseeable future, many
others do not. Typical of the
pessimists is Raphael Eitan,
who was the Prime Min-
ister's Advisor on Com-
bating Terrorism between
1978 and 1985.
"We face another 100
years of terrorism," he
declares.
The man currently occupy-
ing that post, General (res.)
Yigal Carmel, has a less
dour perspective. In a recent
interview — given shortly
after four women were but-
chered by a knife-wielding
Arab in Jerusalem — Mr.
Carmel declared:
"I believe that movement
towards an agreement with
the Arabs will ultimately
contribute to a reduction in
violence, even if terrorism
increases during the initial
stages of the negotiations.
"Once the process begins to
gather momentum," Mr.
Carmel went on, "the P.L.O.
will begin to lose some of the
influence it gained in the
territories, largely because
no solution was in prospect.
Also likely to undermine the
PLO's standing is its loss of
Kuwaiti and Saudi dollars,
without which it won't be
able to maintain the institu-
tional infrastructure it has
created in the territories
over the last 15 years."
Meanwhile, in any case,
Israelis must coexist with
Arab terror, which hits par-
ticularly hard at less af-
fluent sections of the popula-
tion. For example, they are
the ones most likely to be
waiting at bus stops — like
the one at which the Arab
terrorist went berserk last
week.
In Kiryat Hayovel, the
working class Jerusalem
neighborhood where the at-
tack took place, opinions
about effective responses to
terrorism are no less divided
than they are elsewhere in
Israel.
Some, like elderly Moshe
Aloof, would impose the
death penalty or, more im-
mediately, simply tear Arab
murderers to pieces the mo-
ment they are caught.
Others agree with housewife
Miriam Alkalai, who wants
to abandon the territories
because "all they give us are
death and destruction."
The majority of Kiryat
Hayovel people, however,
are still groping for a solu-
tion. Eliyahu Holtzman, a
resident of the neighborhood
for 33 years, spoke for them
last week when he said:
"I just don't know what
would be best, to get rid of
the Arabs or not.
"Let's say, for the sake of
argument, that we do make
peace with the Arabs. Will
they keep that peace? Who,"
asks Mr. Holtzman plain-
tively, "has the answers?"
remind the Bush ad-
ministration of the more
than 4,000 Jews who remain
in Syria.
Refused permission to
emigrate, the Syrian Jews
live under constant surveil-
lance by the secret police, a
CRSJ spokesman said.
Most Jews live in concen-
trated areas, much like
ghettos. The Syrian secret
police, the Mukhabarat,
read the Jews' mail and
monitor their phone conver-
sations. Mukhabarat ap-
proval is required for the
purchase and sale of proper-
ty by Jews. Jews are denied
government employment.
The few granted permission
to emigrate must turn over
their property to the Pales-
tinian Refugee Agency.
Syria has been at war with
Israel since the estab-
lishment of the Jewish state.
Despite this, Jews remain in
the Syrian cities of
Damascus, Aleppo and
Qamishli. Two Jewish
schools exist in Damascus
and one is in Aleppo; 17 syn-
agogues are in the country.
Schools are supervised by
Muslim headmasters, and
any Hebrew instruction is
forbidden.
The CRSJ, a nonprofit
organization, is asking the
Jewish community to write
President Bush and Secre-
tary of State James Baker.
Letters should outline the
plight of the Syrian Jews
and ask that Syria be re-
quired to improve its human
rights record before its ties
to the United States are in-
creased.
In addition, the CRSJ has
created a hotline to allow in-
dividuals to send two
prepared priority letters
about Syrian Jewry to Mr.
Bush and Mr. Baker.
Western Union will bill the
sender $7.25. To send a
prepared letter, call Western
Union, 1-800-257-4900, and
ask for Hotline 9500.
Or, for information, con-
tact the CRSJ, 20 E. 46th
St., New York, N.Y. 10017,
or call (212) 867-0500.
❑
ROUND UP
Aguda Establishes
Moscow Office
Moscow — The Agudath
Israel has formally opened
an office in Moscow, from
which it plans to further the
Orthodox movement's pro-
jects in religious education
and social welfare.
Approval for the office,
located at 60 Pervoya
Brestskaya in central
Moscow, was granted by the
city council's Committee for
Freedom of Conscience and
Religion. The office will be
headed by Sasha (Sender)
Rubinovich, a Soviet native
who emigrated in the 1970s.
The registration of the
Aguda office as a public
organization officially em-
powers it to create a school,
host seminars and lectures
on Judaic subjects, provide
assistance to the Jewish
population and other ethnic
groups, and undertake cam-
paigns for charitable causes
with other non-governmental
organizations.
Registration also au-
thorizes the Aguda to
publish materials needed for
its educational efforts, to br-
ing in such materials from
outside the country, and to
distribute them to Jewish
study groups in cities
throughout the Soviet
Union.
Meanwhile, the Aguda has
created a hotline which from
5 p.m. to 8 a.m. plays the
day's mishnah. The project
is part of the Aguda's pro-
gram of encouraging boys to
study mishnayot, verses
from the Talmud. The
number is 800-825-4957.
Wendy And Peter
Study Hebrew
New York — First, they
had to conquer Captain
Hook. Now the Lost Boys of
Never Never Land are con-
quering a new language:
Hebrew.
The Inter-Governmental
Philatelic Corporation has
created a souvenir stamp for
Tanzania which shows the
Peter Pan characters learn-
ing languages of the world,
The Boys of Never, Never Land
learn Hebrew.
including Hebrew. Wendy is
pictured before a blackboard
with the letters aleph, bet
and gimmel. In her hand is a
book showing a cat and the
Hebrew work chatool, cat.
For information, contact
the Inter-Governmental
Philatelic Corp., 460 W. 34th
St., New York, N.Y. 10001.
Agency Helps
Syrian Jews
New York — With the war
over and Syria seeking
closer ties to the United
States, the Council for the
Rescue of Syrian Jews
(CRSJ) is asking members of
the Jewish community to
Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 11