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The Canadian Jewish News, Thursday, October 13,1983 - Page 9
Dangerous moment in country's life
Israel has a mtal stake in Lebanese tn
By
J. B. SALSBERG
What's happening in Lebanon now ntay very well determine whether that country has any future or whether it will become a dismembered and hate-ridden collection of warring fiefdoms. If such internecine warfare were to exist far removed from the borders of Israel one might conclude that the unhappy state of things in Lebanon is not our vital concern but that of the Arab world and of the several religious sectors that have been engaged' in bloody feuds for a long time. But that is not a position we can afford to take. t u c i l
Lebanonis on the J- B-bordersof Israel. Lebanon has been used as the main base for murderous attacks on Israel by the FLO, even if often against the will of the Lebanon government and the majority of its people. Lebanon is living in the shadow of Syria, the imperialistically ambitious Arab country that has never recognized the independence of Lebanon and that strives to be the leader of the anti-Israel front in the Arab world.
Israel, therefore, has a vital stake in the current Lebanese tragedy.
All this raises a number of troubling problems, some of which I would like to deal with at this moment.
Where is Canada's former ambassador to Lebanon, Mr. Arcand now? A year ago he stood in the rubble of destroyed buildings in
Beirut and with non-ambassadorial tears rolling down his face, before the cameras of the world media, asking what have these people done to deserve this punishment?
Where was he when for five years all of Lebanon was ravaged by Syrian, FLO, Christian militias and Islamic private armies, while Israel was guarding its own borders?
Where is Mr. Arcand now and where are his tears for the ravage caused by Syria and the Lebanese warring factions?
I ask this' question not because Mr. Arcand is of any special significance. His special anti-Israel bias was known before he was transferred to Lebanon. I recall Arcand merely to illustrate the releviance of Lebanon to Israel's present and future.
The major geopolitical surgeiy that the bitterly hostile group of poUtif^ surgeons is about to perform on the body of battered Lebanon is of vital and immediate concern to Israel. That, I hope, is self-evident to all who are dedicated to the safety and continuity of the Jewish state. But, I suggest, the flames of the present inter-Arab Lebanese conflagration also throws light on one of Israel's most divisive issues at present — namely, the policies for the immediate future of the West Bank, or of Judea and Shomron, as Israel calls that area.
As I see it the spectre of wartom Lebanon stalks ominously over the area known as the West Bank.
It may perhaps help you, my suffering readers, if I deal with this matter in more simple terms.
Modern Lebanon was created by France, the imperial power that governed that part of the Middle East towards the end of World War L The constitution of the
re-created Lebanese state was deliberately worded to benefit the Christian sector of Lebahoh that was then assumed to be a marginal majority of the population. The chief officers of the new state were predetermined so as to give the Christians priority.
But the non-Christian minority has, by the simple process of birth rate, become the majority and the various Islamic factions inside the country raise the cry of a redivision of power in the running of the country. (Of course there are many religious and tribal interests involved in their unified cry for a more democratic and more representative governmental setup for the country.)
in short, the non-Christian Arabs want to take over from what has become a Christian minority all the privileges and benefits that minority enjoyed until now.
What has all this to do with IsraePs West Bank? It has much to do and it casts a long shadow over the future of that area if the Begin-Shamir governments' policies for Judea and Shomron will be proceeded with. Indeed, it goes to the very heart of the '^autonomy" plan that the Begin-Shamir planners have for the West Bank.
No one questions the proposition that Judea and Shomron were, in the ancient past, an integral and very important part of the historic Jewish kingdom. Were that area unpopulated hardly a Jew would hesitate to press the claim for its inclusion in the map of Israel.
"But that's not what history has wrought. The vast majority of the people whonow live in Judea and Shomron are Arabs and they strongly desire to remain just where they are at present. This is where the autonomy proposal comes in. Israel, under this plan,
will give the Arab residents autonomy m managing all their local affairs, but the territory will be part of Israel.
This raises many questions that assume grave importance in the light of what is happening in Lebanon. For instance:
Will the West Bank Arabs be given the national franchise to elect their representatives to Israel's parliament? If not, Israel will become a pariah in the democratic world and should expect civil strife and world condemnation for denying a large minority of people living on its territory the right to vote in parliamentary (Knesset) elections.
If, on the other hand, should the Arabs in the autonomy region be given the full franchise, then they and the half-million Israeli Arabs (who do have the franchise) will, in a relatively short period of years, become the majority in the Jewish state. What then?
