EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK
The China Card
bout the only place beyond
rare chance to see how we 14 million
Jewish concerns these days
Jews measure up in the eyes of the
seems to be China. Indeed,
representatives of some 1.3 billion
recent disturbing headlines
Chinese.
emanate from throughout the globe
Mind you, while fascinated with
— Argentina, Austria, Russia, France
Chinese history and culture, I am
and, of course, the Mideast.
appalled at that country's continual
But with the exception of a Shang-
human rights abuses, some of them
hai synagogue reopening on
deadly. Nonetheless, I
Rosh HaShana, the only ran-
believe in dialogue. So there
dom news from the last bas-
we were.
tion of communist muscle are
After everyone filed in
little-noticed reports on
and we had formal intro-
weapons sales to rogue states
ductions — she's from the
and renewed diplomatic ties
children's television show;
with Israel. To be certain, the
he's from the agricultural
general news coming out of
newspaper; he's from the
China - the spying, the
political magazine — I
bribery, the human rights
asked: "Any of you ever
NEIL RUBIN
abuses — is abundant.
even seen a Jew before?"
Senio r Editor
But a recent chance to fig-
A few chuckles came
ure out China's Jewish angle
from my four Jewish col-
via a two-hour dialogue with journal-
leagues; the Chinese didn't crack a
ists from Shian, China, was not one to
smile.
miss. The Chinese came to Washing-
But they did answer. Oh sure, a few
ton, D.C., from the home of the
nodded after translation. They studied
famous terracotta armies, those mag-
Jews and Israel in their textbooks.
nificent stone armies that guard the
They have met Jewish and Israeli sci-
tombs of ancient emperors.
entists and agriculturists visiting their
Intriguingly, this group arrived
farming region.
strictly to meet with us. Their official
Jews are known to be smart, one
invitation to this country, which they
said, and many are fam6us. For exam-
ple, there's Karl Marx. "Oh, no, we
had requested, came from the Ameri-
don't count him," I said with an
can Jewish Press Association. The
event provided a lesson in spoken and
instinct that surprised me. "That's
because his family converted to Chris-
unspoken cultural differences, and a
tianity when he was a boy and as an
Neil Rubin can be reached via e-mail
adult he didn't believe in God, which
at nrubin@jewishtimes.com
we definitely do."
A
ish homes wiped out by Jordan in the
war of 1948?
If you are already in the Galilee, why
not show people the Golan Heights and
how the Israeli farmers below were con-
stantly shelled and where hundreds of
Israeli boys were killed while taking this
vital position from the Syrians in the
1967 and 1973 wars? Why not show
visitors the amazing archeological dig at
Gamla in the Golan that proves over
2,000 years of Jewish presence in what is
supposedly "Syrian land."
Why not show them the wondrous
144 communities of Judea and Samaria,
where 200,000 Israelis put their lives on
the land daily — once more establishing
a Jewish presence on what was our bibli-
cal home and what has been previously
designated as the legitimate political
home of the Jews? Is it more important
to show people the desolate sight of
Masada on each visit where Jews corn-
mitted suicide in defeat or to show visi-
tors areas that are vital to the survival of
present-day Israel?
Saying there was no time or that
was not the purpose of the trip is just
too easy an excuse. If these organiza-
tions are spending huge sums of what
are entirely public-donated funds, the
political case for Israel must be made
on every trip, on every occasion. The
failure to do so is so frequent and so
blatant that one cannot help but sus-
pect that it is the political agenda of
the leaders of the organizations
involved. Unfortunately, Israel will
soon be paying an exorbitant price for
this deliberate, destructive omission.
Jerome S. Kaufman
Bloomfield Hills
LETTERS ON PAGE 38
Cultural nuances became clear.
After being asked to relax, none of
them thought to take off their suit
jacket. "Like this," I said, taking mine
off, which persuaded a few to follow.
This being a Jewish-sponsored event,
about 10 cookies per person decorated
the table. We Jews snacked heartily.
Only two or three of the Chinese,
including the delegation head, par-
How do we
14 million Jews
measure in the eyes of
1.4 billion Chinese?
took. A few soft drinks were quaffed.
Later, I went over China's role in Jew-
ish history — a haven for Jews fleeing
pogroms in 1905 and Nazis in the
1930s, the once strong Kaifeng Jewish
community, and the ancient Jewish trad-
ing posts along the Silk Trail.
The other Jews present were media
relations people (from American Israel
Public Affairs Committee, American
Jewish Press Association and New
Israel Fund), so we explored the
healthy tensions between Jewish orga-
nizations and independent newspa-
pers. "Both of us need one another; at
times we have an adversarial relation-
ship, which we all recognize as
healthy," my AIPAC colleague
explained. "They have to sell me their
story," I added.
One of the Chinese asked this
zinger: "If a journalist reports a lie, is
he responsible for its damage?" We
launched into the journalist's role to
report the government line, but the
obligation to verify it. "If it's wrong," I
said, "I'm obligated to say it's a lie."
There was no response.
We discussed a story's "Jewish
angle" through the Kosovo War. As
Americans, we were interested in
the Chinese Embassy bombing, I said.
But as Jews, refugees and ethnic
cleansing reminded us of the Holo-
caust, with which the journalists
seemed familiar. "We didn't know
what to do, but we knew something
had to be done," I said.
We all knew the dialogue could
have been more intense. Language,
culture and group dynamics clearly
blocked such an exchange. But more
could be in the offing. We ended with
an exchange of gifts, photographs for
newsletters and an invitation to
China. If that happens, I will further
and respectfully press Jewish concepts
of justice and human dignity while
exploring the Chinese mentality.
Obviously, another revolution will
not result. But the door will open a
bit more to mutual understanding
between two ancient peoples, both of
whom see themselves as enwrapped in
the destiny of the world's past and
present. ❑
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10/22
1999