Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 19, 1969, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press. Saturday. July 19, 1969 Israel comes of age As Mideast tensions Worsen i Livatt 17 vi11 i i by Ben j. Wattenberg or. Wallenberg is co author this . And a former while House aide of president Johnson Tel Aviv special my Grandfather was s. Ben Zion a hebrew Pool and teacher who in 1910, moved his family to a plot of vacant Sand dunes in he palestinian desert just North of the City of Jaffa. Today on that same site rises the 34-Storey shalom Tower the Talles to building Between Milan and Tokyo and around it sprawls greater Tel Aviv now a Eity of Las were born. Israel is habitually described As today there Are jews in Israel com pared to the when my Grandfather built his House on the first Street of Tel Aviv. Since the six Day War uie birth rate has risen slightly and the immigration rate has risen substantially. Each year Between birth and immigration about new jews Are added to the net population. Two and a half million is a Small population by the standards of India or the United Stales but is More than a foreign news exclusive if one says As some do those of Jordan or Lebanon or that modern Israel can be . There arc More israelis from the founding of its major1 in Israel than there Are Irish in Metropolis then Israel will be Ireland or uruguayans in uru co years old next year. Guay. There arc in fact enough but David Ben Gurion a Little israelis so that israeli Economy 11 with a voice like Thunder miss now begin to talk of a Silil Spry visionary and Opin Economy of donated in Iii 83rd year will which suggests that quiere Are have none of that. Now enough people to provide a his Blue eyes flashing his Domestic Market Large enough to profitably produce certain reminiscence. Blue eyes brow curled in or. Urn Gurion insists that require Large set up modern Israel dates Back when Mikveh 1s70. That was Israel the first agricultural school in Palestine was Stab Many years before Tho Hayim Sharrett is the son of the late israeli prime minister Moshe Sharrett and his parents grew up in Early Tel Aviv on Clore a in Rel first wrote of i Sallyc so ret As grand political zionism. For or. Ben father childhood friends of my Gurion a nation starts with land and Farmers not with civics or political tracts. He came to Palestine from Russia in 1906 Mother. Ila Yini Sharrett lives now on a Kibbutz car the jordanian Border where his children sleep in underground he says that what his bomb each morning action did As Farmers on commutes to a Small factory the desert land and on the j m Haij Ca where he directs a swamp land was not a new Enterprise that icing. But a continuation of what manufactures fibreglass sailboats began at the Mikveh Israel i a new design. The Basic school. By or. Ben Market of the boats will be Gin Ion s reckoning then to Israel Lyle million jews do in Israel will be 100 years old Olle of whom live velt far next year although he is from the Mediterranean sea. In Quick to Point out that for the last 10 years Israel s consecutive years there have i population has grown by More been jews in Israel. 35 per cent alld pc capita but to Many others modern income went from s740 to Israel is regarded neither As 100 i before that economic and years old nor 60 years old. The j demographic surge a full scale Standard cliche now afloat Domestic Market for products around the world goes sailboats did not really thin like this Israel is a tiny exist most new Industry had to 20-year old state established by by predicated on an always the United nations and tile sky Export Market. Now conscience of the world because Sharrett still has his Eye of what Hitler did to. The jews exports to be sure but he in to which the arabs secs ulat his business can confronted by enemies that Means firstly that Israel will do what it must do to remain secure. And that Means that International pressure is not going to push the israelis to do what they feel is detrimental to their own National interests. They Are prepared to do it All themselves if they have to. Some of the military ramifications Are fascinating. General Ezer Weizman. Tall dashing and candid is -15 and was born in Tel Aviv. He was formerly the commander of inc israeli air Force and is now Deputy chief of staff of the israeli armed forces. He has fought in four wars stalling As a spitfire Pilot with the Raf in the second world War. Before the six Day War when j he was still commander of the j air Force he told a sceptical israeli columnist that if War came his fliers would destroy the Arab air forces in three hours. On june 5tli 1967, an aide of Gen. Weizman called the columnist and said Ezer said to Tell you he miscalculated. It Only took two hours and 55 today Ger. Weizman believes that the egyptians May try War again in the future and knows that the israelis will win again if they do. Flying Over Sinai with Gen. Weizman and several Oiler israeli officers one is inclined to accept their word. At an air base in the Sinai one sees the sleek Jet fighters on Quick Alert leaning Forward in their hangars As if on a Short Leash Only about 10 minutes flying time from Cairo. At one such base in Sinai stands a former egyptian officers club where in May of 1967. Gamel Nasser toasted his pilots if Rabin wants a War. Well give it to that remark is remembered by israeli military men when the rhetoric of egyptian Power floats across the Nile. To Ezer Weizman native born israeli and professional military Man. Israel today is in Good shape. The Suez canal is constructed As if it were designed to be the David Ben Curion wild that the jews in Israel Are an artificial. Westernized no colonial foreign body surrounded by i. Sea of .100 million arabs. The Arab position has its allies. At a cocktail parly recently one Middle level . Diplomat who had spent most of his career in the Arab states described Israel As a monster Send up Wall artificial. Tiny. New. Sur rounded. These arc tie words that Send israelis up the Walls and they Are the words that confound most of the attempts to see the Middle Eastern situation for what it is. There is first the matter of u is perhaps a bit Loo easy to note that or. Ben Gurion has lived in Israel survive on a Domestic Market. What is small1. As measured by dollars of Gross National product. Israel produces More than Portugal More than Tai wan More than Guinea Ghana Senegal and Ivory coast combined More than Peru or Algeria or Iraq or saudi Arabia and not much less than Egypt with her 32 million what is Small with the current roughly Tough decisions face Nixon Over Aid for latin America boundaries Israel is the same size As Hungary or Austria. To is 350 Miles from the Northern tip of the Golan Heights to Sharmel Sheik at the Southern tip of the Sinai. Even with the old Boun Daries and adding in Jerusalem 1 Golan the area of Israel is much different from that of 11 Litls l1vcu ill .1 i r i 1-11 far longer than col. Nasser has or Belgium lived in Egypt. But there is a i surrounded by is Rancif docs i on Tel Aviv Natl inscribes a not Sec a group of european j 2000-mile arc around the nations new Comers set Down in the of Tlle Middle East the resultant Middle Eastern desert. Of the population breakdown works out jews in Israel today something like this 88 million a sea of Ives in Jilji i. Liquie is u i eed of an important truth arabs 1s, misleading. If Here. For when one looks at the i one in Point of a Compass -12 per cent were born in arabs Israel 29 per cent were born elsewhere in the Middle East mostly Algeria Morocco Egypt. Iraq and Yemen 10 per cent were born in but Immi before the Western countries grated to Israel second world War Only 19 per cent of the population Are non Middle Eastern relatively recent Immi Grants within the last 30 the official Arab position is thai they hold no grudge against the 2a per cent of the jews born in Arab lands ably even their not conceive children who comprise a Good portion of uie per cent bom in reciprocity there is no reciprocity to this kindly View. While Many israe Lis of european origin display a love hate fascination with arabs tie jews from Arab lands feel Little but contempt for the arabs. They have lived under Arab Rule for centuries and their attitude is simple they have their countries we have our country. Let die arabs stay in their own countries and Well stay in so. The israelis Don t feel artificial. More than half Are from the Middle East eight in 10 arc native born Middle Eastern or residents of Israel since before most of the Arab Gerril All the Arab nations except Morocco and Algeria each More than 2000 Miles away and 92 million non arabs Israel Turkey Iran and ethic Israel has Friendly productive relations with and the non Arab nations and these non Arab states Are quite anxious to Sec to it that col. Nasser s dreams of pan arabist for the entire Middle East do not reach fruition particularly not pan arabist sponsored by Moscow. In Short Israel like most of the nations of the world has neighbors of different kinds some Friendly some not. Like Many other nations of die world the israelis live in an in defused situation not dissimilar to the . And Russia or Russia and China or North and South Korea or and Pakistan. Such in defused situations have been known to last for generations even Cen Turies. The Point is a simple one. Israel is not a Freak state. Not artificial not tiny not new not really come surrounded Israel of age. The time has for clucking Over the precocious infant is past and the israelis realize this today better than anyone else. As a successful non Freak National entity Israel and her leaders and people can be expected to behave in Normal National ways. As a state need a larger House for your growing family you la find or whatever else you re looking for in the classified Section. And for real fun rinds Konn i Ark in our comic Section by Francis Kent Mexico City special tons if president Nixon chooses to commit the United states to some costly new