'tw o

Purely
Commentary

IF

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

LINCOLN EMULATES HOUSTON
I American Reform Congregation is the
name of a new synagogue formed in Lin-
coln, Neb., whose basic principles, made
known by its president, Bernard S. Grad-
wohl, reads:
"We are Jews by virtue of our ac-
ceptance of Judaism. We are not a na-
tion. We are solely a religion. We. stand
for the continuation of Judaism • solely
as a religion; and not as a national group,
either in whole or in part. We stand un-
equivocally for the separation of Church
and State. Our religion is Judaism. Our
nation is the United States of America.
Out nationality is American. Our flag is
the Stars and Stripes. We look upon
Palestine not as a Jewish nation, but as
one of the places where those who are
oppressed may find a haven of refuge.
We consider it our sacred privilege to
promote the spiritual, cultural and social
welfare of our co-religionists there and
elsewhere."
It is clear that this statement emulates
the principles which aroused so much
discussion • in Houston, Tex., and which
became a national issue.
Like the trail-blazers in Houston, the
Linco1n congregation rebukes the Union
of American Hebrew Congregation and
Hebrew Union College and sets up a
code all its own.
Like their compatriots in ' Houston, the
Lincolnites are confused and bewilder-
ed, and their confusion may cause addi-
tional misunderstanding among Jews and
non-Jews.
A wrong and unfortunate impression
is given throughout. It is wrong for any
one to assume that simply because one is
a Zionist he does not honor his faith and
his country. The contrary is true. The
implications are insolently damaging to
the Jews and insulting to the intelligence
of non-Jews. Furthermore, by divorcing
themselves from the parent bodies of Re-
form Judaism, the formulators of "basic
principles" render a disservice to those
who seek to advance spiritual values in
this country.
Time heals many wounds. Time will
educate these non-adherents to accepted
values in American and Jewish life to
know the errors of their ways.
* * *
"RESTRICTED" WANT ADS
Progress is being made in efforts to
eliminate n e w s p a p e r advertisements
with the words "restricted," "Christians
only," "no Jews," etc.
The announcement just made by Rabbi
J. X. Cohen, head of the American Jew-
ish Congress Commission on Economic
-Discrimination that, as a result of nego-
tiations begun in ,September, 1938, the
New York Times had decided to reject
"restricted" want ads and other adver-
tisements of a similar character is of
great importance.
Rabbi Cohen has also 'made it known
that similar action has been taken by
three Cleveland newspapers. He should
have added that Detroit, through the
efforts of the Jewish Community Coun-
cil, has secured similar action from the
three local newspapers, and that the
campaign conducted in New York City
by PM helped considerably in securing
favorable decisions from other news-
papers whose columns are no longer
polluted with discriminatory advertise-
ments.
In this respect, the fight against anti-
Semitism is bearing fruit.

Racism in
Philadelphia

From Editorial in New Republic
' The truth is that the Philadelphia
strike was a symptom of a deep-rooted,
dangerous and long-neglected disease of
our national life. Almost no one in Amer-
ica has taken any trouble, in our whole
past history, to fight the pernicious doc-
trine of racism. In the South, where it
has been mainly directed against the
Negroes, nearly all the "best people"
have preached and practiced it—"best"
in the sense of having education, money
and responsible positions of leadership
in the community. In the North, the same
false and vicious doctrine has been di-
rected mainly against the Jews, and here
again the community leaders have al-
most unanimously participated in these
odious doctrines, instead of fighting them.
Our schools have done little to counter-
act the prevailing current; indeed, in
most cities, textbooks which "harped too
much" on the evils of racism would not
be permitted to get into the public
school system at all.

