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4 THE SOUTHERN ISRAEUTE October If, lf7f
The Soitheri Israelite
The Weekly Newspaper For Southern Jewry
Our 55th Year
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Edkornd PubWwr
Faith Powell
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Mark Nicholas
Productcn Manager
Published every Friday by The Southern Israelite, Inc.
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Madias Address: P.O. Bos 77388, Atlanta, Georgia 30357
Location: 188 15th St., N.W. Phone: (404) 878-8248
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The PLO covenant
Yasir Arafat, head of the Palestine Liberation Organization,
said recently, “I don’t remember" any portion of the PLO
Covenant that calls for the elimination or destruction of Israel.
In the interest of providing an accurate answer to the question
Arafat dodged, it is worth noting a few passages from the PLO
Covenant, which was adopted in 1968.
Article 19 of the covenant states, “The partitioning of
Palestine in 1947 and the establishment of Israel are
fundamentally null and void, whatever time has elapsed..." Article
20 adds, “The claim of an historical or spiritual tie between Jews
and Palestine does not tally with the historical realities nor with
the constituents of statehood in their true sense."
That much denies the Jewish people a right to national
independence. But what does the PLO plan to do about Israel?
According to Article IS, “The liberation of Palestine...is a
national duty to repulse the Zionist, imperialist invasion from the
great Arab homeland and to purge the Zionist presence from
Palestine." Seekers of “moderation" should note that the PLO
equates “Zionism" and “Zionist presence" with Israel. It is not
merely trying to cure Jews of Zionism.
Is it possible the PLO would settle for peaceful negotiations
aimed at “liberating” only part of Palestine, leaving the rest to the
Jews? Not according to the covenant.
Article 21 states, “The Palestinian Arab people, in expressing
itself through the armed Palestinian revolution, rejects every
solution that is a substitute for a complete liberation of Palestine,
and rejects all plans that aim at the settlement of the Palestine
issue or its internationalization.”
Nor does the PLO want to accomplish “complete liberation”
through nonviolent means. Article 9 states, “Armed struggle is the
only way to liberate Palestine and is therefore a strategy and not
tactics.” Article 10 says, “Fedayeen action forms the nucleus of the
popular Palestinian war of liberation."
“Fedayeen” is an Arabic word that means “guerrilla" or
“terrorist," depending on one’s viewpoint. Since PLO “fedayeen”
have rarely been known to attack Israeli soldiers, it follows that
the organization aims to liberate all of Palestine mainly through
continued attacks on civilians.
No wonder Arafat chose to forget what the PLO Covenant
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Vida Goldgar
Atlanta reunion
Who it Zeev Chafets and what was he doing in
Atlanta?
The answer depends on whom you ask.
If you are Atlanta attorney
Doug Kessler, you remember
Chafets as “Bill" from the days
about IS years ago when you were
both officers in the National
Federation of Temple Youth.
Kessler from Atlanta, and Chafets
from Pontiac, Mich., planned
together, visited each other's
homes, went to camp together,
shared the dreams of young adults.
On the other hand, if you are one of the black
educators and community leaders who visited Israel
several years ago on a trip arranged by the ADL, you
remember Zeev Chafetz as the guide from the Foreign
Mmstry who made Israel come alive, who shepherded
you on and off busses, and kept up with a thousand
details.
But then, if you are Menachem Begin, you know
Chafets as a member of your staff, director of the
Israel Government Press Office, who is charged with
dealings with the foreign press, both in Israel and
abroad.
It is in this latter role that Chafetz is currently in
the United States. But it was because of the
friendships of previous years that he came to Atlanta
last week for a reunion at the home of Consul General
Joel Araon and his wife Batya.
Tour members who enjoyed reminiscing with
Chafetz included Dr. Robert Brisbane of Morehouse
College, Dr. Katherine Brisbane, Atlanta University;
Atlanta educator Mrs. Jonnie Brown; Clarence and
Dorothy Coleman, just back home after five years in
New York where Mr. Coleman was director of field
services for the Urban League; Dr. Alonzo Crim,
Superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools; Atlanta
businessmen Charles Moreland and Lonnie King and
Mrs. Mercedes King. Dr. Lois Moreland of Spelman
College couldn't make the reunion but had a chance to
visit with Chafets before he left Atlanta Atlanta
Constitution columnist Lee May, who had also met
Chafets in Israel, was also on hand
The Kesslers were there, along with a number of
other friends of the Amons, to add their own
memories of Israel visits.