Aid program for latin America he will do so in the face of discouraging Odds. The chances of achieving any meaningful goals during his years in the White House Are virtually nil. Not Long after moving to Washington the new presi Dent asked latin govern ments to suggest co opera Tive Steps to accelerate economic and social development. He then Dis patched new York gov. Nelson a. Rockefeller and a team of More than -10 experts to have a closeup look at the area. Foreign news exclusive now the returns Are in. At an inter american con Ference last month in Trini dad representatives of the latin american nations submitted a comprehensive document calling for More u. S. Financial Aid. On better terms and without strings plus removal of barriers to latin american products in the u. S. Marketplace. Gov. Rockefeller returned to new York two weeks ago after what often resembled a combat patrol with a list of complaints probably not unlike those set Forth in Trinidad. His recommendations Are not expected be fore next month but on the basis of what he has said publicly they Are Likely to put considerable emphasis on Trade. Trade concessions alone however can be of Little help to latin America with out the infusion of capital needed to produce some thing that can be traded. This is made Clear in the requests for More u. S. Aid that were put Forth in Trinidad. Display l nity although the latin americans Are As intent As Ever on pursuing their a Tion Aliste roads to development they have Dis played of late a remarkable Unity in pressing their de mands for u. S. Aid. As for Progress statistics made Public recently by the organization of american states reflect a sorry state of affairs. For example the cities of latin Ameri Ca have such a backlog of substandard housing that even with external Aid it is impossible to foresee any substantial improvement. The shortage is estimated at 15 to 20 million units enough to house1 the people of California and new York and two. Or three other states. Of the area s Rural popu lation about half the total less than one fifth has ready Access to potable water. Few countries have More than two Hospital Beds per persons by a period when the generally accepted Standard is four per in Many countries fewer than half the schools offer classes beyond the fourth Grade thus a majority of youngsters seeking jobs must be classified As functional illiterates. Perhaps the most discouraging i actor is that income distribution remains grossly out of balance. That is the Rich get Richer and the poor sink deeper into poverty. Lip service tax reforms have been initiated but the lower in come groups continue to Bear an excessive Burden. Lip service is paid to land Reform but few govern ments can Point to real change. It is estimated that 90 per cent of the land continues to be held by 10 per cent of the landowners. A possibly More realistic approach than present policy would be to Deal with the latin americans not As a bloc but As the highly individual political units they insist on being away from the inter american conference table. Aid might be usefully extended to regional development schemes such As that just emerging among the nations of the plate River Basin the andean Community or the former British territories in the Caribbean. But the discus Sions with gov. Rockefeller showed clearly that each government actually wants to be dealt with on the basis of its individual needs. Mexico for example with its booming Industry and mechanized farms wants Trade preferences by virtue of its status As a neighbor of the United states. Why not extend such preferences to do so for Mexico should not necessarily mean that the identical advantage should be made available to Ecuador or Bolivia which have no thing i n common with Mexico but the Spanish language. Need philosophy moreover or. Nixon and his advisers should seek to formulate a genuine Philo Sophy of Aid. Should help be offered for example to a country where an entrenched o i i g a r c h y clings to Power should it be offered to a country where military men have seized Power and made a mockery of the democratic process whatever his decision it will be agonizing. And it looks More and More like a slightly warmed serving of leftovers. If so it will satisfy no one and it will produce nothing but More unrest in a part of the world where revolution is commonplace. Canada Council announces Grants world s Best anti tank ditch. The her economic psychological and ers. And that Tel could Sinai desert is Orchard Beach j demographic booms Are not survive bombing from a vat As far As the Eye can see. Providential gifts from the six ians or from russians if it Ever apparently designed by a god of i Day War. They arc earned came Down to it. History As the perfect Buffer j currency accumulated by Isaac political and economic pics zone with a wealth of Oil. Is by Many years of Back sures arc another matter and thrown in for Good measure. J breaking work by Many dead they could most effectively be As one travels