■Page 2-The Ganadian Jewish News, Thursday, Novcnibcr?, 1985
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By
RABBI W. GUNTHER PLAUT
it is now becoming unhappily clear that Louis Farrakhan has. emerged as the leading anti-,sem.i.te in the United States, one who commands a significant tollowing amongst Black people. His leading role was emphasized by a report which connected the Ku'Klux Klan with Farrakhan.
■■ At first sight that con^ nection seems very odd indeed, for one of the principal targets of Klan racis.m is the .Black community. Still, Thomas .Met/.gcr, a. former leader of the Klan, was seen to attend one 1) f Fa r fa khan" s ra 1 -lies in Los Angeles and to have contributed $ 100  to his . caU'se.;
Rabbi Plaut
While Met/ger denied that he had talked to Farrakhan at any time.' he did not deny that he had supported him. nor that he would be averse to help froiivthe nian who is the acknowledged leader of the "Nation oflslanf!" ^
The New York times reports that "these two agitatcrrs,. Black and. white! have found common ground in racLsm: . \ irulent anti-semjtism and demaizoguery.against the 'elitist" institutions that they think rule over American life.. ..Mr. Far-rakhan"s followers.need t(' recognize him as a man driven, not by polities', but b_\ a pathology .of haites."" ■ - .: ■ '
Unfortunately, it is no news that there are large segments of America"s Black population who are .economically arid swially so deeply sunk in poverty that they are left without hope. Consequently. sooner or later; their frustration will respond to" a strident voice that offers a solution to their seemingly insoluble problem, and at the same time offers a target for .their disaffecticin. This target is the Jew who once again serves as a scapegoat for other pepple"s frustration.s.
Farrakhan, meanwhile; has embraced a mi>i:-tufe of old-fashioned Nazi anti-semitism and new fangled Arab-Soviet rhetoric. The Jew is the demon that has created and sustained all the ; evils regnant in the world: they include (depending on where you stand) capitalism, Communism, crime, racism, exploitation and war. All this can be subsumed under the term "Zionism," and thus the nefarious resolution of the United Nations that equated racism and Zionism is given a new and ominous dimiension.
The leadership of the Ku KIu.x Klan which is by now thoroughly discredited thus finds an ally in the most unlikely qliarters. But traditionally, anti-semitism has always been for.those who di.spcnse its heady medicine, a magic potion, and it does not seeni to make any difference who has it for sale-. Incidentally, 1 put the blame for Far.rakhan"s rise to wide public notice squarely at the dcxir of Jesse Jackson, who, during last year"s; presidential campaign, did not quickly enough distance'himself from.Farrakhan and thus gave him his first significant public exposure.. ■ '
All of.the above should not, however, lead-Aiiierican (or Canadian) Jews into believing all Blacks have now turned anti-semitic; or that in general anti-Semitism is on the ri.se. All polLs point to the very opposite. It. is rather.a reminder that' 40 years after Hitler's death the Jew can still function as Satan, a perception which, incidentally, has added to the problems the State of Israel.has to. confront. .    , ' .
Seminar in Israel planned for lawyers
TORONTO -
The Israeli Bar Association, Bar Ilan University and the Israeli Aliyah Centre arc offering an organized seminar in Israel for religious lawyers interested in learning inore about the Israeli legaJ—system aliya. options. iJThe seminar will
and
m-
clude examination of the religious and secular court systems, meetings with practicing lawyers
and judges, exposure to the legal education system, sightseeing, aliya opportunities and more.
The approximate cost,' completely  inclusive, is S899 U.S. The .seminar will.be held Dec. 31^Jan.
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For' mrrre information contact: Israel Aliyah Centre, 1.111. Finch Ave. W., Suite 3-55, Downsview. Ont; M3J 2E5 (416) 665-7772.   . .
Promising market
By
GIDEON REMEZ
JERUSALEM -
Nottoolong ago, an.ex-hibition of Israeli industrial: prt)ducts was barred froin entry : into. China, even thoiigh the promoters had as usual removed any trace of their wares' provenance: Chihese inspectors, it turned out, had discovered the trademark of a kibbutz fac-.. tor)' on the plywocxl sheets used to construct the showcases.
:But the furtiveness.that: has cloaked Israel's sales eft'ort in ont of her most pr()mising markets is,rapidly becoming a thing of the past, leading to: cautious, hopes here that a thaw may be near in Beijing's official political hostility as well.
The Chinese characters for made in Israel"" are soon to appear for ther first
. time in a glossy, illustrated catalogue cif this country's offerings which will be. distributed directly to thousands of .prospective customers — Chinese of-
. ficials at the local government echelon as,well as in the various units of the central administration. Knowledgeable Israeli sources say that various levels of Chinese officialdom have not only relaxed their demand that all Israeli imports be cainoufiaged. but have voiced admiration and friendliness toward Israel that contrasted sharply with . the still unbending pro-Arab line of Beijing"s propaganda.
Some 60 companies have already signed up with the Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce in Tel Aviv, and theflnal catalogue is expected to feature about 500 firms in most fields of Israel's civilian economy: agriculture, industry, engineering, commerce and .service.
k wide range of merchandise will be offered, but special attention is being paid to Israeli innovations in technology and organization, in which the Chinese are reported to haye evidenced particular interest.
In the farming area, for instance, they have been intrigued by Israeli achievements both in techniques such as subterranean drip irrigation and in methods of regional developnient. Israeli expertise has reportedly been brought to bear already on a number of joint projects — including, ironically, such non-kosher enterprises as pig and shrimp raising.
Nearly all of thi.s activity had hitherto been.conducted on . the quiet. , thi-ough. frorit companies in Hong Kong and other Far Eastern entrepots of the . China trade, frequently . utilizing the services of ethhic-Chine.se middlemen. The" re-establishment of an Israeli consulate in Hring Kong this year.was seen as a move to facilitate this trade, as.well.as to gain a future diplomatic toehold -in-China — to whose rule
the British, colony will revert in 1997.
The produc-ers . of the new Israeli catalogue. Gitam Image Promotion Systems of Tdl Aviv, have for the. last four years been turning out Chinese-language films, exhibitions and promotional riiatcrials for .several, inajor Israeli corporations — anony-riiously, in asscKiafionWith a leading Hong Kong agency. Gitam's president; Moshc Theumim, is a close advisor of Lsracli Prime Minister Shimon Peres.
The PR industry has also produced the first public announcement of. a joint CHinesc-Israeli business venture. One of Gitam's compc'titors, Chaim Peled of Tel Aviv's Peled Adver-tisirig,. revealed in an interview that his compatiy had been approached to siipply fhe knowhow and professional manpower for an advertising agency in partnership with the Chinese ■authoriues. The .firm is intended to handle both the-new and booming field of consumer gwds marketing inside China and the pi;o-motion of Chinese exports overseas. .
Simultaneou.sly, Peled is offering consultancy services to Israeli firms eyeing the China: market. "I felt thaf the Chinese were
ready to come intothe open was   cnl isted   by . an
with their Israeli business American, Jewish attorney
connections,"" says:Peled. now directittg extensive
"and the fact is fhat. my busines.s'   concerns in
revealing the relationship , GhinaiOther Israeli com-
has. not caused any problem."." He says that the joint agency is now being .set up at Shenzhen, the. burgeoning Chinese satellite city,of Hong Kong — ' and that entry vi.sas have been guaranteed for himself and' other Peled employees who hold only Israeli, passports. .
Previously, Israelis could visit China for business or tourism only if they had dual citizenship. This year, however, at least eight Israeli academics with no foreign passports have attended scientific conference.s-4n China, with a similar number invited already to future gatherings; a separate page with the entry visa was affixed to their Israeli passports upon arrival and removed upon departure — thus erasing any trace of a semiofficial recognition.
Similar treatment was accorded to a tiumber of businessmen, raising hoix;s that Israeli firms could soon dispense with the jn-jtial aegis provided in rnahy cases by non-Israeli Jewish, tycoons based in the Far East. Peledv for-example,
panics were brought in by Saul Eisenberg, whose international business empire is based in Japan and who. has carried out vast regional development, schemes for the Chinese, as have the Hong Kong Jewish houses of Kadooric ■ and. Sassoon;
Among the projects in which Israeli corporations were, involved haye been contracts for agro-industrial plants .such as oil extraction factories on the order of $10-15 million each.
Foreign press reports have focused on the military aspwct of.'Israeli exports :to China, which have been put by foreign estimates in th£ billion-dollar range. In photographs of new Chinese-made weapons featured, in Beijing. parades, foreign analysts have discerned such Israeli components.as advanced tank cannon, and other reports spoke of electronics and .communications systems. Unlike the developments of the past few months in'the civilian field, no acknowledgement of thi.s relationship has come from either side, just
.as no change has been evident in China's Middle Ea.stern 'po|ic\ .bey()rid. a declaration .-that Beijing ."had nothing against Israel"" and would consider relations, if Israel were.to change its policy.;
During a recent visit to Romania.which maintains close relations with China, Prime;Minister Peres voiced his hope for progress in that direction — and posited normal ties as ;a precondition for Chinese involvement in any. inlcrna-tiorial umbrella for the Middle .Eastern process.
