Newspaper Page Text
Friday, May 26, 1972
THE SOUTHERN iSRAEUTE
Page Three
CAPITAL COMMENT
By Joseph Polakoff
Pulling Jews on Defensive
Accepted by Moderate Press
A disturbing tendency in a
widening selection of our media is
to put Jewish organizations and
their more prominent members
on the defensive. This tendency
is not limited to the “Far Right”
where anti-Jewish viciousness is
a major tool. Nor is it peculiar to
the “Far Left” where agitators
lapse into the mental attitude of
unknowing children who delight
in dismembering small, live crea
tures.
What has brought this fashion
from irritation to disturbance is
that some of our most respectable
publications are now dipping into
it. Widely syndicated columnists
Rowland Evans and Robert Novak
have referred to Jews in a way
that wouldn’t have been tolerated
try their contracting newspapers
only a few years ago. Nor would
a magazine like the Atlantic
Monthly consider resorting to
phrases like “Jewish fat cats”
(twice in a single article in its
March issue in Democratic presi
dential hopefuls) in which, to be
fair, it referred to “WASP” too.
Until recently, the Washington
Post, for generations esteemed as
a journal of the moderates and
the liberals, never carried ma
terial that would encourage anti-
Zionists or cause uneasiness in
the Jewish community. It is hard
to believe that the Post’s leader
ship is now a conscious partici
pant in the sort of journalism that
profits precisely because it dis
turbs.
Nevertheless, the latest in the
Post’s “Jewish” stories of a major
nature disturbed some of the
Having a Meeting?
WE RENT:
Folding chairs •
Easles • Boards
a Electric Staplers
. . . need anything else
call:
Artlite Office
Supply Co.
1869 Piedmont Rd., N. E.
875-7271
coolest observers here. In a
front page article, written by a
Jew, the Post told of the hun
dreds of millions of dollars raised
for Israel through the United
Jewish Appeal and Israel Bonds
and the success Jews have in ob
taining support from the political
powers in the Capital.
Fund-raising by Jews is, of
course, news. There is no com
plaint about that. But readers of
this article who are unfamiliar
with the Jewish community—and
they must be in the majority
among the Post’s subscribers —
could quickly arrive at the dis
tinct impression that the only
purpose of Jewish life is to serve
Jewish interests. Nowhere was
there an indication of the inten
sive Jewish participation in gen
eral affairs — local, national or
international.
In terms of fair and balanced
writing, such an omission seems
inexcusable when only the
previous week—within a stone’s
throw of the Post itself — the
National Council of Jewish
Women had a four-day institute
crammed with discussions of the
country’s social and economic
and political problems Some 300
women from 27 states attended
that institute.
It had space to remark, in the
manner of the extremists, about
lavishly gowned Jewish women
that helped refresh the myth
that all Jews are rich. There was
no space, of course, to mention
poor Jews like the approximately
250,000 on the poverty line in the
New York City area alone. Nor
did the Post note that for every
dollar contributed by Jews to
Jewish needs undoubtedly several
of their dollars go to other
causes.
In this connection, it may be
worth recalling an incident con
cerning the late Joe Chemer, a
Washington automobile dealer
who built a thriving business by
scrupulous methods that won him
legions of customers. When he
was criticized at a local trade
meeting by his competitors for his
large donations to Jewish char
ities, he challenged them. “Okay,”
APARTMENTS
VALUE IN RENTAL RESIDENCES
NO.
DEKALB COUNTY
DECATUR MANOR APARTMENTS
292-3224
WILLIAMSBURG VILLAGE
634-1505
DORAVILLE
MANOR RIDGE APARTMENTS
457-5406
CHAMBLEE
CARRIAGE HILL APARTMENTS
451-2644
DECATUR
DECATUR TOWNHOUSES
378-6838
SANDY SPRINGS
RALEIGH SQUARE APARTMENTS
252-3502
C. Buck Le Craw and Company
631-3481
Owners and Developers
he said, “will anyone here match
my contribution to the United
Givers Fund?” He had no takers.
Neither was he publicly criti
cized again for his charities.
In setting up the themes of
big money and this election
year, the article indicated that
the clever and monied Jews
sway the government. That the
President and Congress may
consider situations like the
Middle East and the Soviet
Union’s bar on emigration on
their merits and their effect on
American strategic and tactical
interests, as well as on the
pleadings of their constituents
in a democracy, do not enter
into the Post’s article.