through this soldiers by boys today who wielded by the United states vast expanse of desert 15.000 Volunteer for paratroop training j the Israel is arc deeply Friend Miles crossed Only by a few and by mothers who in a classic i to the United states by kinship roads the wonder of it All is reversal of the jewish Mother and by How the egyptians were Able to i Story now plead with the i grateful pv11 poll Al t p it in it 111 iiic11 my it Ltd s in Illus. Militarily the would land for 4000 Vears so to seem to be the key to the j Middle East situation. The egyptians Are the Only Arab Force that Are even in the same league with the israelis. To wage War. They must make a Complex amphibious or airborne Landing Only get to an open Invulnerable desert a highly dubious proposition. For this reason Many israelis Sec no serious territorial War in the immediate future. The arabs can to the israelis won t. That at least is the rational Way of looking at it. But there is that potent old Story about the scorpion and the Camel that haunts any rational approach. It seems that the scorpion wanted to Cross the Nile and not being Able to swim asked a nearby Suez canal they find future and says the arabs could pyramids built by jewish slave conceivably win a fifth or sixth labor in the time for the Pha-1 or seventh War and what Israel Rohs. He remembers that the needs for Long term survival is Sinai is not historically a part More jews. Me says that if of Egypt but Only an Uninhab-1 Hitler had not killed the enrolled Region that been tacked j Pean jews the current Popula on to that country for the last Tion of Israel might be r million 50 years. He remembers that i of 7 million instead of 2 a in his boyhood there was a million. Still there arc 14 great National Celebration each time the jewish National fund was Able to Purchase land from million jews in the world. .11 a million not living in Isreal. Or. Ben Gurion is hopeful that Many the arabs and he sees lots of j russian jews and some Ameri purchasable land in Jim West can jews will one Day find their Bank territory thai would be Ideal for jewish settlement. He remembers that the Palestine of the 1917 Balfour declaration included both sides of the Jor Dan River As did biblical 1s Way to Israel lie also Hopes the jewish birth rate in Israel will Rise and to this end supports plans for new and larger forms of housing for creating part time jobs Tor working mothers. Camel for a lift. said the Camel i am for nurse re schools. In Israel crazy if 1 give you a ride. As Gen. Weizman flies a these Days one also hears talk across the nut you la sting me j military plane from base to about making abortion much and 111 die the scorpion base around Israel he often More difficult to obtain considered that for a moment observes it s a big country or. Ben Gurion views jewish history As an eternal struggle of Quality versus Quantity. Moses said the jewish nation would be we Are crossing the Nile and countered Camel that is and it is Clear that he nonsense. If 1 Sling you while wants it to stay big even if this Means that the present deadlock Wil have to continue. If shells must fall better they fall in Suez and Sinai than on Tel Aviv together Well both the Camel was convinced and the two set out to Cross the Nile. Midway across the River wham the scorpion stings the Camel and soon the Camel is floundering. It is apparent that both Camel and scorpion will soon meet a watery grave. The Camel talks scorpion idiot Why did you do it now Well both the scorpion paused thoughtfully As the water inched up to his neck. And then said quietly Camel you forgot one thing this is the Middle Middle Eastern irrationality aside most israeli military men regard the Arab guerrillas As no real threat. They Are thought of As killers not lighters who will on their Brothers and Are vastly Over publicized and Over rated Only a few thousand in number drawn from a Pool of millions of arabs and capable Only of nuisance value within the Borders of Israel. That Israel is secure within her own Borders can be verified by Wallenberg s first Law of and Jerusalem. And that seems a few among this has proven to be True but or. Ben Gurion and most other israelis Are casting about for was to to be the mood throughout the i boost the Quantity in order to rest of the country unless some real peace can be guaranteed. Gen. Weizman is regarded As somewhat of a Hawk but Israel s ambassador at Large Michael comay former in ambassador for Israel is certainly not a Hawk in any Man s aviary. Yet in London earlier this year he described in Blunt terms what would be the results of any imposed solution regard ing the Mideast. If you dictate preserve the Quality for the generations ahead. Quality still there in the meanwhile the Quality is still there. My Grandfather s family has flourished and prospered. In their number today arc a leading artist a Driver an agronomist a Micro biologist several English teach ers and my Beautiful Young Cousin whose Mother did t let a solution