I was curious about how Chafets, an American by
birth, came to be on the staff of Israel's prime minister.
He is the only American in such a position. The next
day we had a chance to chat.
Chafets has been in Israel for 12 years. He was just
out of college when he decided to makealiyah. “It was
the only really romantic thing for a Jew of my age to
do," he told me. It is hard to realize that Chafets spent
most of his life in the United States. He has acquired
the accent of an Israeli who speaks English very well.
The responsibility of his position is clear when he
notes that there art 250 accredited foreign
correspondents in Israel as well as 2,500 journalists
who visit there each year.
His current trip to the U.S. primarily focused on
meeting with prominent black journalists, politicians,
and community leaders for the purpose of “mutual
education and clarification."
He told me, “It has become clear that we are
dealing with a heightened sensitivity on the part of
some blacks in regard to foreign affairs which includes
the Middle East, and toward that end. we are trying to
explain Israel's position."
Zeev Chafets seems well equipped for the task
A double standard
by I.L. Kenen
Near East Report
The acrimonious furor over the
presence of Soviet forces in Cuba
demonstrates the double standard
once , again, inasmuch as
Washington questions Israel's
alarm over the potential presence
of Soviet-armed and Soviet-
trained terrorists on her
exceedingly vulnerable borders.
In self-serving fantasy, a veteran
U.S. diplomat explained this
inconsistency to an audience of
Israel's American friends many
years ago: “Your people live by the
Old Testament, ‘an eye for an eye,’
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while we live by the New, turn the
other cheek.™ He was unaware
that “an eye for an eye” is not a
preachment for vengeance but an
admonition that punishment must
not exceed the crime.
In many analogous situations,
the United States itself has not
lived up to its counsel to Israel.
A veteran journalist, Victor
Bienstock, recently circulated an
article describing how President
Wilson dispatched American
troops into Mexico in 1916 to
prevent Pancho Villa’s raiders
from continuing to invade Texas,
robbing and killing Americans.
Secretary of War Newton D.
Baker, a pacifist, ordered Gen.
John J. Pershing to move into
Mexico, where his forces
penetrated to a depth of J00 miles,
remaining for 11 months to
destroy the Villista forces.
In disregard of its own example,
the United States constantly
inveighs against Israel's attempt to
prevent PLO terrorists from
murdering civilians.
Bienstock writes:
“When Ambassador Andrew
Young condemns Israel at the
United Nations for violating
Lebanese soil to prevent attacks on
Israel towns, he ignores American
history, and when State
Department spokesmen say Israel
must not carry the war to its
enemies, they reject the lessons of
history and ignore nature Neither
man nor nation sits back and
awaits a murderous attack before
taking elementary protective
measures."
American history is replete with
examples of conduct essential to
American security which are
regarded as inappropriate for
Israel. To note but a few:
For six years after 1776. the
British pressed Americans to
permit the United Empire
Loyalists, the colonists who had
remained loyal to the Crown, to
return from Canada and reclaim
their property. The Congress
adamantly refused. But Israel has
often been called upon to
repatriate a host of potential
enemies within her borders.
In 1962, President Kennedy
risked global conflict when he
forced the Soviets to withdraw
their missiles from Cuba.
But Israel is urged to accept the
massing of enemies on her old
border who could be in a position
to push her people into the
Mediterranean Sea, only eight
miles away.
The United States dropped
atomic bombs on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki to force Japan's
unconditional surrender. But
Israel's military triumphs have
always been frustrated by
diplomacy. Israel could win wars
but never win the peace: in 1948. in
1957, in 1967, and again in 197.1.
Our government has retained a
base at Guantanamo, a strategic
trusteeship over Okinawa for a
quarter of a century, was long
reluctant to withdraw from
Panama, and still holds a
trusteeship over Micronesia —
remote outposts which Washing
ton'deems essential to security—
while Israel is diagnosed as
“paranoid" about security.