Friday, ugust g, 194

TkE JEWISH NEWS

A New Order Based on Justice

By WILLIAM GREEN

President, American Federation of Labor
Long before most Americans were aware of the dangers of Nazism, the
American Federation of Labor sounded clear warnings. We saw Hitler in
his true light the moment he came to power and started persecuting the
Jews of Germany and destroying the trade union movement of that country.
We protested vigorously and, when that had no effect, we unhesitatingly
and unanimously voted a strict boycott against all German goods and services.
The American. Federation- of Labor and its members knew then, as all
Americans know now, that this man Hitler was a blight upon civilization,
and a curse upon the human race. We despised him and everything he stood
for. We made extraordinary efforts to rescue and save the victims of his
oppression and persecution and to find a refuge for them. No other non-
sectarian organization has served so faithfully and so tirelessly in the battle
to establish Palestine as the Jewish national homeland.
When victory in this war is won, justice demands, complete retribution
against those responsible for Hitler's crimes against humanity and full
reparation to the surviving victims of his wrath. We can't restore the lives
of those who have been wantonly killed, but we can try to 'heal the broken
hearts of the living and return to them their stolen liberties and their
material possessions.
Above all, the American Federation of Labor intends to press with all its
power, at the peace conference, for the permanent establishment of Palestine
as the Jewish national homeland. We want it established as a free, demo-
cratic, self-governing land, with no strings attached by Great Britain or any
other power.
Great Britain has forfeited its right to stewardship over the affairs of
Palestine by repudiating its own promises to the Jewish people and by
attempting to enforce the infamous White Paper. Palestine must be as free
and independent as any other nation after the war and, to that end, we
advocate that all restriction against immigration of Jewish refugees to that
country be lifted at once.
We know that if we blind our eyes and stop our ears to human suffering,
that suffering will be visited upon us a thousand-fold before our days are
done. We know that the bloodshed and the sacrifices which this war has
forced upon us will be in vain unless a new order of international brother-
hood is established following victory—an order based upon peace and justice;
an order humanized by universal application of the Four Freedoms; an order
buttressed and protected by the vigilant might of the United Nations. That
is the supreme goal of labor, the great hope of free people everywhere which
gives us the inspiration and the invincible strength for victory.

Strictly
Confidential

By PHINEAS J. BIRON

(Copyrigh•. 1944, by Seven Arts
Feature Syndicate)

THINGS TO WATCH
The American Nationalist Party is
boasting of a mystery man on whom it
depends to build up a powerful new anti-
refugee, anti-Semitic and anti-CIO poli-
tical campaign . . The headquarttrs of
this campaign are in Gerald L. K. Smith's
Detroit office . . . The mystery man is
Joseph B. Kamp, who is stationed in
Washington . . . Kamp, who received a
serious setback when Ford refused to
cooperate with him financially, is organ-
izing an anti-Semitic political party, as
yet unnamed, that will act as the pro-
paganda outlet for the American Nation-
. . He is readying two anti-
Semitic books . The Kamp plan is
blue-printed to go beyond the present
presidential campaign, and is designed
to hit on all cylinders after the boys
come back from the battlefields . . .
Victor Riesel, labor columnist, broke the
news about the coming campaign, but
for some reason refrained from branding
Kamp.

*

*

SIDELIGHTS
Enemies of Sidney Hillman, head of the
CIO Political Action Committee and
America's first political labor leader, are
trying to undermine him by emphasizing
that he once studied for the rabbinate.
When the Tucson, Ariz., Daily Citizen
implied that Hollywood's Helen Gaha-
gan should run for Congress under her
real name, and not use one dreamed up
by a press agent, was it in the hope that
Miss Gahagan would identify herself as
Mrs. Melvyn Douglas or that she would
use her husband's original name, Hessel-
berg—and thus become the target of the
anti-Semities among her political oppon-
ents?
Fritz Mandl, who is the great manu-
facturer of Argentina's Fascist military
machine and , a friend of the Nazis, is a
rather repellent character .. Born in
Austria of Jewish parentage, he became
a convert to Catholicism, and is now an
Argentine citizen . . . He was once dec-
orated by Mussolini for supplying him,
on credit, with ammunition for his Ethi-
opian campaign . . . He did plenty of
business with Hitler, too . . No wonder
Hedy Lamarr divorced him about 10
years ago . . In Hedy's Hollywood, in-
cidentally, they're now saying that, • to
judge from their performance on various
European fronts, the Germans sure are
master racers.
* * •
WORDS AND MUSIC
Don't miss Bernard De Voto's "T h e
Easy Chair" in the August issue of Har-
per's . . . It throws new light on Boston's
incipient pogroms.
A most interesting Red Seal Record
Album is that featuring Yehudi Menuhin
and Georges Enesco in the Bach Double
Violin Concerto in D Minor . . . Aside
from its musical value, that album has
the special significance that Enesco is
the man who taught Menuhin how to
play the violin ... The first public per-
formance of the concerto by these two
artists dates back some seventeen years,

Between
You and Me

By BORIS SMOLAR

(Copyright. 1944, JTA, Inc.)

ARAB-JEWISH GROUP
A reader from Detroit, Abraham Co-
hen, in trying to help me to establish the
identity of the leaders of the recently-
formed 'American Council on Jewish-
Arab Co-operation .. . He believes that
Seymour Melman, president of the new
organization, is an Avukah leader . . . He
points out that the Avukah, Zionist stu-
dent organization in the United States,
was opposed to the Biltmore Declaration
and was eventually abandoned by the
Zionist Organization of America.

*

*

*

MONETARY
Rumors around town that Herman
"Berlin Will Never Be Bombed" Goering
has $750,000 in bonds salted away in the
United States. The Alien Property Cus-
todian has already been apprised of the
fact. Has he put his finger on the haul?
Next to Irving Berlin, add the name of
another Jewish song writer who has
done a great deal to put into words and
music what we are fighting for. His
name is Frank Loesser, He's the author
of "Pass the Ammunition," "What Do
You DO in the Infantry?" and others.
*
*
*
BRAVO NIZER
Louis Nizer, the noted Jewish attorney
who is popular in theatrical circles, now
has a new book on the stalls. This
one is called: "What To Do With
Germany." The other day he gave us
some real satisfaction when he partici-
pated in a Forum of the Air debate on
the same theme as his new book. Nor-
man Thomas, Socialist-America Firster
speaker, was, naturally 'enough, in the
mercy boys' camp. Nizer made him look
like an ex-everything when he quoted
to Thomas, Thomas's own wisdom of
several years ago.

when Yehudi was a youngster of 11.

*

* *

PROFILETTE
Bennett Cerf, publisher, head of Ran-
dom House . . . About 40 . . . Dashing
unpredictable, never boring ... Very
handsome . . . Enjoys immensely what-
ever he does ... New York born, of Alsa-
tian Jewish ancestry . . . Graduated from
Columbia's School of Journalism . .
.Writes a column for the weekly Satur-
day Review of Literature, and another
for the monthly Esquire . . . His style is
zippy, versatile and humorous . . . Some
years ago he was married to Sylvia Sid-
ney, the movie star . . . Now he is the
husband of Phyllis Fraser, a cousin of
Ginger Rogers, the Hollywood queen .. .
Always wanted to become a publisher,
and did . .. His suppressed desire is to
be an author . . . He is very much inter-
ested in Jewish problems; but more
theoretically than concretely . . . A thor-
oughbred liberal.
* * *
WEEKLY GIGGLE
From overseas comes the news of the
secret weapon that the Nazis count on to
save them . . . V-5 is the name—and it
consists of a large white flag on a very
large and very long sole. •

Heard in
The Lobbies

By ARNOLD LEVIN

(Copyright, 1944 Independent Jewish
Press Service, Inc.)

OTHER PEOPLE'S ERRORS
. Not infrequently accused of sQ-called
erroneous reporting (often not erroneous_
at all, but just good, wholesome journal-
istic indiscretion), this columnist takes
pleasure in noting real errors committed
by his peers in behind-the-news column-
ing . . . Take for example this •recent
item by Washington- Merry - Go Round
columnist Drew Pearson—it is of special
interest to residents of Connecticut:
"It was carefully hushed up at Chi-
cago," wrote Mr. Pearson, "but some of
the backstage hammering on the Repub-
lican platform nearly developed knot-
holes. One was on Palestine. The GOP
foreign' affairs subcommittee voted to
omit a plank for restoring Palestine to
the Jews. When this came before the full
platform committee, however, things be-
gan to pop. Leo R. Sack, Roosevelt's ex-
minister to Costa Rica, now Zionist pub-
licity man, prodded Senator Danaher of
Connecticut. Danaher demanded that the
Palestine resolution be restored. Also
Cleveland's Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver,
who supported the GOP ticket in 1940,
made an impassioned plea, said a Pales-
tine resolution would be a great vote-
getter for the Dewey ticket."
Now, here is what really happened: It
is true that the Palestine plank was in
peril. It is not true that Rabbi Silver ap-
peared before the Committee, and, conse-
quently, it is untrue, that he said that the
resolution would be a vote-getter. What
made people laugh their heads off—
people in the know—was the reference
to Senator Danaher's demanding that the
Palestine resolution be _restored. They
will tell you that it was the dear Senator
from Connecticut who refused to extend
to Rabbi Silver the courtesy of meeting
with him for discussion of the Palestine
problem and who fought the Palestine-
Resolution . . . If we were Mr. Pearson
we would slap the wrists of our inform-
ant. , Giving erroneous information to a
columnist is ugly enough, but to give him
information which is the very reverse of
the truth—is criminal.
ON THE. MIDDLE EAST
Nuries-Said Pasha, the Iraqi statesman
who is roving the Middle East to whip up
sentiment for his plan which would place
Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Transjor-
dan into a Greater Syria, and place them
under the thumb of Iraq, received special
mention in Sumner Welles' "The Time
for Decision." Mr. Welles mistakenly and
with charming naivete described him as
an "enlightened and staunch friend of the
United Nations, while gossip in the Arab
East (a favorite term of Nuries Pasha's)
describes the Iraqi as merely a . British
tool (there's a difference between being
a friend of the United Nations and a tool
of Britain's Colonial Office). But Mr.
Welles also recalls "the. bitter hostility to
the Jewish people, repeatedly demon-
strated in the past two years by the gov-
ernment of Iraqi and that Nuri Pasha, as
Prime Minister, "refuSed a year ago to
permit transit to Palestine through Iraq
of five hundred Jewish refugee children."
We brought this up just in case you hear
of Nuri Pasha's assurance that he's a
democrat and a friend of the Jews for
whom the bad, bad Zionists are making
trouble . . . Incidentally, don't be per-
turbed by the Mission the Mufti's adher-
ents intend to send to the United States
. . . They have had such missions before
. . . A certain Arab medico, who for
years passed himself off as a "moderate"
and sought public debates with Zionists,
served the Mufti cause here for years.

Jewish Gamin

By. HAROLD U. RIBALOW

JPS Soldier-Correspondent
He was a young kid, not more than
ten years old. He was blind in his left
eye and his clothes were shabby. He
spent most of his time around the Red
Cross building in Casablanca, soliciting
soldiers, willing to lead them anywhere
they wanted to go.
I walked over to the boy and asked
him if he was "Mohammed," which
meant actually, "Are you an Arab boy?"
"No," he said, "I am a Jew."
"What does your father
"He is blind, like me, but
but he is blind
Here eyes." He said it with gruesome
pride.
Here was a little Jewish kid, who
knew the devious tricks of a street
gamin, blinded probably through hered-
ity, aware of life to a greater extent than
most people at home.
I thought of the Jewish boys at home
who, at ten, are just about being pre-
pared psychologically for their Bar Mitz-
vah performance., Africa, I thought, was
Worlds away from America.

(Copyright, 1944, by'
Independent Jewish Press Service, Inc.),

