Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 8 October 2003 — Page 16

NAT 12 October 8. 2003

Book Reviews

Breger’s anthology is comprehensive and informative

By ARNOLD AGES Jerusalem: A City ami Its Future. Edited by Marshall J. Breger and Ora Ahimeir. Syracuse University Press. 490

pages. $19.95. The publication of this series of essays on Jerusalem could not be more propitious. The status of Israel's capital has been one of the major stumbling blocks in the ongoing (it would seem eternal) feud between Israel and the Palestinians. In conversations with American president Bill Clinton prior to the outbreak of the second intifada, Yasser Arafat asserted flatly that there was no Temple in Jerusalem and that, therefore, Jews had no claim to the city of Jerusalem. In saying this Arafat exhausted the meaning of the word shameful. On the other hand, as Marshall Breger observes in his introduction to this volume, Jerusalem did not loom large in the political spectrum of the Israeli generation of 1948. In fact, it was Tel Aviv that was considered to be the symbol of the renewed Jewish State. Jerusalem was considered a backwater town of interest only to those who had outmoded religious proclivities or who had government business. It was the events of June 1967 that radically altered Jewish sensitivities with regard to the city: Naomi Shemer's beautiful song "Jerusalem of Gold," the heroic sacrifice of many Israeli soldiers in capturing the Old City, and the near apocalyptic encounter at the wall which thrust Jerusalem to the forefront of Israel's national consciousness. But today, Breger notes, it is only among the religious in Jerusalem that the city constitutes real paramountcy. Most of the secular elements in Jerusalem would be willing to compromise with the Palestinians in altering the configuration of the city. Dividing it up,

they feel, would be acceptable in the interest of a permanent peace. One of the components in an eventual peace agreement will hinge on demographics, and Maya Choshen has an absorbing study of the influence of the Haredi (ultra Orthodox) population in Jerusalem. Her essay was written before a member of the Haredi community became mayor of Jerusalem this year, but his election was, in part, a consequence of the incredible birth rate among the ultra religious. The author of this chapter compares and contrasts birth rates among Haredi Jews, secular Jews, and Palestinian Arabs and indicates that the former are way ahead of both the Arabs and secular Jews - 7.61 among Haredi mothers, 5.98 among Muslim women, and 2.27 within the rest of the Jewish population of Israel. Menachem Friedman observes that it was only in 1938 that Haredi elements first burst onto the radar screen in Palestine. During the Arab rebellion the secular defenders of the Yishuv organized a self-taxa-tion exercise entitled "Kofer HaYishuv" (the redemption of the Yishuv) and circulated among every segment of the Jewish population. In Jerusalem they came up against the Neturei Karta (the guardians of the gate), the most extreme of the ultra Orthodox, who not only refused to contribute but condemned the blasphemous activities of those who were trying to hurry the Messianic age. At one point the Neturei Karta contemplated emigrating to Jordanian controlled Jerusalem! While religion and demographics are important elements in the cauldron of the Arab-Israel imbroglio, politics is still the most potent ingredient. Ruth Lapidoth, in her legal analysis of the status of Jerusalem, rehearses the history of the UN's role in the city but focuses more importantly on King Hussein's decision in 1988 to dismantle all the links between the West Bank and Jerusalem. When the PLO stepped in shortly thereafter to announce the projected creation of a Palestinian state, Jerusalem was slated to be the capital of the new entity. Lapidoth indicates that "many states recognized this proclamation." She does

not mention how many or what governments they represented. Moshe Hirsch represents the intriguing views of a political scientist who tries to apply the template of "game theory" (a fusion of psychology, political science, mathematics, and sociology) in adjudicating the possibility of a solution to conflicting claims by Israelis and Palestinians over Jerusalem. This is perhaps the most orignal essay in the anthology, but Hirsch admits that the application of this tool abuts serious obstacles, including the irrationality of the participants, personal eccentricities, and difficulties in determining "payoffs." One of the major difficulties, from the Israeli perspective, is the reluctance of the United States to place its embassy in Jerusalem despite pleas from numerous American senators and supporters of Israel to do so. But Geoffrey Watson, a legal specialist, points out that there are several other countries in which the American embassy is not situated in the capital - Belize City (not Belmopan), Cotonou (not Porto Novo in Benin), Abidjan (not Yamossoukro in Cote d'Ivoire). Using this as a justification for not moving an embassy in the above instances is, however, pretty thin gruel on which to base the American decision vis-a-vis Israel. However both Presidents Clinton and Bush have disregarded numerous congressional resolutions requiring the United States to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Watson delves deeply into American constitutional law in his discussion of the veto powers of an American president. Menachem Klein has an important contribution on the Jordanian option with regard to Jerusalem. He explores the early cooperation between Israel and Jordan after 1967 and shows that at one point in the 1980s Abba Eban was involved in negotiations with King Hussein over the possibility of extending Jordanian sovereignty over parts of the West Bank and Jerusalem. Jordan declined the invitation. The question of sovereignty looms especially large over the Temple Mount. Amnon Ramon has an excellent survey and Continued on page 14

Gelb recalls 46-year career with The Times

By MORTON I. TEICHER City Room. By Arthur Gelb. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2003. 672 pages. $29.95. In 1944, at the age of 20, Gelb was hired by The New York Times as a copy boy. In 1990, when he retired, he had worked his way up to become managing editor. This autobiography is the story of those years told along two parallel tracks. One deals with the important news events that took place during that era. The other recounts Gelb's climb to the top as he held various jobs, experiencing achievements and disappointments along the way. The first aspect of the autobiography is highly selective, dealing with those events with which Gelb had some contact. The second is a personal account of office politics at The Neiu York Times, often telling readers more than they want to

He also describes his somewhat testy relationship with James (Scotty) Reston, the Washington bureau chief for The Times and an influential columnist. The cast of characters depicted by Gelb truly represents a journalistic hall of fame. He succeeds fully in rendering their portraits with a keen verve that brings them to life with all their foibles and strengths. The news events to which Gelb refers begin with the presidential election of 1944, the story of the atom bomb, and the end of World War II. He minces no words in calling the brief Times story on page 11 about freeing the inmates of Buchenwald "an egregious example of news misjudgment." Gelb ends by bringing together his dual emphasis on the inner workings of The Times and news events by discussing

The first aspect of the autobiography is highly selective, dealing with those events with which Gelb had some contact.

know about inside striving for advancement and for power. In addition to these two primary emphases, Gelb tells about his family and about growing up in a Jewish neighborhood in the Bronx. He encountered little antisemitism except during his high school days when he was turned down for a summer job as an office boy at law firms because he was Jewish. In 1945 Gelb met Barbara Stone, who was the stepdaughter of playwright S. N. Behrman. They were married about a year later, and they subsequently collaborated in producing a monumental and well-received biography of Eugene O'Neill. Gelb portrays several of the people he worked with at The Times, especially Bernard Kalb, who eventually achieved considerable recognition as a foreign correspondent and television commentator, and A.M. (Abe) Rosenthal, who became the managing editor. The three of them were close friends.

what became a noteworthy news story. This was the revelation that a Times reporter named Jayson Blair had been guilty of "errors and flagrant deceptions" in his news stories. The fact that Blair was black called into question the paper's emphasis on diversity and resulted in the resignations of the two top editors. Gelb manages to jam a great deal into his long book, just as he and his wife did in 1962 when they published their 962page biography of O'Neill. His excellent writing ability enables him to hold the reader's interest throughout as he offers fascinating vignettes about his coworkers and people who made the news. The book will add luster to the growing library of volumes written by reporters and editors who were associated with The New York Times. Dr. Morton I. Teicher is the founding dean of the Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Yeshiva University, and Dean Emeritus, School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.