Friday, March 0,,.1944.

THE JEWISH NEWS -

Page Fourteen

40.■

Dr. Lowdermilk Proposes
JVA of Palestine Project

Weekly Review of the News of the World

(Compiled From Cables of Independent Jewish Press Service)

See also Page 3

Foremost U. S. Soil Scientist Writes Book on "Land of
Promise" Showing Benefits of a Jewish Homeland
For Entire Near East

AMERICA

Development of a Jordan Valley project—to be known
as the JVA of Palestine—corresponding to the American
TVA program, is proposed by Dr. Walter Clay Lowdermilk,
one of the foremost soil scientists in this country, assistant
chief of the Soil Conservation Service of the U. S. and presi-
dent of the American Geophysical Union, in his latest book,

'Palestine: Land of Promise," 0
published this week by Harper's. the office of the Department of
Pointing out that after the war Agriculture a soil expert by the
military tanks will easily be trans- name of Dr. Lowdermilk. I said
formed into bulldozers for neces- that I felt trouble closing in on
sary excavation work and it will the world, and I hoped he could
be possible to use military trucks go to certain lands overseas
to haul materials, Dr. Lowder- where there had been ancient
milk described the great possibil- civilizations, and discover as
ities that are presented by the ex- completely as possible, the evi-
isting Jewish Community for vast dence . . • of the way in which
expansion of the Palestinian col- soil, and therefore civilization,
onization effort to permit entry of had been destroyed.
another 4,000,000 Jewish refugees,
"Dr. Lowdermilk took on the
in addition to the 1,800,000 Jews task. He returned from abroad
and Arabs resident there now.
and came to our office. The very
Faith in Jewish People
first thing he gave me was a 30
Dr. Lowdermilk expreses faith to 40 page document with photo-
in the energy of the Jewish peo- graphs, the result of his observa-
ple as being able to develop the tions in Palestine. Dr. Lowder-
southern part of Palestine, the milk is not of Jewish descent
Negeb, into a productive terri- but he had become the most
tory that should be able to sup- complete Zionist eonvert anyone
port a large Jewish population.
could ask for.
The practical blueprint for re-
Very Real and Deep
claiming Palestine was written
"In reading Dr. Lowdermilk's
by Dr. Lowdermilk as a result of
his study of the land and of report I was convinced that the
Jewish accomplishments there material foundations of Zion
during his visit to Palestine in were very real and deep indeed.
1938-39, when he made an exten- Some of us . . . have sometimes
sive 15-month survey of soil and Wandered how deep in the soil
water conservation for the U. S. Zionist enthusiasnis were. Dr.
government in Europe, North Lowdermilk set this question at
rest. As an agriculturist and soil
Africa and the Near East.
expert, he was profoundly im-
The 11th Commandment
pressed with the scientific char-
Dr. Lowdermilk returned from
acter of the work, and as a hu-
Palestine a staunch supporter of
man being he was infinitely in-
the Zionist cause, and he ap- spired by the human beings
peared before the House Foreign
whom he met there on the
Affairs Committee in support of
land . . .
the Palestine Resolution pending
"The Jewish people have been
in Congress. The inspiration, he
derived from his visit in Palestine hungering for some kind of sta-
was expressed by him in "The bility on the land for thousands
Eleventh Commandment" which of years—on that ancient bit of
he wrote and broadcast to the land which Abraham paid for
Palestinian Jewish villages in and which was abanekked for a
1939 from the Jerusalem Radio. time by Joseph and his brethren,
but which was built up again,
This Commandment reads:
"Thou shalt inherit the earth and is now being resettled for a
as a faithful steward conserving third time—resettled not by
its resources and productivity grace of government help, but
from generation to generation. through the funds, spirit and tra-
Thou shalt safeguard thy fields dition of the Jewish people.
"And so I, a Gentile, close to
from soil erosion, thy living
waters from drying up, thy for- this effort, regard the translation
ests from desolation and protect of this spirit into tangible reality
thy hills from overgrazing by the as one of the most exciting under-
herds, that their descendants may takings in ..the world—for it is a
have abundance forever. If any spirit which comes down from
shall fail in this stewardship of olden times, but is at the same
the land, thy fruitful fields shall time forward looking."
The complete report which was
become sterile stony ground or
wasting gullies and thy descen- praised so highly is contained in
dants shall live in poverty or "Palestine: Land of Promise." It
perish from off the face of the is. a very great book and- it con-
tains a touching tribute to Jewish
earth."
achievernents. Here is a book
A Leaven for Near East
Dr. Lowdermilk's "Palestine" which, more than any other,
is significant not only for its should be in the hands of every
praise but also for its constructive Christian intellectual. It is the
criticisms and proposals. He indi- finest argument on record for a
cates wherein neglect caused the Jewish Comonwealth in Palestine.
country to turn into a desert,
and he shows how Jewish energy
reclaimed the wastelands and
turned them into blossoming
areas.
The restoration of Palestine
through a great JVA scheme, Dr.
Lowdermilk points out, will bene-
WASHINGTON, D. C.—With
fit not only Palestine but the en- major battles of the war yet to
tire Near East.
come, production of surgical
"If the forces of reclamation dressings is going forward in
and progress Jewish settlers have Red Cross workrooms at a rate
introduced are permitted to con- of 80,000,000 each month. Con-
tinue, Palestine may well be the tributing substantially to this to-
leaven that will transform the tal are groups of Jewish women
other • lands of the Near East," in all parts of the country.
Dr. Lowdermilk writes. "Once
Reports from national and lo-
the great and undeveloped re-. cal organizations of Jewish wom-
sources of these countries are en all emphasize the importance
properly exploited, twenty to they are placing on the produc-
thirty million people may live tion of surgical dressings. The
decent and prosperous lives where National Council of Jewish Jun-
a few million now struggle for a iors reports that this phase of
bare existence. Palestine can Red Cross service is one of the
serve as the example, the demon- most popular and accepted in all
stration, the lever, that will fit sections. Similar reports have
the entire Near East from its been received at Red Cross na-
present desolate condition to a tional headquarters from the Na-
dignified place in a free world." tional Federation of Temple Sis-
Vice-President Henry A. Wal- terhoods, the National Women's
lace heard Dr. Lowdermilk's re- League of the United Synagogue,
port, as Secretary of Agriculture, the Women's Supreme ,Council of
and he paid the noted soil scien- Bnai Brith and other organiza-
tist a great tribute, in an address tions. Bnai Brith women and
on Oct. 31, 1940, as follows:
Girls have turned out more than
"Some years ago, I called into 3,500,000 such dressings.

