Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 36, No. 13, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 1, 1982 Page: 4 of 32
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TEXAS JEWISH POST PASSOVER ISSUE THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 1982 POSTORIAL PAGE 4
postorial:
From Slavery To Freedom
Passover, the most universally celebrated Jewish
holiday, symbolizes the striving of the Jewish people for
freedom and justice. It represents the unalterable
opposition to tyranny and enslavement. It illustrates
how slaves can break the shackles of their bondage and
become free. It marks the intervention of the Jewish
people into the realm of history, determined to decide
their own destiny. It marks the birth of the Jewish
nation.
. For centuries the Jewish people have gathered
around their seder tables to recall how they gained
their freedom from the autocratic rulers of ancient
Egypt and have passed this lesson on to their children.
For 2000 years Jews have tasted the bitter herbs on
their seder plates and have reflected on the bitter life
they have to endure in the golah.
For 2000 years the seder has ended with the words,
“Next Year in Jerusalem." Since 1948, and especially
since the reunion of that city in 1967, this dream, this
hope, this aspiration has become a reality. But until a
few years ago, before President Anwar Sadat of Egypt
made his historic journey to Jerusalem and declared
that there will never again be war between his country
and Israel, “Next Year in Jerusalem" was followed by
the unspoken anxiety as to whether Jerusalem and
Israel would survive.
The anxiety concerned itself not merely with the
physical survival of the Jewish State, but also with its
spiritual survival. The question was whether the
Jewish State and its people could be free while
encircled on all sides by implacable enemies. Can
freedom exist for a people whose homes in the cities, on
kibbutzim and on moshavim are at the mercy of
terrorist bombs and armies equipped with modern
sophisticated weapons? Can there be freedom when
there is insecurity and fear? Can the arts and sciences
flourish when weapons of self-defense demand the
priority?
At this Passover seder, when youngsters ask, “How
is this night different from all other nights,” the answer
will have to include: there is ongoing peace with Egypt.
It will also include another answer: there will be
another exodus, this time from the Sinai. Less than
three weeks after the first seder, Israel will have
withdrawn from that region.
But this time there will be no pursuing Egyptian
army, no Red Sea to cross, no 40 years of wandering in
the desert in search of the Promised Land. The Sinai
settlers will only have to cross the international border
to continue their lives in their own homeland. They will
not have to fight marrauding armies, as in Biblical
times, to reach the “land of milk and honey."
Viewed from the perspective of the longrange view of
history, April 25 could be the beginning of a new
chapter in the realm of freedom. Certainly at the seder
table it could be the topic of “how is this night different
from all other nights?"
monitor Zionism: The Semantic Nightmare
BY DAVID SDLVERBERG
George Orwell knew well
the power of words to shape
political discourse and set
the parameters of thought.
However, it was in 1975
rather than 1984 that one of
the grossest Orwellian per-
versions of language took
place — not in the warrens
of a totalitarian bureaucracy
but in the halls of the United
Nations. That was the
declaration that “Zionism is
a form of racism”.
Since that time Zionism
has taken on mythic propor
tions in international dis-
course a global conspiracy
and cause of most of the
world’s problems. This is
ably documented in an
Institute of Jewish Affairs
Research Report entitled
“The Abuse of Zionism”
written by Tony Lerman
and issued in December,
1981.
“... There is no doubt
that the negative use of
Zionism is deep-rooted and
is spreading,” Lerman
wrote. “There are signs that
even states in the West
previously sympathetic to
Zionism are viewing the
term with increasing caution
and refraining from using it,
and not only because of
sincerely held disagree-
ments with the policies of
the state of Israel.”
Third world, developing
and oil-producing states are
all basing their analysis of
world affairs on a Zionist
demonology which more
developed states may adopt
simply to have a dialogue.
“The danger therefore
arises that the negative use
of Zionism contributes to
shifts in the balance of
relations between states.”
The demonization of Zion-
ism affected the relation-
ships between states, Ler-
man found. Iran and Iraq at
war repeatedly accuse each
other of being a “Zionist
agent or servant of “imperia-
lism and Zionism.”
The same kind of charges
were hurled at each other by
Syria and Jordan during
periods of tension between
them. And any person —
most notably Sadat — or
government speaking favor-
ably of the Camp David
Accords was also branded a
Zionist.
which explain failure,” he
noted. Zionism provides this
external factor. To this way
of thinking, the Arabs were
never defeated by a small
country but by a vast,
nefarious conspiracy.
Complementing this is the
Marxist vision provided by
third world radicalism,
which has been adopted by
Arab and Islamic nations
and which has no toleration
of Zionism.
Ultimately, Lerman’s is a
grim analysis: “An ideology
of national self-determina-
tion, applicable in one tiny
part of the world, has
become a universally applied
epithet, a fundamental evil
responsible for most of the
world’s problems.”
