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P M* 4 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE May S, 1*71
Israelite ]
Jack Geld ban: Editor A PuMtsker
Vtda Go Id par Moupot Idior
J Allen Anderson AdvtrtMMg Director
Published erery Friday by The Souther* Israelite Inc
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Jews on the move
The distance from Capitol Avenue near Atlanta Stadium to the
Perimeter Highway is not great in miles. Perhaps 15 or 20 minutes
is all it takes in light traffic
That short distance has taken almost 70 years of population
shifts for the slow but seemingly inexorable move northward of
Atlanta's Jewish community.
This shift was reflected last Sunday when the first spades of
earth were turned at the site of the soon-to-be-buih Zaban
Branch of the Atlanta Jewish Community Center on Tilly Mill
Road.
Community leaders, new and old Center members, children
and even pets were on hand to join in the festivities. It was a joyful
day for those who had contributed time, planning and money for
the facility, as well as for the Northsiders who will reap the
benefits of having a Center branch closer at hand.
Previous moves by Atlanta's Jewish institutions involved an
“Off-with-the-old! On-with-the-new'" total relocation. It seems
notable, therefore, that this is a “branch"—an additional
facility—and that the present AJCC on Peachtree Road will
remain a viable and convenient place for the m-towners.
With the diverse residential patterns of Atlanta's steadily
growing Jewish population, we need to continue to receive this
kind of “future-think” from our community leaders.
Which way to fly?
Two men whose opinions we generally respect, Stuart Eizenstat
and Congressman Wyche Fowler, have offered opposing views
this week on the sale of war planes to Saudi Arabia. Egypt and
Israel (see stories on page 1).
In this instance, we agree with Fowler and applaud his signing
of the resolution opposing the sale. At the very least, the proposal
calls for some serious rethinking and compromises by top
administration figures so Israel's security is not jeopardized
further.
Israel-U.S.
Agreement, disagreement
by Menaebea Regia
Prime Minister of Israel
There are points of consent and
there are disagreements between
the American Government and the
Israel Government in regard to the
character and substance of a
settlement in the Middle East The
main points on which the two
governments are in agreement are:
There is a need for peace treaties
between Israel and its neighbors.
These treaties will establish
absolute normalization of life and
relations between the nations in
the region. The borders will be
open and there will be regular,
proper diplomatic relations. There
will also be economic ties, trade
relations, etc.
There will not be established in
Judea, Samaria and Gaza a so-
called Palestinian state; this is
based on the realization that this
would be a threat to the existence
of the State of Israel and a danger
to the entire free world.
The murderous organization
called the PLO will not be a party
to any negotiations for peace in the
Middle East.
1 must stress that these points of
consent are not the fruit of
coincidence, but rather the
product of standing firm and
explaining, and it is a good thing
that we have achieved consent on
these three principles.
In our peace plan we propose
administrative autonomy for the
Arab residents of Judea, Samaria
and Gaza. We proposed that they
themselves elect an administrative
council to be composed of eleven
members and divided into eleven
sectors. They would be in charge of
the day to day life of the residents
without any intervention of any
sort from us. We also proposed a
free choice in regard to
citizenship—Israel or Jordanian—
and a parliamentary expression for
that administrative autonomy
according to this formula: whoever
chooses Israeli citizenship votes
for the Knesset, whoever prefers
Jordanian citizenship votes for the
Jordanian parliament.
The American government
expressed its support for the
principle proposals of our
autonomy plan; but it suggested an
additional point—that after five
years a referendum would be held
in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. As
regards Israeli military forces the
American spokesmen expressed
the opinion that our army would
remain in its camps, or in camps to
be determined, in all these three
regions of the land even beyond
these five yean.
I wish to stress that we view this
as a positive and vital matter
because we declared that we would
not intervene in the day to day
affairs of the local residents: it is
clear, however, that we would be
obligated to bear responsibility for
the security and public order. If we
did not do so, that murderous
(PLO) organization would take
control of Judea, Samana and
Gaza, with all the consequences of
such dominion.
On the other hand it was our
duty to not accept the proposal for
holding a referendum, because this
would inevitably lead to something
which the Americans also do not
want—the establishment of a
Palestinian state.
Jack (.ridbnrt is attending an mter-reUgiota study mission to
Germany, Switzerland and Italy sponsored by the Anti-
Defamation League. His column will reappear upon his return.
