Page 8-The Canadian jevvish News. Thursday, May 8, 1986
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Dramatic upsurge in violence
: An Israeli journalist participating in a recent anti-terfdrism conference in Quebec was undoubtedly right wh6n he noted that Cana-didns are far top complacent in their responses to .terroi:ism.
Reading letters-to-'the-edilor columns in Canadian newspapers and listening to radio talk shows such as-Cross Country Gheckup shows that a broad spectrum of people in this country are more critical "'"of President Reagan's attack on Libya than they are of terrorist atrocities against innocent civilians. ~
This also shows thai Canadians are zealous in'their practice of that precious commodity — free speech.
: We feel, however, that, in thecaseof the Libyan attack fob many Canadians have succumbed, on the one hand, to an ugly anti-Americanism, and on the other to myopic views of terrorism^:
Thie anti-Americanism discerriible in the controversy over Libya is an old phenomenon, part of Canada's age^ld struggje to assert her independence from a powerful neighbour.
More serious, however, is the naivete which informs the view that terrdrism can be fought by seeking to understand the reasons behind the grievances which produce the terrorism. This is an argument which, if carried to its logical conclusion would parialyze society and lead it into total anarchy..
Every criminal, can produce a grievance to justify acts of violence.. The grievance t>arrei is bottomless; it can never be emptied no matter how hard one tries. Is the war against riiurder, rape, arson, kidnapping andall other nefarious crimeis to be suspended .so that the root cau.ses of the crime, may be identified? ' . Obviously pot.v .
. the response to terrorisnV.carried biit.by President Reagan was judicious, restrained and prudent. It was not intended to solve the terrorism problem. Its purpose.Was. to demonstrate to states who sponsor terrorism that they \vill pay a heavy price for their support for international anarchv.
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We note, with interest that within the last month Canadian Jews have had the pleasure of hosting large international conclaves. The. choice o.f a Canadian venue -for the recent meetings ot.the World Conference of Progressive Judaism and the JWB indicates that Canada :is now recognized as a suitable site for the discussion of vital Jewish concfern^.
Of the two conferences the World Conference of Progressive Judaism naturally attracted the most interest primarily because of the disputes and frictions generated'in recerit years over intr^-Jewish feuding, Recent decisions within Reform Jewry over issues such as. patrilineal descent have caused a storm of controversy.
The World Union did not shirk from boldly confronting this and other seemingly intractable issues such as conversion and intermarriage during its convention in Toronto. There were scores of panels, symposia and lecture^sorganized to discuss these topics. ; The tw'o polarities of modern Jewish lite were best exemplified, however, by the keynote address delivered by Rabbi.Richard G. Hirsch and by a debate between Rabbi Alexander Schindler and Rabbi Walter. Wurzburger, :■:
Rabbi'Hirsch used his platform to denounce the ■'obscurantism of ghettoization'. syndrome he identitTed as being part of the mentality of the politically entrenched ultra-orthodox elemerits in Israel.
Rabbis Schindler and Wurzburger. representing Retbrmatid Orthodox viewpoints respectively, sparred w-ith each other for almost two hours (and with some rather eloquent rnerhbers of,their audiencej over defmitions of halacha and other burning issues.
Almost as imppitant as their exchanges was the nature of the audience of somie 700 people who attended the debate. A goodly portion of those in attendance wore kippot, making the event ai unique happening — probably the first time in the community that so many Reform and Orthodox Jews sat together to discourse on purely religious themes.
It would be premature to see in this any sign of rapprochement between Judaism's estranged wings. It was nonetheless a re freshing sight to witness Jews from a broad spectrum of religious viewpoints gather in a Canadian city to debate, in a frank manner, issues of the heart — and soul.
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SHELDQN klRSHNER
. Southern Lebanon, the locus of Israef.s 1982 .invasion, ha.s again hcconie .a prime Israeli, security concern.
Nearly one year after Israel's all but total withdrawal, the situation there is once more on edge. There hBve been an increasing number of clashes between Israel and Arab infiltrators in Israel's security zone. The Israeli army has conducted occasional .sweeps north of the zone. Katyusha rockets have been fired into the Galilee, hitting thie town of kiryat Shemona. The Israeli Air Force has struck Palestinian bases three times since the new year. And the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Arrny hasclashed repeatedly with
. the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL).
.Of all the developments which keep southern Lebanon Unseuled, perhaps the inosi important is the turmoil swirling within the Lebanese Shiite community.; The S.hiites. who comprise^the bulk of its population, are debating whether or not they should use militar>' pressure, within Israel it.self, to try to oust the Israelis frorri every square inch of Lebanese territory.
For Israel, the.se are serious problems indeed. It may even be said that Lebanon-remains Israel's chief day-today security problem, given Israel's relatively quiet bi>rder relations with Jordan and Syria. (Egypt, being in a ..■state of formal peace with Israel.: theoretically is no threat). - Despite southern Lebanqn's ex-
. plosive nature; it should be pointed out. that it has not returned to the status quo. ante: The tormidable armed Pale.stinian presence, which constituted a state-: within-a-state in the pre-1982 period, is no more, although the PLO claims it is regrouping in Beirut. For all the PLO's bravado aibout turning back the
■"^ .dock in the south, it is highly unlikely that the Palestinians will succeed in doing so. Israel's security zone may arouse deep feelings of animosity and resentment aiiiong Shiites.r but. compared to the cycle of violence Shiites endured before 1982. the status quo may-even be tolerable.
If the United Nations is to be believed, fighting in southern Lebanon will intensify as long as iisrael retains a token force there.
Reports indicate that about 1,000 Israeli troops and civilians operate in the security zone, augmenting the role of the South Lebanon Army, led by Antpine Lahad, a Christian and a former Lebanese Army officer.
Before Israel pulled out of Lebanon last June, the Israeli governmeht decided it would not abandon the security zone it had established in areas contiguous to its frontier following the 1978 mini invasion. ,' That buffer, policed in the main by jhe late Major SaadHaddad. was not an unqualified success. If it had been, the PLO would have fared badly in southern Lebanon and Israel's 1982 incursion would not have been necessary.. Even after the Israeli.s destroyed the
. PLO's infrastnictui-e there, dispensing its men to a dozen Arab countries, they were loath to give it up, Israel'wanted to be. sure that it.s settlements in the Galilee would be out of rocket and ar-tillerv' range in the event of a PLO com-/, cback. And Israel.'being unable to reach an understanding with Amal, the; mainstream Shiite militia supported by Syria, felt it had no choice but to take -
.. matters, into its own hands.
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Israel's security zone
In spite of some qualmsi the U.S. accepted Israel's rationale.
The; United Nations, however, holds a different view. Marrack Goulding,° the, UN's new undersecretary-general, recently held discussions with Yitzhak Rabin, the minister of defence, and David Kimche, the director-general, of Israel's foreign ministry, and sug-gestetl to thein that Israers physical presence in the zone Was causing an upsurge of anti-Isi^ael attacks, radicalizing the population, and increasing the clout of the Party of God, the Shiite Islamic fundamentalist group in competitibii with Ainal for the hearts and minds of southerners.
The Israelis disagreed with his analysis. arguing that the zone has enhanced their security . and that UNIFIL hasn't done enough to prevent terrorist •incursioris..
No one can be certain whose argument carries more weight. But what is undeniably true is that there has been a dramatic upsurge of violence in the. zone in the past few months, some of it involving the 5,80()-meniber UNIFIL and the South Lebanon. Army. .Since 1978, more than, 115 members of UNIFIL have been killed in the line of duty: ■ ■ . ■ ■ ■'■ V.;
Kiryar Shemoria, the settlement: which became a symbol for all those Galilee, towns arid villages that had been exposed to PLO attack prior to
1982j^has been hit twice by rocket fire since January, Four civilians were wounded in Marcb, the first iiasuahies Kiryat Shemona suffered since Israel's 1982 invasion. Hours later, Israeli aircraft attacked Palestinian targets around the Lebanese port city of Sidon, which has become a magnet for both Palestinian guerrillas and Party of God militants.
Earlier that week, Amal claimed responsibility.for firing 20.rockets in-: to northern Israel, saying it was in retaliation for the South Lebanon Army, bombardment, of Nabatiye, formerly a PLO hotbed, and now a stronghold of.the Party of God. \ . Early in March, in an..inciderit symptomatic of the tiincK- an Israeli patrol confronted a guerrilla band in the
security zone trying to make its way into Israel. The Israelis wiped out the maurauders. but one of their men was killed in .the process, the sixth to, die in Lebanon since last June..
In February, in a still gravier .episode that: could foreshadow further upheavals in southern. Lebanon, the Israeli amiy deployed several thousand troops in carrying out a massive 4-day search for two (sraeli soldiers who had been kidnapped, by Shiite- exti'eniists; • The ls,raelis vowed to stay until they.^ were found, biit they were forced to leave without accomplishing their goal. Uri Lubrani, Israel's.coordinator for south Lebanon affairs, candidly admitted that by remaining Israel risked. totally alienating the local population and strengthening the Party of God.
Lubrani was not understating the case. The Party of God, locked in a power struggle with Amal, is opposed to Amal's policy of trying to limit attacks against Israeli troops aiid the South Lebanon Army to the security zone. The Party of God, which is supported by Iran and all factions of the PLO, wants to carry the fight into Israel itself.
Some ahalysts believe that Amal's policy of restraint yis-a-vis Israel, which it has adopted in order to forestall Israeli retaliatory: assaults against Shiite villages, conveys the impression that Amaf is facilitating Israel's presence in southern Lebanon. Augustus Norton, an American authority on the Shiites, warns that Amal, if only to prove its credentials; may ultimately be compelled to forge a rapprochement with the Party of God.
Syria, which,has been encouraging various. Lebanese groups to harass Israel, and its surrogate, the South Lebanbn Army, may not be interested in such an alliance, siinply because it could trigger more chaps than it desires at present.
As itis. Syria has its hands full with. Israel. The two countries, the. major regional powers, have escalated their, battle for ififluence in Lebanon since late last year, when. Israel shot down a Syrian jet nealr Damascus, and Syria responded by moving missile batteries in and out of Lebanon. '
Meanwhile. UNIFIL— whose mandate was extended by three months on Aprif 20 —; seems powerless to influence the drift of events in southern Lebanon.
UNIFIL cannot do much more than look on helplessly as bloodshed envelopes southern Lebanon.
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An Israeli patrol moves along the Lebanese border. The village on the other side of the fence is in Lebanon. [Religious Newsservice photo]