;   ''With   the mafket-
. economy reforms of .Deng Xiaoping in full swing, support, for the Palestinian
. revolution.is one of the last remaining fig leaves 'for China's revolutionary image,"'; says Dr. Yitzhak Shichor, an expert, on Chinese affairs at the Truman Institute of Jerusalem"s Hebrew University. Also, he notes, the Chinese still resent having been rebuffed by Israel, at Washington"s behest, when . they proposed mutual recognition in the early 50s. But Beijing"s growing self-c(infidence as a world power may soon load to its matching practice with rhetoric where it- sees.; a clear  economic and
political interest.
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an runs out of hands I over
RICHARD COHEN
WASHINGTON-
One of my favorite philosophers is the f(x>l,ish but ultimately wise milkman of Fiddler on the R(X)f,'Tevye. Themore his daughters ediJcated him in the way.s of the world, the rnorehe used the ex-pres.sion, ;"But on the other hand."' This continued unul heconfronted a loss of values so unbearable he had to e.xclaim, "But there is no other hand!"
To his credit; Ronald Reagan reached that point; with the hijacking of the AchiUe Lauro:
Until then, experience had forced Reaganto invoke the equivalent of "on fhe of her hand" more than he once would have thought possible. For instance, the man \vho u.sed to wow General Efec- ■ trie workers with his blunt and simpleanalysis of' world events has just had to sit down and write a letter .to the less-than-candid'president of Egypt. Somewhere it must have ct)ntained the phrase, "Gn the other hand, Hosni, can't we be friends?" That. had to hurt. • . ■
. At, one tinie, Reagan believed firmly that there . is such a thing as right and wrong, and you hit back a'l.those who hit at you. This doctrine first got lost in the fog of Lebanon. There. 241 Marines died in a suicide bomb attack that has so far gone unpunished. A group of religioijs fanatics.murdered . Americans and there was not a thing anyone could do about it.
Then came the TWA kidnapping. It was the same thing all over again. The terrorists kiUed an American sailor in cold blood. First they beat him and then they shot him and there was just nothing Reagan could do. To this day, the killers of Robert Dean Stethem are free, maybe cruising the streets of Beirut in a swell Mercedes. On the one hand, it makes you crazy to think about it. On the other hand, what can you do — bomb Beirut?
And now comes the Achille Lauro incident. Four Palestinians pirate a ship; They take an American' citizen, an old man in a wheelchair, and murder him in cold blood, If there was ever an open-and-shut case, this is it. But what happens? The Egyp-tian^()vernriient helps the killers escape^The Egyp- . tian president plays a shell game-with the truth. And then when we kidnap the kidnappers, the : Egyptians yell bloody murder.
With the Achille Lauro, it virtually rained"othcr hands;"' Egypt should have done the "right.'" thing. On the other hand, it is probably impossible for an Arab government to take our side against other Arabs.
.    Mubarak .should have been more candid. On the other hand, the safnc religious fundamentalists.who murdered Anwar Sadat lie in wait for Mubarak-Egypt has a. lot of nerve to complain about the United States snatching its plane right out of the
. air. On the other hand, the United States humiliated Egypt. The fnighties of the Arab states lost face — an awful thing in that part of the world. ;. There were even more"on the other hands." The PL.O is a tei-rorist oi"ganization. On the other hand, it i;i admired in some parts of the world. Israel ought to have the right to exist. On the other hand, Israelis seen.in the Arab world as aeolonial power— European Jewsfaking land from Palcsti-
■ nian Arabs. The "other him.d" says that the PLO has the right to fight and that if you are going to condemn terrorism,. then condemn it when it comes as.bombs from the sky, not just when it is Arabs, hopped up on drugs and nafio'nali.sm, killing wjth hand-held weapons.
All these "other hands" have probably shredded the old Reagan certainty, taking him a long way from his Kitchen Cabinet days when he and his financial backers had answers for
. everything and questions about nothing. The entire Achille jLauro episode is nothing but a testament to the cynicism of world politics — more evidence that right and wrong are either irrelevant or impossible to know. Only self-interest matters.
But, as with Tevye, there is a point where sophistication must stop, where a kind of (:ore belief a.sserts itself^and the President knew where --that was. An Arnerican, Leon Klinghoffcr, was murdered in cold bloixl and there wa.s not ah American who did not emotionally ride along with, the Navy posse that captured his killers. Too bad for Egyptian sensibilities. Too bad for the Palestinian cau.se. Too bad,for Italy's relations with the ; PLO and even too bad —. if it comes to that — for the so-caikatpetiec process. The face of Marilyn Klinghoffersaid it all.
There is no other hand.
. ICopyright Washington Post Writers Groupl
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