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DATELINE
Five
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Accepted
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Friday, Aug. 14, 1970
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by Eliahu Salpnter
AdUph Rounbwg, Editor and Publilher-
Kathleen Nease, Vida Goldgar, Edward M. Kahn
Kathy Wood, Harry Rom, Betty Meyer, Gertrude Burnham
,A N,Hbm
Georgia PreM Assn.
Seven Art. Feature.
Jewish Telegraphic
Agency
World Union Prees
4t : rw *<•* i-k -- * A-.-v - -a- «
In accepting the recent peace initiative of the
U. S. Secretary of State William P. Rogers, the
Israelis are painfully aware that they were obliged
to take on considerable military risks for the hop*
of a political ablution whose chances seem ex
tremely remote. Experts here tend to believe,
moreover, that Moscow which apparently con
vinced Nassser to play along and say yes to the
Rogers proposals, aims only at certain tactical
advantages but does not want genuine peace in
the Middle East.
It is almost axiomatic that a cease-fire benefits
more tthat belligerent which is at a disadvantage
on the front at that moment In the present case
there is little doubt that It is the Egyptians who
are worse off—and therefore would obtain more
immediate gains from the cease-fire. There are at
five aspects underscoring this fact:
The Israeli Air Force has succeeded in pre
venting the construction of Soviet missile sites in
the northern and southern sectors of the Suez
Canal. Israelis are rather skeptical about the ef
fectiveness of any armistice supervisory machinery
to prevent such construction work once the Israeli
E lanes stop their harrassment It is therefore wide-
r suspected that when the cease-fire is again
broken by the Egyptians, the Soviet anti-aircraft
batteries will be stationed right up to the vicinity
of the Canal. •
2. The cease-fire will also enable the Egyptians
to repair the heavy damages inflicted on their
fortifications, bunkers and gun positions along
the Canal. They will not only repair what has
been destroyed but, probably will deepen and
strengthen their positions for the renewal of their
“war of attrition” against Israel.
3. The hree-month period, will in all probabil
ity be also used by the Egyptians to rush the
construction of numerous direct access roads to
background to a Convention—70 iea f
»This is an extraordinary time for the forthcoming sessions
of the Jewish War Veterans who will begin assembling in
Atlanta this weekend for their annual convention,
f Extraodinary in that American values have somehow
become perverted and disloyalty is condoned because after
all is it not dissent and dissent is one of the basics of the
democratic system?
f The - pseudo-intellectuals among our readers reacted
to our opinions of late on the subject on the basis that we
were labeling all dissent as disloyal. They read into our
editorials the extremism of which they are so blatantly
guilty. We’re not about to go out on such a limb as that.
There has to be a cut-off point however and there is,
beyond doubt. American public opinion spurred by divisive
£££; »d^«Sfu^ e nat 1 ot ! ‘roS U ^ldly 3»m.aSnUSj, &UKP7&.In«
■tJWhJLd witness the success of the Tantrum Genera- ^tSfS? SSSTto^thTSSS* At
tion, or our youth, on campus. Result has been the under- within firing range of Israeli artillery. Easier ac- entire line eis one huge contiguous camp^ where
~ “ ‘ *" ' reasf boft thS a^ tur ^' - ^ more can be hidden than what an entire army
crease both their defensive and offensive capabil- of inspectors could discover.
4. The daily bombardments of the Egyptian
positions have already begun to effect considerably
the morale of both , officers and enlisted men
stationed along the Canal. There are various in
dications of serious < battle-weariness among the
unit, exposed daily to Israeli air attacks, and the
effects of it have begun to show: the fire of the
hundreds of heavy artillery pieces aimed at Israeli
positions is now less intensive, less determined
and less exact than it was a few months ago.
Once the Israeli planes stop their counter-attacks,
the Egyptian troop, will be able to recuperate
and the Egyptian command will be able to rotate
or refresh the worst affected units.
5. Freed of the need to respond to immediate
Israel action, Cairo will have a chance to re
organize both the front-line and the second line
behind it and arrange the necessary logistic
changes. The Egyptians will be in a position to
implement any changes urged by their Soviet
“advisors” on the basis of their experience from
the long months of fighting.
Naturally, one may ask: First, has it not been
made clear by the U. S., by including in the cease
fire provision in the Rogers’ proposals, that each
party should be safeguarded against the misuse of
the truce to change substantively the military
balance in its favor? And alternately, if Egypt can
derive the above-mentioned benefit? from the
cease-fire, why cahnot Israel?
Part of the answer lays in the fact, already
mentioned, that the cessation of the tension itself
is more to the benefit of the side which is worse
hurt by battle-weariness. But, more important, the
physical conditions make it much more difficult
to supervise efficiently the maintenance of the
status-quo on the Egyptian side than on the Israel
side: It is no secret that Israel is holding the
Canal front with a fraction of personnel and
equipment deployed by the Egyptians. A few
mining of our nation’s integrity.
It is time that we take a stand. It is time that we
stand up and be counted. Say it loud and clear so that it is
no longer an alleged moot exercise in quasi-intellectualisms
Or semanticism, suitable for the forensic halls of academia.
Do you favor democracy or not. As simple as that. If
so stop the gossipy nit-picking.
Survival is for keeps.
We recently ran into this distressing opinion of a res-
ponabimMasl-^aaftunasmng individual—“You’d be surprised
how man^T 5T otlFyouthwould refuse to go to Vietnam but
who would quickly go to Israel and fight.”
