Newspaper Page Text
Page 4 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE August 4, 1978
Jack Redacted
[ The Soalhef Israelite
The Weekly New*paper for Southern Jewry
Our 54th Year
Jack Redacted
Editor and Publisher
Vida Goldgar
Managing Editor
Linda Lincoln
Advertising Dwector
Mark Nicholas
Production Manager
Published every Friday by The Southern Israelite, Inc.
Second Class postage paid at Atlanta, Ga. Publication No. 776060
Mailing adtknt: P.O. Bo* 77388, Atlanta, Georgia 30357
Location: 188 15th St., N.W. Phone: (404) 876-8248
Advertising rates available upon request.
Subscriptions: $15.00 - 1 year, $25.00 - 2 years
Member: Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Religious News Service,
American Jewish Press Assn.; Georgia Press Assn ; National Newspaper Assn
Fund drive for new
AJCC branch needs help
It???s not unusual for fund raising drives to be extended. For some
reason, it is somehow simpler to gather the initial major, amount
than the final dollars needed to put a drive ???over the top.???
Why, then, are we disappointed to learn the Atlanta Jewish
Community Center has extended its current fund drive for the
North Atlanta Branch? (See story page 3.)
Perhaps our dismay is because we realize that no single Jewish
organization in Atlanta is used more on a day-in, day-out basis by
a broader segment of the community. This is not to say the
Atlanta Jewish Welfare Federation does not spread its umbrella
wider???or that synagogues and Jewish organizations are less
deserving of our support. Not at all.
But from nursery to senior adults???from cultural activities to
athletics???from camping to self-awareness courses, the Center is
there for everybody.
The decision to build a branch to accommodate the growing
north suburban population would seem to place a special
obligation on those who will benefit most.
The goal is within reach. We urge those who may not have been
contacted to take the initiative and call the AJCC and participate
in this worthy addition to our Jewish community.
V.G.
"GOODNESS KHOWS I EXTENDED THE
OLIVE BRANCH TO THEM"
pck-
Israeli rhetoric
Native Israelis are often referred to as ???sabras,??? a
cactus that is reportedly ???prickly on the outside, sweet
on the inside.???
Any visitor to Israel can testify
that chance encounters with
Israelis will usually bear this out???
particularly the ???prickly??? part. It
apparently takes time and patience
to penetrate Israeli inscrutability
and savor the ???sweetness??? that lies
just below the surface.
Various reasons have been
offered to explain this Israeli
abrasiveness. Some feel it is a product of impatience
with visitors who do not live the sort of perilous
existence they do. Some see it as a protective shield
designed to inure themselves from the pressures of
living in an armed camp.
In any case, there was a flurry of examples this past
week as the leaders of Israel were busy being ???prickly???
toward each other.
Take this exchange, for instance, which took place
on the floor of the Knesset as Prime Minister Begin
and opposition leader Shimon Peres debated the
merits of Peres??? recent meeting with Anwar Sadat:
Begin: It turns out that Mr. Peres did not raise the
question (of a territorial compromise) at all.
Peres: Who says so? I raised the question. I have an
answer. I asked to meet you so that I could report to
you before the Knesset session.
Begin: That???s not important.
Peres: After my last meeting with Sadat, I reported
to you on his answer about a territorial compromise in
Judea and Samaria.
Begin: That???s not so. He didn???t offer a territorial
compromise in Judea and Samaria, but said...???
Amnon Rubinstein (DMC): That???s what Peres is
saying.
Daniel Rosolio (Alignment): You should listen to
the reply, Mr. Prime Minister.
Begin: He said to you (that he would agree to)
minor border adjustments. You didn???t tell the truth.
Peres: He didn???t say ???minor.???
Adiel Amoral (Alignment): Has the prime minister
ceased to understand?
Peres: I didn't say what Sadat answered. I said I had
raised the question. I didn???t say what Sadat's answer
was.
Begin: Shimon, listen to me; I listened to you.
Moshe Shahal (Alignment): No you didn't listen.
