COMMUNITY VIEWS
Assad's Real Legacy
B
strengthen Syria and turned toward
efore Syrian President Hafez
peace
when times changed. From the
al-Assad had even been
time
of
its de jure independence in
buried, many Western com-
1946
until
1970, Syria was mired in
mentators were quick to
coups
and
countercoups
as the Army
condemn him. Veteran Syrian observ-
and Ba'ath party factions vied for
er Daniel Pipes wrote in the Washing-
power in full view of the public.
ton Post that Assad "ran a regime
During the 1960s, residents in
premised on force," while New York
Syria's capital, Damascus,
Times columnist Thomas
would
often wake to find
Friedman quipped that he
tanks
surrounding
strategic
was "for years the Middle East
points
in
the
city.
The
leader most incapable of
instability paralyzed the
change."
country,
froze economic
They and other Westerners
development and prompted
portrayed Assad as_a merciless
the flight of the upper class-
dictator who ruled his coun-
es. On the international
try with an iron fist, killed
front, the radical policies of
tens of thousands of his citi-
Assad's
Ba'ath predecessors
zens and fought against Arab
BARAK BARFI
alienated
Syria in the inter-
rapprochement with Israel,
Specia Ito
national
community
and
helping to perpetuate the
the Jewis h News left the nation isolated in
state of war in the Middle
the Arab world.
East. However, these obituar-
Assad stabilized the situation when
ies only tell part of his life story. Assad
he assumed power through his correc-
leaves behind him a complex legacy.
tive movement of 1970. He mended
fences
with his Arab brethren and
Stabilizing Force
urged
emigres
to return home. The
In his homeland, Assad will be
return
of
their
capital
led to a period
remembered as the man who brought
of
sustained
economic
growth. Assad
stability to modern Syria, made war to
later led his nation in the 1973 Yom
Kippur War, as Syrian troops fought
Barak Barfi of West Bloomfield is a
valiantly and made significant gains
graduate student in Middle East studies
on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights
at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, but
during the early days of the fighting.
is spending the summer in Cairo. He is
After Egypt ceased the battle
a 1994 University of Michigan gradu-
against Israel by signing the Camp
ate. He can be reached via e-mail at
David peace accords in 1978, Syrians
jashar@umich.edu .
were catapulted to the front line, lead-
Nuremberg
Trial Facts
I wish to correct an error in the July
14 edition of the Jewish News ("Histo-
ry Lesson," page 80). Your reviewer
picked up a name based on a fabrica-
tion by Joseph Persico, the author of
the book Nuremberg: Infamy
on Trial.
The name of the prison psycholo-
gist at the Nuremberg War Crimes
Tribunal was Gustave Mark Gilbert,
my father. The association with the
composer Gustav Mahler was Persico's,
based only on the coincidence of my
father's year of birth with the compos-
er's year of death.
The plot asserts that Capt. Gilbert
was sent to Nuremberg to serve as thera-
pist to the defendants. That is not true.
He was a U.S. Army intelligence officer
who interrogated Nazi officers as they
were captured by the advancing Allied
troops. At the end of hostilities, he was
asked to accept an extended tour of duty
to serve Col. Andrus, the commandant
of the Nuremberg prison, and suggest
which prisoners might be prone to sui-
cide so that security could be assigned
appropriately.
He interviewed the defendants in
their cells and in the mess hall. He
observed the interactions among them
in the defendants' docket, and solicit-
ed their reactions to the indictment.
He administered intelligence and per-
sonality tests in order to gain insight
into the authoritarian personality.
My father's own record of the trial
was published under the title Nurem-
berg Diary (Farrar, Strauss, 1947). His
analysis of the Nazis' personalities was
ing the Arab charge against the
Israelis. Through his determination,
Assad transformed Syria from a frac-
tious backwater country into a major
player in the Arab world and the key
to peace in the Middle East.
The Arab world will remember
Assad as the man who stood up to
"the Israeli menace" and did not back
down in the face of its superior mili-
tary capability. Unlike his Egyptian
counterpart Anwar Sadat, Assad did
not capitulate to U.S. and Israeli dic-
tates. Even as other Arab parties were
rushing to normalize relations with
Israel, Assad held firm, safeguarding
Arab dignity as well. He was the
munadil, the defender of Arab rights.
Arab critics will say he made a
mockery of the Ba'ath party ideology,
with its mantra of Arab unity. In the
first Gulf War, which pitted Arab Iraq
against Persian Iran, he openly sided
with the Persian non-Arabs to the
great dismay of other Arab regimes.
His exceptional dislike of Palestinian
leader. Yasser Arafat led him to openly
undermine the former guerilla com-
mander.
His Leadership Increased
Western supporters will remember
Assad as a leader who matured over
time. In his early tenure as president,
he bitterly criticized Sadat and the
separate treaty he signed, subverting
the intense U.S. mediation efforts led
by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
Assad's entrance into the Lebanese
published as The Psychology of Dicta-
torship (Ronald Press, 1950). I suggest
that those seeking historical accuracy
consult the original sources rather
than Persico's dramatization.
Robert M. Gilbert
Norcross, Ga.
Voucher Proposal
Is A Threat
Diana Lieberman did a fine story on
the voucher debate ("The Voucher
debate," June 9, page 6). She present-
ed an evenhanded approach to differ-
ing opinions taken by members of the
Jewish community. There is no doubt
of the importance of this debate to
Michigan citizens and the very great
importance of this debate to the Jew-
ish community itself
civil war led to a whole scale invasion
and the stationing of 30,000 Syrian
troops in the country, which remain
to this day.
In . the middle years of his rule, his
forces openly clashed with U.S. peace-
keeping troops in Lebanon while he
assisted and facilitated Islamic funda-
mentalists' attacks against U.S. mili-
tary personnel. These and other activi-
ties helped to land Assad on the U.S.
State Department's list of countries
supporting terrorism.
In his twilight years, Assad's rela-
tions with the West improved, partic-
ularly when he joined the American-
led coalition against Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein. Shortly thereafter,
Assad accepted an invitation to the
Madrid peace conference, which Syri-
ans later said evinced his "strategic
decision to make peace."
Western detractors will remember
Syria's widespread corruption, the
moribund state of its economy and its
lack of modernization — oil, produce
and textile products make up more
than 70 percent of exports while a
recent Economist country profile called
Syria's banking sector ossified.
Some will argue that Assad was the
last obstacle to a comprehensive peace
in the region, which would have
ended the state of war between Israel
and her Arab neighbors. They will
point out that he was "Saddam Hus-
sein Light," arguing that the only dif-
ASSAD
on page 35
The so-called voucher proposal
threatens the separation of church and
state, for that is what this voucher
fight is all about. We stand to lose if
the voucher plan wins; not only will
our public schools suffer, but the state
would have cause to intrude upon the
private schools it funds.
Also, getting to know people as
friends in school is an enriching expe-
rience; isolation breeds ignorance.
American public schools ha*-Ve tradi-
tionally bridged that gap by making it
possible for the children of immi-
grants — regardless of religion, race or
culture — to attend free public
schools. We have been able to achieve
levels of education only dreamt of by
children in other countries. I hope
you will continue to cover this elec-
LETTERS on page 34
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