If this were its only presenta
tion disturbing to Jews, the Post
possibly could be forgiven for an
editorial aberration. But it ap
parently has become a habit. An
ex-employe suing B’nai B’rith gets
a broad display of his charges in
the Post while his suits are still
before the courts. When a plain
tiff declares, in effect, that the
Anti-Defamation League was
driving him out of Washington
because it regards him as anti-
Semitic, the Post considers that
top-of-the-front-page, illustrated
news. That display came after
the plaintiff's suit for libel against
the ADL was dismissed in court
which found that the ADL’s
statements were in fact true and
that ADL had a legal and moral
duty to publicize those facts.
There are other “features” that
keep the Jewish “angle” alive
for the Post’s readers. A butcher's
protest on rabbinical certification
merits an illustrated article. A
Bat Mitzva in a Philadelphia
church deserves big headlines. A
young rabbi berating his seminary
is important news.
But Leonid Rigerman’s news
conference at the Capitol itself
No Vacation
In Greece
NEW YORK (JTA) — Mrs.
Roslyn Myers and her husband,
Judge Allen M. Myers of the
Civil Court of New York City,
will not be vacationing in
Greece this summer as they had
a numlier of times in the past
few years.
In a letter to the Greek Con
sulate General dated April 24.
of which a copy was sent to the
Jewish Telegraphic Agen c y ,
Mrs. Myers cited anti-Semitic
statements made by the Bishop
of Chios as the basis for the
decision not to visit Greece.
at a time when he was among the
first of the Soviet emigres to tell
Americans about Soviet oppres
sion was not published. Nor did
the Post “cover” the Congression
al bearings held for two days on
Soviet Jews. Only six days after
wards, following high indignation
over how the New York Times
handled the State Department’s
presentation at the hearings, did
the Post get around to reporting
part of the proceedings.
In editorial page opposition to
background news conferences by
officials, the Post singled out as
an example of this practice Is
raeli Ambassador Yitzhak Rabin’s
talk at a luncheon given for him
by hn eminent organization of
diplomatic correspondents. The
Post complained that Rabin had
“lambasted” the Arabs and no re
porter demanded that his remarks
go on the record.
Som» weeks after this criticism,
the correspondents had a top-
ranking Arab diplomat as their
guest speaker on the same back
ground basis. It so happened, the
Jewish Telegraphic Agency cor
respondent attending sat beside
a leading editorialist from the
Post. Why, the Post writer was
asked, did the Post select Rabin
among the hundreds who have
given backgrounders in Washing
ton. “Maybe,” responded the
Post’s man, “because it was the
first thing that came to his
mind.” The psychological factor
in this response was immediately
obvious.
The JTA also asked why the
Post carried the plaintiff’s charges
against the B’nai B’rith when it
did. “I found the story fasci
nating, didn’t you,” the Post
writer responded. This reason for
publishing such material raises
the question whether the Post is
dedicated to responsible reporting
of major community matters or
has sunk to the use of “fasci
nating” material regardless of the
sources or its fairness to parties
in legal controversy.
Use of the “fascinating” may
be an effective formula for com
mercial success and please certain
elements in our society but it
leaves one wondering how long
the community can continue to
consider a publication resorting to
it as a responsible institution.
Incidentally, the Post’s writer,
Car from protesting the Arab’s re
marks on “background” in which
he “lambasted” the Israelis, even
asked a question himself and
made no point of having it on the
record.
CREATIVE ENGINEERING
MATERIAL HANDLING SPECIALISTS
Handtruck* • Conveyors • Racks
Fork Lifts • Shelving • Casters
CALL: 691-7910
DESIGN, INSTALLATION & SERVICE
ARCHIE SOLOMON $ ASSOCIATES, INC.
4780 FREDERICK DR., S.W., ATLANTA, GA. 30336
GLENRTDGE
DELICATESSEN
AND PACKAGE
KOSHER
PRODUCTS
— PARTY TRAYS —
BREAD - BAGELS - ROUS
LOX, SMOKED FISH, CORN BEEF, PEPPER BEEF,
PASTRAMI, SALAMI . . .
IMPORTED AND DOMESTIC CHEESES,
GOURMET FOODS, WINES . . .
5290 Roswell Rd.
Open Sundays 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
NOW’S THE TIME FOR
Atlanta, Ga.
Phone 252-1601
Sp/ting-CHean Ca/cpets
CALL £l?ariai)
Let professionals give your carpet an expert
cleaning right in your home or office.
OR
Have your rugs cleaned "in-plant" thor
oughly and safely. Free pick-up and delivery
service.
PHONE
373-2274
"Masters of the rug cleaning art since 1931”
$l?ariai)
SERVING METROPOLITAN ATLANTA