that Israel docs not i her compete in the miss Israel he said must be prepared to Sec it become a worthless scrap of paper or else mount an invasion of Israel Are you prepared for the same question can be asked of the ., of France and of Russia. Guessing game contest she would have two years ago one of the great grandsons of my writer Grandfather was in the israeli army Force that stormed the Golan Heights. A slight Young Man with Horn rimmed glasses. He was creased by a Bullet that i came within an Inch of his i heart. He continued up the when the hour is late and the j Heights and boarded a half drinks arc Low and israeli track that pursued the syrians human behaviour which states military men gather the across the Plains. The half track if there is something to be i doomsday possibilities surface hit a mine and shrapnel pierced nervous about Wallenberg will be nervous about and to a traveller in Israel these Days the feeling is not one of nervousness despite the Road blocks major cities and the Uzzi machine guns Slung on the shoulders of Young soldiers who Are just in from the front. There Are Many israelis who also claim they arc not nervous when travelling through tie Arab towns on the occupied West Bank of Jordan but they arc crazy. I. Found Wallenberg s Law clearly applicable in Jenin Nablus and other West Bank Arab communities earned currency As they do with military men All Over the world. Because the arabs pose no real military threat in the foreseeable future the military guessing game turns to what the russians might or could do. Tie ultimate questions Are his legs. He climbed aboard another half track which also hit a mine and sent additional shrapnel into his legs. He was on his Way to a third half track when he fainted from loss of blood. Today he is Fine and prepare asked. Question could the ing to take Entrance exams for russians i n v a d e answer the hebrew University. The very doubtful militarily. It shrapnel is still working its Way would make Vietnam look like out of his legs a Tea question sup pose the russians attacked is he is a fourth generation israeli. He does not feel that he Rael with the retort is a new or tiny or artificial or is Quick nuclear tipped or surrounded nation. He is there conventional and to stay. The breakdown is that the idea he is the Young Man to of russians using nuclear mis j remember while the dance of Siles on the israelis is most far the diplomats continues in the to Ezer Weizman Israel s fetched that conventional mis capitals of the world i rent military Security and Siles hurl no worse than bomb copyright new new slav inc. City of Winnipeg department of housing and Urban renewal Urban renewal area no. 1 lord Selkirk Park i i i Ottawa up the Surat f o r d shakespearean festival will receive a Canada Council Grant of to finance its operations in Stratford. Ont Ottawa and on tour the Council announced thursday it is the largest of 26 Grants totalling for the 1969 70 operations of major perform ing arts groups. The National Ballet of can i i and a. Toronto receives and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet j the Montreal symphony or Chestra receives s325.000 and the Toronto symphony s320.000. Other Grants to theatrical organizations theatre do Nouveau Monde j s305.000 and junes com Odiens do Tom. Montreal s20.000 theatre do Rideau Vert. Mont real. S160.000 playhouse Thea tre company v a n c o u v c s150.000 Manitoba theatre Cen try. Winnipeg s145.000 Fonda Tion National de la comedies. M o n t c a i. S125.0uo Citadel theatre Edmonton to i r o n t o workshop productions theatre Calgary 000 Montreal International theatre Grants to musical groups Canadian opera company Toronto. Vancouver symphony orchestra Winnipeg symphony orchestra National arts Centre orchestra Ottawa at lactic symphony orchestra Halifax s125.000 orchestra symphony que do Quebec 000 Jeunesse Musicales do Canada theatre by Rique do Quebec Van Couver opera association 000 Edmonton symphony or Chestra 860.000 Edmonton opera association s35.000 me Gil chamber orchestra Mont real 10 kers added Madrid Spain s Tanker Fleet is composed of 9g ships with a combined dead weight of i 1.7 million tons. Ten of these Craft entered service last year i expressions of interest for development of cleared land the City of Winnipeg on behalf of an Urban renewal partnership com prising itself the province of Manitoba and the government of Canada wishes to make available for private redevelopment cleared land in the loud Selkirk redevelopment area. The lands May be sold or leased. The lands being Shewn in the sketch and As parcel 1 to parcel 2 inclusive. Expressions of interest May be submitted on any or All parcels of land. Further inquiries May be made by calling the undersigned at 946-0175. Persons interested in redeveloping this property Are asked to Forward a. Written expression of interest no later than july 31, 1969 to e. C. Simpson. Director of housing and Urban renewal City of Winnipeg. Civic Centre Winnipeg 2, Manitoba ;