Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 48, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 29, 1984 Page: 4 of 24
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
TEXAS JEWISH POST THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1984 POSTORIAL PAGE 4
postoricils, opinions, etc
• ••
Anniversary Passes Quietly
A significant anniversary in the sphere of
international diplomacy has passed quietly, with little
fanfare or comment. It was seven years ago on
November 19, 1977 that Egyptian President Anwar
Sadat made his historic trip to Jerusalem that
eventually led to the establishment of peace between
Israel and Egypt. It changed the texture of the Middle
East landscape and fundamentally altered the
alignment of the Arab world.
Today, however, there is little to cheer about in
Jerusalem or Cairo, as the two nations which have
fought four wars and lost many sons, children and loved
ones, as relations reached a low ebb. Egyptian officials
held no public ceremony marking the anniversary and
the newspapers, unlike previous years, failed to note
the occasion choosing instead to ignore the historic
date.
Sadat paid with his life for the visit to Jerusalem
when, four years later, he was assassinated by Moslem
extremists. Premier Menachem Begin has since retired
from the political scene and lives as a recluse in an
apartment, seeing few people. President Jimmy Carter,
the third party to the Camp David agreement and to the
peace treaty, has little power in Washington these days
to influence any dramatic action by the United States in
the Mideast.
Israel’s economy is waffling under the strains of
runaway inflation. Its peace with Egypt cost dearly,
some estimates ranging between $6-7 billion. This
includes the loss of Jewish settlements on the Sinai,
military installations and oil fields in the peninsula
captured in the 1967 Six Day War. Emotionally, Israel
has suffered greatly, as many will not soon forget the
scenes broadcast on the evening news of Jewish settlers
being forcibly removed from their homes in the Sinai,
an area the Israeli government originally said it would
never relinquish. But it did, and Israel kept its word to
the peace treaty.
Egypt, meanwhile, has started actions which are
straining its relations with the Jewish State, which may
prevent any reconciliation. In one of the most
disturbing developments, beyond the fact that the
Egyptian Ambassador has not been on assign-
ment in Tel Aviv for more than two years, the media in
Cairo has whipped up anti-Jewish, anti-Israel and in
turn, anti-Zionist hysteria. The articles in the
newspapers, some which are semi-official in nature, say
Israel is a cancer in the Middle East, and should be
removed. Others say Israelis are bloodthirsty, that it is
part of the Jewish faith, that it is inherent in the Jewish
faith. “These are things we were used to before the
peace, but we thought that peace would put an end to
it,” Israeli Deputy Premier Yitzhak Navon told the
recent meeting of the General Assembly of the Council
of Jewish Federations.
Of course, as many would argue, a cold peace with
Egypt is better than a hot war with the leading military
force in the Arab world. But what price has Israel paid
for this peace? It is understandable that Egypt is
moving to mend fences with its Arab brethren and thus
has played down its ties with Israel. But as Egypt
moves on the diplomatic highway to Amman, Baghdad
and Beirut, it should recall the rough and treacherous
road its President took in November, 1977 to
Jerusalem.
Monitor Taking On The Anti-Israelis
BY M.J. ROSENBERG
Martin Peretz, the editor-
in-chief of The New Republic
is not one to run away from a
fight. In the 10 years since
he purchased the 75 year old
magazine Peretz has taken a
somewhat staid, almost pre-
dictable, weekly and turned
it into an exciting, pugna-
cious magazine. On matters
of politics, economics, for-
eign, policy, and the arts
TNR’s writers call them as
they see them, often to the
discomfort of long-time read-
ers who had grown com-
fortable with certain ortho-
doxies. Not surprisingly, the
magazine’s letters-to-the-
editor page regularly in-
cludes farewell notes from
disgruntled subscribers who
have decided that they just
can’t stomach the new New
Republic (although, in gen-
eral, circulation has climbed
dramatically during the Per-
etz decade.)
One of the areas in which
the magazine is outspoken is
in its support for the State of
Israel. Peretz is no automa-
tic supporter of each and
every Israeli government
policy. In fact, during
Menachem Begin’s tenure in
office, Peretz was a frequent
critic of government poli-
cies.
However, Peretz never
allowed his criticism of par-
ticular policies to cloud his
unabashed support for Isra-
el’s right to live in peace,
free from attack by its
neighbors. During the Leb-
anon war, he visited south
Lebanon and came back with
an eyewitness report that
demolished some of the
media’s falsehoods and dis-
tortions about Israel’s role
there. It is rare that a month
goes by during which Peretz
does not challenge one or
another of the prevailing
myths about Israel. He is an
unapologetic Zionist and an
unapologetic Jew.
Peretz, then, was an ap-
propriate choice to oppose
the proposition that “Israeli
intransigence is the chief
obstacle to Middle East
peace” in a debate before the
Oxford Union in England.
Writing in the Nov. 26 New
Rebpublic, Peretz tells of his
experience in taking on the
anti-Israeli crowd on their
own turf. As he notes,
“British universities have
not, in recent years, been
especially friendly to the
Zionist case.” That is an
understatement. European
universities are, by and
large, hotbeds of pro-PLO
activity. There was no
reason for Peretz to expect
that he would fare well at
Oxford; especially since the
pro-Israel side had been
badly mauled in debate
there in 1982.
