Page Two
Purely
Commentary
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
THE JEWISH NEWS
Friday, August 3, 1945 -
Prof. Bar
' idd Laski.
A Personality Sketch of. England's Man of the Hour From Bennett
Cerf's "Try and Stop Me"
Pi of. Harold Laski is an Englishman, but he knows more
about American- law - and American history than 98 per cent of the
. people who were born here. Every few years, he comes over to tell
us about ourselves or to write a book about us. His recent "The
American Presidency" was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection. He
lectured at Harvard for a while but quit after
a fight about the Boston Police strike in 1920.
He is a close friend of Supreme . Court Justice
Frankfurter, and calls the Justice's disciples
"the little hot-dogs." A facile phrase-maker,
Laski is best known for: "A liberal is a man
with both feet planted firmly in mid-air," "As
nation can take a lot of ruining;" and "England
sat on the fence so long before 1939 that tile
rust got into her soul."
Laski's"rneMory rivals those of John Kieran
and Herbert Swope., At his lectures he
answers questions unhesitatingly with, "You
will find that on the eighth line of page 134
of Bryce's Commonwealth," or, "Suppose you
check the facts in the Sept -8, 1937, issue of
Time." Several listeners who thought- he
was bluffing took the trouble to check some
of these references. He was never wrong.
A young girl who was hearing him for
the first time asked where he gave regular
courses: "At the London School of Economics," his American pub-
lisher answered. "I believe he has been referred to there as 'the
Wild Bull of the Campus'." The girl said "Moo!"
•
—
BRITISH ELECTIONS AND THE JEWS
Jews and Great Britain are partners
in a- great enterprise—the creation in
Palestine of the Jewish National Home.
Therefore we have a stake in the results
of the elections in England. •
Opinion will, undoubtedly, be divided
on the significance of the defeat of Mr.
Wins tdh Church-
ill's government in
the last elections.
The powerful
statement made by
Mr. - Churchill in
1939 in the House
of Commons
against the White
Paper raised him
to a very high
position among Clement Attlee
those considered friends of Jewish Pal-
estine. s,
But Mr. Churchill, who harmed
himself more by losing his temper dur-
ing his recent campaign addresses than
he could have been hurt by the at-
tacks of the Labor and Liberal opposi-
tion, also revealed unjustified anger when
he abused the entire Jewish people after
the murder of Lord Moyne in • Cairo.
The bitterly-spoken words in com-
ment upon Lord Moyne's death were a
n
shocking demonstration of ill-teniper,
and it is doubtful whether very mafiy
Jewish leaders placed too much stock in
Mr. Churchill's friendship—as long as
he was in power and as long as he had
Maj. Clement
set out to avenge Lord Moyne's death
Attlee Expected to
by abuse of an entire people, even
By ARNOLD LEVIN
Implement Balfour Pledge
though the assassins had already paid
(Copyright, 1945. Independent Jewish
with their lives for their crime. -
By - WILLIAM B. SAPHIRE
Press Sirvice, Inc.)
The world will ever be grateful to Mr.
_ J.P.S. Staff Writer
ORCHIDS
Churchill for his leadership and for his
(Copyright, - _,45, Independent Jewish
military genius which were responsible
Press Service)
To the Woman's Hothe Companion for
for the defeat of Nazism in Europe. But a fine story in.
The
British
Labor Party, pro-Zion for
its
August.
issue;
A
Pair
it is quite clear that the people of England
consider Mr. Churchill dispensable in the of Fine Wings, by Edita Morris, which a quarter of a century recently eloquent-
era of planning for the peace.
tells the story of the deep attachment ly reiterated its support for the establish-
Attention must, now, be turned tothe between the child of a mixed marriage ment of a Jewish Commonwealth in
Major Clement Richard Attlee,
victors in viewing "the results of the and ;'her ' Aryan grandmother. No at- Palestine.
. 62-year-old British Labor Party Leader
British electione.
tempt here, however, to whitewall' the and Great Britain's new _Prime Minister
* * *
Aryan German. Touching is the simplicity' as a result of a landslide, as a member
MR. ATTLEE AND THE LABORITES
of the British delegation to the World
England's next Prime Minister, Major of the child's farmulation of its Jewish- I Security Conference at San Francisco
Clement R. Attlee, has always been ness. "Part of me, say a leg and an arm, unofficially reassured labor friends
friendly to the cause of • Jewish nation-. or perhaps my stomach, is Jewish, be- Palestine there that he was fully in --of
ac-
al' redemption plans in Palestine: His cause of Papa., who is dead." Also inter- cord with his party's program on Pales-
persenal views, however, are of - less esting is Patricia Lochridge's (she is the tine. His statements, especially in the
concern at this time than the -attitude magazine's foreign correspondent) article, past decade, confirm his friendship for
"I Governed Berchtesgaden," telling the the Zionist cause.
of the British Labor Party.
British Labor has been consistently. story of her one-day Governorship of
Major Attlee, in 1935, was among the
pro-Zionist, Only a few weeks ago, the Hitler's infamous abode. "I also asked
annual conference of the Labor Party the landrat," she reports, "to see if there first to recognize the part Palestine must
adopted a strong resolution in favor of were any Jewish residents left in Berch- play in the rescue of the first Jewish
a Jewish Palestine. 'There were no tesgaden. If found they were to be given victims of Nazism. On November 9th of
"if" or "but" reservations in that reso- additional food since they had long ago that year, he declared in Parliament that
lution, and the Laborites indicated cler- starved. They were also to be given jobs the political and economic reconstruction
ly that they knew what they were or reinstated in their old positions: He of Palestine . has become an "imperative
was '.subsequently able to find only one duty," in face of the tragedy of the Ger-
-fighting for and what they wanted:
„Will the Labor Party of 1945-be - more 'Jewremaining in the entire community man Jews, who are "bearing the burdens
consistent than the same party was in —an -attractive black - haired young of other peOple's sins." At the same time
1925; under the leadership of Ramsay woman who spoke fair English and was he paid tribute to organized Jewish
labor in Palestine, asserting that it had
MacDonald?
put on the' staff as an interpreter."
fulfilled HS' "responsibilities in the re-
The experience of 1925 was a sad
-
*
building of ip.alestine in a manner which
Tie. Mr. MacDonald, whd was a leading
COMEDIAN'S GRIM MOOD
has earned' world-wide admiration." He
friend of Zionism when out of power,•
BroadWay gossipist :Ed Sullivan quotes added that the British Labor Party "
became an antagonist and a strong
backer of traditional Colonial policies this from Jack- Benny: "Here_I am run- "would never falter in its active cooper-
ning all around Gerniany. (You probably ation in the. great Work of political and
when he became Prime Minister.
do not know that'• I am a Jewish boy)., economic reconstruction" in Palestine. .
.* * *
.
. • -
*
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*
Greatest kick so far was on July 4,, when
SOKOLOW,, AND MgcDONALD
we did our show at the Sportplatz
In
December,
1938,
on
the : eVe* 'of the
: . A personal reminiscence is in order Stadium in Nuremberg:. In .case Hitler is
British conlerences with Arabs and Jews
at-this time in this connection.
listening, Larry 'A another
nother .non-
Your Cornmentator's father-in4aw Aryan, played .Gershwin's `Rhapsody in in London,i Major Attlee demanded as-
surances that Haj Amin El Husseini,
was in an automobile with the late Blue' ".
Mufti of Jerusalem, then already an exile
Nahum Sokolow, one-time president of
A show by .S. J. Perlman and Al Hersh- frem Palestine and now an Axis war
the World Zionist Organization, in Clete-
land, on the way to a Zionist meeting; field with Boris Aronson, -son of former criminal, would be excluded from the
on the day " when Mr. MacDonald'e rabbi of Tel:Aviv, doing the decorations, conference..He criticized the selection of
seledtion as British Prime Minister was will be produced by Cherrill Crawford Arab notables, as the sole representatives
at the conference, and asked whether
announced to the world. He then asked in the Fall.
Arabs of other classes, including the
Mr. Sokolow whether he believed that
the Jewish cause would benefit from the Party—were on thehighest plane, poorer groUps, would be admitted. He
new' leadership, and Mr. Sokolow re: whereas the . Tory candidates were, in also asked if consultations Were being
held with _repreSentatives of Arab work-
plied (the Conversation being in Yiddish): - many incidents, abusive.
ers or' with, Arabs in the Tel-Aviv area
!`Yetzt vet nit zeiri , ver zoll schreien"
The _strong pro-Zionist attitude Who
work and come in contact with Jewe.
.--"no* there will be no one to complain." adopted by Prof. Laski in recent' years
These
queries by-Major Attlee indicate
Mr. Churchill's actions • prove the should serve to enhance mix - position
wisdom of this comment. Out of power, in England.' Your ComMentator believeS that 'he holds views similar to thoSe of
when there was need to - criticize the that it should help in strengthening the JeWish leaders who are of -the opinion
government, - he uttered , strong , senti- pro-Zioniet stand of his party 'in the that Arab-Jewish unity can be achieved
ments in Our behalf. In -power, he was House of Commons and should `encourage if the Arab Masses are given a voice. The
silent—and in the Lord . Moyne -incident adherence , to - the Laborites! : campaign Arab Masses were inarticulate at the
Conference. At San Francisco
he even became intolerant.
pledge to alter the recationary Colonial Landoll
it was the' Arab feudal .nobility and oil
* *
policies which at present .dominate Brit7 manipulators
who were pampered by the
MR. ATTLEE AND MR. LASKI
ish politics.
U: S. State Department, the British For-
In the latest developments, there is
In the' main, this • Commenator be- eign OffiCe' and American roil trusts.
a new angle, 'created by the position of * lieVes that the change in. British- politits
leadership that will undoubtedly be held will prove , beneficial to -Jewish 'aspira-
In May, 1939, during. the, vigorous de
iri the new government by Prof. ilirold tions in,-Palestine.. Frankly, we had very bates in the House of .Commons over the
Laski. ..
little to lose in impending chQnges. Mr. MacDonald"' White PaPer, - Major Attlee
Prof. Laski was - the . target .for: at- Churchill had. an . opportunity •to = adhere rose to -.challenge Under Secretary of
tacks by Mr. Churchill and other Tory to a sacred pledge. His government con- State for Foreign Affairs Richard Austen
leadere..T. There ' was a Churchill-Laski tinued to follow the path of the appeas- Butler, who stated that it wasn't neces-
issue in the campaign. BLit Prof. Laski
ing Chamberlain government. We will sary: tor the House to wait on a League of
has emerged .the victor.:.- His interpreta•:: -surely Jare better at-the hands of Mk. Nations decision 'before adopting the
tion. of LaliOr he is :Attlee and the Laborites, • With • the shell) White Paper. Major Attlee ' asked" the -
considered the philosopher of the Labor of the Liberals.
Under Secretary if he would act on his
Heard in
The Lobbfes
.
Dritain s New
Prime Minister
Strictly
Confidential
By PHINEAS J. BIRON
Copyright, 1945. Seven, Arts
Features - Syndicate, Inc.
TRAVEL REPORT
We're- back from a flying trip to Cuba
and Mexico ,. .. It took us longer than
we •had anticipated because lack of pri-
ority . bumped us off everY- few hundred
ntiles . .. Once, in despair of ever get-
ting a plane out of sizzling New Orleans,
we wired Capain Eddie •Rickenbacker,
president of the . Eastern Airlines, and
pleaded for his personal attention . .
And Eddie came through effectively by
arranging to get us back to New York in
time to dash off our column.
*
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*
FROM MEXICO
We visited Cuba and Mexico in the
company of Joe Brainin, who was on a
mission on behalf of the Pan-American
Jewish Committee . , . Joe is a rather
tiresome traveling companion who in-
sisted on dragging us to all kinds of odd
places and still odder 'people . . In
Mexico City, for instance, he visited EgOn
Erwin Kisch, the Czechoslovakian Jewish
author now living in the land of Camacho
. .. Kisch is the author of over two dozen
books, and because of his flair for 'the
unusual, has been nicknamed "the dy-
namic reporter" . . . Kisch has just pub-
lished a book, "Discoveries in Mexico",
in Spanish and German . . . It would be
a best-seller in English ... In any event,
Kisch told us that he has discovered a
quite inexplicable similarity of tradition
among certain Mexican Indian: tribes and
Orthodox Jews . . . It seems that these
'Indian women have a mikveh . . . Cir-
cumcision is compulsory among these peo-
ple, and Saturday is rigorously observed
as the Sabbath . . . And the religious
headman grants audiences in the same
manner as a wonder rabbi who answers
questions and cures illnesses.
*
*
*
FROM CUBA
Cuban Jewry enjoys real unity .
The four largest organizations—the
Zionists, the Jewish Chamber of Corn-
merce, the Centro Istaelito and the
Jewish Peoples' Center--work together
in great harmony .. . In both Cuba and
Mexico anti-Semitism is on the increase
. . . The Falangists and Sinarquists are
carrying on a double-barreled attack
against the Jews in both countries . . .
They •keep up a campaign of slander
against• them, designating them alternate-
ly as "exploiting capitalists" and "God-
less Communists".
*
*
*
YOU SHOULD KNOW
If you want to get the real lowdown on
developments in present-day Germany,
get the news- letter "Germany Today,"
edited by that trustworthy anti-Fascist
fighter Albert Norden. -
One of the most stirring documents to
come to our desk is "An Appeal to the
Conscience of America," signed by 1027
Jewish, spiritual leaders .. . Its appeal is
in behalf of the stricken Jews of Europe
. . . You can get copies from the Commit- -
tee on' Unity for Palestine, 41 E. 42nd St.,
New York City.
Victor Riesel writes from Washington
that the German-American Bund is pre-
paring for a big comeback, with uniforms
and all, and with the Horst Wessel song
as its anthem . . .He also tells us that
some Italian-American clubs will be col-
lecting funds for the revival of "glorious
Fascism".
Gertrude Berg, of "The Rise of the
Goldbergs," 'is weeping bitter tears be-
cause she cannot go to Europe as a corre-
spondent.
.
* *
ZION MOURNS
Herman Shulman, the attorney, who
died last week, will be remembered by
those who knew him well as one of- the
most untiring, selfless workers in the
cause of Zionism . Few know that this
mighty corporation lawyer was one of
the prime movers, if not the -key man,
behind the American Jewish Conference
and the Zionist Emergency Council . .
But still fewer know that Herman Shul-
man,. the ruthless realist, was a sensitive
and very,': very gifted painter.
own judgment in disregard of the League
,
Mandates 'Commission.
In November, '1939, three months after
the outbreak of . World War II, Major
Attlee declared that the Jewish problem
can be settled only by an international
authority. Speaking at a conference of
Laborite members of Parliament to
formulate British Labor's war aimi, ehe
demanded 'the restoration 'of the rights of
Jews, along with _those of the Czechs,
Poles and Austrians under Nazi domina-
- tion. This was one of the first statements
of the war, designating Jews as a dis-
tinct nationality along with' other na-
tional groups.