European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 24, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes thursday. December 24, 1987 Flora Lewis arms treaty leaves american allies troubled the reason America s european allies have firmly endorsed inc new treaty la destroy soviet and american medium Range missiles is that in would he politically damaging to re rust. Their own voters would hi1 indignant. Rut Ninny governments and defense analysts Are troubled. They Aren t against inc Tarcaly bul they worry what further slops portend for heir Security. The French particularly and the Fri Lisle. 10 a certain cd incl. Dislike any idea for null car disarmament that could Lead to pressures against expansion of their nuclear forces. They have always paid lip service to the notion of superpower disarmament 04 the condition for joining in reductions when Levels arc much lower. But no president Mitterrand has suggested France would never  resistance has Little to do with Security needs much to do with Domestic politics. Politicians across inc Board have Long boasted that France is the Only Western country without Strong peace and Anli nuclear movements and icy attribute it to inc consensus be Hind the gaullist myth of a completely Independent  in is jetting Ever More difficult to sustain the myth and there Are some signs that the consensus is cracking. As a result France is siding toward import Lani policy changes. There is a lot of Alt Aboul building a european defense which Means not relying so much on the United Stales although French officials arc now much quicker than they used to be in saying they Don t want to exclude the United slates. Bui there is still a deep reluctance to face the hard Issue of the gaullist legacy which pulled France out of nato s integrated com Mand and rejected any kind of cooperation on nuclear  contradict the Effort to establish real Security links with German 1 and nuclear ties with Britain now being approached with Small Sieps but an increasing sense of urgency. A French British study on the possibility of joint production of an air launched nuclear cruise mis Sile was announced last week. A French presidential aide revealed that there had also been talks with inc British on coordinating nuclear submarine patrols which would imply joint  would be a far reaching move always rejected before on grounds that any commitment of inc French Force de Frappe would infringe absolute sovereignty of decision. The aide said the talks had t progressed because prime minister Margaret Thatcher was t As icon on the idea As her defense minister George younger. In would pose problems for nato unless . Rosenthal Jet Withas near France took the still unthinkable step of being reintegrated in the Alliance and could affect British Ameri can nuclear arrangements. But the old gaullist assertion that French atomic forces Are aimed at All a i mules was left to die Long ago once the russians reached strategic parity with inc United states. Now the potential enemy is clearly labelled Moscow. There is a mounting conviction that the . Commitment to Europe s defense is waning based on a combination of budget problems and Progress in soviet american negotiations. Paris is not above placing games in its attempt 10 stand Pat and move at the san a time. As a senior american Diplomat said acc Ontl the French run to the germans and say the americans Are going Home and you la have to rely on us so you d better put up More for Franco German measures. Then they come to the . And say the germans arc going Casl. Or neutralise and full have 10 rely on  Washington has focused so intently on its arguments that the europeans should accept Nure of the nato Burden or the United Stales won t keep paying that in has neglected the underlying meaning of nato. It was a mistake for Secretary of slate Shultz to dash about reassuring allies after the Washington Summit meeting with the pledge that inc United slates will keep nuclear weapons in Europe because they be kept the peace for two generations. What he should have been saying is that the . Commitment to the defense of Europe has kept the peace there. And he should be idling americans As Well As europeans that having had to Inlet inc twice after War broke out inc United Stales knows its own Security depend on preventing a hostile Power from dominating Western Europe. The Day May eventually come when Europe can look after its own defense even when Easl Wesl relations Are so Good that alliances can be dissolved. But it is still very far away and Liming is everything in the search for a firm peace. Both europeans and americans need patience in probing shifting soviet policies disarming wisely is harder than the foolish arms race. Witness the bitterness of the Young Gaza men a year ago 1 travelled through Maya. I thought then and believe still with All inc emotion Israel arouses that All who love her should journey i Gaia. There arc places on Earth where aridity and bleakness Are More Stark where oppression is far worse where anger is As hot in the eyes of the Young men who stand by the Roadside and stare. Bui for those who care for Israel that is evasion. They know that this should not be. Thai israeli soldiers should not patrol ear after year in alleys of hatred. Thai was nol what Israel was meant to be or do or stand for. Yes there is a double Standard for is Rael. She is judged by higher standards than say those Arab neighbors who preach death and Hale and Slaughter in the name of god. The double Standard is not Only a matter of Pride and duty to Israel s biblical roots Hul of strength in the world today. It is the belief that Israel lives by principles of decency that won her essential Suppon in the United Stales decade after troubled decade. And now newspapers and television screens Are aflame with the bitterness of the Young men of Gaza thai step of territory Israel does not want but cannot let go for fear it would become a Plo state. Twenty year of israeli occupation have Only heightened hatred in Gaza As would another 20. This is All Irue. Bui if there is to be any honest Effort toward an end to the mis Ery of Gaza and the tragedy of Israel As occupier other truths must be faced. So far almost nothing has been said Aboul them. The haters of Israel simply use Gaza As a club against her. Her support ers abroad do Tittle but shake their Heads in reprimand or embarrassment. The one Basic truth thai Musi be faced is that the tragedy of Gaza was created by the refusal of the Arab nations 10 recognize the right of Israel to exist and by their attempt to destroy the israeli stale beginning Al birth. In 1947, the United nations with the backing of every major Power voted to partition the British mandate of pales Tine into israeli and palestinian states. If the arabs had accepted that there would today be a separate palestinian state 40 years old Gaza and its people would be pan of in. Bui the Arab Stales fell upon Israel and in Utler fury tried to kill the old dream and new reality of the jewish stale. They seized and divided what was to have been the palestinian slate. Egypt took the Gaza strip. Jordan now admired in the West seized the West Bank. In also captured most of Jerusalem defiled jewish holy places banned jews and destroyed Hopes of internationalization of the holy City. Israel lived within mortar Range of the egyptians the jordanians and the Syri ans who had snatched Heights Overlook ing Israel the mortars were fired. For 20 years the territory that was to have been a palestinian state under the . Plan was used by the Plo for attacks against Israel with the approval and support of the Arab occupiers. Then in 1967, Israel stunned the arabs and the rest of the world by trouncing Arab armies. She threw the jordanians out of the West Bank and Jerusalem the egyptians out of Gaza and the syrians out of the Golan Heights. Israel found herself in control of territory that had been illegally occupied by the Arab states israelis were determined to push Back their Borders so that they would never again live looking Down Arab gun barrels. Thus began the Era of israeli occupation creating a safer state in the Short run but also stoking the hatred and danger now being acted out on the dry soil of gun and spread ing. What difference does it make so Many years later for one thing it cleanses the mind and perhaps the soul to com Bine sorrow and criticism of Israel with recognition of historic reality. History is a loaf not slices of bread. Unless yesterday is understood the anguish of today is distorted and the peace possible some tomorrow put off indefinitely perhaps forever. Peace which in the end must mean recognition of israeli Security and pales Tinian reality is possible. Israelis must create a unified government capable of negotiating. Arabs including palestinians must recognize that their attempts to kill the israeli stale in 1948, and almost Ever since led to what is happening today. To pre tend Israel brought this on herself is a hypocrisy and falsehood that blocks the future. The Only Way la move on is to face the reality and lessons of the past otherwise. Arab and jew arc trapped in 3 Cycle and the Young men of Israel and Gaza will face each other in hatred year upon year perhaps for their lifetimes