UP FRONT

Israelis And Palestinians
Past Point Of No Return

For all of their skepticism, both Israelis and
Palestinians sense Madrid signals a new era.

INA FRIEDMAN

Special to The Jewish News

I

n Israel the concept of a
"waiting period" is
usually associated with
an impending war. The
country went through such
times twice: for three tense
weeks in 1967 and again this
past January, during the
countdown to the Gulf War.
But this week, in an odd
variation on the theme,
Israel awaited the outbreak
of a battle for peace: the
Madrid Conference.
Though expectations of the
event were low (91 percent of
the Israelis polled last week
favored going to the talks
but 57 percent thought
nothing would come of
them), everyone seemed to
sense that Madrid would,
nevertheless, go down in his-
tory, and so speculation,
assessments, and plain

Ms. Friedman reports from
Jerusalem.

musings about the con-
ference have been the talk of
the day everywhere.
For much of the time,
columnists waxed philo-
sophical in an effort to
prepare their readers not
only for the bad news that
would probably be emerging
from Madrid but also to

From here on in, all
the biblical cliches
apply, from Daniel
in the lion's den to
David and Goliath.

fathom the deeper
significance of the parley.
They wrote of the in-
evitable fall of psychological
barriers, and especially of
the worn defense mechanism
that "there's no one to talk
to." They spoke in momen-
tous terms of the appearance
of the Palestinians, for the
first time in the century-old
conflict, as an equal partner
in the search for its solution.
Above all, they fought a tide

of pessimism in underscor-
ing that Madrid was, after
all, a chance to move —
however slowly, painfully,
and mistrustfully — toward
a comprehensive peace in
the region.
The deeper message
imbedded in these themes
was that with the world
changing all around Israel,
from Leningrad to Pretoria,
there was virtually no hope
that Mr. Shamir and his
Likud Party could keep their
country locked in its ways
for much longer.
The Arabs would not stand
for it. The West would not
stand for it. But most of all,
history would not stand for
it.
"Things happen despite
the fact that they appear
unlikely," wrote Ha' aretz
columnist Gideon Samet
"because the tide of momen-
tous trends" — a reference to
the kind of "people power"
that brought down the
Communist system and,
closer to home, brought the

C.A., MI.

s, toe ...rya. ,,...Stacm.

Palestinians back from polit-
ical oblivion — "is stronger
than the individuals who
figure in them."
In short, Israel was on the
brink of a journey into un-
charted territory, and the
people could expect their
government (and them-
selves) to get cold feet at
almost every turn. But one
way or another, both had
passed the point of no
return.
Perhaps those messages
were too bold, perhaps too
subtle. In any event, atten-
tion to them was abruptly
diverted by a domestic polit-
ical drama — the kind of
event with which Israelis

are far more familiar and
comfortable. Contrary to the
spirit of the Soviet-American
invitation, Prime Minister
Yitzhak Shamir had decided
to head the Israeli delega-
tion himself, and his foreign
minister, David Levy, took
that decision as a slap in the
face.
Mr. Levy was upset
enough, in fact, to make the
affront to his honor (and that
of his ministry) into the spr-
ingboard for a bid to depose
Mr. Shamir as the head of
the Likud and run for the
premiership at the next elec-
tion.
The tiff had all the
Continued on Page 12

53 percent of Austrians
believe "it is time to put the
memory of the Holocaust
behind us," while 32 percent
said Jews are "exploiting"
the Holocaust "for their own
purposes." More than half
the respondents — 56 per-
cent — do not believe the
Austrian government should
prosecute Nazi war
criminals.
Conducted among 2,000
Austrians aged 14 and older,
the survey found various
subgroups of the Austrian
population show differing
attitudes. Negative views
emerged most frequently
among those who are older,
the less educated, men, and
among those who attend
church most frequently.

Jewish, while, in fact, Jews
comprise less than 3 percent.
The survey also showed that
the average American
thinks 32 percent of the
population is black and 21
percent is Hispanic. The cor-
rect figure is 12 percent for
blacks and 8 percent for
Hispanics.

ROUND UP

Croatian Jews
Appeal For Help
Zagreb, Croatia — The
council of the Jewish com-
munity of Zagreb this week
condemned indiscriminate
attacks by the Yugoslav Na-
tional Army on the Croatian
civilian population and
historical monuments, in-
cluding Jewish sites.
The Yugoslav Army is
staging an attempted coup
in Croatia, where leaders
are negotiating, together
with representatives of
Slovenia, their new relation-
ship with other nations com-
prising the Socialist Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia.
The Jewish council state-
ment noted that as of Oct. 7,
"at least 700 civilians were
killed and at least 2,000
wounded." Additionally,
more than 200,000 refugees
have "left their homes and
everything they had achiev-
ed in their lives."
The statement also ex-
pressed indignation over the
hundreds of cultural and
historical monuments, in-
cluding churches, mosques,

cemeteries and Jewish
monuments, that have been
heavily damaged or com-
pletely destroyed. It called
special attention to Dubrov-
nik, where the second oldest
European synagogue is
threatened.
The governnient of Croatia
has publicly denounced the
attacks, and the Jewish
council of Zagreb is asking
Jewish groups and in-
dividuals worldwide to
"impress upon their
governments and interna-
tional organizations the
need for a just and immedi-
ate peace in Croatia based
on protection of human life."

Austrians Express
Negative Views
Vienna — A new survey,
conducted by the American
Jewish Committee and the
Gallup Institute of Austria,
shows that substantial por-
tions of the Austrian popula-
tion express negative at-
titudes toward Jews.
The survey noted that:
• 39% believe Jews have

Prejudice higher among men,
older Austrians and church
goers.

"caused much harm in the
course of history."
• 37% think "Jews exert
too much influence on world
events."
• 28% say "Jews have too
much influence" in Austria.
• 20% want the "entry of
Jews into influential posi-
tions controlled and nu-
merically limited."
• 19% maintain "it would
be better for Austria not to
have Jews in the country."
The survey also found that

Are Jews 18
Or 3 Percent?
A new Gallup poll shows
that Americans believe Jews
comprise a much larger part
of the U.S. population than
they actually do.
According to the survey,
Americans think 18 percent
of the U.S. population is

ConteSt Seeks
Jewish Authors
New York (JTA) — The
Association of Jewish..
Libraries has announced the
seventh annual Sydney
Taylor Manuscript Competi-
tion for aspiring authors of
books for Jewish children. A
cash award of $1,000 will be
given for the best fiction
manuscript appropriate to
readers aged 8-12, written
by an unpublished author.
The deadline for submis-
sion is Jan. 15, 1992.
For entry forms and rules,
contact Lillian Schwartz, 15
Goldsmith St., Providence,
R.I. 02906.
Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

11