Begin: In brief, you didn???t ask the question about
territorial compromise.
Peres: I repeat that 1 did put the question, and I
shall report his answer to you. I won???t do it in public.
???What does a territorial compromise mean?" Begin
asked. ???Part to me, part to you." And at this point, he
picked up a sheet of paper and tore it in two.
Earlier, former Foreign Minister Abba Eban called
Begin ???clumsy??? and Begin turned on Ezer Weizman
and told him that he could not go to ???Morocco or
Shmorocco,??? a pungent phrase that brought
objections from Morocco???s leaders.
Begin was also stung by Labor Party criticism
about his capacity to continue as Prime Minister and
accused the press of ???relying on the diagnoses of Dr.
Peres and Dr. Allon." Then he ungallantly added:
???Did I ever refer to Golda Meir as senile, though she
served as Premier until the age of 75, or to BenGurion
who served ???til 80?"
Now this is strong stuff and one wonders whether
such rhetoric is good for Israel???s sense of unity.
Democratic dissent is one thing???but extreme
sarcasm and personal attacks can lead to permanent
devisiveness.
On a very basic level, the man in the Israeli street
may well follow the example of his leaders and take it
out on his neighbor. And by the time you and I get to
Israel, the Israelis are mad at each other and take it out
on us.
I suggest we save such potent ammunition for the
enemy.
???Pain in the neck???
An American dissident
writes to Soviet paper
Art
Buchwald
To the Editor
Izvestia
MOSCOW, U S S R.
Dear Comrade,
I am writing to you because over
the years you have used many of
my articles in which I have
attacked the President of the
United States, the State
Department, the Pentagon, the
FBI, the CIA and other agencies of
my government.
I know they have been
appreciated in the Soviet Union
even if you haven???t paid for them,
because they point out the flaws of
our system and give aid and
comfort to your people.
But I wonder if it has ever
occurred to you'that I am an
American dissident???an American
Jewish dissident, if you will, which
probably in your eyes makes me
the worst kind.
While the Soviet press has been
nice enough to give me so much
space in your newspaper, I wonder
whether your officials have ever
questioned why I am still walking
around a free man.
I???ll try to explain it if I may. The
U S. is made up entirely of
dissidents, and since there are so
many of us it doesn???t seem to make'
any difference if there is one more
or one less speaking out against
what we think our government is
doing wrong.
This does not mean that our
officials don???t get angry. Those in
power in the White House are
always screaming that they're
getting a raw deal.
Our selected officials in
Congress aren???t too happy with
dissidents either, and every
government agency constantly
claims that we don???t get the facts
right???which may or may not be
true. But despite their distress the
criticism goes on, and the walls of
our system still stand.
We go to great extremes to
protect our dissidents in this
country. We allow the Ku Klux
Klan to burn crosses, and the Nazis
to hold rallies in our parks. Lately
we???ve even indicted FBI agents
for allegedly using unlawful n :ans
to find out what our dissidents
were up to.
Please don???t get the idea that one
dissident agrees with another???far
from it. It???s just that once you start
going after dissidents that you
disagree with, we believe the next
step is that someone will start
going after you. This country
doesn???t have enough courtrooms
to handle all the people who are
constantly writing and speaking
out as to what our government is
doing wrong.
You probably consider it a
weakness, but we don???t have any
laws on the books (so far) that
political parties are used to it and,
if you want the truth, get a great
deal of pleasure out of defaming
and slandering not only the other
party but also itself.
1 don't wish to criticize your
system but I would suggest that if
you permitted your dissidents to
speak freely as much as we permit
ours to you wouldn't get so upset
about them and have to put them
on trial.
Free people can be a pain in the
neck to any government but once
you have enough of them speaking
out, it???s amazing how easy it is to
get used to them.
As a first step, why not print this
piece. If anyone in the Kremlin
complains, just tell them it was
written by a bona fide American
dissident who, despite what he says
about his goverment, can???t get
arrested to save his life.
