"There is no hatred of
(Arabs) here, only (Burg's)
self-hatred to the extent that
he is willing to slander the
moral character of our peo-
ple," said Zevulun Hammer,
head of the NRP. Jerusalem
Post editorial writers, who
are quick to denounce any
moral criticism of Israel,
said, "It is impossible to
think of any prolonged con-
flict in the annals of
mankind in which hatred
and manifestations of
bigotry and discrimination
were as minimal as they are
in Israel."
After this counterattack,
- and after even left-wing poli-
ticians criticized him for
comparing Israeli racism
with neo-Nazism in Europe,
win Burg retracted the coin-
• arison, but insisted that
anti-Arab racism was still a
widespread and dangerous
Israeli phenomenon. At the
same time, the Education
Ministry published the
-csults of an opinion poll it
had commissioned about
four years ago, but had not
published because of some
administrative shuffling.
This survey, conducted by
the Israel Institute for
Military Studies, asked
5,400 Israeli Jewish high
chool students, "Do you
hate Arabs?" Forty percent
answered, "Yes, all of
them," or "Yes, most of
them."
It is a shame Mr. Burg had
to bring in Germany when
talking about the nature of
Israeli racism. It-- was a
stupid comparison, wrong
and unfair. It was like com-
paring 14-year-old Palestin-
ian stone-throwers to the
Nazis, which a lot of Israelis
do. It's the sort of argument
that coarsens public debate.
adder yet, Mr. Burg
achieved the opposite of
what he intended — he
damaged the cause of anti-
racism.
But I've seen and heard
anti-Arab racism so many
imes in the nearly eight
years I've lived here — in
the most routine, casual cir-
cumstances, not just after a
terrorist attack — that I
know it exists. I don't know
f the bigotry quotient is 28,
40 or 19 percent or
whatever, but it's high
—much higher than the
nominal level I expected to
find before moving here,
when I thought the only real
sraeli racists were those
who followed the late Rabbi
Meir Kahane.
I've heard not only
countless right-wingers, but
also Laborites and even a
couple members of a left-
wing kibbutz utter varia-

-

tions on, "The only good
Arab is a dead Arab." I've
heard sober, detailed
arguments on why the best
political solution is simply
"to kill them all." Last spr-
ing, I saw a crowd shout
down then-candidate Yit-
zhak Rabin with the now-
common chant of "Death to
the Arabs," during a mass
picnic in Jerusalem marking
the end of Passover.
This is not hatred express-
ed in the heat of passion; this
is a smug sort of bigotry. On
army reserve duty once in
Gaza, I saw the following
joke written on a sandbag at
a guard post: "How often
does an Arab woman throw
out the garbage? Every nine
months." On a quiet
Sabbath afternoon, a Border
Police recruit, 18 or 19 years
old, told me, "If I had the
most beautiful Arab girl,
and I could either rape her or
kill her, I would rape her."
I told him I didn't under-
stand — why must he either
rape or kill her, why couldn't
he just leave her alone? He
shrugged and explained, "I
hate Arabs." The next morn-
ing I saw him lined up with
the other Border Policemen,
holding his rifle, preparing
for another day's duty in
Gaza refugee camps.
While guarding an army
base in the heart of Gaza
City, I saw a troop of Border
Policemen attending to a
line of Arab taxis parked in
a no-standing zone: they
ripped off the car antennas,
and battered the hoods with
their batons, One policeman
walked up to a driver seated
in his cab, and punched him
in the face. Another
policeman called over a
young man sitting at a bus
stop, and swung open the
door of his jeep into the
fellow's face. Three or four of
the policemen — no older
than their early 20s — took
off after the departing taxis,
throwing their batons at
them. When they came back
to their jeep, they pounded
each other on the back, ex-
ulting like they'd just scored
a goal in a soccer match.
The soldier guarding the
base with me, an immigrant
from Denmark, watched the
scene with his mouth lit-
erally hanging open.
"They're like Nazis," he
said.
No, they weren't like
Nazis. They didn't commit
genocide; they didn't put
anybody into a concentra-
tion camp. They just got a
kick out of beating up ran-
dom Arabs. And they
weren't angry; they weren't
upset — they were
laughing. LI

Lorrie's
perfected
the Art of
European
Confectionery.

A t Lorrie's, we have a very

simple philosophy: fresh
preparation. Our dessert items
are prepared with only the
finest of natural ingredients.
You can always be assured that
the methods employed by the
French for centuries are the
very same methods we
use at Lorrie's
Confectionately Yours.

Perfect Pastries

We offer a complete line of
premium quality pastries:
tortes, cheesecakes, petite
pastries, truffles, holiday butter
cookies, gourmet cookies and
brownies.

Catered Elegance

Consider the idea of a Sweet
Table this holiday. Our Sweet
Tables represent a true com-
bination of all our skills at
Lorries. We will deliver and
set up an elegant display of
our sweets that will be the
talk of your event!

A .
Gift
Unlike
Any Other!

If you are short on time or
ideas, let us help you. Our
wonderful gourmet food items
can be elegantly packaged in
beautiful trims and coordinating
gift bags. Perfect for corporate
gifts, host/hostess gifts or just
a thoughtful rememberance
for a friend. From S5 - $50

Corner of Pontiac Trail & S Commerce Rds.

WALLED LAKE

117