itorials
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King Hussein's Legacy
Ic
ing Hussein bin Talal of Jordan
exemplified the Jewish value of
teshuva, a turning for the good.
He did not do so as a champion of
Zion. He did so as an Arab nationalist con-
vinced that inevitabilities, such as Jews and
Arabs living side-by-side, must be embraced for
their possibilities, not their inherent tensions.
Consider the history. This monarch who
forbade Jews to worship at Jerusalem's Western
Wall from 1948 to 1967, when Jordan con-
trolled the West Bank and East Jerusalem. His
Legionnaires desecrated Jewish synagogues and
tombstones during that occupation.
And, of course, King Hussein led his troops
into battle against Israel in 1967, a disastrous
choice for his country. Finally, only eight years
ago, the Jordanian leader staunchly defended
Iraq's vicious plundering of Kuwait.
But this Western-oriented king quickly
worked for a rapprochement with the United
States and Israel following that conflict. And he
personally, often pushing his tremendous reser-
voir of goodwill to the limit, worked for Israeli-
Arab co-existence, both covertly and openly. In
doing so, he became singularly responsible for
creating a warm peace with Israel.
Along the way, King Hussein visibly forged
a personal connection with Israel's people, par-
ticularly when he poignantly visited mourning
Israelis two years ago after a Jordanian soldier
gunned down seven of their children.
That was the King Hussein whom Israelis
from across the spectrum mourned this week. So
having an Israeli funeral delegation led by a
Likud-dominated government, chief rabbis prais-
ing a dead Arab leader, and Israel's flags flying at
half-staff seemed more fitting than remarkable.
That was the Arab leader whom ordinary
American Jews and their leaders remembered
this week: a man who had treated peace as a
personal process and who had treated them as
King Hussein, no lover
of Zion, embraced the
possibilities of
inevitable co-existence.
human beings in the hundreds and hundreds
of occasions when he met them face-to-face.
As King Abdullah begins his reign, Jews and
many other peoples hope that this successor
son has inherited his father's dignity, courage
and passion for peace. And we pray that when
there are difficult days ahead, he and other
Middle East leaders reflect on the cancer-
stricken King Hussein's words at last October's
Wye River Memorandum signing.
"We quarrel, we agree, we are friendly, we
are not friendly," he said so eloquently, but
we have no right to dictate through irresponsi-
ble action or narrow-mindedness the future of
our children and their children's children. May
God bless our efforts." 7
An End To Torture
I
sraeli reluctance to completely discard
tactics regarded by some as torture
impedes its ability, many say, to truly
emerge as a democracy and serve as a
light unto the nations.
For the first time, Israel's Supreme Court
has weighed the legality of methods classified
as torture by the United Nations, Amnesty
International and other human rights groups.
In particular, the court of nine judges is
investigating interrogation techniques
employed by Israel's Shin Bet security force
against suspected terrorists. This includes
shackling prisoners in painful positions, cover-
ing their heads with sacks and handcuffing sus-
pects, sleep deprivation, violent shaking during
questioning, and subjection to loud music.
Hundreds of suspected terrorists allegedly are
handled by the Shin Bet in this fashion, which
2/12
1999
22 Detroit Jewish News
was sanctioned 11 years ago by a state com-
mission on interrogation methods.
Israel must be commended for again open-
ing itself to public exploration of the dark side
of being a nation in a constant state of war.
We wish other regional Arab states would fol-
low suit. We applaud the Israeli Supreme
Court for investigating the situation, and urge
further exploration by the country's governing
bodies.
Combating terrorism without heavy-handed
tactics is no easy feat. Israel's security forces
will have to be creative and innovative in com-
pelling prisoners to divulge information vital
to saving lives. But torture is only a short-term
panacea to rooting out hatred and hostility.
Abuse and coercion through violent and inhu-
mane means is not the answer to winning a
war. 7
Learning Over Lunch
As part of Akiva Hebrew Day School's Seudah and Sefer Adult
Learning at Lunch program, Rabbi Karmi Gross, principal of
the Lathrup Village school, led a Torah text discussion entitled
"Morality, Government and the Ten Commandments" on Feb.
4 at the Kahn Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield.
He'll repeat the free class at noon Feb. 25 at the Hechtman
Medical Building in Bingham Farms. For information, call Dr.
Phil Goldmeier, (248) 593-9000.
LETTERS
A Winner
From WTVS
Those of you that happened
to be watching WTVS Chan-
nel 56 on Jan. 24-25 experi-
enced a real treat. The public
TV station showed a film
called, "50 Years War: Israel
and the Arabs."
The film was a documen-
tary in the true sense of the
word. It was composed pri-
marily of movie newsreels and
newspaper accounts, along
with personal interviews with
people who were actually
there — eyewitness accounts.
There was virtually no edito-
rializing.
The BBC and the Public
Television Producer, Front-
line, developed it in conjunc-
tion with WGBH out of
Boston.
Unfortunately, in recent
years, academic pundits have
specialized in creating their
own versions of history in
order to fit their political
agendas. We saw glaring
examples of this handiwork
produced by the same Front-
line with WGBH, and shown
on our local WTVS. In the
last few years, we have seen
such outrageous Arab propa-
ganda films as "Days of
Rage," "Israel, the Covert
Connection," "Struggle for
Peace" and "Journey to the
Occupied Land" — to men-
tion a few.
As a result of these show-
ings, many Jews have been
upset with WTVS and have
been withholding their contri-
butions. "50 Years of War:
Israel and the Arabs" is a
refreshing departure from the
previous examples and may
LETTERS
on page 24