Paeo 8-Tlic Canadian Jewish News. Thursday; November 28. 1985
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Faces daunting challenge
"Fighting tor a cause cannot be considered devoid of valid reasons even if terrorist methods are used." , ..—
The argument presented by the defence altorney for the Achille Laur'o hijackers at their trial in Genoa last week? ;• Not on your life. .     ■ '
, . Thai incriidible statement came from the mouth of the government prosecutor whopresented the case against the Palestinian thugs -who killed Leon Klinghoffer on a cruise ship and threw his body overboard as if it were cafriori. . '
ItaJianjustice.reached its nadir in that inglorious remark redolent of the worst aspects of Marxist dialect and Mussolini-style jurisprudence. , ' ■
What the Italian prosecutor was saying, beyond his obvious affection for Palestinian terrprisni, is that the end justifies the means. ■
Even more shocking was the court's apparent acquiescence in this view; the hijackers, found guiUv of illegal possession of firearm.s and explosives, were given mild sentences ranging from four to nine years.
•Observers of the Italian scene say (hat the 1-day trial will help to keep the Palestinians.incarcerated until prosecutors prepare their ca.sc against thehijacker.s in the murder trial which will be held later.. . Given the prosecutor's voice in this.assize, one.cringes at the prospect of another trial based on the government's interpretation of "yalid reasons tor-terrorism."
Jews cannot be unmindful of the lessons of the Genoa courtroom. Jewish passengers traveling on ah Italian cruise ship are '.'selected" . by Palestinian a.ssassins for'"special treaimeni." They along with the other pa.ssengers are terrorized for several days. One wheelchair-hound Jew. Leon Klinghoffer, is then killed in a savage display of Palestinian barbarism..'
When brought to trial in Italy, the perpetrators of these foulacts are slapped on the wrist and the government prosecutor delivers an apologia for the terrorists.
Last week. American rebbetzin Esther Jungreis. columnist and TV personality, addressed a group of high school and university siudenls,in.Toronto. Jungreis. a charismatic and forceful speaker, packs a punch with her fervent, evangelical call toyoung Jews to return to the fold, stop intermarrying and avoid cults.
But there was one very troubling component in her talk. Asked-of the recent establishment in Israel of a Mormon mission, Jungreis' tacc froze and she said, plain as day. that Mormons "arc insidious.
■'They say 'We love the Jews. Jesus was Jewish.' " she sneered, and suggested that Christian proselytizatiim of Jews i.s a greater threat. than Arab aggression,    .   . ;
With this remark about Mormons-- peace-kning.moral people— . u hat then separates Jungreis from Nation of Islam leader Louis Far- . ..rakhan. \Kho says Judaism is a gutter religion? How is her state-iMcnt diffc.tent from U.S! evangelist Jimmy Swaggari's belief that all non-Christians are going to hell?
Jungreis is doing a gra\e disservice to. Jews.every where .in vocalizing her prejudice against, for e.vaniple. Mormons. One can only imagine what she thihks()fotherViiioreddctrinairc Christian den()niina-tions. or other religions altogether.
• Isn't it painfully obvious b\ now:'that the beliet' that one religion' is superior to another has gotten more people butchered throughout history than,any other? Shouldn't Jews, of aHpeople, be'most..sensitive to that?
Jungreis is ah evangelist. She thumps the Bible, just like the Sun- ■ day.morning television, personalities. What would be the reaction, if one of them said Jews are insidious? . .    . /
As a Torah scholar, Jungreis would be well advised to read about . loving one's neighbor as oneself, . -
And about her harangues over intermarriage ("What Hitler couldn't do, we are doing to ourselves"), we are.reminded of something Max Dimont; author of The Indestructible. Jews, once said:."rd rather see a Jew disappear in a .bedroom than, in a gas chamber." •
.By:
SHELDON KIRSHNER
Yasser Arafat's thrtuncs hit a new low last month. But now, once again, he is gradually rebuilding his'base.
October wa.s certainly a black month for the PLO jeader,: who has lived through darker days since the 1970-71 Jordanian civil war. It began with the Israeli air force's destruction of his reconstituted headquarters near Tunis, and it ended with dire predictions that he and King Hussein of Jordan were heading for a dramatic break in their relationship.
But for Arafat, the worst single crisis to face him, the event which triggered the setbacks which followed, was the Achille Lauro hijacking.
In terms of public relations, which is no minor consideration for a besieged politician tike. Arafat, the Achille Lauro affair was an unmitigated disaster.
Arafat denied any complieit\ in the . : hijacking..^ and through his spokesmen, he heatedly maintained that Leon KHngholTer. one of the passengers; had died of a heart attack and had not been killed b>. the hijackers. . Yet. jn the cold lightof the available evidence. Arafat's fatuous story unraveled at the seams, setting in train a serie.s ofeonsequene.es for which the PLO has paiddearh.
.Arafat was deeply cmbarras.sed when S\ria. which has been at odds with him for several years, recovered Klirighof-fer's decompcising .bfidy off the coast i>f Tarlus and immediately handed it . o\c\- to the U.,S: embassy in Daniascus: . fhe S\rians. obviously, as anted (o shake Arafat'.s credibility, Two ensuing aul.opsies. one in S>ria and the other in Italy,; proved beyond any doubt ■ that the elderly, disabled American Jew had been shot b.\.;i'ne of the Palestinian . pirates.
But this disclosure was but only one facet of Arafat's di.seomriture. It emerged that Mohammed Abbas, the ■head 'of the pro-Arafat Palestine Li he ratio n. Front,. w hie h c o m -inandeered the Italian cruise liner, knew about the hijacking in advance. Israel and the'U;S., saying they had proof of the PLO's involvement, charged Abbas .with masterminding it. It was inconceivable that Arafat would, . not have,been aware of the operation. On the world stage of public opinion. ■ he was thereby exposed as a har.
, The hijacking also put Arafat's-rela-. tipnsw'ith Egypt into some jeopardy, since President Hoshi- Mubarak was ; humiliated by the whole affair, and led to the collapse of a Socialist govern-nienl in Italy whose prime minister had displayed more than a measure of syni-pathy for the Palestinian cause;
In the midst of,this turmoil, the. General Assembly dealt Arafat a blow by canceHng his invitation to attend the 40th anniversary commemoration of the United Nations. The U.S. had threatened to boycott it if Arafat show- : ed up.
On .'the same day the UN rebulTcd Arafat, a row erupted in Britain when the Br-itish government suddenly call-edotT a meeting w:ith a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation on the peace pro- ■ , cess. Sir Geoffrey Howe, the British foreign secretary, claimed that two of its Palestinian members asscKiated with the PLO had violated a prior understanding by refusing to sign a declaration recognizing Israel's existence. . .' This diplomatic fiasco, which also reflected badly on Britain, angered King Hussein, who last February signed an accord with the PLO which committed it. on, paper, to a just and
peaceful .settlement of the .Arab-Israeli contlict.
. After what happened in London. King Hu.ssein let it be known that he planned to ■;reassess the entire silua-■ tion." Observers interpreted this to mean that .Arat'at's status as a potential partner m .Middle East peace negotiations u as.ori the line. ^ ■ Then, in the waning days of October. France, which has been t'riendly t(i Pa 1 e sI i n i a n „ a s p i ra t io n s. e ,\ pre s se d displeasure. \\ ith Arafat by announcing that it wDuld re\ iev\ its policv toward
the PLO.        . .;     ' ■
Since these setbacks, Arafat has improved hi.s relations with Jordan and Egypt. But'it would be wrong to assume that he has bounced back completely. In many ways, the wounds he su.stained durinjj the Achille Lauro epLsode have not healed. -Arafat, as a result of his recent talks ..in Amman, has apparently patched up his mercurial relationship with the Jor-
King Hussein
should participate at peace talks. Significantly, the French announcement was made during King Hussein's visit to Paris.
In Italy, Bettino Craxi's coalition government.has been resurrected; and this must he good news to Arafat. Yet,' under the impact of the Achille L<mo hijacking, the PLO has been somewhat dimiiiished in Italian politics. : Before Graxi's resignation, which was brought about by disagreements over Italy's handling. of the affair, Italian policy simply favored PLO participation in peace negotiations. In order to retain the premiership, Graxi : had to agree to a demand by Defence Minister Giovanni Spadolini's Republic Party that the PLO could take pan in Mideast talks only if it "follows without reservations the road of peaceful negotiations." . . On the face of it, this clause represents a setback to the PLO. But in actual tact; it is open to different interpretations. And Graxi,who caused, an uproar in parliament when he said he did not ■'contest the legitimacy" of the PLO's recourse to "armed struggle," will probably give the PLO the benefit of the doubt in any future ■controversy.
'But Arafat.,having partially or .wholly rehabilitated himself in the eyes of" the Italian. French. Egyptian and Jor-'danian governnienis. nevertheless faces , daimting challenges..
The Syrian-instigated rebellion within the PLO, which came to a head two years ago, continues to brew. Aharon Yariv, the former director of Israeli military intelligence and now head, of Tel Aviv University's Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, said recently that Arafat "is not the master of his own house."
At present, the PLO is splinnlo three distinct factit)ns'. audit is likely that the.-rift Will grow ever wider should Arafat hiake ciincessions to Israel-. He has already otTended radical voieCs in the splintered PLO with his pledge not to..
daniafi monarch. It is unclear whether mount operations abroad. So.lt;.is cer-
Yasser Arafat
lan news
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King'Hussein and Arafat reached any firm agi'eement.s. But the long and short
. of it is that the pair remain wedded pi)litically, a fact Israel can only ignore at its peril in it.s search for an acceptable settlement. It appears that Jordan. Israeli expectations ni^itwjthstanding, is not prepared to jettison the PLO.
The.same holds true for Egypt. The hijacking of the Achille Lauro propelled Hosni Mubarak into an unpleasant and cdunter-productive confrontation .with the U.S. Yet Egypt has not abandoned Aratat or (he PLO. Mubarak in^ vited Arafat to Cairo earlier this month and (hey produced what (he Egyptians call the Gaii-o Deckiration, under which.. .■\rafa( renounced the use of.violence
outside the occupied territ.orie.s.
Israel regards the document skeptically .while Jordan describes it as n
"po.sitive step." Egypt, which has a
formal peace treaty with Israel, .sees the Cairo Declaration as proof of Arafat's good, intentions. Furthermore., Mubarak seems convinced that Arafat
tain (hut Arafat will spend a good deal of his time dealing with the internecine squabbles which bedevil the PLO:
There is also a question mark oyer his status in Tunisia, which was stung by Israel's air raid/According to reports, Preisident Habib Bourguiba wants to eject the PLO from Tunisian soil, while his cabinet opposes his proposal. IsraeliDefence Minister Yitzhak Rabin said recently he would noji be surprised if the PLO moved its headquarters to Iraq in the next few months. Arafat, has visited Baghdad since Israel's aerial a.ssault.
Another problem facing Arafat is American hostility. Prior to the . Achille Lauro hijacking, the U.S. was on record as favoring PLO participation in peace talks, provided it recognized Israel and renounced terrorism. In its wake, VVashingtori's position has hardened to the point where Secretarv of State George Shultz has said that the PLO
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is indespensable to the peace process; "doesn't deserve a place at the peace
As he put it: "Arafat is the figure ac- table."
ecpted by all Palestinians, and it is not If this anti-PLO bias becomes the for lis to suggest, another person. We ba,si.sn:)f U.S. policy, the PLO will be must still make.tulluse of him in order shut but of any serious peace negotia-to reach peace.'" tiohs. And if rhi.s should occur, Arafat . Arafat also has reason to be pleas- will either have to nuKiera(e his policies ed by the turn of events In Europe still.further, or throw in his lot with the of late. France, havingbacktracked, radicals. For Arafat, each optio.n Car-has reafiirmed its view that the PLO ries enormous risks.