Purely Commentary
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Jan Christiaan Smuts, Israel and Great Britain
2
—
THE JEWISH NEWS
Friday, September 29, 1950
Israel Acclaims
Award to Bunche
As we indicated editorially last week, the name of General Jan
Christiaan Smuts of South Africa will be blessed immemorially in
Israeli statesmen and Jewish
Israel through the settlement of Ramat Jochanan established in his leaders in this country this week
honor. The Jewish people, grateful for his efforts in behalf of a acclaimed the choice of Dr.
Jewish Palestine, paid honor to the non-Jewish friend during his
\I-WM
lifetime. (Ramat Jochanan was dedicated in 1935).
Philo-Semite and one of the strongest Christian supporters of
the Zionist cause, General Smuts found himself in a quandary on
numerous occasions because of his denoted adherence to the British
Empire. He was in an especially tight spot at San Francisco, where
the foundation was laid for the United Nations in 1945.
On the eve of his departure for San Francisco on March 30,
1945, he addressed a statement to the House and Assembly of Cape-
town. He reaffirmed his faith the Zionist movement and re-
iterated his belief that Palestine is a "natural solution" to the
Jewish problem. But he declared that "the British government is
in a very difficult position and sweating blood over this (the Pal-
estine) question."
This Commentator, recalling personal experiences at press con-
ferences with General Smuts at San Francisco, believes that his
statement to the Capetown House and Assembly, in which he
touched on the problem of minorities, is worth reprinting at this
time. General Smuts then stated:
"I have been asked whether steps will be taken at San
Francisco to prevent the minority question from assuming such
dimensions as it has in our generation. I am sure there will be
some sort of provision in the charter which will emerge. It
DR. RALPH BUNCHE
is a very difficult question, we wrestled with it at the last Peace
Conference in Paris, when we found an apparent solution. It Ralph Bunche for the 1950
was no solution at all. As long as we have small minorities dif- Nobel Peace Award.
fering in views, outlook and culture from the people surround- -
Dr. Bunche was selected for
ing them, we are bound to have these difficulties.
this high honor in recognition
"There is a tendency now towards another solution, name- of his work as United Nations
ly—exchanging populations. Take the most striking minority Mediator in Palestine.
Only a week ago, Dr. Bunche
question today—the Jewish question. I look upon it as the most
serious minority question, and this is one of the reasons why I had stated, with reference to
am what I may call a Palestinian, all these days. I should like Jordan's charges against Israel,
to see the Jewish people have their own national home to which that the question of the Ruten-
those of their people who are unwelcome in other countries berg Concession six miles south
may go. It seems a natural solution. Here is the old, historic of the Sea of Galilee had not
home of the JeWish people. Why shouldn't they have it back been a matter of contention at
the time the armistice agree-
and have a country to which they should go?
ment was reached.
"In many parts of the world they are unwelcome. They are
not unwelcome . in South Africa. They are not unwelcome with
people of a large human outlook prepared to give and take. Eric Johnston Heads
But with many people, perfectly intolerant and inhuman, the
Jewish question has become urgent and an agony on both sides. Brotherhood Week
Therefore for long years I have been a strong advocate of a
"We can't afford to blind our-
Jewish National Home in order that some form of solution may
selves to the disturbing and un-
be found for this most terrible of all minority questions.
dermining racial and religious
"What will become of it? Who knows? We are pledged to antagonisms in America," Eric
certain things, and whether they will be carried out time alone Johnston, president of the Mo-
will show. I am not speaking for the British government. The
tion Picture As-
British governMent is in .a very difficult position, sweating
ociation of
blood over this . question. I myself should • like to have a decla-
kmerica, de-
ration of faith, of fundamentals wherein we believe. There are
clared in accept-
certain things which are our ten commandments, basic to the
ing the general
whole western outlook. I should like to see them solemnly af-
chairmanship of
firmed. Even if some of these things are not carried out com-
Brotherhood
pletely in practice, it is right to affirm thein and to know that
Week, to be na-
when you fail you are falling below Our own standard."
tionally observed
next Feb. 18-25
A sincere approach to the issues is evident in every line of
under the spon-
this statement. There never was any . doubt that General Smuts
Johnston sorship of the
was a devoted Zionist and that he hoped for the speedy fulfill-
ment of Jewish hopes. But his first love was the British Empire National Conference of Chris-
against whom he fought as a Boer but to whom he became deeply tians and Jews.
devoted.
