Facing the truth By Berel Wein (July 5) In a recent article in The Wall Street Journal about the current sad state of the Japanese economy and its need for reform, a noted economist laid much of the blame for the erosion on the refusal of Japan's government and society to face up to its criminal behavior and wanton aggression in World War II. I will not burden you with the intricacies of this thesis, except that the conclusion of the article is that any society that refuses to face up to the truths of its past eventually comes to some type of ruin due to that failure. Germany never really recognized its fault and role in bringing about World War I. Nor did it ever admit to itself that its army was truly defeated in that war. Rather, it deluded itself, with the active incitement of selfish politicians and congenital haters, into believing that it was somehow betrayed. Germany falsely pitied itself and looked for revenge. It and the world therefore got Hitler, World War II and tens of millions of corpses. At the end of it all, Germany finally faced up to its past and has rebuilt itself as the leading nation in Europe. It was only when the British people and parliamentarians publicly faced up to the tragic mistake of the Munich agreement and admitted their error that the basis was laid for the eventual defeat of Germany in World War II. Recently, other European countries - Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Poland - have begun to face up to their past as well. Though there is a long way to go yet for this process of truth recognition to be complete, it is nevertheless heartening that it has at last begun. The State of Israel and the Jewish people generally could stand a good jolt of facing the truth, for, without that recognition and admission of truth we are doomed to pay the price of delusion, wishful thinking and distorted history. The truth is that Oslo was a bad mistake. We cannot now retract its consequences, but we can and should learn from its error. Israel and the world have a pretty clear picture of PA Chairman Yasser Arafat and the PLO by now. We should continue to state the truth about that corrupt and evil person and his group. We should no longer encourage fanciful dreams about the reality of "land for peace" or "peace now." Tragically, those slogans and policies were and are lies. The sooner we face up to that reality, the better for all concerned. The Palestinians should also face up to some truths. Instead of believing lies about the illegitimacy of Jewish rights in the Land of Israel, they should hear the truth about the Temple Mount, the Western Wall, the phony "keys" to nonexistent homes in Tel Aviv and Haifa, about Edward Said's autobiographical lies, in short, the real story about who has been the aggressor in all of the wars of the past 60 years in this country. They should realize that their miserable lot in the refugee camps and squalor of their villages is a result of the treatment and policies of their fellow Arabs more than being the direct fault of Israel and the Jews. If this realization dawned upon the Palestinian masses then the chances for a just and lasting settlement of the dispute would be greatly enhanced. If the Palestinians cannot hear this truth from their own leaders, then we should make far greater efforts than we have in the past to inform them of these truths. For only then can they have any hope of escaping further ruin to their lives and cause. We Jews and Israelis should also look at truth squarely in the face. Was the Zionist idea of a "new Jew" a success or a failure? Is slavish imitation of the worst of Western culture beneficial for Israeli life and youth? Are outmoded socialist forms of state-controlled economic enterprises a help or a hindrance? Does our current professional politician party-hack system produce the best of governmental leadership? Do ignorance of the past and the hagiographic tendencies of the religious section of our society contribute to a strengthening of its influence in the Jewish world? To put it bluntly, why are we not telling ourselves the truth about our past and its error-strewn path? Are currently politically-correct revisionist histories and sensationalist theories about our tradition and past of any benefit? The Prophet Jeremiah long ago admonished Israel: "See your path in the valley [of error and iniquity!]" It is only the truth that will set us free to build our future on a firm foundation of security, faith and hope. We should demand truth from our leaders and our society. Shabbat Shalom