Page Two

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Purely
Commentary

) By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Plenty of Room for All in Palestine

By MOSHE SHERTOK
Chairman, Political Department, Jewisli Agency for Palestine
Our conscience towards history is clear. We have not returned to our
country to destroy and uproot what was already there. It is others who are
attempting to obstruct the planting and the building, and possibly also to
destroy what has been built and uproot what has been planted. We have no .
recourse but to stand up to them and place our trust in the justice and
strength of the building and in its defense.
• There are but a few, both in Palestine and neighboring countries, who
are learning the art of building and planting from us. They are all welcome
- partners in the process of development and in the enjoyment of its fruits.
There is plenty of room for us all in Palestine and the Middle East. The
problem of the Middle East—at any rate east of Suez—is not one of surplus
population, but of shortage of population. •
We have exploded the false accusation that dispossession and displace-
ment result from the process of our settlement. It was not through curtailing
immigration and settlement that we have demonstrated the falsehood of that
myth but, on the contrary, through expanding them. For if anyone was ever
deluded into believing that the settlement of a few thousand people in Pales-
tine could be effected only at the expense of the indigenous population, no
sensible person could suppose that in a country like ours this could be done
by tens and hundreds of thousands; the settlement of masses of new immi-
grants at the expense of the indigenous population would have been bound
to lead to chaos and impoverishment. Hence if, instead of such consequences,
a flourishing state of affairs has been created, it affords convincing proof
of the falsehood of the allegation. But now the charge of dispossession as a
result of our settlement has given way to that of extirpation through the
establishment of a Jewish State. Apparently what was impossible in Palestine,
as between the Jews and Arabs living in its confines, could happen between
predominant Jewish Palestine and its Arab neighbors.
Arabic is taught in all our secondary schools, and the standard of tuition
is improving from year to year. A large number of adults, both in town and
A country, are studying Arabic. Regional committees are being founded for the
fostering of neighborly relations.
Together with the myth regarding our designs to uproot the Arabs from
Palestine, another accusation against us is being spread about—that we desire
to infiltrate into and invade the : ighboring- countries and dominate them.
This horrific vision also serves as an argument in the campaign for the uni-
fication of the 'Arab countries and the swallowing up of Palestine in their
midst. Let it therefore be stated that the national hopes of the Jewish people
are concentrated on Palestine, and on Palestine only.

THE UPA-JDC CONTROVERSY
The rift between the United Palestine
Appeal and the Joint Distribution Com-
mittee which is ending the honorable
partnership that created the United
Jewish Appeal for Refugees, Overseas
Needs and Palestine, is not . a • new con-.
troversy.
It dates back several years and is pri-
marily based on differences over alloca-
tions.
The Council of Federations and Wel-
fare Funds, at its meeting in Cincinnati,
properly evaluated the situation by indi-
eating that the need for relief activities
is greater today than at any other time
in our history, and a division of labor is
deplorable.
But insofar as communities like De-
, troit are concerned, there is little if
anything to be concerned about.
The Detroit situation, which dupli-
cates similar conditions in major cities
throughout the land, is a very happy
one. We are all aware that a great rescue
effOrt must be made to save Jews and to
provide for those who are in great need.
The Federation and its fund-raising •arm
—the Allied Jewish Campaign—continue
to unite our community.
There will- undoubtedly be budgetary
hearings at which all local demands will
be heard and proper allocations made.
In the end, we WILL as we MUST re-
main united.
— CENTRALITY OF PALESTINE
United Palestine Appeal's statement
concerning the UJA's dissolution points
to the "centrality-of the position of Pales-
tine as the pivot. and foundation of the
By ARNOLD LEVIN
Jewish future."
"We firmly believe," declares this
(Copyright, 1945 Independent Jewl,sh
Press Service. Inc.)
statement issued by Dr. James G. Heller,
"that all American Jews share in the BANQUET NOTE
hope and determination. that the survi-
One of the Yiddish dailies carried a
vors of mass persecution and devasta-
letter-to-the-editor • the other day by a
tion must never be homeless again."
reader who has business contacts in some
We, too, believe it.
of New York City's larger hotels where
The UPA statement is a dignified one. Jewish organizations hold frequent ban-
Read, for example, this paragraph: -
quets. He quoted non-Jewish friends in
"The needs of the United Palestine the hotel business—who, he vouches,
Appeals and the Joint- Distribution Corn- have no ill-feeling toward the Jews—
r mittee are great. Regardless of whether
contend that if reports about the ex-
the appeals in their behalf are made to termination of European Jewry were true,
communities independently or in corn- American Jews wouldn't indulge in ban-
bination, we feel that American Jewry queting. . . . It is an observation for
will meet the expanded opportunities to Jews to ponder.
sustain the Jews of Europe in this transi-
tion period and to assure for the vast RANDOM NOTE
majority of them a permanent and secure
The American Jewish Committee will
future in the Jewish National Home_ in lose its publicity ace, Henry W. Levy, to
Palestine. In these terms the United the National Council of Jewish Women,
Palestine Appeal calls upon the Jews of as, of March 1. Levy is credited with
• the United States to give their support some effective Committee press breaks
. in unmatched degree to Eretz- Israel."
in recent months.
If the .Detroit JeWish community may
YOUTH
be used as a criterion, support WILL be
Two interesting youth experiments are
given to this great cause "in unmatched
degree," and the masses of Jewry who now being implemented • . . Prof.
need support through the JDC will not Mordecai M. Kaplan of the Jewish Theo-
logical Seminary and the Reconstruction-
be forgotten.
* * *
ist Movement is the initiator of campus
programs, in co-operation with existing
BULGARIA'S "YEVSEKTZIA"
A short time ago, a PM writer, speak- Jewish campus groups, to interest Jewish
ing in Detroit, ridiculed a Palcor report students., in careers in Jewish life after
Which charged that a small group of they graduate. For that purpose Jewish
JeWish Communists had captured the social workers, journalists and educators
Bulgarian Jewish community setup and have been invited to speak before campus
proceeded to proscribe Hebrew and groups. . . . The Habonim, Labor Zionist
Zionism and to act against co-operation Youth Movement, has launched the most
with Jewish communities throughout the daring youth . project to date. Twenty
youths selected from the U. S. and Can-
world.
Last week, a Jewish Telegraph. Agency ada, some of whom have turned down
college scholarships because of their in-
report from Jerusalem corroborated the
Palcor report and quoted David Ben- terest in the project, will be housed and
Gurion as charging that Zionist head- instructed in the art of Jewish communal
quarters in Bulgaria, the Theodor Herzl activity for a three month period. They
House, v,rere "snatched" by Jewish Com- will be introduced with Jewish knowl-
as to be fit for the task.
edge
munists.
This sounds like a revival of the Rus-
STATE DEPARTMENT GOSSIP
sian "Yevsektzia," the Jewish section of
Credit P.M.'s James A. Wechsler with
the Communists party, which caused
the
colorful designation "New Deal Gov-
much trouble for the Jews and was dis-
ernment-in-Exile"
for New Dealers elim-
banded by the Soviet government.
Mated from government posts. Ben
Continuation of "Yevsektzia" methods Cohen, the New Deal's white haired boy,
must lead to rancor in Jewish ranks, and
reports, was blocked by the
it is sincerely to be hope that "Yevsek- Wechsler
President from a State Department job
tzias" in any form will be rejected by for which he was proposed by Secretary
the Russian government.
of ,State Stettinius.. Ben, incidentally, was
•
once a member of the Zionist Organiza-
tion of America. Cohen's participation
at Dumbarton Oaks may have motivated
the deductions behind a news story,
several months back, that the Palestine
The earliest reference to Windsor's problem would be considered at Dum-
Jewish history is, curiously enough, barton Oaks.
Subsequent developments are an im-
traced to a grave, the tombstone on which
plicit denial of that story, never verified
's is dated 1810.
Windsor has a Jewish population of from any other source. By the way, that
was not syndicated by this column's
600 families.
bosses.
A high record for contributions to
worthy causes was established this year
forces. All who are serving overseas are
by Windsor Jewry, the average gift per
receiving completely packed boxes with
family being $185.
An even better record has been set by necessities once a month from the Wind-
the Jews of Windsor in the community's sor Jewish community.
Windsor has two flourishing schools—
contribution in manpower to the war
effort. More than 325 Windsor Jewish the Talmud. Torah and the I. L. Peretz
School.
men and women are serving in the armed

,

Heard in
The Lobbies

,

so

Facts' --About
Windsor Jewry

Between
You and Me

By BORIS SMOLAR

(Copyright, 1945, Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, Inc.)

WATCHING DEVELOPMENTS
Jewish organizations interested in pro-
tection of Jewish rights are losing no time
in preparing memoranda for dissemina-
tion among members of the fortheoming
United Nations conferente it San Fran-
cisco . . . Needless to say, Jewish delega-
tions will not have the slightest chance
of being admitted to this conference even
as observers . .. Latest reports reaching
leading Jewish institutions in New York
from liberated Europe disclose that there
are less than 1,000,000 Jews left alive -to-
day on the entire European continent,
except Russia, where 5,665,000 Jews lived
before the war . . . This is even less than
the most pessimistic expected.
In the whole of liberated Poland not
a single rabbi can be found today .
The Central JewiSh Committee in Poland,
whose headquarters are in Lublin, has
cabled a request to Palestine to send at
least one rabbi as soon as possible .
In Italy, where Chief Rabbi Israel Zolli o
Rome embraced Catholicism, a similar
situation exists, with the local Jewish
communities seeking rabbis abroad . . .
The sensational step taken by Zolli has
been taken quietly by many Jews in
France, Belgium, Hungary, Poland and
Slovakia . .. It has been no secret that
several thousand Jews in these countries
who were helped by the Catholic Church,
which provided them with false identity
documents and other forms of aid during
the Nazi occupation, refuse to consider
themselves Jews even now that they are
again free people . . . The problem is
even more serious as regards, Jewish
children who were sheltered during the
By PH1NEAS J. BIRON
years of Nazi occupation in Catholic in;
(Copyright, 1945, Seven Arts Feature Syndicate)
stitutions . . . Many of them insist on
remaining Catholics and don't want to
LISTEN HERE
Before long there'll be a new and sen- have anything to do with Jews, even
sational expose of our treatment of Ger- their parents.
*
man war prisoners . . . We know that
on the coast German war prisoners are RUSSIA AND PALESTINE
Soviet diplomats in Arab countries, in-
being used to handle war material that
is being shipped to our fighting men in cluding Palestine, have been instructed
the Pacific . . . This although these Ger- to be non-commital on political questions
mans are ,avowed Nazis who refuse to affecting the Near East . . . In Palestine,
obey the commands of American officers Soviet consular officials occasionally
who happen to be Jews . .. Indeed, the meet with local Jews, but not vfith Jew-
Army is alleged t6 have removed Jewish ish leaders since this could be interpret-
ed as semi-official talks . . . The same
officers because of Nazi protests.
The reason why Leon Blum and other is true with regard to meeting with local
Allied statesmen are still alive in Ger- 2..rabs . . . Jewish institutions in Pales-
many is that the Nazis are holding them tine receive from time to time question-
against the day of retribution, when they naires from the Soviet consulate, but all
questions therein deal with economic
will serve as hostages. _
The whispering campaign against problems only . . . They indicate that
Secretary Morgenthau's plan on what to Moscow is studying Palestine's produc-
do with Germany has received a knock- tion, as well as exports and imports .. .
out blow from the Big Three decision at Soviet diplotnats especially avoid any
contact with local Communists in Pales-
Yalta.
Elsa Maxwell charges that James War- tine and do not receive any member of
burg's book "Foreign Policy Begins at the local Communist Party.
It is known that Stalin has formulated
Home" puts "the soft pedal on the vital
his policy with regard to Jewish demands
theme of war criminals."
for Palestine as follows . . . The so-
*
*
*
The American Jewish Committee warns called "Jewish question" is a result of
of an increase, in anti-Semitism, yet Vic- anti-Semitism . .. No anti-Semitism ex-.
tor Riesel, writing in the New York Post, ists in the USSR, therefore, there is no
says that anti-Semitism is at its lowest Jewish question . . . The democracies are
point in years . . . We agree with the responsible for anti-Semitism because
they brought Hitler, Franco and others
committee's diagnosis. -
A few columns ago we wrote that the to power . . . Therefore, the solution of
American Cancer Society has no Jew on the Jewish problem is something with
its board of directors . . . That is true which the democracies alone must deal
. . . The board has 45 members, of whom
not one is Jewish . . . We are willing to
accept this as a coincidence, since the
managing director of the society writes in
In Memoriam
to state • categorically: "The American
BY DR. NOAH E. ARONSTAM
Cancer Society recognizes no racial, re-
ligiou,s or color barriers of any kind and "Many daughters have. done valiantly,
will never do so in the future".
But thou excellest them all."
Rabbi J. X. Cohen is doing an unprece-
—Proverbs 31:29
dently thorough job in investigating dis-
crimination against Jews in business in Let thy works praise thee in the gates,
the Greater New York area . . . His Daughter of my people.
findings are an eye-opener, and provide How lovely and fruitful was thy life,
incontestable evidence that even in war- Death cannot encompass thy worth;
time the situation is very acute.
For in thy death thou hast reared into
*
*
*
thyself
Ark edifice, a monument to posterity.
WE'RE TELLING YOU
Some important Jewish organizations The daughters of Israel weep over thee,
are overstepping the limit in their ad- Weep over thee, Mother of the motherless,
vocacy of public support for Jewish Whom thou hast taken unto thy heart
parochial schools .. . They fall 'into the And imbued them with new hope and
strength;
snare of hitting at the public schools—
which are, after all, our best guarantee Whom thou hast sent healing
And surcease of suffering.
for the maintenance of democracy.
The public relations geniuses of Holly- Oh, how wonderful was thy life!
wood have, with the approval of certain Fleeter than eagles,
Jewish leaders, definitely turned thumbs And prompted by the call of mercy
down on the production of a picture on Thou hast hastened to carry out
the Jewish heroes of the Warsaw ghetto The mandates of Destiny.
. . . the reason given, believe it or not, In thee spoke the voice
is this: Good will propaganda is effective Of the genius of thy people.
Thou hast done justly
only if it is not too obvious.
Orson Welles writes that German pro- And walked humbly all thy days.
fessors have discovered that the potato With thy death there shineth forth a
promise
is the only food capable of keeping Aryan
blood pure and in circulation . . . The Vouchsafed to thy people—
Nazi scientists made this discovery since A promise of immortality:
potatoes became virtually the only food Who like unto thee
Will never die.
available to Germans these days.

,

Strictly
Confidential

Henrietta Szold

