THE JEWISH NEWS

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As the Editor
litiewssthe News...

Whose Hand?

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The delay in opening the doors to this
country to DPs is aggravating the situation.
But the major issue revolves around Pales-
tine. The sooner the Jewish National Home
is made Jewish, and national, and a home—
through unrestricted Jewish immigration—
the better for all concerned. Only the politic-
ally unwise ar.4 those whose human spirit
has become calloused can possibly fail to
recognize this truth.
Already committed to a speedy solution to
the Palestinian problem by the establishment
of a free Jewish commonwealth, the first and
basic principle of which must be the aban-
donment of restrictions upon immigration,
land purchase and economic development, our
government must be prepared to act swiftly
to demand the end of a police state in Pales-
tine and the return to reason and justice for
the Jewish people.

By GERHARDT NEUMANN

`Cruel, Tragic, Stupid!'

Cruel!
Tragic!
Stupid!

These are the descriptions given by the Jewish Agency
to British action against the unfortunate Jewish passengers
on the "Exodus 1947" whom the great British empire has kept
on three warships for several weeks and whom it has chosen
to deport to detention camps in Germany, "the land of bitter
memories."
France, having no power over immigration to Palestine,
has offered sancturary to these survivors from Nazism, but
has ruled wisely and humanely that she would not force the
4,400 Jews to land on her soil against their will.
After all their sufferings, these people have a right to
state that they prefer to go only to a home of permanent se-
curity. They have the right to assert that there is no hope for
them except in Eretz Israel.
But the British authorities chose to countermand this
preference and to tell these survivors from Hitlerism that
they MUST GO BACK TO GERMANY where Hitlerism even.
today raises its ugly head! A subsequent attempt to send the
refugees back to France does not minimize Britain's in-

humanity.

The cruelty, the tragedy and the stupidity is ascribable
not only to the great British empire but also the world at
large and to all member states of the United Nations which
have permitted the horrible treatment of the European sur-
vivors to go this far. It is as much a black mark on the record

of our own government whose leaders should have and could
have prevented the tragedy of "Exodus - 1947" by insisting that
Britain adhere to her obligations under international
covenants.

The era of "Exodus 1947" represents one of the most out-
rageous periods of political chicanery in world history.

Britons Burn the Bible

It was not so very long ago that the civilized world was
fighting against Nazi ideologies which included the barbaric
sport of burning the books of writers who were placed on
Hitler's black list.
Jews fought with Britons and Americans to end the Nazi
terror, and our - people count 25 per cent of the total number
of casualties—military and civilian—of the entire- World War
II, more than 6,000,000 Jews having lost their lives out of a
total human loss of 25,000,000.
These facts, however, appear unimpressive to the British
who, instead of adhering to the principles for which we
fought, are now copying the Nazi program.
Aboard three ships, anchored at Port de Bouc, France,
with the 4,400 refugees who were taken off the "Exodus 1947"
at Haifa for deportation from-the territory assigned by world
public opinion to become the Jewish NationaCHome, British
Inclependent Jewish
Jewl , h •ei•-trar•hir At-ten , •
authorities ordered a bonfire.
r
e
51
ttorli•ate
1, •ecs ∎ ervice. Seven A-ts Featu
The books and magazines owned by or sent to the
F•srvi•e. Paleor Agency. King Features, Central
Press A-,:triat ion.
refugees were confiscated by the British and were burned.
Mer, '^r American Ascot-lath-to of EnclIsh-Jewish News-
.i‘soelattors
Among the books thus destroyed were Bibles and prayer
P• 0111 ,-- cd every Frblav by The Jewish News Publish-
books. The reason for their burning is that the books were
Detr• It 26 Mich RA. 7956
in, co ', In POnnt,ont
Club subset-lotion
forelgn. S4
s", a vear
printed in Hebrew characters. Only English and French books
ever" fourth F•Iclov of the month to all subscribers to
were absolved from the fire of destruction. A Jewish Tele-
Tewish Welfare Federation of
Ml•^ ,1 .10••kh C'a'' -'•-•n
t'ear
Dr -It Ill —nts
graphic Agency cable from Port de Bouc states that one
F.,• ,--,•1 as q-eo.,(4.••'--s matter Aug 6. 19 1 2 at Post Of-
tr- ,Icr Act of Nlareh 3 1879.
".11 , 11
British officer asserted that he could not distinguish between
114-..
the Bible and prayer books and the works of Theodor Herzl.
BOi RD OF DIRECTORS
' Dr. Chaim Weizmann and other Zionists, which were marked
Philip Slomovitz
Yr" ”r' ^e "rope-on
Isidore Soheloff
for burning.
Fred M. Butzel
Abraham Srere
We thought and dared to hope that Nazism either was
J.- 1" - e Tlr—qt1nre T.e ...•in
Henry Wineman
Maiir i^e II. Schwartz
dead
or was marked for early extinction but the British
1
PIII1 TT' . 1 .0110VITZ. Editor
arrived on the scene to disillusion us! British authorities in
Palestine already have "an indelible mark, on their horribly
AUGUST 29, 1947
VW.. XI—NO. 24
inefficient record of misrule, for transplanting Nazi ideas
Sah'sath S?riptnral Selections
into Palestine. Now Britons are continuing their dastardly
Sabbath,
the
fourteenth
day
of
Eulu
5707,
This
the following scriptural selections will be read work even to the extent of burning the Bible! History will
find it difficult to differentiate between Nazi book-burning
in our synagogues:
ceremonies in Berlin in the '30s and the British Bible desecra-
Pentateuchal portion—Deut. 21:10-25:19.
tions in the '40s of the civilized 20th century.

