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Dr. Henry I eibowit/ checks out dental patient at Kibbutz Kinneret.
Leibowitz s vacation
fills void on Kibbutz
by Vida Goldgar
Liphtoh peh gadol!
Dr. Henry Leibowitz used that
phrase a lot on his summer
vacation. For those whose Hebrew
is rusty, liphtoh peh gadol means
“open wide."
As a member of the American
Dental Volunteers for Israel. Dr.
Leibowitz, spent a month as a
volunteer dentist on Kibbutz
Kinneret in Israel.
For the other 11 months of the
year. Dr. Leibowitz specializes in
orthodontics in Atlanta but for the
month on the kibbutz he reached
into his past skills as a general
dentist and practiced restorative
dentistry. Main emphasis,
according to Dr. Leibowitz, was
on a Preventative Dental Education
those who otherwise might have had
The summer experience was a
family affair. Harriet Leibowitz
acted as her husband’s assistant,
while their children, Mark, Scott,
and Gayle went around the
kibbutz putting "Healthy Teeth
Happy Smile" stickers on bicycles,
doors and posts to increase dental
awareness in the youth. “The
Israeli kids loved it," Leibowitz
says. "They wanted toothbrushes,
dental floss, and the stickers,
which I brought in great supply."
It can't be easy for a busy family
to take a month off for such a
project. Dr. Leibowitz explains
their decision this way: “It was
something we felt was worthwhile
for us to do as Jews; and as a
dentist, I have a very satisfied
feeling that I gave of my skills to
those who otherwise might have had
no dental care.”
He gives credit to friends who
watched their home in Atlanta for
the month and to his “understand
ing partner who watched my
practice during my absence.”
Back in the regular Atlanta
routine. Dr. Leibowitz says, “We
have a special feeling for that part of
Israel now. We were so close to the
Golan and Jordan, yet the beauty
of the lush valley of the Kinneret
(Sea of Galilee) is not to be
matched anywhere in the country."
And if any Atlanta youngsters
who come in to get their braces
checked are greeted with “liphtoh
peh gadol," they will know the
memories are strong.
U.S. its own enemy,
says Gerald Cohen
| Responding to a request from The Southern Israelite, Gerald
Cohen, Atlanta Jewish Federation’s vice president for community
relations, made the following statement about the United States'
I foreign policy vis-a-vis the PLO:
I “There are persistent rumors that our government is dealing
| clandestinely with the PLO, contrary to its clearly stated policy
1 that it would not. We are especially concerned about Ambassador
I Young’s actions, followed by his efforts at concealment.
I “Such vacillation undermines the efforts of Israel and Egypt to
achieve a peace. If we hold out the false hope to the PLO that they
I will achieve their goals, we make it even less likely that moderate
Palestinians will be able to step forth with any significant
1 movement toward peace.
| “The United States is its own greatest enemy when it makes
I onesided concessions to the most unstable element in the Middle
| East under the false assumption that it will somehow lead to
I stability.
I “It is time for the rank and file American to send clear signals to
| the administration that we expect a consistent clear foreign policy
| which will result in support for our allies and the opportunity for a
just and fair peace for all others."
The Souther
Israelite i
The Weekly Newspaper for Southern Jewry
Our 55th Year
o
<~4
OJ
C
No. 33
/
Young resigns
Accidental meeting not-so-accidental;
Ambassador forced out under pressure
by Vida Goldgar
Israel and “Jewish pressure”
were blamed in some quarters this
week for Andrew Young’s
resignation as United States
Ambassador to the United
Nations, while others pointed to
the inevitability of Young’s
departure given the free-wheeling
maverick style of diplomacy he
practiced.
In a scenario reminiscent of the
confrontation between General
Douglas MacArthur and
President Harry Truman,
President Carter had little choice
but to accept Young’s resignation,
if his own leadership role were to
be perceived as consistent. In April
1976, Carter said clearly, “If any of
my cabinet members ever tells a lie”
that person would be gone within
24 hours. By his own admission,
Andrew Young lied when he told
the State Department that his
meeting with the Palestine
Liberation Organization’s U.N.
observer was accidental and
Young
nothing substantive was discussed.
Despite Young's statement that
he acted on his own initiative,
many Jewish leaders saw his
meeting with Zehdi Labib Terzi as
a reflection of a State Department
pattern contrary to stated and
restated United States policy not
to deal with the PLO unless it
accepted Israel’s right to exist and
U.N. Resolution 242.
Senator Jacob K. Javits,
Republican of New York, called
for a prompt Senate hearing on the
implications of Young’s meeting
with Terzi. Javits, prior to Young’s
resignation, said it would be a
“diversion” to call for his
resignation. “I prefer to hold his
boss responsible—to wit, the
President,” Javits said, according
to a New York Times report.
Focus of a Senate Foreign
Relations Committee hearing,
Javits told the Times, should be on
“what is the policy of the United
States toward the PLO and Middle
East peace and what that policy is
going to be."
Theodore R. Mann, chairman
of the Conference of Presidents of
Major American Jewish
Organizations, said that “what
requires President Carter’s
immediate attention” is the
possibility that Mr. Young’s
“deplorable" meeting fits “into a
See Young page 20
Author Elie Weisel, center, chairman of the President's Commission on the
Holocaust, talks with worshippers outside Moscow’s Central Synagogue.
Commission members were on a fact-finding tour of Europe.
Finding facts in Moscow