Page 8-The Canadian Jewish News, Thursday, January 23, 1986
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Jews used as scapegoats again
Leadership has been described as the ability to manifest grace under pressure. This quality has been amply demonstrated in recent days by Prime Minister Shimon Peres and his government.
Despite the numerous provocations which have been presented to the Israeli governmentin the last several weeks the Peres govem-meht has shown an admirable patience as well'as a wiliingness to examine all options dispassionately.
In the vv^e ot^unspeakable attacks on Jews, Isr^ Americans at European-airpprts, and Qaddaffi's iiicitemeni to Arab assassins (we do not know whether he .is 'sane of. insane; ,we 'do know that he-is evil) the Israeli government has every right to strikeout powerfully agaiiijvt its antagonists.
, The provocations have noiceased in other sectors. Syria, currently the most ruthless of Israel's enemies, is now building: an army of a million men.and is playing musical chairs with its iiiissile weaptVnn,' in Syria and Lebanon.
•Despite numerous Israeli attempts to reach Jordah"s King Hussein, he has once again pledged his troth to the Danlascus tyrant Hafez Assad, the executioner of'30,(XX)Syrja^ at Hama;, : ; The most unkind cut of all. to borrow a Shakespearean phrase,, came when (according to the New York TimeS) President Mubarak of Egypt signed an agreement permitting part of Yasser Arafat's Force 17 (the terrorist squad which killed three Israeli tourists in Cyprus) to use Cairo as its.operational base. Mubarak's explanation that the group is! merely a political arm of the PLO is -- unper-suasive.' ; "■■, •; ' ■
In this atmosphere it is both astonishing and refreshing to learn that the, Isriaeli leadership has decided, after lengthy deliberations, to submit theTaba dispute between Israel arid Egypt to arbitration.
Prime Minister Peres, the prime mover behind the arbitration ide^, believes that bitter talk is better than bitter war. In an area where the latter is an ever-present commodity, Israel's preference for the former is worthy of the highest praise.
We note with approbation the statements made recently in New York City by Rabbi Haskell Lookstein, the newly.elected president of the. New York Board of Rabbis.
: Speaking to the l.OOO members of that; organization Rabbi Lookstein deplored the "extremism that manifests itself on both sides." ' This phenomenon; he said, "threatens to isolate Jew from Jew, and to rend the fabric of Jewish peoplehobd so that we will no longer be one peopled" /
Notingthat many of his colleagues in the Orthodox rabbinate refuse to have any dealings with Conservative and Reform colleagues, Lookstein said: "We of the Orthodox movement have ho monopoly on granting or Withholding legitimacy."
Lookstein, the rabbi of Congregation Kehillath Jeshrun in Manhattan's upper east side, is also the'author of a recent book. Were We Our. Brother's Keeper (Hartmore) — a study of Jewish press, responses to the Holocaust.
The i:abbi'sconcern about the growing polarization.of the Jewish community stems ho doul3t. in part, from Ijis analysis of the.\vay in which the fragmentation of American Jewry during the Holocaust contributed to the inertia of that community during World \yar II. .
In his speech Rabbi Lookstein urged members of all groups to lower the stridency of their rhetoric while emphasizing the things which unite rather than divide. He also urged Orthodox rabbis."to extend the hand of friendship and love.to Conservative and Reform . rabbis ind not be afraid to sit down With them'in order to find ac-ceptable solutions for our problems."
Lookstein invited Conservative and Reform leaders to examine compromi^s which would ihclude a retreat from the patrUineal descent (question, a readiness to explore a conversion method which would satisfy all parties and an agreement which would enforce the need for a get in all divorces.
Recognizing that these'changes would entail difficult compromises on the part of Reforrn and Consen'ative groups. Rabbi L^^ said that the compromises were better than the.present climate of hatred. ''The antidote to.unnecessary hatred." he said."must be uhconditional love. This miist be the passion of the middle ground v among our Jewish people."
