Page 4 - The Canadian JewishJ^ews, Friday, August 13,1976
Editorial
TlieGanadian
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VOL. XVII, NO. 29 (913)
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Big-time international sports is polluted by politics, and in the wake of the nationalistic-ridden, billion dollar-plus Moritreal Olympics, this is a stark fact that few would dare to deny, Even so partisan a personage as Lord Killatiin, head of the International Olympic Committee, admitted as much after the Games ended. "If ever any Games deserved to get a gold medal for politics...this one did," he isaid, adding that nationalisrn plays too large a role in the quadrennial event.
Almost from the day the modern Olympics were resurrected, nations have taken advantage of the Games' honorable purpose, using it to advance national objec^ tives and to win international prestige, and acceptaiice. From the Berlin Olympics of 1936 to the Munich Games four years ago, politics has become part and parcel of the proceedings.
Not by Golncidencei politics played a prominent role in Montreal. Relatively few athletes defected, but the Aft-ican and Arab nations staged a walk-out while Canada all but expelled the Taiwanese pretenders to the Chinese throne. The Asiari Games Federation also announced, somewhat innocuously, that Israel would be barred from the 1978 Games for '' security reasons''.
Haim Glovinsky, honorary secretary of the Israeli Olympic Committee, was right
in characterizing the decision as aii ".'evil design to oust (Israel) from the family of Asiari nations..." Crass politics and convoluted ideology, not the fear of a second. Munich massacre, guided the men who banned the Israelis from the next Asian Games.
The precedent set by the AGF — and indeed by Canada in eliminating Taiwan from the Montreal Games — hardly bodes well for Israel. Will Moscow bar Israel when it hosts the Games in 1980? Will politics prevail, over true sportsmanship? Vladislav Chevtchensko. the Russian who will be responsible for relations with the press at the 1980 Games, told a French interviewer last week that the Soviet Union "will always respect the character of the Iriternational Olympic Committee and will welcome all delegates recognized by the IOC. And that on a strictly equal footing."
We would dearly like to believe the Soviet gentleman. It would give us great, pleasure if international sports divorced itself from the coiist^ht reality of national rivalry and self-interest, But is this to be? Somehow, we doiibt it. Thb decision by the Asian Garfies Federation, is indicative; of the primacy of politics over sports. Like the dream of world disarmament, the equally naive dream of defusing sports of its nationalistic character remains as elusive as ever.
Rabin versus the press
There is a faintly familiar tone to a recent item from Israel which tells of an angry confrontation between Prime Minister Rabin and members of the Israeli Press Council. Here in Canada the relations between Prime Minister Trudeau and the press are not exactly a love affair, and it seems Mr. Rabin's blood pressure rises a few notches over What he feels are unethical tactics by correspondents.
Mr. Rabin told the journalists that they were unfair and wrote unbalanced articles, failed to check the facts and were alarmist in news presentation. The journalists hit back by charging the government with suppressing information arid abolishing the
weekly press briefings.
The point we want to make is not to speculate on the merits of the arguments put forward by the prime minister and the reporters, but to note that the cotifronta-tion which took place in Israel could not have occurred anywhere ejse in the Middle East. Freedom of expression doesn't exist in the Arab world. Ever hear of an Arab leader meeting with reporters and telling them "be hostile, but be accurate." That is what Prime Minister Rabin told the press. Any Arab journalist who strayed from the government propaganda guideline would soon, be looking oiit at the world from behind bars.
It has been called variously the "Good Fence," the "Good Neighbor's Fence. " ahd "The Gateway of Good Hope." It is situated on the border between Israel and Lebanon. — two countries nominally in a state of hostilities — but at times it seems as if it is light years away. For through two openings in the fence, scores of Lebanese come daily to Israel for treatment at two mobile army medical clinics. Men, women and children, deprived of the opportunity of help in war-torn Lebanon, come. They are given assistance at the clinic and then return to Lebanon: Some stay for longer' periods at Israeli hospitals.
Defence Minister Shimon Peres, visiting the fence<-spoke-cautiously of its possible impact. Israel was gjad of this opportunity to give pragmatic expression of her desire for peace. It was being extended as a humaiiitarian gesture, without strings attached, to Christians and Moslems alike, The hope was; he added, that it could be expanded into something like the "open bridges" policy at the Jordan River, which permits the free passage of goods between Jordan and the West. Bank, under Israeli control since 1967. Mr. Peres, in fact, disclosed that Israel was extending services.
Lebanese cut off froin the normal commercial avenues are being permitted to
buy and sell in Israel. In practice, several Lebanese merchants are allowed to cross the fence and under escort, to charige. Lebanese money at a fixed rate in Israeli banks. For Israeli currency they then proceed to load their Lebanese trucks with oil; basic commodities and fuel. At the same time, Lebanese farmers are being allowed to selltheir tobacco crop in Israel. A passing episode, or harbinger of better times along Israel's northern border?
Several Arab affairs experts in Israel caution against exaggerated hopes.' In itself, the "fence" does not constitute a policy, they say. In any event, it cannot remain static;.
Other experts warn that neither the bridge, nor Syria's role in Lebanon should mislead Israeli policy-makers. Syria's ulti-mate.aim. they say. is not to act as peacemaker, but to establish legitimacy as a permanent .factor in the conduct of Lebanese affairs. Beyond this, they note. Syria's historic goal of creating a "crescent front" through Lebanon. Syria and Jordan, from. which attacks could be launched more easily against Israel. But in the meantime, two cracks in the northerii frontier have appeared. Over 3.000 Lebanese have made use of them. And whilethese remain open, the hope exists. (Israel Press Service)
Quaddafi-style
Pan-Islamist, insurrectionist, revolution-, ary. reactionary and arch troublemaker — Muammar el-Quaddafi of Libya.
He supplies' the Irish Republican Army with arms. He supports Mpslern rebels in the Philippines. He aids guerrilla fighters in Chad and Ethiopia. And he pumps iin-told millions into the coffers of the Palestinian "rejectionist" movement.
The president of Libya, whose vast oil wells provide him with einough money to raise ahd equip numerous armies, is the power behind an international terrorist movement whose 200 fulltime agents operate in Europe and the Middle East. They are the terrorists who.massacred 11 Israeli Olympic athletes in Munich, who killed 32 innocent people in a raid against Rome airport in 1973 and who conceived jind executed the ill-fated hijacking of an Air France jet which sparked Israel's daring Entebbe raid;
,Quaddafi's most recent meddling has been in war-torn Lebanon, wheire he has provided the leftist-Moslem coalition with about $50 million — a paltry sum considering the funds that his oil gushers bring, In the last two months, Libyan diplomats have further muddled the situation by trying to promote a ceasefire while ^t the same time
encouraging political divisions between Syria and Egypt. It is the kind of formula which anarchists take pride in. It is peacekeeping of the lowest order, designed to prolong the agony of bleeding Lebatipn.
What motives, what manner of ideas, prompt Quaddafi to act the way he does? At first glance, it is difficult to say. He claims to be a revolutionary and perhaps he is. It is he vvho overthrew the decrepit monarchy in 1969. And yet Quaddafi finds the source of much of his inspiration in the tenets of traditional Islam, a creed which could scarcely be called progressive or modernistic. A devout Moslem, he should theoretically be on friendly terms with the reactionaries in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States and Iran. Arid yet.he is not, calling for the overthrow "of the monarchies in those countries. Paradoxically, he aligns himself with the radicals of the region — Iraq. Southern Yemen, Syria and, to a lesser extent. Algeria.
Muammar Quaddafi is certainly riding high these days, being a hero and a villain, a prophet and a false messiah all rolled into one. But his diay will come, and when it finally dawns his fate will be no different' from that of all those countless despots in history who met their maker at the end of a hangman's noose.
Right now in Tel Aviv, parts of the city are being demolished. But back in 1909. there come Israel's metropolis. The land was made available through the Jewish National Fund, was nothing, but sand dunes: This historic photo shows the founding of what was to be- Rochelle Carr looks at the past, present and future of theJNF in a four-part series.
inspired world Jewry
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Jewish National Fund. In a four-part series. The Canadian Jewish News takes a look at the his-toryprojects and future of the JNF.
By ROCHELLE CARR (First of four parts)
There was a man in Jewish history, Hermann Schapira. whose name is little known to most Jews. Yet, a concept he conceived would not only become a household word to woHd Jewrv. but would literally trarisformthe landscape of Israel and, consequently, affect the lives of all her inhabitants.
While a professor of mathemetics in Heidelberg. Schapira thought of the idea of a Jewish organization, in the early 1880's. that would purchase land in Palestine in the name of the entire Jewish people.
Theodor Herzl. who shared Schapira's
f UNO OF CANADA
idea, felt the time was ripe for a vote to be taken on such an organizatioit at the Fifth Zionist Congress. It won unanimous approval .
Thus, on Dec. 29. 1901. the Jewish
National Fund (Keren Kayemcth Le'Israel)' came into being.
From its inception, the JNF was to ifunc-tion and, indeed, fioiirish. under the watchword of two biblical quotations. The words, "The land shall not be sold for-. ever..." (Leviticus 25:23) have taken on the modern meaning of making all JNF land (approximately 92% of land in Israel) belong to all the Jewish people everywhere.
As well, in accordance with the stipulation that all land revert to its original holders in the .50th year (Leviticus 25:10). the JNF does not sell land, but rather leases land for 49 years and automatically renews the lease in the 50th year provided the lessee has cared for the land. Thus, through JNF efforts, the transition froni the ideological to the workable collective farming systems was more easily achieved, land speculation has been averted, and both the acquisition of huge estates
Rumanians spearheaded settlement of Palestine
By ROCHELLE CARR
On Aug: 13. 1900. Theodor Herzl opened the Fourth Zionist Congress in London with, the optiinistic words: "England, great. England, free England. England looking over all the seas, will understand our aspirations. From here the Zionist idea will take its night.further and higher, of that we are . sure." : , ■■ ■
The upswing tempo of the four-day Congress was quickly overshadowed by dark clouds emanating far from Rumania caused by a new wave of crises tha:t Rumanian Jewry was compelled to struggle through.
When the gavel sounded in 1897 opening the First Zionist Congress, it gave hope to persecuted Jews, everywhere of the imminent return to the land of their forefathers. Rumanian Jewry not only shared this hope.
but their fervor was such that liumerous attempts — some successful — were made to return to the Holy Land even prior to the founding of the world Zionist body.
As cariy as 1856, the Rumanian. Israel Benjamin, advocated Jewish agricultural .settlements in Palestine in his writings. Around 1873'groups.were formed with the^ intent to learn agricultural methods before emigrating. Calling themselves the Society to Settle Erez Israel by Working the Land, the nucleus of diehards soon grew to include 32 branches throughout Rumania bv 1882.
Delegates of the organization left for Palestine to look over potential land purchases, while a steady trickle of families, travelling individually, emigrated to the Holy Land; By the summer of 1882. the first organized group, consisting of 39 families or approximately 228 persons, left Rumania to found the village of Rosh Pin-nah. Shortly afterwards. 386 Rumanians founded Zikhron Ya'acbv. By the end of the-year, approximately 1.322 of them had left for Palestine, ;
Despite financial difficulties, which, necessitated handing over Zikhron Ya'acov and Rosh Pinnah to the administration of Baron Edmond de Rothschild, before the First Zionist Congress in ' 1897, some 50,000 Rumanian Jews signed a petition indicating their desire for aliyah.
So active was Rumanian Jewrv in this
area that, at the First Zionist Congress, a Rumanian delegate, Karpel Lippe, had the honor of reciting the shehecheyanu prayer of thanks while another Rumanian, Samuel Pineles, was elected vice-president of the Congress.
Despite various Rumanian restrictions on Jews, even after the liberalizing forces of the Versailles treaty talks, the Jews pressed on with their Zionist activities. The Rumanian WIZO. with 50.000 members, administered kindergartens throughout the country where Hebrew was taught and established an agricultural and housekeeping school in Palestine.
With the outbreak of World War II, Rumania took on a hew role vis-a-vis the plight of fleeing European Jews. Despite British laws severely limiting immigration into Palestine, and Nazi strong-arm tactics employed to prevent Jewish emigration from Europe, between 1939 and 1944 some 13.000 Jewish refiigees from all over Europe made their way to Rumania and left on board 31 ships headed for Palestine.
And. before Israeli statehood was achieved in 1948. approximately 30.000 Rumanian Jews managed to enter Palestine. It had taken a long time and was, for the most part, a difficult struggle, but. around 25 years after the Holocaust, it was estimated that approximately three-quarters of Rumanian Jewry had been able to emigrate to Israel.
Ink and Milk and Honey by Reudor
"6ERSH0.N NOODNIK REPORTING FROfyi BEN eURlON AIRPORTJHE FIRST STEP FOR THE RUSSIAN AIY\M TO THE HOL^ LAND"
SASHA/LOOK AT VOU/NO HAT... AND NO BEARD?.'
BOT friAfYlA, IN ISRAEL EVEN JEUJS SHAVE/
DO MOU STILL SPEAK WIDDISH?; Am THE FOOD - IS IT KOSHERB-
HERE UUE SPEAK
HEBREUJ.iyiAfyiA. ^ DIETARH LAWS
AND -UJELL
ARE ^OU STILL CIRCUnOC/SED ?
and the dividing of. land into minuscule plots arc prevented.
And from,its inception, the JNF caught the imagination of. and won the hearts of. world Jewry from all socio-economic levels who were able to feel a part of as well as : participate in, its growth.
Two symbols;,, the Blue. Box and JNF . stamps, both begun around 1902, have enabled childreti to senior citizens, the struggling tailor to the Wall St. tycoon and the Diaspora Jew and the Israeli, to share an equal pride in the building up of the Yishuv (the Jewish community in Pales-. tine) and. later, the land accomplishments in Israel.
History records that a letter received by the World Zionist Organization from Mr. Kleinman in Eastern Galicia. was the basis of the establishmerit of the Blue Box. He decided to do something practical to help redcern the land in Palestine for the Jews. He made a little box in ^hich he put in "penny after penny." Andthe pennies and ^ dimes and dollars have continued to pour . in.
In 1904. the JNF chose an official design for the Blue Box and the container immediately began spreading around the world. Blue Boxes, declared illegal in Czarist Russia, were smuggled over the borders. In the ruined ghettos of Nazi-held Europe charred Blue Boxes were found. Jewish soldiers in the Allied armies carried them during their fight against the Axis nations.
In addition to the sentimental and fund-raising aspect shared by both the Blue Boxes and JNF'stamps, the stamps also served the practical purpose of being the first official stamps during the initial months of Israeli stiatehpod.
Throughtheseeariy fund-raising efforts, the JNF was able to begin its program of land: purchases. The owners, generally absentee landlords residing iii Paris or Beirut (thus, the land purchases did not dislocate inhabitants) had pronounced the lands uncultivatable. The eariiest tracts were purchased around 1903 at KefarHit-tim; in the Galilee and at Ben Shemen and Hulda, in the Judean foothills. A few years later purchases wiere made in the Jordan Valley which would shortly contain the settlements of Degania and Kinneret. This was followed, in 1909. by the founding of Tel Aviv on ground that was originally sand dunes..
Even in this early period, the importance of afforestation was acknowledged. In accordance with the suggestion of Prof Otto Warburg, a leading Zionist thinker at that tinie. a few olive trees planted at Ben Shemen gave way to a broader plan of a special Olive Tree Fund. In 1908 the Herzl Forest was begun in the Ben Shemen area, with the planting of 12,000 olive and other fruit sapplings. Largely due to World War 1, these olive plantations failed, but the efforts set the stage for systematic afforestation. By the early 1920's, the need for real forest trees, such as the Jerusalem pine, were made clear, today, the Herzl Forest boasts over 2million hardy trees.
Nevertheless, prior to statehood, JNF's main efforts were toward land acquisition — a move that was to have far-reaching historical and political results. JNF's efforts in such areas as thq vast hlnteriand of Haifa and its aid during the "tower and stockade" period when prefabricated Jevv-ish settlements sprang up overnight in areas like the Negev. were to have moiiu-mental consequences on the state yet to be born.
On Nov. 29, 1947. when the United Nations voted to partition Palestine, the delineation of boundaries was greatly in-""nuenced by the land purchases niade previously by the JNF and its subsequent successful efforts to settle Jews on those lands. In many cases, outpost areas were included within the UN-sanctioned Israeli territory,
The ideological as well as the physical foundations sown by the JNF, before that spring day in 1948 when Israeli statehood was achieved, has brought about what history would record as — nothing short of a miracle. Orchards have replaced swamplands, forests have taken the place of rock-strewn hillsides and blankets of flowers grow where once stood sand dunes. '