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4 THE SOUTHERN ISRAEUTE October If, lf7f The Soitheri Israelite The Weekly Newspaper For Southern Jewry Our 55th Year Vida 'TnfrfjM- Edkornd PubWwr Faith Powell I Ld*(» Adiuft—>g Dffclot Mark Nicholas Productcn Manager Published every Friday by The Southern Israelite, Inc. Second Class Postage pad a Atlanta, Go. (ISSN 00388) (USPS 776060) Madias Address: P.O. Bos 77388, Atlanta, Georgia 30357 Location: 188 15th St., N.W. Phone: (404) 878-8248 Advertising rates avsdshle upon request. Subscriptions: $15 00 - 1 year, $25 00 - 2 years Member Jewtsfi Telegraphic Agency. Rebgous News Service, American Jewish Press Assn . Georga Press Assn . National Newspaper Assn 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 jgyj Nflt l-BSt Repot! 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,’ - 5**5 tUTb THK rPPpt6 L* STDfT. ye*, A® Lo*6A 8NH AT HOPE. —f -mgjMt chhe of me cmAgo, cW- 1 pJh, St/NiHt to rny Meets... She'S j—- onf-oLfueo:.. r ~ i soc 5**5 t*ka* flfewrV /• (pSh W To SOIOQC fiTWf* r S>M0T <* ConkrJ** S TFU "E WMAf D°-, 'j** C 'Ireland Jnmk Se-en 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.