A wonderful statement.
By
SHELDON kiRSHNER
American tamiers, particularly those in Midwcsterii .states like Kansas,. Nebraska. Iowa and Missouri, are .having a hard tinie of it as high interest rates and low.prices plunge increasing nuiilbcrs of. them into financial in.sol\'enc>.        '   '. ;
Sonic farrticrs who've gone bankrupt. or face that bltak prospect, /have attributed their troubles to that convenient, tiriielcss scapegoat — ' Jews, the accusation is without foundation, but this is of no concern to the racist groups which have taken.ad\an-lage of the crisis in rural America to push their ugly opinions.
According to the Anti-Defamation League of B^hai B'rith, the Populist Party, a reincarnation of the i9th century Populist mpyement, has become the major right-ning extremist organization -attempting to exploit the farm crisis in. the U.S.
in an effort to gain widespread publicity, the Populist Party has gotten involved in national electoral politics. In 1984, Bob Richards, an Olympic gold medalist sprjnter, ra n for the presidency on a Populist ticket, and 66,000 Americans in 14 states voted for him. . .Ml its spokesmen wrap themselves in the ma.nt 1 e of politica 1 respectahi 1 i-t\. However, the B'nai B'rith claints the Populist Party is a creature of Liberty Lobby, which it describes as ''the most professional and successful; anti-Jewish propaganda organization in the United States:" ;:
Leaders of farmorganiz-alions have not permitted PopuIis.t representatives to address their constituents at meetings and.rallies. But the Populis.t Party has nltiriagcd to get across its message in the pages of The Spotlight, the Lihcr-t\ Lobby magazine which has a circulation of'150.000.
Liberty Lobby's guiding light; AVillis Carto. is apparently using the Populist Party as-a trtijati Horse by which to appeal to nominally nVainstream Americans. Cafto is on record as having ascribed Nazi Gerniany's defeat to ■•international Jews.'" - Previously housed in Liberty Lobby's headquarters building, in \yashingtori. the Populist Pans is how .■located in :San Diego. ' ' ■. . :
In addition to its links with Liberty .Lobby, the Populist Party," through sonie of it.s important activist,s. allegedly has ties: with the following organizations:' ;
.•Jerr> Pope, chairiiian of the Kentucky Populist Party, and a figure in
William Soderquist fleft), a former member of the racist Order, testified against 10 Order members who were recently convicted of racketeering and conspiracy in a plot to overthrow the U.S. government. Talking to him is an assistant attornev-generaL
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VOL. XXVI, NO. 36 (2,288)
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the National States Rights Party, led by Georgia hatenionger J.B. St oner.
•Van Loman. chairman of the Ohio Populist Party, and formerly grand draconof the Ohio Knichts of the Ku
Kiu\ Kian, : :
•Keith Shi\x\ acting chairiiian of" the Kansii.s Populist Party, and the self-, proclaimed leader of the Farmers. . Liberation Army.
•Joseph BirkenstiKk. chairman of
■ the Wisconsin Populist Part). and a niembcr of the anti-.semitic paramilitar\ group Posse Comitatus,
in a bid to combat the influence of the Populist Party, Jews and Christians ha\e banded together. At a recent news conference held in the New York office, of the .American Jewish Committee, sevi^ral prciininent clergymen frc>m Kansas and Iowa denounced radical right-wingers for trying to prey on the fears ivf farmers.
Dixon Terry; chairman of the Iowa Farm Unity Coalition, summed it up best:;■ 'Farmers acro,ss the country and
; espec ia 11 y i n t he M id uest are. no w fiic-ing a greater econotnic upheaval than
•an\ we have seen in more than half a
■ century. Because of economic.di.sloca-' . tions. the loss of farni.<. and the financial pres.sures. that farmers and rheir families are iinder. there is an at' inosphere of despair and hopelessness, arid in this atmosphere many farmers are blindly grabbing at anything that
: seems t(vpro\ ide ah answer for them."'