THE JEWISH NEWS

Prophetical portion—Is.

Jewish World Opinion

Bevin, Anti-Semitism
Targets of Criticism

Trouble in Germany

Jewish and non-Jewish leaders have
warned that unless there is an immediate
solution to the problem of displaced persons,
there may be pogroms in Germany during
the coming months.
The recent incident involving retaliations
by Jewish DPs for indignities they suffered
at the hands of GIs is a clear indication
of what may be expected unless a permanent
home is secured for the survivors of Nazism.
It takes little fuel to incite fires of hatred
and discord, especially in the present era of
tension and constant recourse by offended
persons to reprisals.
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There is reason for serious concern over the
existing situation, and the problem in no
sense affects Jews alone. It concerns this
country as much as it does the DPs, since GIs
will be in Germany for many months to
come under occupational necessities.
Little good can possibly be accomplished in
trying to pin blame on one party or another.
Pent-up feelings often give rise to acts of a
most deplorable nature. It is as easy to under-
stand the resentment of DPs, when they are
forced to live in detention camps under
miserable conditions and on low food rations,
as it is to recognize the reactions of young
American boys who hate the thought of being
away from home and who frequently get into
trouble with those whom they are inclined
to blame for being on foreign soil.
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Here is additional proof of the existence of
intolerable conditions and the threat of
further trouble in Germany:
In a special report from Berlin to the New
York Times, Delbert Clark exposes the
"working alliance" between Pastor Niemoel-
ler and Dr. Kurt Schumacher of the Social
Democratic Party for the purpose of reducing
the influence of the Vatican in German poli-
tics and of splitting the Christian Democratic
Union composed of both Catholics and Pro-
testants. Schumacher and Niemoller are
labeled "good working partners . . . since
both are primarily Pan-Germans" by Mr.
Clark, who states in his report:
"In Italy after his release by the United
States Fifth Army, Pastor Niemoeller gave
interviews denying the principle of German
national - " guiltand defending those • who
fought for Hitler as having merely obeyed
the call of patriotism. During his visit last
winter to the United States he stated publicly
that anti-Semitism was dead in Germany—a
statement known here to be completely at
variance with the facts and widely denied
at the time."

