Reflections on a Life-Long Struggle for Justice in the Middle East

On Dec. 18, 1993 more than 200 people crowded into the University Club in downtown Washington, DC to celebrate the 80th birthday of Alfred M. Lilienthal. Master of ceremonies Casey Kasem set the tone for a light-hearted evening of jokes, humorous anecdotes and stirring tributes to this writer-prophet who returned from the Middle East after World War II to warn his fellow Americans and fellow Jews about the consequences of imposing a Jewish state on a land already heavily populated by Muslim and Christian Palestinian Arabs. Guests had a chance to browse through his pioneering 1949 article published in the Reader's Digest, "Israel's Flag Is Not Mine, " and four landmark books, What Price Israel, published in 1953; There Goes the Middle East, 1957,- The Other Side of the Coin, 1965; and the monumental The Zionist Connection, published in 1976. For many of the Americans in the room, one or another of these publications had served as a first alert to the terrible injustices being countenanced in the Middle East in their country's name. Below is the text of Dr. Lilienthal's remarks to his guests:

As the Book of Ecclesiastes reminds us, "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the Heaven. " This is not a time for speeches. It is a time for celebration and commemoration. You, my dear relatives and friends, have gathered from all parts of the country to help me celebrate a milestone birthday and to join me in looking back over our shoulders at what I have managed to accomplish. Hence the exhibit outside this room. I am proud to say this is but a small part of the record. You will have to go to the Archives of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University to see the full fruits of 45 years of efforts of Al-Farid-as Abu Ammar calls me.

I cannot further express my deep emotions on having you all here, many of you coming from as far as California, such as the Barhoums, my family at Palo Alto; and Betty Anne Sherif from Berkeley, and former Parliamentarian Ian Watson from Canada, not to mention New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and other parts of the country, and Nantucket, of course.

The Lord has called home so many of my family, but has thankfully given me so many friends from around the world. The biggest satisfaction, more than matching the grave discomfort in facing a hostile media and audiences in the 46 states in which I have lectured, has been to gather wonderful friends around the country the result of my writings and lectures.

I hope you will bear with your host if he reminisces a bit. I recall back in early 1954, shortly after the publication of What Price Israel?, going on a lengthy countrywide lecture tour. I wound up in Los Angeles. I was at the Los Angeles Breakfast Club at 8 o'clock in the morning and addressing 100 still-sleepy businessmen. I was told that I was to be given all of 10 minutes to talk about the latest Middle East developments. It was the introduction, however, by a former chaplain in the Navy which saved the day for me.

He related the story of Jack and Charlie, who were close buddies, having grown up together. Early one morning, Jack received a notice from the draft board to come for an examination. We were then drafting young men into the Army in case of a war in the Middle East. Jack had no desire to join the Army. He remembered that he had once had a hernia problem. He dug up his old truss, put it on and stumbled down to the draft board.

The doctor examined him thoroughly, took out his draft card and wrote on it, "M.E."

"What is that?"

"Medically exempt. You can go home.

A month later, his buddy Charlie called him excitedly in the morning: "They've got me!"

"Who's got you?"

"The draft board. They want to call me into the Army!"

"Isn't there something wrong with you—some ailment like flat feet, poor vision?"

"No, I'm perfect! What can I do?"

"Why don't you tell them that you have a hernia? Come over here and borrow my truss. Hobble down, make believe you have difficulty walking, that you can't lift anything. "

Charlie did this and proceeded to the very same draft board. The same doctor who examined his buddy looked him over. He took out his draft card and wrote "M * E * " on it.

Charlie said, -M. E. -medically exempt?"

The doctor replied, "Hell no! Middle East! Anyone who can wear a truss upside down can certainly ride a camel!"

I know that my labors in the vineyards have borne some fruit, but not nearly enough. To go political briefly, I think we should all join together in a message to President Clinton reminding him words of his political idol John F.Kenedy: "Those who make peaceful evolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable."

Your efforts can help bring about that peaceful evolution. All of us believers in universal concepts of peace and justice ver we can to ensure that the people are given what they deserve—the full exercise of the God-given right of self-determination.

The peace pact, the signing of which I witnessed on the White House lawn on Sept. 13, will not become a reality unless and until the Palestinians have a state of their own on the West Bank and in Gaza as part of a two-state solution-a state of Palestine co-existing side-by-side with the state of Israel.

Jewish Americans ought to be in the forefront of the coming ultimate battle for justice and universalism.

For some, the Gaza-Jericho pact is a road to peace, while others view it as a detour to deception. When Yasser Arafat cabled me in August 1991 to seek my opinion as to whether he ought to join the proposed peace talks in Madrid, I encouraged him in a return message to most certainly join the talks. And I cautioned him above all, never be the party to leave the peace table no matter how deep the grievance, and to settle for nothing less than eventual statehood.

Your presence here tonight supplies my answer to the question I raised 40 years ago: What price Israel? The answer: The creation of a Palestinian state.

To a great extent I have always been guided by what Pope John Paul II in his latest encyclical called "the splendor of truth. " Somehow, some way I became inspired by this maxim, and throughout the most trying moments of my crusade, it has given me the needed added strength to continue on.

In fact, each issue of Perspective during its 16 years of publication carried a suitable quote above the masthead. The very first issue of April 1968 carried this from Chaucer: "Truth is the highest thing that man can keep. " It often has been very tough to remain on such a high moral ground in the face of the outrageous and insidious attacks from those who refuse to openly debate the issues, but seek rather to crush any and all dissent.

An octogenarian—and I will join that select group on Christmas Day—cannot expect to have too many of his family around him, but I thank the good Lord for giving me so many wonderful friends here in the United States, in the Middle East and around the world, many of whom are present. Others have sent messages, all helping to make this great, unforgettable evening. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being here tonight. Have fun, and remember, I love you all. God bless you!