.

.

.

Jewish Women Make
Surgical Dressings
For the Red Cross

With Illinois Atty. Gen. Barrett pressing for
the revocation of its charter, the newly formed
Gentile Co-operative Association has just begun
distribution of the first issue of its organ, Gen-
tile News, which advocates a "buy Christian"
policy. Eugene R. Flitcraft, its director, an-
nounced that he will draw up a national list
of Gentile firms and a Gentile Servicemen's
Bureau to mobilize veterans. His "Gentile
movement" is viewed as competition to Gerald
L. K. Smith, operating from Detroit, and Joe
McWilliams, operating from Chicago.

An organization known as "the Christian
American," engaged in lobby activities to "curb
radicalism in labor" and to fight "every 'ism'
except Americanism," is under fire from the
Alabama State Federation of Labor. The organ-
ization is active in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas,
Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
The sentence of 24 German American Bund
leaders, who were convicted 16 months ago on
charges of conspiring to advise Bund members
to evade the draft, was upheld by a unanimous
decision of the United States Circuit Court of
Appeals. In the decision the Bund was termed
the American "counterpart of the Nazi Party."
Fit. Lt. Jacob Eisen, the first rabbi to serve
as chaplain with the RCAF, has arrived in
Britain to minister to the thousands of Jewish
men serving overseas with the Canadian forces,
it was announced in Montreal by the Canadian
Jewish Congress. He is joining Capt. S;Gershon
Levi of Montreal who has been overseas since
1941.
The ,first $75,000 for the year 1943-44 has
been forwarded by the Pioneer Women's Or-
ganization to the Working Women's Council in
Palestine, it 'was announced by the national
secretary, Miss Dvorah Rothbard. This repre-
sents over a third of the $200,000 quota for the
Working Women's Council - adopted by Pioneer
Women for the current year.
All central Jewish organizations in Mexico
have signed a joint statement warning Jewish
residents in the country to refrain from "osten-
tation," and from any conduct that may serve
as fuel for anti-Jewish agitation. Sanctions
within the limits of moral pressure will be ap-

Raise $100,000
For Fight on
Anti-Semitism

plied against those not complying with the
appeal.
Open resistance by the underground is re-
ported spreading in France, according to the
New York Times. The militia, of Joseph N.
Darnand, head of the Vichy security forces, has
its hands full trying to suppress guerilla ac-
tivities and is reported to be getting the worst
of it in many of the encounters.
Gerald L. K. Smith of Detroit, "America's
number one rabble-rouser," has declared that
if the Presidential nominees of both major par-
ties do not meet with his approval, he will call
a convention of his own America First Party
and nominate Charles A. Lindbergh for presi-
dent, according to Arthur Hepner, writing in
The New Republic. He is reported to have
made this statement to a meeting of his fol-
lowers, "many of whom spoke excellent Ger-
man." The writer warns that "Smith can no
longer be laughed off as the leader of the luna-
tic fringe," and concludes that "whether racket
or not, this is a dangerous movement."
. In a leaflet to be distributed by the Cath-
olic Youth Organization, the Most Reverend
Bernard J. Sheil, auxiliary Bishop of Chicago
and founder of the Catholic Youth Organiza-
tion, has this to say about the persecution of
the Jews: "In all the sad, bitter story of man's
inhumanity to man, few chapters are more
appalling than the scene of cold, calculating,
unbridled cruelty now passing before our eyes
of which the Jewish people • are the innocent
unprovoked victims."

PALESTINE

Gratitude to the municipality of Tel Aviv for
the excellent treatment it has extended in all
matters to the inhabitants of the village, was ex-
pressed to Mayor Israel Rokach by Sheik Ku-
wannis and other representatives of the Arab
village recently incorporated in Tel Aviv.
One-hundred-thousand pounds already have
been raised through contributions of members
of the Histadruth, General Jewish Federation of
Labor, and of its institutions for new settlement
projects to commemorate the late Dov Hos and
Itzchak. ben Yaakov, labor leaders who were
killed in an automobile accident Dec. 30, 1940.
Dov Hos was Vice-Mayor of Tel Aviv at the
time of his death, and Itzchak ben Yaakov, one
of the founders of the settlement Dagania, was
director of the Aviron Aviation Company. -

In Lighter Vein

The Week's Best Stories

Special Committee Formed
Zionism Versus Insurance
to Combat Any Racial
In London, recently, a Zionist
leader related the following
Propaganda
• .

NEW YORK (JTA)—A special
committee consisting of Joseph
Proskauer, pr esident of the
American Jewish Committee, Al-
fred • E. Smith and Will Hays,
president of the Motion Picture
Producers a n d Distributors of
America, has been formed for
the purpose of combatting any
racial propaganda that may arise
in the coming Presidential elec-
tions, it was revealed here by
Dr. Everett R. Clinchy, presi-
dent of the National Conference
of Christians and ,Jews.
Mayor LaGuardia made public
this week an executive order to
all city departments under his
jurisdiction which suggested
adoption of departm,ental rules
prohibiting association with
known criminals and purVeyors
of anti-religious or anti-racial
propaganda.

Lawyers, Labor Leaders
Fight Anti-Semitism

NEW YORK (JPS)—Two bar.
associations have pledged sup-
port to the cause of combatting-
anti-Semitism by representing
any persons affected by any acts
of anti-Semitism, it w a s an-
nounced by Leonard E. Golditch,
secretary of the National Com-
mittee to Combat Anti-Semitism.
The two organizations are the
Detroit Bar Association and the
Bronx County Bar Association.
It was also announced that
the following labor leaders have
joined the Committee: Vincent
J. Murphy, Mayor of Newark
and secretary-treasurer of the
New Jersey State Federation of
Labor; Allan S. Haywood, vice-
president and director of ,organi-
zation of the CIO; James 13:
Carey, of D e t r o i t, secretary-
treasurer of the CIO; S. H. Dal-
rymple, president of the United
Rubber Workers of America;
Max Zaritsky, president of the
United Hatters, Cap and Millin-
ery Workers International Union,
AFL; Frank X. Martel, chairman
of the Detroit Federation of La-
bor, AFL, and Michael J. Quill,
president of the T r an sport
Workers of America, CIO.

story:
"I was present at a lecture
given by a well-known Zionist
to a Jewish organization. As I
listened to the questions which
followed the lecture, I wondered
at the variety of problems that
were troubling the audience.
`Was Palestine large enough?'
asked one. 'Could a small people
survive?' asked another. 'What
guarantees would we have that
Palestine's industries would find
a market?" anxiously enquired
a third.
"I was reminded of a neat re-
ply given some years ago by a
famous Jewish orator to members
of an audience in New York who
were demanding guarantees that
in support of his claim that Pal-

estine could be rebuilt. With
growing impatience he - listened
to the doubting Thomases and
their querulous fears. Finally he
burst out: "Gentlemen, you don't
want a Zionist Society, you want
an insurance company."

Named EdUcational
Consultant to AZA

Dr. Samuel Blumenfield, presi-
dent of the National Council for
Jewish Education, , who has been
named national educational con-
sultant for Aleph Zadik Aleph,
Bnai Brith youth organization.
One of t h e country's leading
Jewish educators, Dr. Blumen-
field is dean of the College - of
Jewish Studies of Chicago.

Clean, Light Work

We have jobs open in all depart-
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stockroom. mending, wrapping, etc.
Good hours and pay.

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JUDAISM and CHRISTIANITY:
THE DIFFERENCES

By TRUDE WEISS-ROSMARIN, Ph. D.

An authoritative and exhaustive examination of the differ.
ences in belief: A volume YOU will want to own and place
in the hands of those in need of traditionally sound and
scientifically reliable religious guidance. .
Price $2.00

THE JEWISH BOOK CLUB

New York 18, N. Y.

110 West 40th Street

NOTICE:

The Annual Business Meeting of the -

JEWISH

SOCIAL SERVICE- BUREAU

will be held on Sunday evening, March 26, 1944,
promptly at 7:00 p. m., in the main auditorium of the
Jewish Community Center. Woodward at Holbrook.

The following amendment to the By-Laws will be acted upon:
"Subsection E shall not apply in the case of a retiring president who
shall be eligible to membership for one additional term only."
The purpose of this amendment IS to enable the Bureau to retain on •
the board for one additional term a retiring president who has served
the maximum number of terms now permissible under the By-Laws.

All contributors to the Allied Jewish Campaign and all Jewish
contributors to th . Detroit Community Fund and the War Chest of
Metropolitan Detroit are cordially invited to attend.

BENJAMIN E. JAFFE, President .