Charles and Nellie Babbs, the pro-^ prietors of a Kansas radio station, KTTL-JF\rof Dodge City, seem to be doing their best to enhance farmers' p^rcieptions that their problems are attributahle to Jews.
In the past tew; years. KTTL has carried a series of anti-Jewish and anti-Black baxidcasts, the most notable.having been by William Gale, a retired army colonel. In a reference to Jews and Blacks, Gale urged listtjners to •"cleanse our land.-..with violence." And he added:" Vqu better start making dossiers, names, addresses, phone numbers, car licence numbers, on eveiS damn Jew rabbi in this land, and ev'ery Anti-Defaination League leader in this land, and you better start doing
■ it nou."      , ■
The fact that Gale singled out the ADL is hardly coincidental. Recently, the Federal Coihihunications Commission, responding to a B'nai B'rith petition, granted permission to the ADL to challenge the licence renewal aplication of KTTL;
ADL has also filed a motion to enlarge the issues in the case by asking the FCC to consider the anti-Semitic and racist content of KTTL,broadcasts, — which the FCC has so far refused to do.
In-a separatie but not uiifeTated development late last year, a Seattle jury convicted 10 members of the,
Order — a neo-Nazi gang — of federal racketeering and conspiracy aimed at overthrowing the U.S. government. :
The white supremacist group, which considers Jews the children of Satan. \vas charged with engaging inmurdei-, counterfeiting and. bank and armored-car: robberies.
Gene Wilson,, the Seattle a.ssistant district attorney, said the. convicted . members of the Order would spend "'a very long tinie in prison." Each of the accused faces a 40-year prison term and a 550,000.tine. Sentencingis scheduled for February,.
HELENE'S SECRET WAR
Helene Mos/liewiez lives quietly in Vancouver tCHJay. under another iianie. but just, four decades ago. incredibl\ enough, this Jewish women, worked for
. the Gestapo as an undercover agent t'or the Resistance in Belgium.'
Mosziie\\iez, who has u ritten a lx)ok about her experiences. ./m/Je^ the Gestapo, (Gage; S23.95j barely lived to tell.her tale. Once, she was almost caught u ith a suitcase of bombs, On another tvcasioh. she nearly died w hen AUied planes .raked, the building she was working in. She joined the Resistance for. a'
. number ()f~ reasons. She resented the ■■oppre.ssi\e presence'' of the iNazi (k--cupiers, she was bored with her hun):
; druililifeand longed for a little excitement,.'and- the ever-i;rowing ..■ Nazi persecuiioh of the Jews fueled her en-
'tiiity of the eriehiyv ^
Recruited in 1940 by a iiiale'friend-shehad met in 1937, MQSzliewlez was in her early 2Qs when she was given her first a.ssigriment: By then, she had chahgtxi her name and had acquirtxi ap-.
• prppriate papers as a Christian. With hernew Identity! she wasable to infiltrate Gestapo headquarter.s' iri Brussels; where she became a. file
■
As she writes in this readable memoir, she lived inconstant fear of being eisipbsed as a Resistance fighter. "I never overcame my chronic terror of being recognized and hustled off to the dreaded (SS) cellars every timie I set foot in the Gestapo building. The cumulative effect of such tensions weighing on my mind brought me dangerously near the breaking point several times.''
Vyhat sustained hei^was her Tierce hatred of the Nazis (her pai"enLs. as \vell as her husband, were deported to death camps)andthe hope that she would see them lose the war and pay for their crimes. .
After Belgium wa.s liberated by the Allies, a mob, under the mistaken im-pres-sion ihat she was a collaborator,, wanted to lynch her. She deftly talked ; her way out of what would, have been an    ignominious    death. But Moszliewiez never j;ot over the shock of-discovering thju_one of her closest; associates wias a double agent.