Friday, Augus+ 29. 1947

A glance at the Jewish papers from countries
aboard shows that the problems encountered by
Jews are the same all over the world. This
column attempts to summarize some of the salient
viewpoints and give the reader a cross-section of
Jewish opinion in countries where the Jews still
form a coherent entity.
British Jews are woried over the rising wave
of Anti-Semitism. The London Zionist Review re-
marks:
"Gentiles should remember that it is not only
Jewish freedom that Is at stake but the very
basis of democracy. The most elementary prin-
ciple of modern society, that no person shall
be held responsible for the misdeeds of others
is being flouted—and in a disgraceful manner.
"As to Jews, nothing would be more danger-
ous than complacency. The events of the past
week may yet be a portent of graver things to
come. The fight against anti-Semitism must,
therefore, be made an integral part of the
struggle of the democratic forces in Britain
against reaction and Fascism."
At the same time it promises the government
that, in the present crisis, "the Jews of England
will stand side by side with their non-Jewish
neighbors and will respond wholeheartedly to
Mr. Attlee's call to the country."
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The South African Jewish Chronicle devotes
much of its space to the silver jubilee of Binyan,
a corporation that can take much credit for the
economic reconstruction of Palestine. The follow-
ing paragraphs reveal the importance of Binyan
for South American Jewry as well as for Pales-
tine:
"The South African Palestine Enterprise (Bin-
yan) Corporation Ltd., or simply The Binyan, as
it is popularly known, is now in Its silver jubilee
year. Founded by a group of South African Jews
at a time of uncertainty and difficulty in Pales-
tine, when little but the foundations of the Na-
tional Home had been laid, but faith in the
future was great. The Binyan and everyone con-
nected with it can look back upon 25 years of
solid achievement and take pride in the role this
first of the South African enterprises has played
in the growth of the Yishuv, particularly of
towns and areas like Haifa, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv,
Nathanya and Behovoth.
"There were many who, at the time of its in-
ception, regarded the undertaking with some
scepticism, and if they took shares did so more
from sentiment than from the point of view of a
business investment But time has proved that
sentiment and business'ean be combined, for
The Binyan has brought benefit both to the Yis-
buy and to its sharehOlders, while the hopes of
those who were responsible for the formation
of the company have been more than fulfilled.
"The success of The Binyan has demonstrated
firstly that private enterprise and capital are
complementary to the National Funds and each
in its sphere has an important and indispens-
able part to play in the building of Frets Israel,
and secondly that investment in Palestine is
not charity but good basiness."
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Politically, the Jewish Herald of Johannesburg,
South Africa, takes a' strong attitude against the
British policy in Palestine and remarks sarcastic-
ally:
"There has been only one side that has per-
jured its oath under the covenant that is still
binding on the 52 Nations who granted it and on
the Nation which undertook its obligations. That
those Nations have now renamed themselves
United and disbanded their League does not
alter the sacredness of that covenant
"That is the supreme fact which the Fact-
Finding Committee must realize if it is at all dis-
interested. In that case it can do no other than
—in the words of General Smuts—have due re-
gard to the policy of the National Home em-
bodied in the Balfour Declaration and the Man-
date. In that case it must realize—as Mr. Attlee
himself declared in 1944 before his metamorpho-
sis—that 'there is surely neither hope nor mean-
ing in the Jewish National Home unless we are
prepared to let Jews if they wish enter this tiny
land in such numbers as to become a majority.

Facts You Should Know

Answers to Readers
Questions ...

Who was Abaye?
A Jewish philosopher, who was one of the great-
est_and most often quoten teachers of the Baby-
lonian Talmud. He lived at the close of the third
and at the beginning of the fourth century.
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What is the significance of the "Kiddush" on
Friday night?
The Sabbath's special significance in the life of
the Jewish people sets it above and apart from all
the other days of the week. The Bible (Exodus'
20:8) directed special attention towards the Sab-
bath by proclaiming: "Remember thou the day of
the Sabbath to sanctify it." From this the Rabbis
(Talmud Pesakin 106) deduced the fact that the
Sabbath was to be ushered in by _blessings as a
means of sanctification. The word "Kiddush"
means "sanctification." The content of the "Kid-
dush" liturgy, comprised of special blessings, views
the Sabbath as a symbol of the creation after
which the Almighty proclaimed the seventh day
as a day of rest.
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Who discovered the telescope?
According to history, it was discovered by three
Dutchmen in 1608. The Talmud, however, men-
tions that Rabbi Gamliel (Eiruvin) possessed a
tube through which he could see a distance of
2,000 cubits on land and sea.