Newspaper Page Text
Pate 6 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE December 30.1977
STEVEN J. ZIER C& CO.
INCORPORATED
I Correspondent Members Principal Stock Exchanges
6065 Roswell Rd. N.E./Suite 605/Atlanta. Georgia 30328
404-256-S7B0
In Cairo
Seeing is believing!
1(^5 pan
; NSEUNG&MANA MENTJNC
Fur PersonlPd Service
Call
\riinld Holzer 2.16-^12^
CaIcuUa
INDIAN CUISINE
Atlanta's only Tan door (charcoal-fired clay oven) creates
unique flavor sensation with chicken, beef and lamb. Plus
a wide choice of curries and biryanla. Delicious hot appe
tizers and breads; takeout foods.
NOW SERVING COCKTAILS, WINE and BEER
Happy Hour: 5-7 p.m. Lunch Special: $2.35
Lunch 11:30-2:30, Mon.-Sat.
Dinner 5-11, Seven Nights
3889 Peachtree Rd. (Cherokee Plaza), 281-3828
Major Credit Cards Accepted
Dine like a Maharajah at thrifty prices/
by Dr. Yhschak Ben Gad
CAIRO—An Arab proverb
reads, “As long as you live, never
say ‘I saw everything’ or ‘I heard
everything’; there will always be
something you did not hear or see
before.” In order to believe it or
fully understand it, one had to be
here to see it.
It started when the Israeli
delegation arrived at the biggest
synagogue in Cairo in order to visit
the 170-member Jewish com
munity. Thousands of Egyptians
jammed the street surrounding the
synagogue. They sang and shouted
in Arabic, “Welcome, welcome to
our visitors; 0 Qadaffl (Libya’s
. president), come and see;” and
“Welcome, welcome to our
visitors; 0 Assad (Syria’s
president), come and see.”
Then they started a new slogan:
“With our soul, with our blood, we
shall protect you, O Sadat. With
our soul, with our blood, we shall
protect you, O Sadat. Begin,
shaiom. Begin, shalom. Begin,
shalom. Long live Begin. Long live
Sadat and Begin.”
You had to be here to believe
it—to see the Eyptians shouting,
clapping, cheering, blessing,
singing and even dancing. What a
dream, what a miracle! One Israeli
newsman and an American Jewish
old lady wept because they could
not control their emotions. One
Egyptian police officer who knew I
was an Israeli bent to watch me
and whispered in my ear, “Believe
me, I never saw our people happier
than this very minute.” An
Egyptian woman shouted, “You
brought light to Cairo.
The roar of the crowd grew even
bigger when the service was over.
The Egyptian police and the many
Egyptian security men lost control
of the crowd. The head of the
was really the reaffirmation of his
faith in his God, the God of his
fathers.
It was a time for crying for some,
a time for praying for others. Here
in the synagogue you could
understand the meaning of “We
are one.” And indeed, we Israeli
and Egyptian Jews are one, united
in our prayer, hope and
expectations for peace.
This week I moved among the
Egyptian people. I spent three
hours walking in the streets of
Dr. Yitschak Beit God, who flew to Cairo on the Israeli
press plane on Dee. 13, is a special correspondent for the
Southern Israelite.
Plant Trees in Israel
for ~ '
Loved Ones
FOR ALL REASONS AND ALL SEASONS
Anniversaries
Birthdays - Bris - Bar and Bas Mitzvahs
Weddings - Honors - Holidays - Memorials
Beautiful certificates suitable for
framing sent same day order received.
from your
SOUTHEASTERN REGIONAL OFFICE
THE JEWISH NATIONAL FUND
President, Gilbert Wildstein, M.D.
Jerusalem Emissary Michael J. Tidhar
One Piedmont Center
Atlanta, Georgia 30305
For RUSH ORDERS—Telephone 404/237-1132 kwh *»*«««•< i»«*u.
PLANT trees (at S3.00 each) in Israel.
In honor of
or
in memory of
Planted by l Tel No
Address ...... Zip
•/ Send Certificate to
■ 1 >P
Israeli delegation, Dr. Ben Elissar,
could hardly enter his car and leave
the place. The excited crowd then
pushed its way to our side, and we
journalists found ourselves
surrounded by thousands of
excited Egyptians. The excite
ment, the noise and the
astonishment, coupled with the
shock, made the Israelis, who
hardly could get on their bus,
forget the danger involved in being
among the uncontrolled crowd.
Inside the synagogue, there were
moments of excitement and even
tears among the old worshippers.
Some of them spoke broken
Hebrew; others spoke Arabic.
They wanted to know everything
about Israel — its society,
economy, politics, and especially
the prospects for peace now that
Sadat had made his historic move
toward peace. One old woman
asked me, “If peace comes to the
Middle East, will some Israelis,
especially the youngsters, come
and live with us here? We are few
and lonely here.”
One of the most moving
moments was when it came time
for the congregation to recite the
Shema, the verse of the Bible
which is the basis of Judaism:
“Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God,
the Lord is one.” One man stood
praying, tears streaming down his
face. He was an Israeli Jew who
had lived in Egypt until he was
forced out in the early 1950s. He
used to worship in this synagogue.
S-me of the aged Cairo Jewish
worshippers were his parents'
friends. Here with the Israeli
newsmen, it was for him a moment
out of time. For him the Shema
NEW YEAR’S EVE
AT THE
, Jy, Address City ...,
l^
Individual Project or Organizations to be credited:
Make Checks Payable to The Jewish National Fund
CERTIEK A TES ARE MAILED SAME DA Y ORDER RECEIVED
Call one of your hosts:
Jean Jacques, Rene or
Nanu for more details
about our FANTASTIC
MENU.
WE WISH YOU ALL
THE BEST LOR 1978
Cairo. I stopped people in the
streets, introduced myself as an
Israeli journalist and asked for
their frank opinion about Sadat's
latest political move.
A Jordanian engineer told me
that, contrary to his government’s
policy, he supports Sadat’s
initiative. He believes that sooner
or later the Arab rejection front
leaders will find out that Sadat was
right and they were wrong.
Perhaps the most revealing,
sharp and interesting view came
from the guard of the high tower in
Cairo. He told me: “We lost a lot.
We do not want to fight. And now,
instead of tractors, we bought
tanks. The Arab oil-rich countries
oppose peace and want us tor
continue fighting. Why? Because if
peace is achieved in our area, the
price of oil would go down. They
simply want to get richer and
richer, while we continue riding
camels."
Egyptians everywhere are very
proud today of their president.
They call him the brave, the wise,
the kind. They believe that after
Sadat's move, all the cards are in
Israel's and America's hand. They
feel that the government did
everything possible, and now the
time has come for Israel to
withdraw from all the territory she
occupied in 1967, and also Israel
should honor the legitimate rights
of the Palestinian people.
This is the only way to achieve
permanent peace based on justice,
they say When you ask them if
they believe that peace is closer
now than it was before, they reply
inshallah, mshallah, which means
“God willing, God willing.”
(In Cheshire Square)
open 7 days week
Lunch 11:30 ,a.m-2:30 p.m.
Dinner 6:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m.