Leaders of the British Zionist Federation have failed to agree on a statement concerning the massacre of Palestinians in refugee camps near Beirut last weekend. A meeting Monday night of the Federation’s honorary officers, representing eight different Zionist groupings in the United Kingdom, broke up after three hours because, a Federation official said, “there was no consensus.”
Eric Graus, president of British Herut, yesterday accused some honorary officers of “playing politics” by insisting on calling for an independent Israeli inquiry. He said he was “disgusted” at what had happened in the refugee camps and that the perpetrators should be brought to trial. While he did not know whether Israel could have done more to prevent the carnage, it was “obvious” that Israel was not involved in the massacre itself, Graus said.
In the absence of an agreed statement, Geoffrey Gelberg, the Federation chairman, issued a personal statement saying “all members of the Federation are deeply shocked at the massacre and totally condemn all those responsible and trust that they will be brought to justice.” He also endorsed Israeli president Yitzhak Navon’s call for an inquiry.
British Herut accused British politicians, the media and some Jews of rushing to condemn Israel “while the true perpetrators of these crimes seem to be forgotten.” Herut said that “some politicians, while rightly asking for the perpetrators to be brought to justice, are at the same time freely consorting with the PLO whose massacre of tens of thousands of Christians in Lebanon started this horrible chain of murder.”
FURTHER SIGNS OF DIVISION
Further signs of division within Anglo-Jewry are expected at an emergency session of the Board of Deputies of British Jews to be held next Sunday, a few hours before the eve of Yom Kippur. It will hear about the local repercussions of the massacre, as well as those affecting Israel directly.
Meanwhile, Sir Immanuel Jakobovitz, Chief Rabbi of Britain and the Commonwealth, said yesterday he was “shattered” by the massacre ‘No condemnation can be strong enough of those who perpetrated or connived in this outrage, ” he declared. “It is hard to believe that any Israeli authority bore responsibility for the crime, but Israel can only be completely exonerated if it is openly shown that its personnel look every step to prevent the carnage.”
Greville Janner, MP, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said he was “appalled and anguished” but “not yet convinced” by suggestions that Israel’s ally, Maj. Saad Haddad, had been involved in the massacre.
Rabbi David Goldberg, chairman of the Conference of Liberal and Progressive Rabbis, said that while no one had yet established the extent to which Israel permitted the Phalangists to move into the Palestinian camps, it was surely a provocation, given the volatile situation in Beirut.
The massacres have already given rise to some anti-Jewish incidents. The London head office of El Al was yesterday sprayed with paint. There were also daubings at a synagogue at Dollis Hill, northwest London. In Edinburgh, a home made incendiary device was thrown at a synagogue, but is said to have caused no damage.
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