Peretz’s pro-PLO oppon-
ents pulled out all the stops
in making the case against
Israel. They likened the
Israelis to Nazis. They blam-
ed Israel for assassinat-
ing PLO moderate Issam
Sartawi (he was actually
killed by Palestinian fana-
tics). Naturally enough, they
laid the Sabra and Shatila
massacres at the door of the
Israelis. (In the lexicon of
the anti-Israel crowd, the
fact that Christian Arabs —
and not Israelis — per-
petrated the Beirut mass-
acres is a mere technicali-
ty, if that). In short, it was
the usual rubbish.
But this time it didn’t
work. By a 3-1 vote, the 600
members of the Oxford
Union rejected the anti-Is-
rael proposition. Israel was
found not to be the “chief
obstacle” to peace.
Peretz writes that the vic-
tory at Oxford may be a sign
that the radical Palestin-
ian case is losing its sup-
port even in academe, its
longtime bastion. He says
that this is does not mean
that “there is no Palestin-
ian tragedy. There is,” But,
according to Peretz, the
tragedy “lies in the refusal
of the Palestinian leader-
ship to countenance any
compromise” with Israel. He
points out that it is now five
years since the Camp David
agreements were signed by
Israel and Egypt. If Camp
David had been accepted by
the Palestinians, the auton-
omy period would now be
over “and negotiations
would be under way for an
ultimate settlement: an en-
hancement of autonomy, fed-
eration, some condominium
arrangements, perhaps even
a version of independen-
dence. But the Palestinians
let this opportunity for
compromise pass, as they
have let every single oppor-
tunity for compromise pass
»»
This is an important point.
The Palestinians rejected
Camp David: demanded the
excommunication of Egypt
from the Arab world: and
called for an ultimately
cheered Anwar Sadat’s mur-
der. With the connivance of
the Jordanians they eradi-
cated the dream of Camp
David. Today, even in Israel,
few believe that it has a
future. The peace process is
at a dead end. The Pales-
tinians can claim victory.
But it is a victory that
must taste like ashes.
I
Appearance By Revisionist Historian Cancelled
LOS ANGELES [WNS] -
The California Library As-
sociation (CLA) has revoked
its decision to provide a
forum at its state-wide con-
vention next month for
rightwing publisher David
McCalden who claims the
Holocaust was a hoax.
The CLA acted, according
TEXAS JEWISH POST
Dedicated to Truth, Liberty and Justice
Editor and Publisher......................J.A. Wisch
Managing Editor and Co-Publisher........... Rene Wisch
Social Editor.......................Linda Davidsohn
Consultant...........................Steve Wisch
Dallas Manager.......................Chester Wisch
Typography......................... Wylma Hooker
Graphics.................Cindy Brocone, Mary Johnson
Food-Home...........................Susan Wisch
Advertising Representatives. . . Robert Brimm, Wylma Hooker,
Judy Levine, Judy Wisch, Bruce Weinberg and Noel Levy
Photographers.............Sharon Wisch and Judy Wisch
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
$18.00 (Plus $1.08 State Tax) Texas Residents
$23.00 Out-of-State - $35.00 Outside of U.S.
The views and opinions expressed by our columnists are their own and do
not necessarily reflect the opinion of this newspaper.
Composition responsibility: This newspaer will not be liable for errors ap-
pearing in advertisement beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error.
Advertiser assumes responsibility for errors in telephone orders. We are not
responsible for the Kashruth of any product or establishment advertised in the
Texas Jewish Post
OFFICES
FORT WORTH DALLAS
P.0. Box 742 11333 N. Central Expwy.
Fort Worth, Tx. 76101-0742 Dallas, Tx. 75243-6767
(817) 927-2831
(214)692-7283
Metro 429-0840
The Texas Jewish Post (ISSN0040-439X) is published wMkly
Office of Publication, 3120 S. Expressway. Fort Worth, Tx.76110
Second Class Posta’ge Permit Paid at Fort Worth, Tx.
Permit No. 540940
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the TEXAS JEWISH POST
P.0. Box 742. Fort Worth. Tex. 76101-0742
to its executive director
Stefan Moses, after protests
from the Simon Wiesenthal
Center here, the American
Jewish Committee and var-
ious other Jewish, Christian
and interfaith organizations.
The plan to allow McCald-
en to display his material at
the convention and to
address it under the aus-
pices of a so-
called “Truth Mission” was
denounced by Mayor Tom
Bradley and the Los Angeles
City Council and by leaders
of the California State Legis-
lature.
“Its all over, we caved in.
We have agreed to cancel
both the program and Mr.
McCalden’s right to exhibit
his material,” said Moses
who is Jewish. The CLA,
backed by the American
Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU), had argued that
McCalden had the right to
present his views and
materials to the convention’s
3,000 delegates in the
interests of “intellectual
freedom” and free speech. .
Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean
of the Wiesenthal Center,
and Neil Sandberg, Wes-
tern regional director of the
AJCommittee, accused the™
CLA and ACLU of confusing®
the issues of intellectual®
freedom and free speech
with common sense. Sand-
berg remarked, “The extent
of community outrage ... is
a testimony to the kind of
community which Los An-
geles has become.” ■
McCalden has been long
associated with anti-Semitic
and white supremacist
groups and with the Calif-
ornia-based Institute for
Historical Review. The chief
occupation of the latter is toB
publish revisionist histories^
that whitewash Nazi crimes.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Wisch, J. A. & Wisch, Rene. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 48, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 29, 1984, newspaper, November 29, 1984; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth753428/m1/4/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .