The controversiM Dr. MprgentaFer
Henry MorgentaJer is back iiL, the "hews. Ejom Toronto to Vancouver he has been pilloried by **right to life" advocates, newspaper editorials and in one province, British Columbia, by^ feisty cabinet minister. . " '
Dr. Morgentaler has become the lightning rod for so much antagonism because, of his views on abortion and because of his activism in promoting clinics across Canada where women will be able to secure abortions on demand.
We must confess to some embarrassment at the spectacle of this Montreal physician who, having successfully won court battles on the abortion issue, finds that his most fulfilling activity in life is promoting its practice universally,
Morgentaler is of Jewish origin: the fact that he does not practise Judaism (he is reputed to be a Unitarian) is not relevant. His Jewish background and his concentration camp experience stamp him clearlyVin the public mind at least, as a Jew.
What must be made clear is that when Morgentaler holds forth on the abortion question he is in ho way representing a Jewish position on the issue.;.-",'-
That position is a complex one and the Talmudic
and rabbinic discussions of the abortion matter are hedged about with many caveats. One thing is certain: mainstream Jewish thought is not in accord with Dr. Morgentaler's "abortion on demand" credo.
When Morgentaler is attacked on the substance of the arguments he presents, we choose to let him defend himself. He does so consistently and competence.
When Morgentaler is attacked as a Jew (as he was recently in an anti-Semitic cartoon which appeared in a Manitoba French language publication) we feel obliged to come to his aid.
Opponents of Dr. Morgentaler should stick to their arguments on the substantive level. His thinking is seriously flawed on the endorsement which he provides so cavalierly for abortion. People have the right to denounce liim for faulty thinking illogicality arid exaggeratiion.
They weaken their case, hoWever, by using Jewish stereotypes of a most unsavory hue to denigrate the Montreal doctor. Much more than that — they antagonize Canadian Jews, the vast -majority of whom, moreover, do not subscribe to Morgentaler's ■views.
Letters represent the writer's personal opinion and do not necessarily reflect this newspaper's editorial outlook. Right of reply is open to rect^y iiiaccuracks and offer coniment, Mailto:JWB,3268Heather St., Vancouver, ySZ3k5. ' - . ,,
Magnitude Of Israel's
pbarMi;. Kaplan: .
Looking in ititrospect at the Israeli invasion of Leb^^ sees that much has been written about what the Israelis gained or lost. Very little is said, however, about the gain of the USA in particular, and the Western wprld in general.
The most important consequence of the war in Lebanon w^s a setback to international terrorism. The PLO maintained training icamps for terrorists in Lebanon; it had contacts with virtually all international terrorist organi^tionssuchas Baader Meinhoff in West Genriany, the IRA in Northern Ireland and the Red Brigade in Italy. (Recently, a court in Venice summoned Yasser Arafat to testify at a trial of a Red Brigade member who claimed thkt the Red Brigade was armed and trained by the
About one-sixth of the terrorists captiired in Lebanon were neither Palestinians nor Lebanese at all, and estimates claim that most of the foreigners succeeded in leaving south Lebanon before the Israelis came. Many left Lebanon with the Palestinians in the evacuation of Beirut.
The war proved to the international terrorists that they could not rely upon the Arab regimes, in general and, in particixlar the Libyan government (whose'advice to the PLO in the siege of Beirut was: ''Fight to the death to immortalize the Palestinian caused, Nor coiild the PLO rely upon the Soviet Bloc countries who did nothing to help the PLO plight in Beirut.
Furthermore, as a result of the war, t^^ Western Arab countries likcSaudiArabikv Egypt and Jordan became stronger in the Arab world. Desperate, the PLO itself has asked forhelp from the Uhited States and is mounting an extensive public relations campaign for its cause/(the same
ignoreil by U,S.^^^^^^^^^^^^
country and government it reviles and denounces for supporting
As a bohiis, the ^rmameiit industry of the USA ^pt the best ptiblicity it could ask fori the F-16 remains the hottest item in air shows as a result of Israers having shot down 80 Syrian Migs. More Importantly American technology proved itself to be superior to Soviet technology.
Onemay ailsoask whythe U.S. needs Israel at all. The answer, (besides the moral issuepf Israel's.being the only true democracy in the Middle East) is that Israel is the only reliable ally in the region in the event of a conflict with a foreign invader. In all. other Arab countries, American support depehds.upon the head of the current regime, atany particular time. This makes Israel's strategic value fundamental to U,S. foreign policy in the area.
In the light of all this and the fact that more than 450 Israelis w^re killed in-Lebanon up to now, (the equivalenno^bout 34,000 Americans, percentage wise almost 60 percent of the total casuahies in all the 10 years of the war in Vietnam) one Understands why the Imelis refuse to leave without proper assurance that their security problems will not come back a few years down the road. AMOS NIR
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comments oh war criminals
pear Mr. Kaplan:
On the subject of war criminals, I would like to draw to your attention the receiit decision in thb Helmut Albert Rauca case, by^the Honorable Gregory Evans, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ontario.