The Arabs also blame
Zionist control of the media
for what they see as their
unfavorable image in the
West, and therefore strong-
ly support the demand by
third world countries for a
“New World Information
Order” that would permit
states to censor internation-
al dissemination of about
themselves. Meanwhile, un-
favorable news items are
considered the results of
Zionist plots and propagan-
da warfare.
While anti-Zionism is not
surprising among Arab or
Islamic international organi-
zations like the non-aligned
movement or United Na-
tions bodies like UNESCO.
Zionism is seen as an
obstacle to redistribution of
the world’s wealth or a
“New International Econ-
omic Order. It is equated
with South African apar-
theid and used to ostracize
Israel from the world com-
munity.
The Roots of Hatred
“.. . The Zionism theme is
neither used as many would
like us to believe, in a
politically respectable anti-
Zionist argument, nor is it
devoid of anti-Semitic conno-
tations,” Lerman writes. By
the same token, its roots go
deeper than mere propa-
ganda or anti-Semitism.
“One important tendency
in the Arab world is the
inability to face the real
implications of defeat, the
need to find external factors
JERUSALEM [JNI] -
The M’Sorati (Conservative)
movement will soon estab-
lish an Israeli foundation to
raise over 1 m. dollars per
year to train Israeli rabbis
and teachers, establish its
first kibbutz in Galilee and
translate works of M’Sorati
thought into Hebrew. Prof.
Gershom Cohen, Chancellor
of the (Conservative) Jewish
Theological Seminary of
America, announced March
16 that his movement has
decided to work actively to
gain a foothold in Israel and
win support among non-
Orthodox Israelis. The con-
servatives claim to consti-
tute the largest Jewish
movement in the world
(with 1.5 million members)
while remaining the least
known in Israel.
r TEXAS JEWISH POST 1
Dedicated to Truth, Liberty and Justice
Editor and Publisher.....................J.A. Wisch
Managing Editor & Associate Publisher.......Rene Wisch
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UJA And Hie Falcishas Of Ethiopia
BY HERSCHEL
BLUMBERG
United Jewish Appeal
National Chairman
[Copyright 1982, Jewish
Telegraphic Agency, Inc.]
The national leadership of
the United Jewish Appeal
holds with the traditional
Jewish belief that every
Jewish life is precious, and
that the rescue of every
endangered Jewish life pos-
sible is a solemn, even a
sacred duty.
Over the past four dec-
ades, the totality of all
rescue operations carried
out by the Jewish Agency,
the Joint Distribution Com-
mittee and forces exerted by
Herschel Blumberg
the elected representatives
of the people of Israel have
contributed magnificently to
the movement of some 1.8
million of our fellow Jews to
Israel and over a million
more to other lands of
freedom.
At times — in response to
the political envirohment in
the subject country, includ-
ing the lack of standing of
the rescue agency, and/or in
consideration of the safety of
the lives of the hostages to
be rescued — those opera-
tions have had to be
clandestine, often purpose-
fully unaccompanied by in-
tensive protest and agita-
tion.
That history is disregard-
ed in the confrontational
environment currently be-
ing created around the
rescue and resettlement of
the Falasha Jews of Ethio-
pia. In addition, the charge
of indifferences is being
leveled at the Jewish Agen-
cy and the administration
elected by the people of
Israel.
Prime Minister Mena-
chem Begin of Israel, in a
message transmitted to
American Jewry at the
Council of Jewish Federa-
tions General Assembly on
November 10,1981 respond-
ed to that charge in these
words:
“One of the most urgent
issues of our agenda is the
salvation of our fellow Jews,
the Falashas. It is one of the
most sensitive issues and
those who launch campaigns
of public abuse, of alleged
Israeli indifference, take
upon themselves a grave
responsibility which could
literally endanger the lives
of people.
“Discretion must be main-
tained for the sake of the
sacred cause in which we are
engaged. There is no indif-
ference. There is concern
and there is permanent
active application to the
issue. We leave no stone
unturned in our absolute
devotion to this life-saving
cause and the effort is not
barren. They and our sisters
we can to bring them home.”
Representatives of the
national leadership of the
United Jewish Appeal and
our constituent agencies, the
United Israel Appeal, Inc.
and the JDC, have had
numerous close consulta-
tions with Prime Minister
Begin and with those who
are “actively applying”
themselves to the issue. We
have had similar consulta-
tions with the operatives
and supervisors of Jewish
Agency activities in support
of Falasha emigration and
resettlement. We have
learned many details which
cannot be made public
and brothers, and we do all ^ee ^a^astias Pa9e 30
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Wisch, J. A. & Wisch, Rene. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 36, No. 13, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 1, 1982, newspaper, April 1, 1982; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth754279/m1/4/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .