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The Canadian Jewish News, Friday, Januaiy 13, 1978 - Page 5
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Bv THOMAS PARKER
JERUSALEM -
hi our historical consciousness, the bibji-.cal period of slavery in Egypt and the recent wars arc sharply etched. Yet. there has licncrally been more niiiiiary co-operation than armed struggle between EgVpt and Israel.
Tlie first cerjajn contact between Jews and Egyptians occurred when the former' entered Egvpt with the Hvksos starting -;iroundiOO() BCE.Jhe Hyksos. a loose federation of Semitic tribc-s. probably infiltrated into Hgypt as traders, slaves and -nomads during several'centuries. In 1730 BC'H. they assumed power in Egypt and ruled for 180 years. It was during this time that Joseph became the chief advisor to the Pharaoh, uho was actually probably a. fellow Semite.
The native Egyptians finally overthrew the Hyksos and enslaved them, some of whom were.of course, Jewish. The Exodus ended Jewish slavery, culminating in Joshua's legendary victory, but it was a resurgent Hgypt who was the real power in the Middle Fast at this time. During Israel's first years of ■■independence" they had militar\ garrisons in Ga/a..Iaffa. Jerusalem and BetShean. Their presence, however, couldn't iia\ e been too onerous since at one point Oihniel the Judge signed a military pact with ligypt ill order to check a possible iiuasiiMi from tlic north.
During the reigns of David and Solomon, relations betu een Egypt and Israel were excellent. The Hible relates that Soloriion pro-
bably made, a dynastic marriage with the Phapaioh's daughter, receiving Gaza as part of the dowry.
Israel received support from Egypt during her two great struggles for national survival', against the Assyrians and the Babylonians, Egypt even encouraged King Zedckiah to revolt in 589 against Nebuchad-nezzer and sent troopsjnto Syria in an unsuccessful attempt to defeat the Babylonians, Most of the vanquished Jews were deported to Babylon but some, including Jeremiah, managed'to flee to Egypt where tTiFy estabiisht'd Jewish settlements.
The conquest of-Egypt by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE sparked a second wave of Jewish ehiigration and by the first century CE, Jews comprised one-eighth of Egypt's population. Under Egypt's Greek rulers, the Ptolemies. Jews prospered and became farmers, merchants, army officers and government officials. Relations began to deteriorate, however, in the first century BCE and when the Roman Emperor Augustus conquered Egypt, he sided with the Greeks against the Jews and the native Egyptians. As in Israel, the Jews revolted against Ronie, but were crushed.
Because of continued economic and religious persecution under By/antine-Greek rule, the Jews of Egypt welcomed the Islamic conquest in the ninth century. Jewish immigration increased and under the Fatimid Caliphs (969-C.1150) Moslem rulers actually gave financial support to the Jewish Academy in Jerusalem.
Under the Ottoman Turks (16th to 19th
century). EgyjJtian Jews were treated fairly well and prospered after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. As late as 1923. there was a Jewish minister of finance in Egypt, Joseph Cattavi, as well as Jewish members of parliament.
With the increase of friction between pre-state Israeb and the Moslem world, the condition of Egyptian Jewry^ deteriorated and in" November. 1945, there were anti-Jewish riots for the^ first time in generations. —
Egypt's intervention in the 1-948 war against Israel came only at the last moment. Initially^ King^ Farouk. who had many Jewish friends, was completely indifferent; he was finally persuaded to join the fighting only because it was assumed that Jewish resistance would be negligible. The lack of deep hostility was demonstrated when Egyptian Jew s w ere able to fly Israeli flags from their homes in Alexandria when Israel became a state on May 15. 1948.
After the 1948 fighting, a considerable amount of Jewish property was confiscated, but this was later returned and it was only in 1954 when Nasser took power that systematic persecution became the, rule. Property was again confiscated; Jews were fired from jobs, and riots took place in 1956 and 1967. Today, there arc only a few hundred Jews in Egypt.
[Israel Press Service]
Thomas Parker has taught at the Sorbonne in Paris and worked as a foreign affairs advisor for Senator Edward Kennedy. He now resides in Jervsalem and is a freefance journalist.
Letters to the Editor
cities
influx of Soviet Jewish immigrants'
Dear Editor:
I am writing to you with regai-d to the front page article w.hich appeared in The Canadian Jewish News of Dec. 16. under the title '■Western cities are ill-equipped to haiuile iiitlux of So\iet Jews.^'
1 u.aiii to thank you forgiving prominent attention to the first National Conference on .lewish lmniigratii>n and Integration convened by il.'\S of Canada, which took place in Montreal Nov. 28-29. I wish to bring to your attentitin certain regrettable misstatements and some omissions which I am sUre ha\e been inadvertently committed.
First the title — ■■Western cities are ill-equipped to handle influx of Soviet Jcw:s.^' Where your headline-writer got the idea is beyond mc, even allowing for the fact that every newspaper is anxious, and rightly so, to give a catchy title to a report. However, this time your headline writer snafued it up beyond recognition, or as it is said in Yiddish "er hot fardreit die yozres".
The fact is that the VVestern communities such as Winnipeg. Calgary, Edmonton. Vancouver, who are not even mentioned in the article, have organjzed professional, .. social agencies and volunteers who have received the Jew ish imhiigrantsfrom Soviet Russia and other countries and have done a very good job in their reception and integrar ; tion. Specifically, f am refcrririg to the Jewish Fahiily Welfare Services in . the above communities who act .as the arm of the national Jl.AS in the areas of immigrant reception and resettlement.
The only exception is the Jewish community of Hegina, mentioned in the article, which because of its-size bias no family service and. therefore, the few immigrant families destined to this community w-ere received and resettled by a group of volunteers connected with, the synagogue. That the rabbi of the. synagogue came to the con-, fereiice emphasizes the fact that the community has a deep jnteresi in being part of the JI.AS function of;"Hachnosas : Orchim'^. ' : ; '
.Also the statement contained in'the article asserting the "dccisioh of many Soviet Jewish immigrants to settle in the Prairies" is not quite correct. As you may wellknow. the general pattern of imriiigrant destination in Canada is predicated on several factors — economic, deritographic. Tor example. Ihc Jewish.immigrant admitted under a certain category is part, of the process and with the fiill concurrence of
jiAS,.;./'...
The deliberate attempt to spread the area of immigrant settlement, it is felt, is for the benefit of the immigrant as. well as for the benefit of the refspectivc community. The immigrant, of course, is a partrier to this . deci-sipn, and is being so informed overseas.
May 1 also mention that for the first time since the end of World War II, we have how-Jew ish immigrants, in' almost every Jewish community from cOast to coast. JlAS is in contact with, every community - and the purpose of the first National Conferenceoin— :Jewish Immigration—and Integratiojt^in Canada was.C-vactlytb callin the professional, to-exchange experiences, to detect de-^ ficiencies and to accentuate the need for improved services. You may forgive some bragging but Jhe conference^ was a huge success, both from the point of view of open and frank sharing of experience as well as in delineating short-term and long-term needs in the arefas of admission, receptionv em^ pibyment. assistance, integration and Jewish educaition. :
May I also suggest that you may wish to publish more often on various aspects of immigration and. immigrant adjustment, not necessarily spectacular., but nonetheless basic and important. After all. how many of usrealize that more thaii a third of ' the total JcAvish population in Canada are post WWII immigrants.
JosephKage, national executlve^ylce-ilresldeiit, Jewish Immigrant'^Aid Service^C^^^fuuda,
'•''/-.' Montreal
Dear Editor:
Whenever I read a Canadian Jewish News story-like "Congress opens meetings" (on the front page of the Dec. 16 issue), vert es finsler in di aygen.
Even on its most superficial level, this story — despite the headline and first paragraph — is not about the Central Region of Canadian Jewish Congress opening its regional executive meetings to the "public Jewish press" (whatever ■'public" means). No. what this story is all about is responsibility of the Jewish press to the Jewish community. • '
The Central Region executive, according to The CJN story, ■■agreed to open sessions ona six-iiiohthtrial basis." First condition..
"A committee of three," continues the story, "headed by CJC Central Region Chairman Sam Filer, will convene in advance of its next meeting, in January to discuss ground rules for in camera portions of debate," Second condhion.
"The Central Region chairman," says the story nine paragraphs later,"said that objective criteria have not been set down as to which matters will be relegated to in camera discussion, although a rough set of issues will be established in conversations with editors." Third condition..
' Sam Filer of Congress, Central Region
The story continues: ■■It is conceivable, he (Filer) added, that in advance of meetings a .printed agenda would determrne which items would be closed to reporters," Fourth condition.
"Filer viewed the move," concludes Tlic CJN, "as an inducement in creating 'a positive flow of feelings from the community' asawareness of Congress activities anddecisions increases.'" .
Meantime, iri the isame story, CJC National President Gunther Plant is quoted as follows: "The business of Cptigressis the busine;ssof the Jewish public^ If Congress is the parliament of the Jewish people, like. Parliament its pr-eeeedings must be —■ public.';' - - .. --.^
If Canada's Parliament had decided to "open" its proceedings on the same basis as the Central Region executive is now doing. Canadians — including Canadian Jews— would be outraged.
In this November issue of Moment magazine; Gary Rosenblatt, the editor of the weekly Baltimore Jewish Times, discusses the dilemma of the Jewish journalist:
"Jewish journalists opeiratewith a set of unwritten but binding commandments. The .. first commandment: Thou Shalt Not Wash Thy Dirty Linen in Public. The basic instinct of the journalist is to uncover; thel.basic-—~ instinct of the Jewish community is to c6ver up. to prevent a shandeh far di goyim;.."■
In the matter of "Congress opens meetings," Rosenblatt has hit the nail on the ' head. -j',.
But, what iis more important; is that if the .Jewish press rneekly submits to the Central Region's rules for "openness" then the " ethics of-journalistic honesty and Jewish
responsibility may as well go out the window. Simply agreeing to CJC tactics in this case would — in Rosenblatt's words — make ' 'cheerleaders" out of Jewish journalists.
Larry Orenstein, Downsview
Dear Editor:
The Canada-Israel Committee's assertion that CBC Radio's.coverage of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's visit to Jerusalem was biased, is absurd.
The program referred to-was a news and current affairs special which ran iVi hours. The first half hour dealt with the color and ceremony of the lw:o leaders meeting for the first time and w:ith the impact of the visit on the city of Jerusalem. The entire speeches of President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin before the Knesset were carried, something which no other radio program in
Canada did. ' ^ .__ —
Jim Lcdderman and the personnel, we sent to Israel to cover the event made enormous efforts to secure scarce facilities with the co-operation of KOL Israel to provide continuing, immediate coverage for the Canadian audience. Immediately following the speeches, the program provided commentary from the KOL studio and then, linked in Washington and London for assessment of the broader implications of the speeches and the poitential impact of the visit dn future Middle East negotiations. The program sought reaction from Arab states and from Palestinians.
It was important to seek Arab and Palestinian reaction; . . . A major portion of the story was the question of how the Arab statcsw'ould react to the Jerusalem rneeting. Subsequent events have amply demonstrated■ the importance of that reaction.
When our program personnel make
. miijor efforts to provide fair and solid coverage of the difficult problems in the Middle East, it is disappointing to receive .the kind of criticism offered by the Canada-, Israel Cominittec regarding President Sadat's visit to Israel. ,
The statement that the commentators
"without exception are negative, in aheir : iitlitude to Israel" .is ridiculous. The program provided excellent coverage of a ^major international event. ; .
Mr. Simnionds of the Caniada-Israel Committee did circula;te a paper at a recent CBC meeting singlin;g-out Sunday Morning and As It liappens. In that paper he made no reference, to the fact that there; had been a . continuing correspondence between he and . myself with regard to the matters he raised.;
His gratuitous remark that "certain prograiiis primarily on radio'— tend to consistently reflect anti-Israelprejudices of producers^ and script writers"' is an insup-. portable, unwarranted slur on a group of
. skilled professionals. In selecting for criticism the .use. of such persons as. Eric Rouleau. Mr. Simmonds coiiveniently ignores the fact that the programs have pre- '
; sented major Israeli figure^ like Menacheni Begin, before and after his election as prime minister. Yigael Yadin. Shimon Peres and Ghaim Hertzog and journalists like Joseph _ Kraft. John Wallach. Moshe Shamir and Michael Gurdis.
Mr. Simmonds arid I have been in contact over some time and we continue to be in Contact. He is welcome to present the viewsof the Canada-Israel Committee and I
Jiave every confidente that he vvill continue . to do so. AVeialso receive representations from persons presenting the! views of Arab organizations. ;
The CBC does not have a pbintof view. It seeks facts and the viewis of others and ^
^presents them to the audience. We will jisten .to all points of view but we do not adopt any ourselves. On subjects like the Middle East and in programing, generally, we present wide-ranging, balanced materia al. - ;■■' . . \
Colin MacLeod, head; Radio Current Affairs, CBC,
Toronto
As a resuU of current Mideast politics, there has been a revival of interest in ancient relations since then. This is Illustration of Moses and the 10 Commandments which appears in
(Rpliqious News S'urvice photui Jewish history in Egypt and of ' 'The lUustratfed Children's Bible".
DiscouFage^ Soviet dropqi^ts: reader
Dear Editor:. ,
1 would like to express my views on the question of aiding Soviet Jewish dropouts to. settle in Canada. Like Sol Granck, director general of the United Israel Appeal in Israel, and others. 1 think the Jewish community should not only reconsider aiding Soviet Jewish dropouts but should seriously consider the idea of discouraging Soviet Jewish immigrants frorii immigrating to the Diaspora community, but give all the encouragement and aid to'bring them to the shores of Israel.
Yes, we say to Russia "let.niy people go" but.please go to Israel, where the freedom
to live like a Jew can never be questioned again. ■
Yes, Mr. Kage (executive director of JIAS). when a Jew- or any other human being comes to me for aid, we shall not dare to ask him where he comes from; but.do our utmost to help. However, no JIAiS representative should be present at points .where help is needed to aid a Soviet Jew-ish immigrant to decide to come to Canada or the '
U.S.' ' ■ . , . ,
Immigration to Canada or the U.S. and aliya to Israel are to niy mind very definite opposites. it is our duty ta^lp Israel by encouragingand fosteringaTlya particularly
from a country whose doors were closed to emigration for many years. Thanks to the efforts of the state of Israel, since its inception, the movement to. allow: Jews to emigrate to Israel has gained strength and reality. . .. " ..
It is not my intention to propagate the ideas of aliya to.Israel as opposed to (God forbid) leaving them in bondage in Russia. No. I say all our efforts mUst be directed to save Soviet Jewry for the Jewish people in Israel and for the future of Judaism,
David Finestone, Montreal
ByJ.B.^SALSBERG
Harden yourself, my dear.readers, to resist the tempiirig offers of the smart operators to sell you a choice, scenic lot in Goshen.
Wait, wait, for heaven's sake, and don't worry about missing the. boat: There is no boat yet to.m'ss.
Don't, all ye who strive to be the first in everythhig and. everyw-here, don't spend sleepless nights for fear that you 'may iwt- be amoiig. the first, the very. first,_lo return to bur rirst and. original Jewish exile, which, as the Bible tells us, was in Gpsheii^in the land of the Pharaohs.
The first thing you know some huckster will offer you. a Florida-type bungalow On a !'prime lot"" in suburban Goshen with a clear view of Bitter Lake from which, on a clear day, you caii see the hotel towers of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, 'What.,.Task you, could be more enticing?