"We talk about building bridg-
•
es of brotherhood around the
At one of the. press conferences at San Francisco, in May of world in answer to the commun-
1945, General Smuts, in reply to a question regarding the status ist pretensions, and that's a
of Palestine, hastily replied: "This is not the time to deal with splendid vision," Mr. Johnston
the question. Good day, gentlemen." He picked up his cane, continued. B u t Brotherhood
donned his red general's cap and marched out of the hall. There begins on a man .. to man basis
were hundreds of newspapermen from all over the world present here at home — in our states,
at this session. They waited with baited breath for a statement communities and neighborhoods
from the friend of Zionism about the Zionist cause. But he chose — not for a single week in any
to remain siltrit in a crucial period for the movement for Jewish year but day by day and year by
liberation. He followed the British line.
year."
There were too few who believed then that Israel ever would
be the name of a new and thriving state, and the staunchest of
friends of the Jewish cause, chagrined, nevertheless remained
silent. No one wished to antagonize a friend who was in a quan-
dary because of his loyalties to the British Commonwealth of
Nations. None of us who were subjected to that painful experi-
After serving the city for 21
ence desired to nurture a grudge. We had enough sorrows then
to keep us hi a bad mood. We did not forget his lifelong services years, working for the DS• and
to the Jewish cause. And we retain only pleasant memories of the Board of Health, Philip
this great man in whose honor stands that great monument in Langwald, 16220 Greenlawn, was
this week appointed secretary to
Israel: Ramat Jochanan.
the Board of Health.
Langwald is a past director of
the Z ionist Organization of
America, past Master of Perfec-
tion Lodge, of the Ma sonic
Order and a member of North-
west Hebrew Cong. Graduating
Morris Nobel, principal of the Marilyn Kopel at the Federation from the College of Commerce
Rose Sittig Cohen Branch of the offices, WO. 5-3939.
and Finance at the University
T.J nit e d Hebrew Schools, and
Community-supported schools of Detroit, Langwald also
Samuel Sigal, director of the
worked -for the Department of
Workmen's Circle Schools, gave are: United Hebrew Schools, Internal Revenue.
United
Jewish
Folk
Schools,
radio addresses over Mrs. Hy-
He had been with the Board
man Altman's Saturday evening United Jewish H i g h School,
broadcasts on Station WJLB, Workmen's Circle Schools and of Health 11 years as senior food
and dairy inspector.
urging parents to give their Yeshivath Beth Yehudah.
children a Jewish education.
Confidence in U. S. Jewry
These addresses - were part of Philadelphia Synagogue's
Urged by British Paper
the program planned by the Torahs On Way to Israel
educational and cultural divi-
sion of the Jewish Welfare Fed-
PHILADELPHIA, (JTA)—Four
LONDON- (JTA)—Stressing Is-
eration in cooperation with the Scrolls of the Law from a local rael's needs for additional sup-
Yiddish and Hebrew Schools to synagogue — no longer in exist- port in the absorption of great
promote enrollment in com- ence were sent to a Mizrachi numbers of immigrants, the
munity-supporte4schools.
colony in Israel. A "send-off" Manchester Guardian, in an
Detroit Jewish organizations ceremony was held at Cong. editorial expressed confidence
interested in arranging a pro- Tifereth Israel of Parkside, with that the American Jewish com-
gram on Jewish education may a number of local rabbis and lay munity would support the pro-
obtain speakers by calling Miss religious leaders participating.
jected Israel loan drive.
Philip Langwald
Gets Health Post
Stress Importance of Jewish Training
On Mrs. Altman's Program on WJLB
Israel Claims Riley's Report
Undermiiiing UN Authority
Continued from Page 1
He also urged enforcement of UN decisions on internation-
alization of-' Jerusalem and repatriation of Palestine Arab
refugees.
The Iraqi spokesman also listed alleged Israel atrocities
against Arab farmers, machine-gunning of a Lebanese
plane carrying religious pilgrims and the expulsion in recent
months of thousands of Arabs to "give their homes to new
Jewish immigrants."
The newly-elected President of the current Assembly
session—Nasrollah Entezam of Iran—was reportedly sup-
ported by Israel over the Pakistani candidate in the secret
balloting for a UN Assembly President.
The major issues of interest to Israel are not expected
to come up for debate until fairly late in the session. The
most important of these issues are three political items—
reconsideration of the plan to internationalize the city of
Jerusalem and its surrounding areas, an Arab sponsored
item calling for the repatriation to Israel of 'Palestine Arab
refugees and payment of compensation to them, and a
Syrian item inviting the Arab League to attend sessions
of the UN General Assembly. The latter point is a strata-
gem designed to isolate the Jewish state by making the
Arab League the "official" regional organ of the UN in
the Middle East.
