Newspapers / The Charlotte Jewish news. / June 1, 1988, edition 1 / Page 2
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Page 2-THE NEWS-June/July, 1988 Guest Editorial IHE 40«lt STgP Colonel North: Deja Vu to Nuremberg By Rabbi Marc H. Wilson “God bless you and Semper Fidelis”... True to form, Colonel Oliver North in voked God-and-Country as he virtuously resigned his commission, announced his contempt for his accusers and embarked on a renewed campaign to touch a patriotic spot in the hearts and pocketbooks of Mid dle America. In a way, I am glad that we have not heard the last of Oliver North. It offers another opportunity to admonish those who will listen that the Oliver North men tality is a malignancy that profoundly threatens America’s essential values and ideals. The populace is making a tragic mistake by adulating Oliver North as a na tional hero and a symbol of American spirit at its best. It is not so much that his politics are ob jectionable. That is a matter of partisan debate. There is, however, a certain deja vu about North’s persona, rhetoric and self-justification that should cause a knot in the pit of our stomach. The knot of ten sion should be redoubled by the public’s swift acclamation of North as a patriot. Senator Inouye courageously alluded to it during the Iran-Contra Hearings, and took his lumps for drawing the analogy. Yet, the analogy demands our thoughtful attention as we force ourselves to reexamine Amer ica’s basic concepts of patriotism and heroism: The deja vu evoked by Colonel North is to the German War Crimes trials at Nuremberg, less than a half-century ago: the cockiness, the smug self assuredness, the haughtiness of the we- know-better-thsm-you attitude, the intima tion of inerrancy. The underlying premises of North’s self justification are even more disturbing than his arrogance. A good soldier again pious ly avers that he was “just following orders.” A good soldier again declares public deception a virtue when it protects a distorted notion of national honor or a superior’s reputation. A good soldier again proclaims his immunity from the scrutiny of moral and legal processes, eisserting that he and his compatriots have better defin ed our national interests. And a myopic, jingoistic populace sends him cakes and flowers. It declares him a hero and a role model of real American values. It rumbles about how he might even make a good President or Secretary of State. And it will, no doubt, contribute generously to his legal defense, if, that is, . Jewish Calendar Candlelighting .- y'v June 3 - 8:15 p.m. July 15 - 8:20 p.m. June 10 - 8:19 p.m. July 22 - 8:16 p.m. U ([ • June 17 • 8:21 p.m. July 24 - Tisha B’Av yV June 24 - 8:23 p.m. July 29 - 8:11 p.m. July 1 - 8:23 p.m. Aug. 5 - 8:05 p.m. July 8 - 8:22 p.m. Aug. 12-7:57 p.m. S Next issue is in August. Deadline for copy is July 10. Have a nice, safe summer. Another Family Leaves Russia Mitchell Rolnick, son of Mr. and Mrs. Iven Rolnick, re ceived the following letter from the aunt of his Russian “twin” just three days after Mitch's Bar Mitzvah. Dear Mitch: After eleven years of refusal, Kiril Altman with his family got confirmation to leave the Soviet Union. I guess this Rosh Hashanah, G-d willing, they will be free, maybe in the USA. If you want to continue cor responding with him, let me know please. I'll send you his new address when I get it, or Kiril, himself, will write you. Best wishes. Your Sioma Altman his Commander-in-Chief doesn’t graciously pardon him first. Deja vu...Were these issues not decisive ly resolved forever at Nuremberg? If Nuremberg taught us anything, was it not that “good soldiers” do not exonerate themselves from illegality by announcing that they were “just following orders?” Did Nuremberg not teach us that lying to protect a superior’s position in the face of his wrongdoing is not heroic, but criminal? Did we not learn from Nuremberg that men, particularly of a military bent, must not be allowed to define national interest outside the bounds of law and morality on the premise that they know better that which will best serve their country? Did we not leam from Nuremberg that only the most fragile line distinguishes patriotism from the madness of the ends always justi fying the means and its hellish conse quences? Is it not clear that Colonel North defames the very country to which he pledges his unswerving loyalty by vowing allegiance to the very principles that Nuremberg taught us to abhor? No, I am not even vaguely intimating that Oliver North is a Nazi. Heaven for bid. Yet, some of us cannot help but hear alarms go off whenever society too narrow ly defines patriotism as unquestioning, lock step loyalty and when a distorted concept