Editor's Notebook

Community Views

Defining Justice
Is No Easy Task

Criticism Of Israel
A Double Standard

1ERL FALBAUM SPEC AL TO THE JEW SH NEWS

Conservative
Jews in the Unit-
ed States —
those who for
more than a
decade have
identified with
the Likud and its
policies — are
facing a serious
dilemma.
noral and
m'- ".. ---* --T1-ut the years, when
Wert.
:hamir led the Is-
',-tpent, American
Yeli
dkudniks' =everely criticized
le liberal Jewish community
this country who blamed Is-
lel for being too intransigent.
8. conservatives argued
Amer: ,:ans (and other Jews
the world) had no right to crit-
, cize Israel because: 1) Such
--'4 ;cism was indirectly giving
ipPort to Israel's enemies; 2)
Those not living under the dai-
y threat of war had no right to
pressure Israel in its negotia-
Tions with the Arabs.
cloth arguments were legiti-
' Y.- Obviously, criticism oils-
_ - 'gave the Arab states an
-Yortunity to cite these Jewish
;J:ics in defense of their own

rael into adopting policies which
threatened its security and it
came at a time when Israel was
being attacked "by everyone."
He argues that Israel's policies
now seem acceptable to most;
thus he feels morally justified
in taking Israel to task.
Mr. Podhoretz's rationaliza-
tion is just that — rationaliza-
tion. If the democratically
elected Rabin government be-
lieves its policies are appropri-
ate to assure the long-term
security of Israel, it is not for Mr.
Podhoretz to question it — any
more than it was proper for lib-
erals to castigate Begin and
Shamir years ago.
The editor of Commentary is
trying to find justification for his
change of position and is about

or-wrong loyalists."
There is another distinction
between Mr. Safire and Mr.
Podhoretz: Mr. Safire is a
writer who generally happens
to be pro-Israel and never dis-
avowed criticism of Israel. Mr.
Podhoretz is one who is
staunchly pro-Israel and hap-
pens to be a writer who claimed
criticizing Israel was wrong.
As much as it may pain Mr.
Podhoretz (and it does this
writer as well), he has no choice:
He has made his political bed
and he must sleep in it.
Indeed, Mr. Podhoretz's en-
tire passionate support for Is-
rael appears on tenuous ground
because in a recent interview
with the Jerusalem Post on this
very issue, he said he supports

-

-

'n addition, it is somewhat
,amptuous to tell Israel
!aat it must do for its own se-
while living thousands of
miles from the threat in the
United States.
But things have changed and
ow the political shoe, so to
p-eak, is on the other foot.
The Rabin government is
gore liberal, has made some
oncessions and, overall, ap-
I tears to be more flexible than
he two former administrations.
The liberals in the country
generally quiet — presum-
i,oly also supportive and appre-
. _native — but the conservatives
eel consternation.
Not only do they disapprove
,f Rabin and his policies, but
"ley also face the major ques-
•ns: Must they be sha still in
lit of their former position?
Would criticism of Israel now
i mply a double standard? Would
suggest a "short memory" and
olitical opportunism?
The unequivocal answers are
yes" to all the questions, no
aatter how politically painful.
Norman Podhoretz, edite,r of
Commentary and one of in-
tellectual leaders of neo- r. • -
servatives who blasted lib
during the Likud years, re
ly did an about-face, wri
that criticizing Israel now is di
Ferent than in previous yea~
He rationalized the pr-
;riticism came when V-
A States was trying •

,

3erl Falbaum is a t

.mince
)riter and a frequent con-
ributor to Community Views.

Our hope should be to congratulate Prime Minister Rabin.

as effective as a politician who,
rather than admit that consis-
tency is not his forte, tries des-
perately to articulate
distinctions which don't exist.
To his credit, William Safire,
New York Times columnist,
who also is what might be called
a hardliner, maintains his con-
sistency in criticizing the Left
and the Right.
Although he leans toward
conservatism, he was not re-
luctant to criticize the Right
when he believed it necessary.
Thus, he has no trouble taking
on the Left now.
He recently wrote: "In this
corner, no problem (with criti-
cizing Israel). Even when
Likudniks with whom U.S.
hardliners identify were in pow-
er, I was pro-divisive. When the
U.S. president delivers his in-
ugural address, I grade it;
1-1.en the pope sends an en-
. -lical, I write an answer, when
Israeli hawk fails to priva-
2,e a socialist economy, should
I fail to give him a pop? Of
course not; support of Israel
should be thoughtful, not knee-
jerk; no democracy needs right-

