The Southern Israelite. (Augusta, Ga.) 1925-1986, September 14, 1979, Image 1

The Southern Israelite., September 14, 1979, Image 1

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Newspaper Page Textlauck hides face as he leaves West German courtroom. In W. Germany U.S. Nazi leader is trial defense witness BONN (JCNS)—Gary Lauck, a leader of the American Nazi Party, received the Nazi salute from about 20 spectators when he entered a court in Bueckenburg, Lower Saxony, to give defense evidence at the trial of six West Germans accused of neo-Nazi terrorism Lauck. 26. who comes from Lincoln. Nebraska, was deported by the Hamburg authorities in 1974, after addressing a neo-Nazi reunion in the city. He was given a safe conduct to appear as a defense witness for Michael Kuehnen. 23, the main accused, at the Bueckenburg trail Lauck. who publishes the German-language newspaper, "NS-Kampfruf” (“National- Socialist Battle Cry") in the l lined States, and distributes a bi monthly neo-Nazi sheet in West Germany, denied that he agreed v. uh an article in the paper praising violent action against West Germany The prosecutor said that Lauck’s denial constituted perjury and that he would be prosecuted if he re-entered the country illegally Tile Southern , 5 '. # z a Israelite ] The Weekly Newspaper for Southern Jewry Our 55th Year Arafat hedges PLO leader refuses to give straight answers to direct questions on TV by David Friedman NEW YORK (JTA)—Yasir Arafat, head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, refused flatly in a television interview Sunday, to say whether a Palestinian state would agree to coexist with Israel. Although pressed repeatedly by interviewer Barbara Walters on ABC-TV’s "Issues and Answers.” Arafat would not answer the question directly. Instead, he said the decision would have to be made by the “democratic establishment” of a Palestinian state once that state was created. The interview was taped in Havana where Arafat was attending the meeting of the non- aligned nations. When asked whether the PLO would abandon its call for the elimination of Israel, Arafat replied that this was a foolish question since Israel has a “huge force” with 15-20 atomic weapons backed by the United States. He denied the Palestine Charter calls for the elimination of Israel. Arafat The PLO leader also said he did not want changes in United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 but a new resolution which provided for Palestinian self-determination and a Palestinian state. He added that President Carter was “not accurate" when he said recently that no Arab leader had told the President privately that they support a Palestinian state, \rafat said all Arab leaders support such a state. Arafat again accused Egyptian President Anwar Sadat of “betrayal" of the Arab people. He said evidence of this was that when Sadat’s yacht sailed into Haifa last week it was guarded by Israeli planes, the same planes that bomb “my people" and the Lebanese people in Lebanon. The PLO leader maintained that he was a "moderate.” He said that “to be a moderate in the Middle East is very difficult,” explaining that “I try to deal with all the camps around me.” Arafat denied he was anti- Semitic. "We are anti-Zionist. We respect the Jews and the Jewish religion.” He characterized Zionism as expansionist. Walters, who was irked throughout the interview by Arafat's refusal to directly state whether the Palestinians could exist with Israel, noted that the PLO seemed to be getting more support in the U.S. but at the same time Americans did not want to see Israel destroyed. Arafat again refused to give a direct answer implying only that Israel was strong enough to prevent its destruction. Palestinians are pawns for selfish Arabs by Alon Ben-Meir As the Israeli, Egyptian, and American negotiations on Palestinian autonomy continue in earnest, political observers both within and outside the Middle East are still uncertain about two initial matters: what countries really want to see the establishment of a Palestinian state and what would be the character of such a state once established? On the surface, the Arab states present themselves as altruistic champions of Palestinian interests. In reality, however, the situation is considerably different. It is true that the Arab states, at least the confrontation states, would like to find a permanent solution to the Palestinian problem, a problem that has afflicted and continues to afflict the Middle East with fear, ^nxiety, and turmoil. Yet, all the Arab states deliberately perpetuated the Palestinian dilemma and did so as a matter of national policy long before oil became a fashionable commodity for political blackmail. Although every Arab state claims to be concerned with the Palestinian situation, very little, in fact, has been done by the Arab states Jo improve the living condition of the Palestinian refugees. The refugee camps on both sides of the Jordan river and in Lebanon bitterly attest to the Arab states’ deliberate negligence and even inhumane treatment of these people. The situation was even worse in the camps under Arab control (in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq during the 1948-1967 period). The point, of course, is that although the chances for a settlement of the Palestinian issue are slim, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and to a lesser extent, Egypt, would like to see such a solution fashioned in the light of their own narrow perceptions defined according to their self- interest, and not allowing for the real needs of the Palestinians Consequently, there are significant differences among the Arab states on the need for and the scope of a Palestinian entity. King Hussein of Jordan, for example, wishes to regain control over the West Bank. Yet, this dream cannot be realized if a strong Palestinian entity is created in that region. Moreover, it cannot have escaped him that a new Palestinian state on the West Bank might first turn its hostile attentions eastward toward Amman, rather than westward toward Israel. As a result, the King has to date abstained from participating in the autonomy negotiations. However, this default might aid the Palestinian cause without giving any support to the realization of his ambitions. On the other hand. Saudi Arabia hopes to gain indirect control over the newly established state. For this reason, the Saudis play the dangerous game of continuing to aid the PLO financially, refusing publicly to support Sadat's efforts, and manipulating oil prices to achieve its goals. On the face of it. such policies might seem mutually self- defeating. Yet. all indications are that the Saudis hope that they can “tame” the PLO by making it financially dependent on Saudi beneficence. A dependent PLO in charge of a new West Bank state would, presumably, be preferable to a hostile PLO loose among the Palestinians working on the Arab peninsula. Syria still has its own designs for the Palestinian state and the whole Middle East. The dream of establishing a greater Syria remains prominent in the minds of its government leaders. Syria's entanglement in Lebanon and its sporadic support of the PLO can only tesitfy to the Syrian resolution to keep both the PLO and a large segment of Palestinian extremists under Syrian control. Lebanon, the weakest of all the Arab states, would like nothing better than fo be rid of all the Arab Palestinians and would support any arrangement that would accomplish that goal As for Egypt, President Sadat must improve his image in the Arab world. Therefore, his insistence on the establishment of “some sort” of a Palestinian state is designed primarily to vindicate his peace agreement with Israel. In reality, however, the Egyptian leader would prefer the creation of an autonomous Palestinian area linked to Jordan, provided that radicalism is completely eradicated there and that the PLO is reduced in size and stature. To be sure, every Arab state and every faction of the Palestinian people speak of Palestinian self- determination and envisage the creation of an independent Palestinian state. Yet, each faction or state is determined to manipulate any newly-born Palestinian entity for its own purposes.