of national honor justifies actions far beyond the dictates of law and morality. My Dad was also a Colonel, an anti aircraft battalion commander, a World War II veteran. I asked him if he had any empathy for Oliver North’s situation. His response was typically blunt: “He violated every basic rule of established military conduct.” Period. We fought our bloodiest war to protect the world from the very mentality for which a significant segment of the American populace now adulates Oliver North. We know only too well where the leadership of such “good soldiers” takes us. By Nuremberg’s standards, Oliver North is no^a hero. He is a criminal. For the sake of God-and-Country, don’t send him cakes, flowers or your money. Don’t wear his t-shirts or his hair-do. Don’t tell your kids to grow up to be just like him. At best we are fools, at worst we are creating a most dangerous national climate, by making him and his ilk the ob jects of our veneration. FRIENPSHIP WtTH ULS.A CAMP PAVIP JERPSAl^UNrrEO pef£ns£ forces EcoNow\ic aRPwm 5HAPINaAN^ON ABSORPTION IN^THERJNa JiA® 1 INPEPENPENCC Letters to the Editor Have We Forgotten the Holocaust? I am saddened at the lack of response from the Charlotte news media and the communi ty in general to the Holocaust Commemoration presented on April 17 at Central Piedmont Community College. This pro vocative and moving program presented by the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the Charlotte Jewish Federation, the Charlotte Area Clergy Association and Central Piedmont Community College had precious little publicity and few represen tatives from even the sponsor ing organizations present. Some 30 people demonstrated their concern by attending. The philosopher George Santayana tells us that those who forget the past are con demned to repeat it. The Charlotte community’s feeble response to the memory of nine million lives lost in the Holocaust is both discourag ing and disturbing. Is the most cataclysmic event of the 20th Century, the very defini tion of human evil, so soon for gotten? I urge aU those who revere human dignity to not only re member the past, but to speak out against hatred, prejudice and oppression now and in the future. —Jackie Fishman Israel is Not Truly Strong I am writing in response to the various letters regarding Israel published in the May edition of The CJN. In a letter to Alan Blumen- thal. Senator Jesse Helms ex pressed his dismay that the media have failed to cover the current situation in “...the con text of America’s interest in a strong Israel.” While this may be true, I submit that Israel cannot be truly strong when she is dependent upon foreign economic and military aid and when so meiny of the resources necessary to achieve economic independence are used for military purposes. Israel’s policy toward the West Bank exacerbates this dependency because it polarizes the parties involved to such an extent that military involvement wiU continue indefinitely. I am always pleased to see young people express their opinions. However, 1 was disappointed that the consen sus of the young writers (“Let ters to the Jewish Communi ty”) seemed to be that Jews should not criticize Israel. Such a view is contrary to the teachings of the prophets, who constantly spoke out against the practices of the Jewish leadership of their day. Can you imagine Isaiah counseling fellow Jews to keep silent because criticism might strengthen the Assyrians? Judaism imposes a duty of op posing injustice, regar^ess of the circumstances. I think we also have an obligation to ad vocate possible solutions, but that is beyond the scope of this letter. I must acknowledge that it is easy for me, as an American citizen, to make these com ments. I do so because I be lieve they are in Israel’s best interest. I believe the occupa tion is not only moreiUy wrong, it is ineffective. The longer it continues, the more intransi gent all sides will become, with consequences affecting all of us. —Laura Knight We encourage our readers’ viewpoints. Letters should be submitted typewritten and double spaced and signed. Please include your address and phone number. We reserve the right to edit. THE CHARLOTTE JEWISH NEWS Published monthly by: Charlotte Jewish Federation Michael L. Minkin, Director Foundation of Charlotte Jewish Community & Jewish Community Center Barry Hantman, Director Charlotte Jewish Day School Berta Straz, Principal Lubavitch of N.C Rabbi Yossi Gronef, Director Editor Rita Mond Advertising Blanche Yarus Copy deadline the 10th of each month P.O. Box 13369, Chark>tte. N.C. 28211 Tk« •! adTartMag !■ Tfce News «eee eef eeeetltete e liseliretM •atfVTMMMat.
June 1, 1988, edition 1
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