israel—an unjust society © The following article appear- ed in Action, a U.S. publication, and is one Israeli’s reaction to the persecution of the Arab population of that country. cd * * When he saw Palestinians loaded into trucks and driven from their homes, it reminded Israel Shahak of his ride to Nazi Germany’s Bergen Belsen con- centration camp. And this was Israel, 1971. When Israeli law prohibited Jews from marrying non-Jews, Dr. Shahak recalled that that was the first law Nazi Germany passed against the Jews. . “I saw the persecuted becom- ing the perecutors,” Dr. Shahak said, “and I had to speak out.” Just after the 1967 war, in 1971 Dr. Shahak, now 40, joined the Israeli League for Human and Civil Rights which was formed in 1935 to fight the Bri- tish ruling Palestine. Now, as chairman, he is visit- ing the United States to influ- ence public opinion to pressure Israel to end discrimination against non-Jews. He spoke at Bethany United Church of Christ in Cuyahoga’ Falls. “I suffered by the Nazis. I was almost two years in Bergen Bel- sen,” Dr. Shahak, a native of Poland, said. “I have seen the Palestinians expelled and mis- treated as we were 30 years ago. “The details are not the same; we are far from Hitler, but we are beginning to do what others have tried to do to us.” Dr. Shahak, who is still in the Army reserve, said an area’s military commander has, author- ity to exile, imprison, or limit movement of any non-Jew with- out appeal to civilian authorities. “At present, about 500 are for- bidden ‘to leave their villages or part of town. It happens very often — particularly during elec- tion times. Arabs are imprison- ‘ed for weeks until the election is over. “All the officer has to do is say it’s in the interest of se- curity,” Dr. Shahak said. “The older people will say everything that happens to an Arab is okay. It is a very natu- ral thing for the persecuted peo- ple to take the values of the per- secutor. “Younger people are begin- ning to awaken, and I have hopes it will change,” he said. Dr. Shahak also criticized just society. “The Jewish National Fund is very well known here,” Dr. Sha- hak said. “Many American Jews sent it tax-exempt money. “The fund is devoted to buy- ing land from. non-Jews and selling it to Jews, so 90 per cent of the Arabs or non-Jews cannot find flats or houses to rent. “I don’t think something that is discriminatory should be rec- ognized as a charity. If you want to give money for discrimina- tion, say so, *but don‘t call it charity. : ; ’ “What is wrong in Akron can- not be right in Tel Aviv.” Dr. Shahak said the flaw is that basic human rights are per- manently abolished in Israel. “Israel is not a state of Isra- lis. It is not a state created for its citizens, but a state created American Jews who send money - for Jews. to Israel when it supports an un- JEEEEEEUNEGEEOAUUEAUUUEEQOCGUCUUEEEOUUTELUEOEEEL And—“Forget!” they say, but how can 12 Teach the night to forget to bring Dreams showing me my village And teach the wind to forget to carry to me The aroma of apricots in my fields! And teach the sky, too, to forget to rain Only then, | may forget my country. —Rashed Hussein, Palestinian poet UE “If it is discovered the mother of a man born in Israel is not Jewish, the man will be stripped of his citizenship. He will be a resident alien, unable to hold office or become an Officer in the army. “He will be harassed by gov- ernment officials and by govern- ment-incited mobs, who will chant at him to go away. “The principle of the Jewish - state is all wrong. And it’s be-. coming worse and worse as sé- curity becomes better. When they were worried about secur- ity, they forgot. about discrimi- nation. “These things are happening not because people believe God commanded it, but to achieve na- tional unity — but any unity based on oppression and dis” crimination is false,’ Dr.. Sha | hak said. ‘ : He said no more than a fourth of the population belongs to oF ganized religion because it has become a force for discrimin® tion. Dr. Shahak criticized Ameri: can Jews for “buying self} respect” when they send money to Israel. “The reason is very sad, and very “personal,” he _ said. ! don’t mind so much the Israel! | Jews who criticize my views. least they are prepared to take the risk for their beliefs, even it leads to war. “But the Americans. They tt! to buy our blood in their money so they can feel self-respect. © | Israel has more Phantoms the) | feel they can carry their hea® higher. It’s crazy. 5 “They are concerned abollt | money to keep Israel powerfth | not to keep it just.” i He said this attitude contri: utes to anti-Semitism throug? out the world and will prevelt peace in the Middle East. hopes world opinion will change it. f “Either Israel will accept ti basic values of the Wes world,” Dr. Shahak said, “ly become a just society, or it wil become an openly fascist stalé I am optimistic it will accept the Western values.” it Dr. Shahak’s visit was SP sored here by Northeast onie Committee on Middle East uo j derstanding. He is also sem | lecturer in organic chemistty the University of Jerusalem: By JOHN PITTMAN For months now, several investiga- tions of the Watergate break-in and cover-up have entertained the people with one or another shocking dis- closure of illegal and even criminal conduct by the President of the United States and numerous officials of the Executive Department of the govern- ment. ; These disclosures, of course, have positive and healthful effects. They promote skepticism among the major- ity of the population regarding any- thing the Nixon Administration says and does, distrust by many of the two- party monopoly of U-S. electoral poli- “tics, and reappraisal of capitalist demo- cracy by a few, Yet; except for their effect on the few whose re-examination of U.S. in- stitutions and processes may help them to see the class realities of our present way of life, these disclosures provide no guides to an understanding either of what caused Watergate, or of the magnitude of its threat to the people's liberties and living conditions, or of what should be done to bar the way to future Watergates. With each such revelation and dis- play of high-ranking individuals to the gaze of the population, it becomes more evident that the directors of these investigations have neither the inclination nor the competénce for giv- ‘ing such. guidance. A few commentators and prestigious individuals have remarked that Water- gate was indeed the product of a con- . $piracy, and that the aim of this con- spiracy was to strengthen authoritarian power of the Executive Department and the President. Some have even used the term “police state” to char- acterize the conspiracy’s objective. ‘Some have spoken about the deadly parallel to Hitler fascism, but have resorted to the vagueness of “‘totalitar- ian” which conceals the class essence of fascism. : In the main, however, the media and the rest of those who venture to dis- cuss the meaning of Watergate are content to. present it as merely another episode of official malfeasance and corruption, or as a row between the leaders of the Republican and Demo- cratic parties, or a consequence of Pre- sident Nixon’s personal eccentricities, or a result of imbalance in the powers of the Legislative and Executive branches. Although there have been feelers in that direction, so far — God save the mark! — no one has blamed it on “the Russians.” ; Actually, instead of helping the peo- ple to understand what should be done to prevent another Watergate, such superficial explanations divert atten- tion from the real source of danger and deflect the vigilance and actions neces- sary to defeat it. Distrust of Nixon is not enough. After all,:there is Agnew. That half of the population born since World War II and those whose memories have dimmed will not recog- nize in these superficial comments parallels to the official U.S. propaganda during the war against Hitler fascism. That propaganda also brought to the people shocking revelations of Nazi crimes and atrocities. It even produced hatred against the Hitlerites. But at no time during those years of the most appalling barbarities by the fascists, barbarities which took 50 million lives, did U.S. propagandists point the finger of accusation at German and interna- tional monopoly capital, the real source of Hitler fascism. , Because the U.S. population was not informed of this fact, most were .un-- able to see the danger of the Cold War policies that have caused us so much PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 1973—PAGE 10 blood, sweat and tears during the past quarter of a century. Today we are being given the same treatment in regard to, Watergate. Only the leaders of the Communist Party have exposed the source of Watergate in the machinations and intrigues of the monopolists, who sought to impose their reactionary measures on the peo- ple by means of greatly expanded “Executive privilege,” and the installa- tion within the White House and Exe- cutive Branch of a contingency struc- ture for dictatorial rule, that is, for fascism. In this situation, it would seem -a task‘of the highest priority to get the real truth past the barriers of the me- dia and official silence. A short-cut to understanding this truth could be taken by reading Marxist-Leninist teachings about the State, and especially the State of capitalist democracy. But it would be too much to hope that the U.S. population at this stage of its class consciousness will rush to do this. It is not easy to discover the class strategy incorporated in the claim that universal suffrage automatically con- fers the consent of the governed on the Federal. Executive and bureaucracy, which is really — as the Communist Manifesto said 125 years ago — the “executive committee” of the capital- ists. And it is not easy to believe that Marx, in his “Class Struggles in France,” gave a more profound charac- terization of Watergate than has yet emerged from the many investigative bodies. Yet, he wrote: “By repudiating universal suffrage, in which up to now they have draped themselves and from which they have derived their omnipo- tence, the bourgeoisie openly admit: ‘Up to this time our dictatorship has existed by the will of the people: it must now be secured against the will of the people.’” In the current and coming stb i. to save U.S. democracy, with its ge ed liberties and restrictions on Bi ave universal suffrage, the people wil oust little time for the necessary thOl ine re-appraisal of U.S. history areas institutions and processes of C@F" democracy. yeh The struggles themselves, now’ . will increasingly bring to light ot forces that planned the Wal iq | break-in and cover-up are oe ja" forces driving to hold down an ; our wages, lengthen our. workinB jos and speed up our labor, rig thé a us? and rents and interest we pay» the law and the police (an¢ ol forces when necessary) to siletve protests and forestall our effec roe | position to their greed for super get! At today’s stage of capitalist “iy! | opment in, the United States, : become clear to everyone a forces are the owners and ™ directors of corporate monopoly: af —Uu.s. Daily”