Page 2 - The Canadian Jewish News, Thursday, December 8,1983
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RABBI W. GUNTHER PLAUT
-Thirty-five years ago, on Dec. 10, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the tfniversal Declaration of Human Rights. After the vote the Assembly called on all member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and "to cause it to be displayed, read and expounded, principally in schools and other educational institutions, without^ distinction based on the political status of country's territories."
Canada is a signatory to the Declara-        n   . TO tion. and so is Israel. Rabbi Plaut
The document consists of a preamble and 30 articles. Since human rights are perceived differently in various countries, quite obvi-«ously the language of the Declaration was couched in a manner acceptable to East and West. At the time of its passage the Western countries still had a voting plurality — something that has changed radically since those days.
There is good reason to believe that were the Declaration to be debated today it would probably fail to pass.
Thus, Article 9 states: "No one shall be subjected to arbitary arrest, detention or
exile."
Or tak6 Article 13 (2): "Everyone has the right to leave any country including his own, and to return to his country. "There are Jews in Syria and in Soviet Russia who would Jove to take advantage of this provision.
Article 18 speaks of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change one's religion or belief, and freedom either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest one's religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. ?
Article 19 says: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; the right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive arid impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."
A similar high principle is eniinclated in Article 21 which assures to everyone "the right to take part in the gdvemment of his country, directly or tliroagh freely chosen representatives.": V-
It is easy to be cynical about both the Declaration and the anniversary celebrations which will take place around the world. The United Nations which brought the Declaration about is presently at the nadir of its brief history. It has rarely prevented war; the rhetoric heard within its august halls is more often inflammatory than peaceful and its votes have little to do with justice and everything with political and economic alignments.
The Declaration of Human Rights was to be a great faicentivefor turning the world to a more liberal, more humane, more decent course of action, but It soon became evident that there were a number of nations who had no Intention whatever to abide by the high principles of the Declaration. They went on suppressing hunian rights at home and the record can hardly pretend to have improved during the last 35 years..
If things are so bad, then why are people j:elebrating?
Because the Declaration is and remains a nobleexpression of human idealism. It represents a goal toward which we ought to stfiye; it is a landmark of the human spirit.
The fact that many nations fail to honor it only underscores the need for the standards it proclaims. .
We do not scoff at the Prophets because their injunctions have not yet been carried out to the full; we continue to study thetn as guidelines for our lives. We may think little of the current politics of the world nations. Still, we recognize the Declaration as a noble document and, therefore, have good reason to celebrate.
"I am thinking of the Palestinian people"
Shultz seeks answer to West Bank
By
WOLF BUTZER
WASHINGTON —
Secretary of State George Shultz is deeply committed to the concept of improving the lives of West Bank and J3aza~ residents even before any political negotiations involving Israel, Jordan and the local Palestinians get off the ground.
Behind his thinking are both humanitarian and political concerns.
For one thing, he sincerely wants to ease the nature of Israel's military occupation in the territories. He is convinced that this will be beneficial for Israel as well. In the process, the secretary hopes to create a better climate for eventually establishing genuine negotiations to resolve the sensitive political problems.
Thus, late last summer, Shultz quietly dispatched a team of senior state department officials to the West Bank to study the most pressing day to day problems of the Palestinians living there. That delegation included William Kirby, a veteran Near Eastern Affairs Bureau foreign service officer, and Peter Rodman of the policy planning staff who served for many years as one of Henry Kissinger's top aides.
As a result of Shultz's well-known desire to help the Palestinians, various option papers have been generated by Kirby and Rodman as well as by many others in the department, including one highly controversial scheme — since discarded — to resettle large numbers of Palestinian refugees currently living outside the West Bank in the U.S.
Most recently, ShuItz^s concern surfaced in his lengthy speech on the Middle East delivered Nov. 19 l>efore the Council of Jewish Federations in Atlanto. Tiiat speech included a section on what Shultz called "the human dimension^ of the Middle East conflict."
' 'I am thinking of the Palestinian people," Shultz said. "The Palestinians have been victimized above all by their self-appointed leaders and spokesmen who, for decades, have chased the illusion of military options and foolishly rejected the only possible path to a solution: direct negotiations.
"The utter failure of rejectionist policies ought to be obvious by now. But I am thinking in particular of the 1.3 million .Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza. Their wellbeing, their desire for a greater -voice in determining their own destiny, must be another issue of moral concern, even While we continue to pursue an agreed solution to the final status of the occupied territories.
''If their acceptance of
a peaceful future with Israel is to be nurtured, they must be given some stake in that future by greater opportunities for economic development, by fairer administrative practices, and by greater concern for the quality of their lives."
In this respect, Shultz once iigain strongly urged Israel to freeze settlement activity. The secretary, sounding very much nice many Israeli critics of the Likud-led coalition government, warned that the military ■ occupation was having a negative impact on Israel itself. "The moral burden of the occupation can undermine the values on which Israel was founded and can divide its society," he said.
It is this attitude toward the West Bank and the entire Palestinian question which has raised questions among some very pro-Israel observers in Washington about the real willingness of Shultz and other administration officials to establish genuine and open strategic cooperation with Israel.
Thus, Dr. Joseph Churba, a former U.S. Afar Force Middle East intelligence analyst who later joined the Reagan adminsitration*s arms control and disarmament agency, charged in an interview that iaik of strategic cooperation was * 'simply a trap.'' The administration's motives, he insisted, were "not genuine." The U.S., he said, was motivated by "expediency, designed to remove the Marines from Lebanon,'' and by an effort "to neutralize" American Jews in advance of next year's presidential elections.
"It would be genuine," he said, "only if they stopped talking about Israel having to give up the West Bank and if they dismissed (Defence Secretary Casper) Weinberger and shook up the department of defence."
Churba, a private defence consultant today, cautioned Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and
George Shultz and Us wife during visit to Yad Vashem. [Uzi Keren plioto]
Defence Minister Moshe Arens against being "taken in" by all the talk of strategic cooperation. "First, the administration must abrogate the Reagan plan," Churba said.
But that, of course, is out of the question. No U.S. President ever publicly backs away from such sweeping foreign policy declarations. They certainly do not like to admit failure to the entire world.
The fact is that in this particular case, however, Reagan, Shultz and other senior administration leaders sincerely believe that their plan still might have some life left in it. They have been moderately encouraged by the events in Tripoli these past few weeks. They are counting on Jordan's King Hussein to take another close look at the U.S. plan in the wake of Yasser Arafat's weakened status.
"King Hussein has pointedly and courageously raised the question of whether the PLO, if domhiated by
Syria, can continue to claim legitimacy as spolcesman for the Palestinian people,'' Shultz said fai Atlanta. "The outcome of this struggle is sure to have implications for Jordan, the Palestinians, and the future of the peace process. For our part, the door will always be kept open for a negotiation in accordance with the President's Sept. 1 faiitia-tive."
At the same time, Shultz rejected the notion * that presidential campaigning in the U.S. will effectively block U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East. "Ronald Reagan has no intention of letting the search for peace lapse," Shultz said. "We cannot afford to. Let it never be said that the U.S. was too busy practicing politics to pursue peace."
Going into the recent Reagan-Shamir summit, it was very clear that there remained a fundar mental difference of opinion between Washington and Jerusalem over the Palestinian question.
Reagm at ca^^
By
JOSEPH POLAKOFF
WASHINGTON -
President Reagan lit the fifth Chanukdi candle Sunday in celebration of the fifth day of Chanukah at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Washington- in the suburban community ofRockviIIe,Md.
The act by the President was hailed as a historic incident in that, for the first time, a U.S. President went to a Jewish communal building to perform such a ceremony.
The White House announced three days before the event that the President would go by helicopter from the White House to Rock-ville for the ceremony.
The event was initiated by the public liaison staff at the White House, according to Deana Morrison, the public information director of the Jewish Centre. She said staff members became aware of the festival programs at the centre and informed the President about them.
He replied that he wanted to participate...
and the . arrangement followed.
At tiie White House The CJN was told that Michael Gale, assistant director of the Office of Public Liaison, whose duties include relations with the Jewish community, conceived the idea.
In another observance of Chanukah in Washington, the Lubavitehers again erected, for the fifth year, thefar giant menorah with its electrically lighted candles at Lafayette Square, directly opposite the White House.
For Shultz and company — despite their highly publicized efforts to improve ties with Israel — resolving the Palestinian question was still seen as fundamental to achiev-ing-any long-range, genuine stability in the region. In short, it was regarded as the core of the conflict.
For Israel, on the other hand, there was a determination to de-emphasize the Palestinian question. This was especially obvious during President Chaim Herz-og's visit to the U.S. -—a visit which was a prelude to the Shamir-Arens journey.
"The Israeli-Arab conflict is not, in my view, the central problem in the Middle East, as far as world peace is concerned,'" Herzog told the National Press Club in Washington on Nov. 23. "Those who point to it as such are wilfully — or because of lack of understanding of the issues and their implications — misleading public and indeed world opinion and ignoring a situation fraught with danger for the world. Because, if the Israel-Arab conflict is resolved, by whatever means it is resolved, the main centres of bloodshed, warfare and instability will persist."
He referred to the troubles in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, the civil war in Lebanon, the Horn of Africa, Yemen, Chad, the Western Sahara, "all unconnected with our dispute with the Arab countries." (CJN Dec. 1).
But while Shultz worries about those problems, he is still very much part of the traditional U.S. foreign policy mindset which has placed the Palestinian question at the top of the agenda. Shultz and these other U.S. officials see their willingness to strenghten U.S.-Israeli strategic relations as having a potentially positive spinoff on the Palestinian question and other matters dealing with the moderate Arab states.
Thus, John Goshko, the state department correspondent of The Washington Post, wrote on Nov. 22 that the U.S. "hopes that Israel will reciprocate by showing greater flexibility toward American dealings with the Arab world, first in achieving a Lebanon solution that will permit withdrawal of the Marines and then on broader issues like defending the Gulf."
That means less Israeli opposition to U.S. arms sales to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and other friendly Arab countries. Shultz is also hoping, Goshko said, that "a restructured relationship with Israel eventually might make that nation more amendable to resolving the Palestinian problem which Shultz regards as the root cause of Mideast tensions."
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