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Saying 'Yes' To Settlements

T

he Bush administration is making a tactical
mistake in signaling Israel to go ahead with
building 1,000 new homes and apartments
within existing West Bank settlements. There is no
doubt that natural growth requires the living spaces
for families of existing settlers and little doubt that
the units should eventually get built.
But with much of the world looking for any kind
of signal that Bush can restore America's stance as a
honest broker for Mideast peace, giving Israel a
green light for the projects affirms the Arab world's
most paranoid views. Bush should at least have bar-
gained a bit on the issue, possibly linking
Washington's approval to concessions the
Palestinians want in the Gaza settlement
removal.
Bush's message to Israel should be:
"Within a reasonable time frame, do not
build until some progress is made toward an agree-
ment."
To do otherwise seems to the Arab world to be
simply a gift to Israel. It makes America look even

more like a biased broker of any agreement.
Our stance is clear: For settlements that will
be a part of Israel under any agreement like
Gilo and Ariel, new construction within exist-
ing boundaries is their right. For settlements
that may or may not be a part of Israel under a
negotiated agreement, we support freezing all
new construction. We oppose any new settle-
ments.
The Quartet road map says no new settle-
ment construction at all — and Israel agreed to
that. But Israel has not complied because the
Palestinians have not kept any part of the U.S.-
brokered agreement.
The Bush policy shift on settle-
ments may help Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon in his tug-of-
war within his Likud Party over the
Gaza evacuation, and it may affirm the presi-
dent as a devoted Zionist. But it is strategically
wrong at this time. It will further delay move-
ment toward even the modest goals of the road
map for a more peaceful Mideast. ❑

EDITO RIAL

Dry Bones "COMING SOON'

THE JEWISH
COMMUNITY WILL
LEAP BACK TO
LIFE!

ME SUMMER
DRAWS TO A
CLOSE AND
SOON...

a

I MEAN THE START I
OF THE JEWISH
FUNDRAISING
SEASON

Spymasters Of AIPAC

T

o believe even for a moment that the
American Israel Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC) is some sort of conduit for Israeli
spying on the U.S. government — as the
Federal Bureau of Investigation has been
doing — is to take 9-11 paranoia to a ridicu-
lous extreme.
But for at least a year, the FBI has been
trying to find out if a Pentagon aide slipped some sort

of draft policy on Iran to AIPAC, which passed it on
to Jerusalem. Since American policy on Iran has been
pretty well defined for two years — remember the Axis
of Evil? — the policy musings within the Pentagon
have ranged from moderate hawk to ultra
hawk and clearly are no surprise to Israel, to
Iran or to anyone else.
Sure, Israel has a lot of interest in being
sure the Iran does not develop nuclear weapons, but it
wouldn't need to enlist AIPAC to find out what the

EDIT ORIAL

U.S. is thinking about the severity of Teheran's nuclear
capabilities.
And much as we love AIPAC, we would never credit
that garrulous group with any ability to keep much of
anything a secret; its mission is to speak out on Israel's
behalf The Pentagon aide, Larry Franklin, may have
made a mistake in showing someone at AIPAC a doc-
ument he was working on, but with all the real work
the FBI ought to be doing, it should end this foolish-
ness about AIPAC and espionage ASAP. ❑

Why Cole Porter Matters

0

ne of the best insights into what was on the
minds of Americans in any period of their his-
tory is the songs they chose to sing.
Some have become standards. Others were so closely
tied to the mood or sound of the times that they are
rarely heard today.
And still others are woven so deeply into the histori-
cal texture that the titles alone summon up the era in
which they were written.
So many of Cole Porter's songs fit that description.
He had a gift for taking a topical phrase and turning it
into a statement that would embed itself in a lyric.
"I Get a Kick Out of You." "I've Got You Under My
Skin." "It Was Just One of Those Things." "You're the
Top."
In the worst days of the Great Depression, when
many families were wondering if they could buy
enough coal to get through the winter, Porter's songs,
with their air of sophistication, nonchalance and seximl

George Cantor's e-mail address is

gcantor@thejewishnews.com

insouciance, made the "Hit Parade."
melody and harmony counted for something.
I think they were a reminder that a
They must have thought so back in the
brighter world existed beyond the bleakness.
1930s, too. They had to go without many
In those times, that was important.
things, but not great music.
I had my quibbles with the latest film biog-
That's why an appreciation of what Porter and
raphy of Porter, De - lovely. It treated his
the other great songwriters of that era meant to
homosexuality with frankness, but it also dis-
their audience is important. Unless you believe
torted a few other things.
musical deprivation is a positive good.
He did not stop writing right after the
On my first trip to New York City, my dad
GEORGE
death of his wife, for example, but finished the
took us to the Radio City Music Hall. We
scores to the Broadway show Silk Stockings and CANTOR
watched the Rockettes do their stuff and then
Reality
the movie High Society. It wasn't great Porter,
saw the movie High Socie t y. It has been one of
Check
but several of the songs became hits.
my favorites ever since, for obvious reasons.
He also did not honor his wife's wish to be
Forty-five years later, I won a prize in a
buried at their estate in Massachusetts, as the
"Name That Tune" contest on a cruise when I
movie indicated, but interred her instead at the family
identified Porter as the composer of "True Love,"
plot in Peru, Ind.
which was written for that movie.
And some performances by contemporary artists in
"No one ever got that right before," said the piano
the film, especially Sheryl Crow's version of "Begin the
player who oversaw the contest. "It's so unlike any-
Beguine," were just plain weird.
thing else he ever wrote."
But how nice to hear the songs again. In an age
I know, I told him. Isn't that the great part? ❑
when popular music has been reduced to foul words
and rhythm, it was good to recall a time when wit,

ITN

9/ 3

2004

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