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PAGE 4 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE September 26, 1986 The Southern Israelite The Weekly Newspoper Fck Southern Je\>^y Since 1925' Vida Goldgar Jeff Rubin Editor General Manager Luna Levy Managing Editor Published by Sun Publications, Inc. also publishers of The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle Stan Rose Steve Rose Chairman and President and Publisher Co Publisher Second Class Postage paid at Atlanta. Ga (ISSN 00388) (UPS 776060) POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Southern Israelite, P 0 Box 77388, Atlanta, GA 30357 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 77388, Atlanta, Georgia 30357 Location. 188 15th St., N.W.. Atl„ Ga. 30318 Phone (404)876-8248 Advertising rates available upon request. Subscriptions: $23.00, 1 year; $41.00, 2 years Member of Jewish Telegraphic Agency; Religious News Service; American Jewish Press Assn.; Georgia Press Assn., National Newspaper Assn. The Southern Israelite A Prize-Winning Newspaper Say ‘yes’ Atlanta’s Jewish community is justly proud of the educational opportunities available for our youngsters. But like anything else, schools don’t operate on air. This Sunday is the date for the Epstein School’s annual tele thon to raise the dollars which augment tuition fees and are so necessary in the operation of this fine school. With an enrollment of over 300 students and growing, expenses grow too. The telethon funds will be used to help offset the deficit in operational expenses. This year’s goal is $30,000. If we all pitch in, it should be attainable. Each of us has a stake in our Jewish educational system, whether or not we have school-age children. So when the phone rings Sunday... Say “Yes.” Better Newspaper Contests Hiding anti-Semitism by Eric Rozenman Editor. Near East Report Charges of anti-Semitism often should not be taken seriously be cause defenders of Israel use such allegations to intimidate honest critics of the Jewish State. So argues Allan Brownfeld in a two-part ser ies which ran in the Washington Jewish Week on Aug. 28 and Sept. 4. The material appeared initially in the magazine American Politics. According to Jewish Week editor Renee Matalon, the paper ran the series as “Viewpoint” because it seemed interesting and provoca tive, not out of agreement with the premise. The premise deserves scrutiny. Brownfeld, an associate editor of the Lincoln Review, a black con servative quarterly, claims that by labeling critics of Israel as anti- Semites, Israel’s supporters trivial ize a major political-philosophical concept while stifling foreign pol icy debate. Brownfeld objects to what he says has been the redefinition of anti-Semitism—from “those who irrationally disliked Jews and Jud aism” to “anything that opposes the policies and interests of Israel.” He seems oblivious to the fact that for some, criticism of Israeli polit ics serves as both camouflage and opening wedge for attacks on the idea of a Jewish state in general. Such attacks, ultimately, aim at the Jews as a people with a right to their own state. And the step from attacking Jewish peoplehood to attacking Jewish people is easily made. Brownfeld begins by reviewing the clash between Norman Podho- retz, editor of Commentary, and writer Gore Vidal. But rather than deal with the substance of Vidal’s slurs, Brownfeld focuses on Pod- horetz. He labels the editor “a major practitioner” of the tactic of silencing critics of Israel by making indiscriminate charges of anti- Semitism. He also labors to present colum nist Joseph Sobran—a conserva tive on most matters, a retailer of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish innuen do on others—as a victim. As with Vidal, Brownfeld avoids quoting Sobran so as not to let his own words impeach him. Like many other critics of Israel who adopt an above-the-fray pose, Brownfeld argues that it can be cri ticized like any other country, like any other American ally. Jews and others who do not agree are “hyper sensitive.” But this is pretense; the history of the Jews is not like that of any other people and Israel’s status is not like that of any other state. Most of Israel’s neighbors still insist they are in a state of war with it. More countries have official relations with the PLO, an organi zation sworn to destroy “the Zion ist entity,” than they do with Israel. The U.N. still holds that Jewish national liberation—Zionism — equals racism. The effort to delegi- timize and dismantle Israel makes the position of the Jewish state unlike that of any other country. Early Christian anti-Semitism swore that Jews were theologically inferior, spiritually doomed. Pseu do-scientific Nazi anti-Semitism as serted that Jews were racially infe rior, to be exterminated. Contem porary anti-Zionism claims that Jews are politically inferior, their