Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 32, No. 47, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 23, 1978 Page: 4 of 24
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TEXAS JEWISH POST THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1978 POSTORIAL PAGE 4
postorial
Silence
Not Always Golden
The United Nations Economic, Scientific and Cultural
Organization [UNESCO] has done it again. It adopted
two Arab-sponsored resolutions condemning Israel.
One, by a vote of 59-22 and eight abstentions with the
United States and most European countries voting
against it, condemned Israel for its archaeological digs
in Jerusalem. The other, by a vote of 64-4 and 26
abstentions, accused Israel of depriving the Arabs in
the administered areas of their educational and cultural
rights and called on UNESCO’s Director General to
send a mission to “occupied Jerusalem” to investigate
the situation. ,
This was hardly news about an organization which
evoked almost universal protest from writers, artists
and scientists in 1974 for its anti-Israel resolutions and
provoked the U. S. to withold its dues for 1975-76.
What was news was the vehemence with which
Egypt, attacked Israel for its “obstinacy” regarding the
administered areas, thereby failing “to create a
propitious atmosphere for peace,” and the stonefaced
silence by the U.S. delegation both before and during
the voting on the resolution condemning Israel on the
issue of the digs. Not only did it refrain from criticizing
the resolution but it did not urge its traditional friends
and allies to vote against the resolution.
In an effort to explain, or as it turned out, to explain
away, its silence, the U. S. chief delegate said after the
vote that the delegation kept silent because the
Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty talks were in progress in
Washington “and we did not want to inflame the debate
which might have been prejudicial to these talks.”
Unfortunately, this effort not to inflame only
emboldened the Arab front on the resolution dealing
with the educational and cultural rights and might have
even influenced countries which normally support
Israel to abstain. Egypt, apparently was under no
similar constraints not to inflame the debate. Referring
to the peace treaty negotiations, the Egyptians
delegate said that the talks “cannot change the facts
and the reality of the situation in the occupied
territories.”
In a weak-kneed effort at reassuring Israel of U. S.
support, the American chief delegate tried to
perfunctorily defend Israel against charges that it was
denying Arabs their rights. But even this was tempered
with an assertion that the U. S. would never, but never,
withdraw from UNESCO regardless of this or future
votes. This, as the saying goes, is where it’s at.
Einstein Statue
WASHINGTON—A $1.5
million, 8,000 pound statue
of Albert Einstein has been
commissioned by the Na-
tional Academy of Sciences.
Sculptor Robert Berks
said he was so moved by a
visit he once had with Eins-
tein that he»sought finan-
cial support for the project
for 25 years.
The statue will show
Einstein sitting on a bench
studying a map of the sky at
, his feet.
Texas Jewish Post
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Israel Reacts To Holocaust Film
The Holocaust Reality: the names of death camps in the Remembrance Hall of Jerusalem’s
Yad Vashem Memorial.
BY ILAN SEIDNER
The screening of the
American teleplay, ‘Holo-
caust’, by Gerald Green, on
Israeli television caused, as
could be expected, consider-
able reaction in the country
and served as a topic for
debate in living rooms and
schools across the nation.
Much of the discussion
centered on the program’s
didactic value with those
dismissing it as worthless
soap opera contending
against those who felt that
in spite of all its defects it
had redeeming educational
worth.
Israel had prepared for
the telecast weeks ahead of
its being broadcast. Unlike
the United States it had not
been ballyhooed over the
airwaves but due to the
sensitive nature of the
subject matter had been
prescreened by members of
the Israel Broadcasting
Authority, Educational Tele-
vision Network and profes-
sors and historians including
some connected with Yad
VaShem. The individuals
present at that preview
were dissatisfied with what
they had witnessed and had
been hesitant about allowing
it to go on the air, but as
Dina Amit from the Educa-
tional Television Network
explained, “We felt that this
would be an excellent
opportunity to provide a
public forum that not only
would enlighten people on
the ‘Holocaust’ but also give
us a chance to correct the
distortions presented in the
program.”
“Not Accurate To
The Last Detail”
The show’s producers
decided to set up a panel of
experts on the Holocaust
period, including a psychol-
ogist, who would man a
battery of telephones and be
available to answer listeners’
questions from 11:30 p.m. to
1:30 a.m. after the showing
of the first, second and third,
and fourth parts of the
teleplay. In addition Educa-
tional Television produced
special talk shows broadcast
twice daily to deal with the
subject. The country’s news-
papers participated in the
coverage of the event and
printed supplements outlin-
ing the program’s plot while
providing factual detail on
the play’s real life charac-
ters. In order to supply
teachers with background
material for classroom use,
the Ministry of Education
translated a guide-sheet
used in the United States
and adapted it for the Israeli
pupil, with the admonition
that, “the instructor is not to
accept the TV series as a
documentary accurate to the
last detail.” The Education
Ministry urged its teachers
to use the program as a basis
upon which to broach the
subject in the classroom.