Jews, blacks share so much
by Charles H. King, Jr.
Last week's television
production of “Holocaust" left me
numb and painfully aware that the
black experience is not uniquely
black. The parallels of the Jewish
experience, not only during the
days of the Holocaust, but from
the days of their being torn from
Jerusalem into Egyptian slavery.
The parallels are replete.
Jerusalem, for them has been
reestablished. Yet one can now
better understand the Begin-like
stance of “never again."
Hear. Oh Israel.
The Nazi degradation of the
Jews had been forgotten by many
Americans, most of whom, when
reports of the Holocaust first
reached their ears during World
War II. refused to believe that such
atrocities were possible in a
civilized Germany. Worse yet.
those who did believe, including
the political and military leaders of
our nation, did little or nothing to
stop it. In fact, this was the greatest
crime of the century. Not the
Holocaust itself, but the silence on
the part of Christianity that
accompanied the Holocaust Once
again, the black experience has its
parallels. In this nation and other
nations who espoused love, the
rape of an entire race took place
under their very eyes. The cries of
anguish and the smell of burning
flesh, fell on deaf ears and held
nostrils. It is out of this suffering
past that today's Jews fought and
climbed to restore their dignity,
homeland, and lives. Were it not
for the airing of “Holocaust,"
many of us would retain the
damnable stereotypes and lack of
sensitivity for those who paid for
their existence in blood. Few
peoples' heritage takes them back
to such massive dehumanizing and
hate-filled epochs. During those
years, the final solution, as it was
called, was to exterminate a race.
This extermination plan did not
involve letting them die naturally
as a result of hunger or disease, but
to hasten the death process
through gassing and burning My
God, My God.
What is the lesson here? Was it
the stoic and heroic fight for
survival by the family of Weiss,
and the love of an Aryan Inga for
her husband who happened to be a
Jew? Could it have been that
magnificent German pastor who
spoke out in behalf of the Jews?
No, these are normal examples of
heroism and love that all suffering
people show or receive (in small
doses). The most vivid lesson, and
the most pronounced abrasion was
the personage of Major Dorf. A
young, handsome, sensitive
German boy, who, because of
institutionalized racism and anti-
Semitism, portrayed how it is
possible to let self-respect,
sensitivity and morality slip
through his fingers and his mind as
quickly as the Jews were turned to
ashes. It is how angelic faces and
minds are changed for self-profit
and gain to mad dogs and demons
who stalk the earth under the g iise
of patriotic duty, and loyalty to
those who order them out of
humanity. That such a man was
left with the capacity to shed tears,
sheds some small hope. Thus,
quotes the Bard. “Conscience doth
make cowards of us all.”
Thus, here today, in this time
and in this place, we must recall,
we must remember. The Jewish
experience is all of our
experiences, those who suffer,
those who ignore it, and those who
cause it. We are inextricably
bound by those three cords, and as
long as people suffer racism,
sexism, anti-Semitism, or any
“ism” that destroys, those cords
are intact. And if we are to survive
as a nation or as a world, they must
be broken.
Hear. Oh Israel.
To blacks who viewed the
program, its impact should have
had the impact of our own
“Roots." We could observe that we
alone, at that time, did not have a
corner on the market of suffering.
In fact, granting the humiliation of
discrimination, segregation, and
lynchings during World War II,
our problem did not approach
those of the Jews during those
years. True, we were ghettoized,
but no plan was in effect for
extermination. We did not have to
wear badges, our faces were
enough to identify us.
Enough of those comparisons. It
is unwise and unfair to compare
which race suffered the most, but it
must be added for emphasis, that if
six million blacks had been
exterminated in America, one-
third of our black population
would have been wiped out. Thus,
“Holocaust" underscores the
Jewish plight. We share much, the
Jews and blacks; the selling into
slavery, the pharoahs that knew no
slavery, the pharoahs that knew
not Joseph, the rising up of a
Moses as a leader, the use of
religion as the eraser of the pain,
and the hope of a promise land. So
much in common, yet, today so far
apart. It is strongly hoped that the
strong and bitter pill we all had to
swallow, will create new meaning
and a new future.
Hear, Oh Israel, The Lord Our
God, Is One.
Atlantan Creative I oafiaf