A number of Christian spokesmen here have compared the terrorist massacre of Israeli civilians March II to the Nazi massacre of Jews and condemned the PLO attack as “a moral outrage.” The reactions came after they viewed a three-hour segment of a nine-and-a-half hour NBC-TV film dramatization, “Holocaust,” that will be shown for four consecutive nights beginning April 16.
The Rev. William Harter, a prominent Presbyterian pastor from Pennsylvania, said: “What we have just seen on film does not deal with an antique past. The horrific atrocities carried out by the PLO in Israel last weekend are in many ways analogous to the Nazis’ war against defenseless Jews during World War II. The ‘Holocaust’ production must impel the Christian world to face up at long last to the full horror of the Nazis’ genocidal campaign and the fact that their anti-Jewish program is being perpetuated by the PLO in our time.”
Harter is a leading member of the National Council of Churches’ Committee on Jewish-Christian Relations, and is active in the Middle East Task Force of the United Presbyterian Church.
The preview of “Holocaust” brought together 75 prominent Catholic, Protestant, and evangelical Christian leaders, as well as educators, black and labor leaders. The dialogue was organized in cooperation with NBC-TV by Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum, of the American Jewish Committee; Dr. Eugene Fisher, representing the National Conference of Catholic Bishops; and Dr. William Weiler, of the National Council of Churches. Tanenbaum serves as the American Jewish consultant to NBC-TV’s special on “Holocaust.”
CRITICAL OF CHRISTIAN LEADERS’ SILENCE
Referring to a scene in the TV film in which a group of Jews are burned alive in a synagogue on the German-Polish border, the Rev. Lester Kinsolving, an Episcopalian priest and religious journalist, said that “horrendous scene could not but be associated with the outrageous massacre” last weekend. Kinsolving was sharply critical of the failure of Christian leaders to condemn the PLO and its program for the destruction of Israel.
Archbishop Torkom Manoogian, of the Armenian Church, said the “Holocaust” production recalls painfully for him the annihilation of three-quarters of the Armenian nation in 1915, and the fact that, as with the Jews, Christian governments witnessed the massacre and did nothing. He reminded the audience that Hitler told his generals in 1937 not to have any scruples of conscience about killing Jews because, as Hitler said, “who remembers what happened to the Armenians?”
Herbert Brodkin and Robert Berger, producers of “Holocaust,” reported that “Holocaust” will be shown in England, Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. Negotiations are also under way to present “Holocaust” in Germany and Austria.
RESOLUTION CONDEMNS PLO
In related developments over the past few days, the New York State Legislature adopted a resolution condemning “Palestinian terrorists for their murderous attacks on Israel.” The resolution was adopted by the Senate and the Assembly following a memorial service for the victims of the terrorist act held on the Capitol steps in Albany.
Elyakim G. Badian, a Likud MK, representing the Israeli government, told the gathering “the attack proved that when we have terrorist camps close to our borders, these terrorists are always ready to penetrate into Israel.” He said he accepted the PLO’s statement that the March II raid “is only one raid and that there will be more and more.”
In New York, more than 7000 persons overflowed into the street at the Jewish Center on West 86th Street for a memorial service in which Israeli Cabinet Minister Haim Landau declared that the security of Israel is not negotiable and cannot be bartered for international guarantees. Bayard Rustin, president of BASIC (Black Americans to Support Israel Committee), said: “All over the world there are millions of people who stand with the Jews in their trials and tribulations. We will not let you down and we will never forget.”
In Montreal, more than 500 people participated in a memorial service at Tifereth Beth David Jerusalem Congregation, Mordechai Shalev, Israel’s Ambassador to Canada, said the PLO “could not exist for one day if it had no bases and without the material support of the Arabs and Communist countries.”
Dr. David Hyatt, president of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, urged President Carter “to renounce the PLO as the authentic voice of the Palestinian people…. It is time our government awakened to the fact that the leadership of the PLO are avowed murderers and assassins whose primary goal is the elimination of Israel.”
1000 AT RUBIN FUNERAL
Meanwhile, funeral services were held Friday for Gail Rubin, the nature photographer who was the first victim of the Arab terrorist charge March II. Close to 1000 people attended the ceremony at the 92nd Street YM , YWHA in New York City during which the American-born, 39-year-old photographer was eulogized “as an innocent woman savagely cut down in the prime of her life.” Her coffin was draped in an Israeli flag and surrounded by wreaths. Ms. Rubin was photographing birds on the beach at Maagen Michael, south of Haifa, when she was brutally murdered.
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