Of the 1.5 million people
who watched the series —
indeed the streets were
empty during screening
time — 650 called the hot
lines. “Most of the questions
had to do with history and
many of the callers were
Oriental Jews. Two of the
listeners who used the hot
lines were Arabs. One asked
why there wasn’t an Arabic
translation of the program”,
said Dina Amit (why not,
indeed?).
According to Amit a few
holocaust survivors phoned
in and made use of a
psychologist who was on the
panel of experts. Also it was
reported that the emer-
gency mental health crisis
number received a consider-
able increase in the number
of requests for first aid
treatment.
The Authenticity Question
Quite conspicuous by their
absence in taking an official
role was the Yad VaShem
Institute. But directors of
the Holocaust museum made
it clear that because of their
many reservations on the
quality of the program,
because of its historical
inaccuracies and Hollywood
style, they chose not to
organize projects which
could be construed as
endorsing the series. Indi-
vidual members of Yad
VaShem, however, cooperat-
ed with the Ministry of
Education in preparing the
pedagogic brochure and its
director, Yitzhak Arad, took
part in the panel discussions.
In spite of the film’s
‘schmaltzy style’ many view-
ers who utilized the hot line
were convinced of the series’
authenticity. Some people
asked if Rudy Weiss was
still alive. Others wondered
if it were possible to find
Rudy and Inga. A few of the
viewers raised a more
serious question; what hap-
pened to those Jews who
collaborated with the Nazis?
And they also requested
names and addresses in
order to be able to take legal
steps against them.
‘Prefer “The Brothers” ’
More disappointing, how-
ever, was a tendency by
some young viewers to
relate only to the story line
and not to the subject
matter itself. A high school
history teacher related that
she overheard two pupils
talking and one ventured
that The program’s alright
but I like the “Brothers”
much better.” According to
Nili Korn, a former re-
searcher at Yad VaShem
and high school educator,
“reactions such as this force
us to deal with the subject in
the classroom in its entirety
and to avoid harmful stereo-
types/^
“In retrospect,” said Yitz-
hak Livni, Director of the
Israel Broadcasting Author-
ity, “I have no doubt that the
decision to screen the TV
series was a correct and
necessary one. Despite the
program’s defects it suc-
ceeded in deepening the
awareness of many, especial-
ly young people, to the
reality of the Holocaust.”
Newscasters To Receive ADL Prize
NEW YORK - John
Chancellor of NBC, Walter
Cronkite of CBS and Bar-
bara Walters of ABC will
receive the Hubert H.
Humphrey Freedom Prize of
the Anti-Defamation League
of B’nai B’rith at a noon
luncheon, Tuesday, Novem-
ber 28, in the Grand
Ballroom of the Plaza Hotel.
Dr. Frank Stanton, chair-
man of the Humphrey Prize
Advisory Committee on
Nominations, said the three
broadcasters were named
for their historic interviews
with Prime Minister Mena-
hem Begin of Israel and
President Anwar Sadat of
Egypt.
O*/ Jr- > v 4 * ~ j ’
“A year ago,” he stated,
“these news correspondents,
by their initial satellite
interviews with Prime Min-
ister Begin and President
Sadat, gave enormous im-
petus and thrust to the
peace process between Isra-
el and Egypt. They are
outstanding examples of our
free press and deserve
recognition for their unusual
efforts in public diplomacy.”
The Hubert H. Humphrey
Freedom Prize was present-
ed for the first time last year
to the late Senator. The
three 1978 winners will
share the $10,000 prize and
each will be given a
medallion.
Benjamin R. Epstein,
ADL’s national director,
who will present the award
to Ms. Walters, Mr. Cron-
kite and Mr. Chancellor, said
their “bold and outstanding
initiative focused world at-
tention on the principals
involved in the Mideast
negotiations and has helped
pave the way for a solution.”
In addition to Dr. Stanton,
other members of the
Advisory Committee are
Elie Abel, dean of the
Columbia University Grad-
uate School of Journalism;
Dr. Paul A. Freund, profes-
sor emeritus, Harvard Law
School; John W. Gardner,
former U. S. Secretary of
Health, Education and Wel-
fare; John R. Everett,
president of the New School
for Social Research and
Franklin D. Murphy, chair-
man of the Times-Mirror
Corporation.
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Wisch, J. A. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 32, No. 47, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 23, 1978, newspaper, November 23, 1978; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth753131/m1/4/?q=j+w+gardner: accessed June 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .