'The Faith That
Builds Israel'
*
'New Era in
Education'
Editorials
On Page 4
HE JEWISH NE S
of Jewish Events
A Weekly Review
Detroit 26, Michigan,, July 30, 1948
VOLUME 13—NO. 20 2114 Penobscot Bldg.—Phone WO. 5-1155
34.61101,
Modern Methods
of Educating
the Blind in
Israel
Read Ruth Miriam
Levine's Article
On Page 16
22 $3.00 Per Year Single Copy, 10c
Israel Fights Political War
To Sto • Whittling of Rights
Truman Calls on Congress to Admit
400,000 DPs, 'Remove Barriers
WASHINGTON, (JTA)—President Truman asked Congress to
admit 402,000 displaced persOns to the United States during the next two
years in place of the 202,000 now called for under the Displaced Persons
Act of 1948.
The President proposed other modifications in the present law to
eliminate racially discriminatory provisions and requirements that will
make the law difficult to administer. The chief discrimination "by reason
Of race or religion", is the date limitation making only those displaced
persons in the western zones of Germany, Austria or in Italy before Dec.
22, 2945, admissible.
"Since most of the Jewish displaced persons took refuge in the
a -
western zones of Germany and Austria and in Italy after that date, and
since that limitation also bar's Catholic refugees from Yugoslavia and
elsewhere who escaped after that date, the President proposes a substitute
date—one urged by advocates of this legislation originally—April 21,
1947," the president stated. -
Another amendment proposed by the President would eliminate the
so-called "mortgaging future quotas" Provision. This provision, it was
pointed out, would penalize "future generations of prospective and de-
sirable immigrants seeking to enter the United States under the regular
immigration quotas:"
Other restrictive features which the President would like • to see
eliminated -pertain to the conditions which the applicant must meet be-
fore he is issued a visa. Conditions such as one requiring the applicant
to have a job prior to arrival, are "so rigidly framed" as. to make , it ex-
tremely difficult for the displaced persCls to comply with them.
-
Direct JTA Teletype Wires to The Jewish News from Tel Aviv and Lake Success.
Labelling as "absurd" the Arab conditions for the demilitarization of Jerusa-
lem, an Israeli Mission spokesman declared that the Arab League's demands do not
provide even a basis for discussion. Meanwhile plans were announced in Tel Aviv
for the establishment of a military occupation regime for all of Jerusalem, except
the Old City, and an Israeli mayor may be selected this week.
The Israeli statement made it clear that it will not discuss any encroachment
upon its Sovereign jurisdiction in respect to immigration. Immigration and the de-
mand that 300,000 Arab refugees from Palestine be readmitted to Israel-held terri-
tow lie outside the Security Council's truce resolution, the Israeli spokesman said.
He stated that the question of an arms embargo on Israel as - a condition for Jeru-
salem's demilitarization is invalid because the question already is covered in the
terms of the overall truce.
Rejection by the SeCurity Council of proposals for referral of the Palestine prob-
lem to the International Court of Justice marks another setback for Arab attempts
to undermine the State of Israel.
Count Bernadotte's endorsement of the Arab demands for the demilitariza-
tion of Jerusalem has revived charges that he is pro-British, pro-Arab and anti-
Israel and a political battle of wits is now in progress in Israel and at Tel Aviv,
with Jewish spokesmen determined not to permit the whittling down of Jewish
rights.
In Tel Aviv, according to a JTA report, an official spokesman said: "The five
British prisoners held by Israeli police were brought before Magistrate Eliezer
Malchi on the following three counts: Espionage violation, spreading unlawful
information and securing military information. The men are charged with violating
emergency defense regulations. They collected military information of value cal-
culated to give advantage to the enemy and used this information in a manner det-
rimental to the State of Israel's security."
- r stated there were grounds to believe
Inspector Jacob Maltz in,his testirni)-11 3
that the accused are gUilty of the charges preferred against them.
The accused appeared in court in civilian clothes. They were brought there in
armored cars. One of the men, a British pica inspector, refused to rise when the
court convened and he was warned that he was not in a restaurant but in a court of
(Continued on Page 5)
History ofBalfour Declaration
Dr. WeLzmann Rejects Personal Honors,
Secures Magnd Carta for* Jewish People
Anti-Semitism in his 'native Russia fills Chaim Weizmann with fire for a Jewish homeland. At
Herzl's death he assumes the mantle of leadership and in England impresses, on Lord Balfour his
dream of a Jewish state Li Palestine. The fourth installment follows:
By GEROLD FRANK
The dark days of World War I were approaching as Dr. Chaim Weizmann worked in his
laboratory in Manchester, England, blending chemistry and Zionism. The idea of a Hebrew
University was clear in his mind, but now he saw, too, the vision of a great institute for chem.
ical research in Palestine — and whose blessings would radiate to the entire Middle East.
Palestine was a poor and barren country. In Biblical times it had been the granary of the
civilized world, but now, after centuries of neglect in the Syrian province of the Turkish Em-
pire, it was an unhealthy, malarial wasteland, with trachoma, tuberculosis and other diseases
raging among its peoples.
Modern science must -meet this challenge. A desert must be made to blossom, so t \hat
thousands of men and women yet to come could be absorbed in Palestine.
The Jews must increase the "absorptive capacity" of the country, so that one acre of bar-
ren land would support ten families where before it might not have supported so much as a
handful of goats.
Work in this direction, begun years earlier by philanthropists such as Sir Moses Monte-
fiore and Baron Edmund de Rothschild, had gone on slowly and steadily, Zionist organiza-
tions all over the world contributed money, skills, leadership — and men and women ready
to pioneer in Palestine.
But international recognition of the historical connection between the Jewish people and
the land
the diplomatic recognition which Herzl sought and died without achieving -- was
still to be won.
Dr. Weizmann was among those who believed that Great Britain would take the lead in
this. For decades the idea of a Jewish restoration had been supported by British writers,
statesmen and clerics.
It had caught the imagination of such men as Lord Palmerston, Lord Shaftesbury, Dis-
raeli and George Eliot, in her great novel, "Daniel Deronda," which spoke of a. new Israel
adding its voice "to the councils of the world" had struck a responsive chord throughout the
English-speaking world.
Here again circumstance — the circumstance that Weizmann now lived in Manchester --
played a role. One of Britain's most influential newspapers was the "Manchester Guardian."
C. P. S/cott, its editor, was a giant in his time, and Herbert Sidebotham, its chief editorial writ-
er, commanded immense respect. Weizmann met both — and both caught the flame from him.
Such was the situation in 1914, when World War I came, with England, Russia, France
(and later the United States) on one side, and Germany, Austro-Hungary and. Turkey on
the other.
In the midst of the war, David Lloyd George, then British Minister of Munitions, faced a
desperate problem. Victory or defeat might hinge on its solution. Britain was critically short
of acetone, a chemical hitherto imported from Germany, and basic to the production of
smokeless gunpowder — an- all-important high expolsive.
Called by Lloyd George
The country's greatest 'chemists were called in to find a substitute or devise a method to
produce acetone synthetically. They failed.
At this point Scott had an inspiration. He remembered Weizmann, the Zionist. If Weiz-
mann was as good a chemist as he was a Zionist . . .
Scott suggested his name to Lloyd George and the latter immediately , summoned Weiz-
.
mann to London.
He placed the problem before him. Could he solve it?
—
For his work in aiding the Allies in World War I by discover-
ing a means of making smokeless gunpowder for acetone contained
in the starch of the horse-chestnut, DR. CHAIM WEIZMANN,
The first President of the. Republic of Israel, was offered high
honors by Great Britain. He asked only help for his people.
,
(Continued. on Page 16)