In that case, it was argued that the fugitive should not be extradited because of the availability of domestic options for prosecuting him. It was argued that because of these so-called domestic options, it would not be **reasonable'^, within the meaning of the new Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to extradite.
The page^22 of the Court decision held:
**Counsel for the Fug^ve has raised three aUernative . -procedures which he aibmits the matter in issue could be
reserved without resi»lh^ extradition, name^, the
Geneim (Conventions A^, RS,C, i970tC,G3, andtfte War
CipSnws Act, (i946^0 Geo.^^ andthepossibiUtyof
the eruictment cf future: leglsla^
Afther-alternatives are^ailid^ jnvce^^ of extraditipn is not reasoiudde0^my^inionrthe Geneva Conventions Act and the appUeation in tiK present cirCumsttm^ that legislation heenactaiibapipflyif^ oUr concept of justice. R^rospective legislation ii rightfully viewed with suspicion and when it invades the field of criminal law, it is especmlly repugiumt. I do hot consider these to leviable alternatives.*^
As you are no doubt aware, the decision is being appealed.
ROBERT KAPLAN Solicitor^General of Canafia
Disastrous impact of Gulf war assessed
By DAVID HAROUNOFF
It is difficult for people in the West to comprehend, far less asses^^ the psychological damage the Gulf War has inflicted on the character and confidence of the Arab World. Thie seemingly intractable conflict'— now well into its third has provoked shari^divis;iqni,§mohg Arab nations over
questions of territorial security^ political ideology. For the two super^pbwers, the war has set in hand a reappraisal of their interests and designs in the Middle ■.East.' ■ yy '•'v-'" David Harounoff is a regular contributer to theXoir^lon Jewish Chronicle._^>^.,- _
For the combatants^ the war has until now proved to be an . exercise in mutualdestruction. Some 60,000 Iraqis and 150,000 Iranians are estimated to have beenlcilled or wounded.The once bustling city of Khorramshahr is in ruins and the oil refinery at iAbadaii destroyed.- , ' ^ _ . 1 .
The Middle East is also witnessing>the'einergencc^ of a new refugee problem. Over one million inhabitants of Khuzistan(or as the Iraqis call it **Arabistan'7 have seen their homes pluhderedand often levelled to the ground. Firstly the invading Iraqi army, who claimed to be **liberatin§**an Arab people from the yoke of **Persian racism;" and latterly by the AyatoIIah's Revolutionary Guards, who aside from proclaiming the region ah integral part of Iran are now **purifying** its inhabitants of any recently acquired Baathisttrait^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^-^^^^^^^^^^^^-^ -
After more than two years of conflict neither Tehran nor Baghdad have come much closer to securing their final objiective. Ayatollah Khomeini has not succeeded in toppling his Iraqi counterpart, so as to establish a clone of his own fundamentalist regime in Baghdad. And Saddam Hussein has failed to secure, Iraqi domination over the Shatt el Arab waterway.
Similarly the attempts by each country to foment internal rebellion in the other has so far failed. Approxtmiately 5 per cent of Iraqis population are Shiite Moslems. As in most 6ther Arab countrieis with Suhni leaderships^ they constitute the underprivileged sections of the population.
Saddam Husseih^s fear has been thait the Shiites might heed Khomeini^s cjarion call to rise and oveithrbw their Suhni Baathist oppressors.
..... In a successful bid to stave bffthU^reat, the Baathist regime
has bent over backwards to placate them. Five Shiites are now represented in the Baghdad cabinet. Some $49 million has been poured in to restore and give face-lifts to the formerly neglected Shiite shrines in Iraq.
Evidence suggests that at the beginning of this war Shiite troops were used as cannon foddeir against Iranian artillery. Now the Baghdad regime is lavishly compensating bereaved Shiite families with houses, land, cars and liberal pensions that the State's goffers can ill afford. . '
The policy seems to have reaped benefits. With the notable exception of the radical Da%va party ~ which was responsible for the massive car bonib explosion outside Baghdad's Planning Ministry last August — Iraqi Shiites have maide clear that their allegiance is determined by national rather than religious sectarian considerations.
Although the Kurds in Iraq ai^e not as numerous^as the Shiites, they have managed to weaken the Iraqi war effort by frequently engaging Saddam's troops in^ mountain skirmishes. Observers believe that the recently disclosedclandcstine talks between Baathist officials and JalaiTalabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan were designed to free Iraqi troops from patrolling troublesome Kurdish areas, so enabling them to confrbnt the Iranian threat from the North-East and a likely winter offensive near Basra in the South.
The main Kurdish bodie^ however -^ithe National Party and the Islamic Party — remain tenaciously allied to Iran, accepting Iranian financing despite the fact that the Ayatollah has just wiped out the Iranian version of the |CNP. The Iranians have also managed to forge a new Iraqi ^<|)s»dent militia — the National Democratic and Patriotic Front — in Northern Iraq.
. PERSPECTIVE — Page 6