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Middle East Expert
1992
Temple Beth Els Bargman Scholar creates thought-provoking evening.
DEBBIE WALLIS LANDAU
Special to the Jewish News
T
he vitality of the belief of rejectionism has to
wither before any real peace can be achieved
between Israel and her neighbors," said Daniel
Pipes, Temple Beth El's 2002 Bargman Scholar.
Pipes is founder/director of the Middle East Forum, a
Philadelphia-based think tank. He's also a frequent Jewish
News guest columnist. He shared his views on the
Mideast and other subjects at Shabbat services May 3 as
the Theodore and Mina Bargman Foundation scholar.
As the outspoken Mideast commentator sees it, unless
the Arab world comes to sincerely accept
Israel as a legitimate nation with guaran-
teed borders, all the negotiations, con-
cessions and palliatives of various gov-
ernment officials and political consult-
ants ultimately will be fruitless.
Pipes placed the current war into his-
torical context for the congregation, say-
ing, "This war didn't erupt like a torna-
do, as the media sometimes would have
you believe. It actually began in 2000."
At that time, instead of drawing good-
will when former Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Barak offered land-for-peace con-
cessions to Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat, Pipes said the gesture provoked
yet another Arab interpretation of
"Israel's weakness." This was also the
case in 1985, he said, when Israel withdrew its forces
from Lebanon.
Pipes maintained that when Israel stands firm and
shows strength, her enemies ultimately withdraw; for
example, when the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat
"surrendered" in 1977, after Israel proved itself a formi-
dable force in the region.
Pipes founded the Middle East Forum in 1990 to pro-
mote and protect the United States' vital interests in that
region, especially with regard to democracies such as
Israel and Turkey. The Forum maintains a Speakers'
Bureau, publishes the Middle East Quarterly and engages
individuals and organizations in discourse through an
activeWeb program as well as meetings and dialogues.
As a columnist for the Jerusalem Post, Pipes has been -
garnering increased international attention for his under-
standing of the current scenario as well as other crucial
problems in the Middle East. His 12 published books,
translated into numerous languages, examine such sub-
jects as the origins and growth of militant Islam, and the
rampant conspiracy paranoia noted among Middle
Eastern nations.
Pipes has been a frequent guest on such programs as
5/10
2002
28
Bill O'Reilly's The Factor on the Fox News Channel,
MSNBC's Hardball, NBC's The Today Show and The
McNeil-Lehrer Report on public television stations.
Pipes, who earned his undergraduate and doctorate
degrees in history at Harvard University in Cambridge,
Mass., has taught there and at the University of Chicago
and the U. S. Naval College. He worked for the federal
departments of State and Defense, including the Special
Task Force on Terrorism Technology.
Pipes lived in Egypt for three years and reads Arabic.
Taking up the congregation's questions, Pipes tackled
the issue of growing anti-Semitism in Europe. He listed
three chief reasons.
"One is the burgeoning Muslim population in various
"This war didn't erupt like
a tornado, as the media
s ometimes would have
you believe. It actually
began in 2000."
— Daniel Pipes
countries," he said. "Another is related to mercantilism,
and commercial interests various European nations may
have in the Middle East. Yet another reality is that anti-
Semitism, which has not been 'acceptable' since World
War II, is being influenced by the problems of Israel and
the Palestinians."
Pipes stated that many of his views on war and peace
in the Middle East are not the conventionally voiced
ones, and that he is often on the opposite side of prevail-
ing opinions.
A congregant asked him if he ever shared his thoughts
with President George W. Bush and his cabinet. "I
haven't spoken to him directly," Pipes said, "But, yes, I
have made my thoughts known." .
In his introduction, Rabbi Daniel Syme said, "Daniel
Pipes is an extraordinary man, with a vast reservoir of
knowledge. He has no peer in intellectual, quiet bril-
liance."
Pipes did not disappoint the congregation.
"His comments are exceedingly sensible, and it would
be nothing short of miraculous if we could get the deci-
sionmakers to listen," said Beth El member Susan Adler
Shanteau of Farmington Hills. ❑
Jewish Experiences For Families
[now part of the Agency for
Jewish Education of Metropolitan
Detroit] donates 90 books in
Russian covering Jewish history to
Oak Park Library's growing for-
eign language collection.
More than 300 Jews were evac-
uated from Sarajevo, the embat-
tled capital of the republic
Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Jewish organizations join the
American Civil Liberties Union
and Christain organizations in
opposing President Reagan's pro-
posal for a Constitutional amend-
ment to permit voluntary prayers
in public schools.
The Federation Apartments are
dedicated.
Maurice Samuel, dean of
American Jewish authors, dies at
77 in New York.
Frank Sinatra gives a series of
seven concerts in Israel to help
fund a youth center in Nazareth.
Adas Shalom Synagogue and
Congregation Bnai Moshe, both
Detroit synagogues, share first
place in the newly formed inter-
congregational softball league.
The United Nations
Conciliation Commission for
Palestine reveals it has decided to
establish headquarters at the
United Nations and to meet in
New York City.
Jewish leader Dr. Julius L.
Seligsohn, president of the
Hilfsverein der Deutschein Juden,
dies in a German concentration
camp.
— Compiled by Holly Teasdle,
CA Archivist, The Rabbi Leo Al.
Franklin Archives
Temple Beth El