This reminds me of the late and very highly regarded perennial finance minister of the Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir era. When arguing against a similar autonomy plan that the late Moshe Dayan put forward, Pinchas Sapir is alleged to have asked Dayan: Moshe, what do you want, a big Israel or a Jewish Israel? If you want a Jewish Israel, your plan is full of danger. Besides, Sapir added: Do you think that in this day and age the world would allow the disenfranchising of the majority of our country?
This is, indeed, a troubling and, from my point of view, also a very dangerous moment in the life of Israel. The Lebanese experience makes the choice even more troubling and more fateful for the future of Israel.
No parallel seen in shootings of civilian planes
MONTREAL —
No comparison can be made between the Soviet Union's destruction of the Korean Air Lines jet and the shooting down by Israel of a Libyan civilian plane in 1973.
That was the view of the head of the 4-mem-ber Israeli delegation to the recent International Civil Aviation Organization general assembly.
"The Russians did not
state any regret or sorrow; they are not willing to pay damages and they are not willing to accept ian investigation," said Shay Shohamy, Israel's director of civil aviation.
The Israelis shot down the Libyan plane when it strayed into Israeli air space over the Sinai. A total of 108 persons on board were killed.
Shohamy explained the incident this way: "Israel was in a state of
war with Libya. Israel had information from many sources that Libya or terrorist organizations were planning to use such an aircraft to hit heavily propulated areas of Israel. That is why Israel was very sensitive."
Israel gave all necessary warnings to the plane to land as prescribed by international law, but the Libyan crew, apparently thinking  it was
Egyptian planes tracking them, paid no attention, he said.
After the incident, 1)5-rael publicly announced its regret. Damages were offered to the victims' families and $3 million was eventually paid out.
Furthermore, Israel accepted an investigation by a team of experts appointed by ICAO, offering them full access to the information they wanted, Shohamy said.
Although ICAO issued a resolution condemning Israel, the team's find-
ings corroborated Israel's explanation that it had acted in accordance with international law and that a misunder-sitanding on the part of the Libyan crew had been the reason for its failure to comply.
Israel supported a resolution condemning the Soviets for shooting down the KAL plahe which was passed by the ICAO council at a meeting last month.
Referring to the Soviet allegation that the plane had been spying, Shohamy said:  "I cannot
believe anybody would been put forward by the
use such an aircraft for Russians only to draw
reconnaissance mis- attention away from
sions. I think this has their own acts."
POST FOR ORTHODOX RABBI
Biographical outline, resume and references. Salary to commensurate with qualifications and experience.
M, W. Steinberg, Chairman, Search Committee, Schara Tzedeck Synagogue, 3476 Oak Street, Vancouver, B.C: V6H 2L8
WALTHAM, Mass. -
Launched in the mid-20th century with a hand-me-down castle and little else, Brandeis University inaugurated a new president last week while marking the 35th year of an unparalleled adventure in education.
Dr. Evelyn E. Handler was inaugurated as Brandeis' fifth president at Boston's Symphony Hall, the site of founding president Abram L. Saehar's inauguration Oct. 7; 1948.
-Founded the same year as Israel, Brandeis -is North America's only nonsectarian, Jewish-sponsored university, and, "it holds a special responsibility to the Jewish community," Mrs. Handler said, "as an educational institution sponsored by a people whose tradition is education."
The university's Jewish studies programs are said to be the largest in the world outside of Israel. One provides a 2-year course of study leading to a Master of Arts degree in Jewish communal service, preparing students for leadership in schools, synagogues, youth groups and other settings in the Jewish community.
Brandeis maintains close ties to Israel and has awarded honorary degrees to Golda Meir, Abba Eban, and Moshe Dayan.
— Mrs. Handler, a biologist and former president of the University of New Hampshire, says that "Brandeis is and always wiH be a place for. people to come to learn how to learn, and how to apply knowledge." Brandeis opened in
1948 with an entering
class of 107 and 13 faculty at the former site of Middlesex University about 10 miles west of Boston.
It now enrolls about 2,750 undergraduate and 700 graduate students and combines the breadth and range of academic programs usually found at much larger universities.
"There are two ways to create a university," says John P. Roche, dean of faculty at Brandeis from 1956 to 1973 and now academic dean at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
"Start out from the bottom and inch upward, from third rate to second rate to first rate, or strike for the top at the outset.
*'Brandeis chose the second route."
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