Israel is sitting as a provisional member only of the
current session of the UN General Assembly due to a mix-
up in credentials. When the Israel delegation credentials
were examined by the Credentials Committee, it was found
that they did not comply with the rules in that they were
in the form of a telegram from Abba Eban, permanent
Israel delegate, instead of in a notification from the head of
state or Foreign Minister. The committee voted to seat the
delegates provisionally until this could be rectified. Israel
Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett, who is heading the Israel
delegation, promised to deal with the matter at once.
On the Racord
By NATHAN ZIPRIN
(Copyright 1950, Seven Arta Feature Syndicate, Inc.)
Arab Pilots
If 'Dean Acheson's proposal to forin an international security
patrol to maintain global peace is adopted by the General Assem-
bly the Arab states will grasp the situation to demand that the
UN force take over Jerusalem under the aegis of the Trusteeship
Council. This was the strategy believed to have been developed
at a secret Arab conference immediately after the American Sec-
retary of State made his proposal. The thesis behind their man-
euver is that the only reason why the Trusteeship Council was un .
able to implement the Jerusalem internationalization decision was
lack of enforcement means: Their intent is to raise new tensions
around the issue to the point of "endangering world peace" and
then demand that the UN take over Jerusalem as a step in elim-
inating a danger spot. The meeting of the Arab delegates was to
have been a highly secretive one. They feared if their strategy
leaked . out King Abdullah of Jordan would thwart their design
on Jerusalem by hastily entering into a peace treaty with Israel
based on the city's territorial status quo. ,
*
-
New Converts
Since the rise of Israel there has been a steady stream of
Arab conversion to the Jewish faith. Two weeks ago the record
was broken, when 10 such cases were reported by the rabbinate.
One of the 10 had to go through the Abrahamic rite. He was a
Christian. The nine Arabs entered the Jewish fold through con-
viction; the Christian Arab because he sought the hand of a
Jewish girl. Two of the Arabs were returned refugees who lived
during the war in one of the Arab countries. One of the recent
converts was a member of one of the foreign consulates. A Euro-
pean, he had for many years contemplated changing faiths. Not
realizing the full significance of the Abrahamic rite, the gentleman
invited his male and female friends to the ceremony . Another
interesting conversion case was recently reported by a Yiddish
newspaper in Johannesberg. The story involves a Christian fam-
ily at Capetown whose 24-year-old son espoused the Jewish faith
some two years before. The young man had asked his parents to
convert him to Judaism when he was 13 so he could be Bar Mitz-
vah. They advised him to wait until he was 21, when he would
be free to make a decision out of his own volition. And he did.
The young man, Aubrey Vivier, is a talented musician whose
compositions, some dedicated to Israel, had been played at Johan- •
nesberg. For years Aubrey had plead with his parents to follow
in his Jewish footsteps. After long searching of soul they yielded
and asked the Capetown rabbinate to- bring them to the Jewish
fold. The rabbinate held a number of sessions and, after due
deliberation and questioning, decided that the family was sincere
in its desire to become Jews. After the proper traditional cere-
monies, the couple was married in a synagogue in Capetown
according to the laws of Moses and Israel. The wedding ceremony
was attended by many of Capetown's leading Jews and Christians.
*
Judge Rothenberg
The last minutes of the late Judge Rothenberg will never be
forgotten by those who witnessed his sudden death. He virtually
died with the word "death" on his lips, as if he had a premoni-
tion of the end. A few minutes before he fell dead, the Zionist •
leader made a plea for reasonableness and understanding and -
unity within Zionist ranks. Speaking softly, he made a virtual
accounting of his activities and cited his record as proof of his
sincerity. Asking the critics to lay aside grievances, real and
imaginary, he told the following anecdote about the famous Jew-
ish philanthropist Nathan Strauss. Strauss, he said, once told him
a story about the late Dr. Judah L. Magnes. Strauss was on his
death bed in Jerusalem and he summoned Magnes, telling him..
that he wanted to do a good deed before expiring. He asked
Magnes: "Should I perhaps open a new kitchen in Jerusalem?"
Magnes became enraged and told him he had made a mistake by
opening even one kitchen. Magnes was of course opposed to the
philanthropic approach of Strauss. Later, upon recovery, Strauss
told Rotherberg that Magnes was a queer man: "Here I was lying
on my death bed, and Magnes criticized me." And with these
words Judge Rothenberg fell and closed his eyes on the Jewish
scene.