Don't fall for the publicity about getting back to our roots. How far back do roots go anyway"? . '■
It is possible to envisage a situation in which the Johnny-come-latelies in the real estate field, those who missied out on the Goshen boom, will start stib-divi-sions around the- Pyramids and tempt you with the excelleiit view of what our Jewish ancestors built for their Egyptian masters.
move to
Others, not to be outdone and not to miss a profitable market, will start a Jewish settlement on the ancient site of Pith'om and Ramses, two cities built entirely by Jew ish slave labor, as the book ot Exodus in the Bible tells us.
Know ing how- enterprising some land develop.^ers. can be, we. should riot rule out the possibility of sortie of them ottering' igloorstyle bungalows (to remind us of our Canadian background, no doubt), in the original location of the Garden of Eden on the shores of the Euphrates River in ancient Mesopota-. mia. VVhy not? If it's roots that people arc after, by golly,we'll show the world how- deep and far-reaching our Jewish roots, really go.
Anyw-ay, beware of the schemers who have already begun to exploit the Egyptian-Israeli peace negotiations. :Don't say I didn't Warn you.
Now, my dear and loyal readers, you will most iikely ask why 1 am sounding this—alarm throughout the tents ofjacob and in the camps of Israel. Believe me, I am, heaven forbid, not a self-hater and not of the kind who are forever in search of faults in our ranks. We have plenty of
to be among the first to visit Egypt. After all. 1 can hear.people say, didn't Sadat visit Israel? Don't we owe u to him to repay the visit? And besides,-what about our ancient roots in Mitzrayini (Egypt)? What about Joseph and Moses and Miriam arid Goshen and the Red Sea and all that? I mean, they argue, how long do. we have to wait to get at those roots? Gevalt, who has koach (strength) to wait? Besides, if we dilly-dally too long others will get there First, vey is mir.
AmT exaggerating? Only slightly, my friends. Sadat had no sooner left Israel than an Israeli travel agency announced that it was proceeding w'ith arrange^ riients for all expense tours to Egypt, includirig, of course, guided tours to the Pyramids. . . In North America travel agencies have also announced organized tours to Egypt and Israel. Yes, sir, divide >'our planned two weeks vacation,, we are advised, into one weekinEgypt and one in Israel. That's whatl would call really: tying the ro'ofs together, V '
Sha-a-a! If you promise not to tell Lwill let yoii iri~on a secret. There are some among us.who jiist can't wajt for the —organized tours. They have already
enemies w-ho do nothing else but probe ......joined archeology addicts to visit the
our weaknesses and if they can't find faults they irijifiBfc-them. But,_on thg^^ other hand, I kiwnv my people afid I..asck- _ not blind to their weaknesses (we're: only human, after all), and feel that a warning — even if based on somewhat exaggerated indicators — is in order.
You and I know, for instance, how prone we are to be among the first to patronize the latest attractions. We rush ; to a new play, a new symphony, a new restaurant (even if it specializes in the native dishes of the nomads, of Tim-biiktu). a new summer or ^ winter resort, a new hotel, a (lehavdil) new rabbi, a new Israeli cabinet minister, etc. etc. If its new we are there in larger percentages than most others.
What alarms me is the latest rampage
Pyramids and the latest digs in that neighborhood.
^I can imagine the chagrin of those Canadian Jews who will wait for the first official, Egypt-Israel toiirsaind then find on the walls of the you-know-what in Cairo a written statement that ' 'Yankel, of Montreal, w^s here first!" That Yankel. he should only drop dead! He's always first.
Well, hold it. dear brethren. Wait a while. Yes, Sadat was in Isi^ael; yes, Begi'n was in Ismailia; but otherwise, it's not yet. not yet! In the meantime go to Israel for your visit or tour. Don't put it off until you may be able to visit both Israel and Egypt. Believe me. there are enough Jewish roots in Israel to last a lifetime and more.