We’re not surprised at all. It seems to us that adults
have encouraged such reactions. We told this party “well,
this just shows you that the youth you’re speaking of are
loyal Jews but disloyal Americans.” We’ll go one step
further. In the nit-picking way of intellectualism, the onus
of the decision is shifted on the shoulders of youth by adults
who ought to* know better. '
How does all this tie in with the convention next week
of Jewish War Veterans? These are become the moderates
in today’s society and it is with them as citizens and parents
that we can start to re-define- or refine our standards of
loyalty—and reappraise patriotism
Is it to be unbridled, undisciplined and unwholesome
as is the current trend? Or can it be returned to decency
and moderation—the quintessence of democracy itself. This
is (me of the values to which delegates will address them
selves.
We welcome the denouement—and we welcome the dele
gates to Atlanta.
Copyright 1970, JTA
Praises Cease-Fire
As Peace Measure
LONDON (JTA)—The Soviet
Communist Party newspaper
Pravda hailed the Israeli-Egyp-
tian cease-fire in the Suez Canal
zone Sunday and warned Arab
states and guerrilla groups op
posed to the latest diplomatic
efforts not to create “artificial”
obstacles to peace. The Pravda
editorial was the first author
itative Soviet comment on the
cease-fire that went into effect
at midnight Friday. The cease
fire was reported prominently in
the Russian press and radio. It
was not linked to the American
peace initiative but credited to
the “peaceful initiative” of
Egypt. Pravda affirmed that a
final Mideast settlement must
be based on acceptance of the
United Nations Security Coun
cil’s resolution of Nov. 22, 1967
“without reservations.” It stress
ed that the resolution required
the withdrawal of Israeli forces
from all occupied Arab terri
tories and recognition by the
Arabs of Israel’s sovereignty.
But the editorial warned that “a
difficult road will have to be
travelled before all problems are
solved.” The guerrilla groups
when it stated that “substantive
artifically created obstacles”
must be overcome. In the So
viet view, objections raised to
he new peace efforts in some
Arab quarters are “irrational”
and self-defeating to the Arab
cause and therefore “artificial.”
JEWISH CALENDAR
*ROSH HASHANA
Oct. 1-2
Thursday-Friday
*YOM KIPPUR
Ocjt. 10, Saturday
‘SUKKOT
Oct. 16-16 •
Thursday-Friday
*HOSHANA RABBA
Oct. 31. Wednesday
*SHEMIN1 ATZERET
Oct 22, Thursday
*SIMHAT TORAH
Oct 23, Friday *
*HANUKA
lc i Dee. 23-30 ■ <M .
Wednesday*Wadnooday ' >
•HOLIDAY BEGINS
SUNDOWN PREVIOUS DAT
Background to a Convention—51
Reprinted from Southern Israelite
August 31, 1951 '
A flag bedecked city will confront delegates in welcome
to Atlanta for the annual encampment of the Jewish War
Veterans.
Though the organization had its origins in forces respon
sible for certain unpleasant local memories in Atlanta history,
the former soldiers who wore uniform during the Spanish-
American War, the two major world wars and in-between
struggles will encounter none of the War Between the States
prejudice and animosity. They probably will come face-to-
face with the justifiable pride of Southerners who hold in
high esteem the gallant record of the men in Gray—even
though very few of the ancestors of veterans now residing
on both sides of the Mason and Dixon have the faintest con
nection with either Unionists or Confederates.
Soon after its formation, the J.W.V. became a unifying
group which welcomed veterans who had fought on both
sides during the war of the sixties.
Its broader scope became more apparent after the Span-
ish-American War when its new members were men who
had assembled under the Stars and Stripes from all the states
in the Union at the time.
Perhaps the greatest struggle of the organization was
within the Jewish community itself, for during the days of
the high assimilatipnists, the idea of a separate veterans
group for Jewish soldiers was an unpopular one.
The organization plodded its steady way forward steering
a vigorous course and pursuing its purpose of representing
the interests of Jewish soldiers who had fought in uniform,
standing up as evidence that American Jewry could and did
fight, that it was furnishing its share of men and women de
fenders of Democracy on battlefields everywhere.
World War II and the experience abroad witnessed a
switch in popularity status for the J.W.V. and its opponents.
As the J.W.V. expanded its rank and program, the organiza
tion found itself with the touch of community recognition for
which it had so long fought and which it had earned through
It is an underlying philosophy of the J.W.V., not to em
phasize its war record in isolation—but to point up the par
ticipation of Jewish soldiers side by side with men and
women of all faiths in America.
This spirit of unity will be evident in the parade through
Atlanta, when veterans of many religions and patriotic organ
izations will join in marching alongside the former Jewish
soldiers,, , . , • .
This spirit of unity is one reason why the labor union
of Atlanta, as a mark of Southern hospitality, yielded their
traditional Labor Day privileges to the J.W.V. delegates. The
too will march in the J.W.V parade.
The various programs during the convention also evi
dence this broader vision, for, the sessions are by no means
. geared entirely to Jewish interests alone but rather to the
place of the veterans in the civic picture as a whole, here
in the UJ3. and tn the broader international scene.
.v >M>ttUa is the first time that the J.W.V. has assembled in
the' Deep 1 South liar s convention, a historical event for .both
the community and visitors. . | n ,