Israel but would not like to live
there.
Many a Podhoretz follower
must have been amazed for him
to express his view in such
terms.
It may be uncomfortable but
the argument remains the
same, and it is just as logical
and morally sound as when the
conservatives were in power.
Those in the United States
who believe Mr. Rabin is wrong,
now have the same obligation
that the professed liberals ig-
nored years ago.
The hope is that Mr. Rabin is
right in his policies. The hope
is that negotiations will work.
The hope is that if more con-
cessions are made and some
land surrendered in exchange
for Arab promises of peace, then
the risk proved to be,worth the
price.
The goal of Jews in the Unit-
ed States should be to hope and
pray that they will be able to
congratulate the prime minis-
ter of Israel — whatever the po-
litical persuasion of whoever is
in office — for achieving peace
after half a century of war. El

PHIL JACOBS EDITOR
In recent days,
the word "justice"
has been thrown
around like a
Frisbee at the
park.
Was there jus-
tice for Malice
Green? Is there
social justice for
young, Afro-American men?
Comments over the conviction
of two of Malice Green's as-
sailants indicate that there
might not be. It's something to
discuss.
Twenty-five years ago, I can
remember putting rubber bands
on the copies of the now defunct
Baltimore News American
shortly after the assassination
of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I
was 15, and I was sitting just
outside a Phillips 66 service sta-
tion taking care of my bundle of
papers. It was 5:30 on a Sunday
morning. The National Guard
was driving troop carriers and
jeeps in front of me in convoy to
help control a downtown riot.
My father, who usually would
be there to help me deliver the
Sunday morning load, wasn't
available. He had spent the
night downtown guarding his
furniture store. The day before,
neighborhood youths helped
themselves to every television
and bedroom set they could car-
ry. These were little kids, teen-
agers and even young adults.
The word "justice" comes to
mind.
Across the street from my
home lived the owner of an in-
ner-city clothing store. His store
was burned to the ground. Be-
hind us, my best friend's father
owned a corner grocery store.
Everything was taken or de
strayed. My friend's father had
to put a pop machine in the door-
way to act as a door. He later
bragged that his father had left
packages of hamburger with rat
poison in them just in case any-
one else broke in. There's got to
be some "justice somewhere," my
friend said.
Nobody who took these busi-
nesses and destroyed them was
ever brought to trial. Yet, inner-
city thinking believed it vindi-
cated the brutal death of one of
history's greatest men through
actions he abhorred.
In Los Angeles, Rodney King
is beaten by police. A city burns,
and white police officers are
brought to trial and given jus-
tice. Afro-American youths pull
a white trucker from his vehicle
and just about kill him. They
were seeking "justice."
After hearing the verdicts
handed down Monday in Detroit,
a young man says, "Justice was
served. We (meaning young
black males) are all Malice

Greens in a sense. That could
have been me they killed."
It's difficult for a Jew sitting
in the suburbs with little or no
inner-city contact to cast any
opinion on what happens. It's dif-
ficult for anyone who hasn't ex-
perienced racial prejudice to pass
any judgment.
Prejudice isn't bound by city
lines. Indeed, stories have sur-
faced in recent years about high-
ly educated Afro-Americans
being watched extra carefully by
retail establishments as possi-
ble criminals. Even here in the
1990s, Afro-Americans are some-
times still denied credit, apart-
ment rentals or the same
benefits of life that whites enjoy,
simply because of skin color.
There is, however, good news.
It was only a short time ago that
blacks seemed limited in their
achievement to two basic areas,
sports and entertainment. A
University of Maryland Afro-

Parents are role
models and heroes,
because they are
succeeding. And
this is the greatest
form of justice. That
Afro-Americans are
succeeding in a
system that
enslaved them
only 130 years ago
is justice.

American studies professor pub-
lished a study in the 1970s in
Philadelphia. As part of a test,
he asked 100 black schoolchild-
ren to name a famous black doc-
tor. Almost all of the children
listed "Dr. J" (basketball player
Julius Erving) as their top
choice.
This has changed. More and
more hard-working Afro-Amer-
ican families are quietly work-
ing and living alongside
everyone else in this society.
Parents are role models and
heroes, because they are suc-
ceeding. And this is the great-
est form of justice. That
Afro-Americans are succeeding
in a system that enslaved them
only 130 years ago is justice.
That racists are vilified, this is
justice. That we can work hard-
er for racial harmony and con-
structively co-exist, this is justice.
It's not about throwing a rock
through a window. It's not about
being content to destroy. ❑