state to be liquidated. In each case the result is the same—death for Jews. Jews in and outside Israel re member being abandoned by the rest of the world a little more than 40 years ago. They remember how most Western countries stepped aside again when Israel was threa tened with destruction in 1967 and 1973. Hypersensitive? Or never again to be silent, ready to call an enemy of Israel an. enemy of the Jews. About the Black Hebrews by Sherry Frank Southeast Area, director American Jewish Committee The issue of the Black Hebrew Israelites is complicated. It requires an understanding of the group’s exit from the United States, their entry and deportation from Liber ia and present illegal status in Israel. There are three fundamen tal issues to be addressed: the charge of Israel as racist; the claim that Black Hebrews are Jewish; and the right of a sovereign state to make its own laws regarding entry, work and citizenship. Is racism a factor? There are no grounds for inject ing the issue of racism, as some advocates of the Black Hebrews have attempted to do. Israel has made extraordinary efforts over the past years to bring in thou sands of Ethiopian Jews, who are black, and has granted them full citizenship. Jews from India and North Africa have been absorbed into Israeli society without incur ring discrimination or racism and many of them are as dark skinned as the Black Hebrews. Individual Black American Jews and non- Jews who have immigrated legallv to Israel have also obtained Israeli citizenship. In Israel there are tens of thousands of Jewish and non- Jewish citizens who would be con sidered “non-white" in the United States. Israel remains the only democratic and pluralistic nation in the Middle East. In 1981 a group of American black civil rights leaders including Bayard Rustin and representatives of the National Urban League, the NAACP and National Council of Negro Women, visited Israel to investigate the question of the human rights of the Black Hebrews. In its report, the delegation stated. “From all the evidence we have heard, including that from the Black Hebrew community, we conclude that official racism plays no part in this sensitive problem. The general agreement is that the official diffi culties stem from deep-seated reli gious, philosophical and political differences.” Are the Black Hebrews Jewish? 1 he Black Hebrews are not rec ognized as Jewish either by the rabbinate or by the courts under the Law' of Return, which grants immediate citizenship to all Jews entering Israel. The leaders of this sect have rejected offers of conver sion to Judaism. They follow a messianic cult whose leader, Ben Ami Carter, regards himself as above the law, and who has declared his intention of replacing the duly elected authorities in Israel with his own “Black Hebrew-controlled kingdom of God.” I hey confuse the issue further by claiming they believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and say they practice their faith according to the laws in the first five books of the Old Testament. Jesus is not mentioned in the Old Testament and one cannot be Jewish and hold this belief of Jesus as the Son of God. What laws are at stake? Israel is a democracy and is entitled to have its laws obeyed. I he Black Hebrews were provided due process in Israel’s courts. The cult-like group has infiltrated Israel illegally using forged passports and stolen airline tickets and by mas querading as clergy or visitors from Africa. Once in Israel, they have secluded themselves within a closed community, ignoring the laws of the country. Their tourists visas have expired and they are working without legal immigrant documents. The United States and countries around the world have deported tourists and aliens found working illegally inside their sovereign borders. Israel, which faces severe economic difficulties, has been en forcing their laws against illegal workers. Last year Israel deported 800 illegal workers from the Philli- pines, Thailand, Yugoslavia. India and including 25 Black Hebrews. A few final issues must be added. The problem has gone unresolved for too long. This was due in part to the U.S. pressuring Israel not to return the Black Hebrews, Israel not wanting to exacerbate black- Jewish relations in America, and the Black Hebrews’ threats of mass suicide if deportation orders were given. Recently Black Hebrew Israel ites living in the U.S. were lound guilty and sentenced for operating an international crime ring, traf- ficking in millions ol dollars in stolen airline tickets and bogus credit cards. Much of the funding for the Black Hebrews in Israel comes from this U.S. operation o theft and deceit. Israel nor any sovereign state can be expected to capitulate to the dictates of any group which arbi trarily decides to take up residence and impose itself, under false pre tenses, upon the rest of society