Tu• Washingto Spotlight on '48 Controversy
Warn Jewry to Guard Against
Resurgence of Anti-Israel Forces
By MILTON FRIEDMAN
(Copyright, 1953, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
WASHINGTON= Has the
spring of 1948 returned to
Washington? Once again anti-
Zionist forces have laid siege to
the Administration in a con-
certed effort, to reverse Ameri-
can policy in the Middle- East.
At just this portion of March
hi 1948, spokesmen for the Arab
cause were able to persuade the
Truman Administration to with-
draw- its support of the Pales-
tine partition resolution and to
precipitate a new struggle at
the United Nations which cul-
Minated in the Arab invasion of
Israel. •
The same forces now are
Counting on a new administra-
tion to respond to its own
"time for a change" slogan.
Their confidence that President
Eisenhower and Secretary of
State Dulles will be more in-
Wined toward the Arab cause
has been reflected in the last
few weeks in an outpouring of
dispatches from Washington,
flatly predicting that the Ad-
ministration is determined to
court the Arab states even, if
need be,. at the expense of Isra-
el. These forces include spokes-
men for the powerfill. Middle
Eastern oil lobby; the inveterate
critics of Israel who compose
the leadership of Dorothy
Thompson's "American Friends
of - the Middle East," and a
small but dynamic group of an-
ti-Zionists in the State Depart-
ment who no, longer feel con-
strained 'to suppress their per-
sonal sentiments.
Forecasts of a change af-
fecting Israel in the event of
Eisenhower's election were
made before November. But it
was not expected the test
would come so soon. The test
came abruptly with the break-
ing off of diplomatic relations
by the Soviet Union with Isra-
el. On the day following that
rupture, Israel Ambassador
Abba Eban publicly called up-
on the free world to support _
Israel in view of the fact
that Israel had incurred
Kremlin hostility because of
its identification with the
principles of freedom. Silence
has followed Eban's appeal.
Following the Soviet break
with Israel, the Administration
had two alternatives: 1. Sens-
ing that the Soviet attack was
designed to court the Arab
states and to increase conflict
in that area, the Administration
Might have proclaimed its de-
termination to stand by the
young =democracy and to sum-
mon the Arab • states to end
their war against Israel and
unite to defend the area
from Soviet propaganda
S.nd aggression. 2. Concerned
lest a pro - Israel declaration
might smooth the way for Sov-
iet penetration of the Arab
countries, the Administration
could have_elected to ignore the
Soviet's attack on Israel and to
begin an active campaign to ap-
pease and woo the Arabs. Daily
it becomes more apparent that
the Administration has adopted
the latter alternative.
President Eisenhower's only
expression following the Soviet-
Israel rupture was a statement
to the Saudi Arabian Foreign
Minister of his concern for good
relations with the Arab StateS.
The President or Dulles may yet
decide to make a .pro-iIsrael
eomment on the Soviet a _ ction
against Israel. However, they
have held a number of press
conferences at which they could
have expressed themselves but
did not. When some Senators
proposed to amend a recent
Senate resolution against
Soviet anti-Semitism to reflect
American sympathy for Israel
and American advocacy of an
early Arab-Israel peace, the
State Department intervened
28—THE JEWISH NEWS
• Friday, March 20,.
premature to predict whether
the anti-Israel campaign will
succeed. There is no doubt the
Arabs will receive more assis-
tance from the United States
than in the past. The question
is whether and to what extent
Israel will be cut down.
The test will come within a
few weeks when the Adminis-
tration must finally decide
whether it will accept the By-
roade plan for sending arms to
Egypt to strengthen the posi-
tion of Dictator Mohammed Na-
guib. The Administration hopes
that, following the Sudan set-
tlement, an agreement will be
reached over the Suez.' Then
Egypt would be in a position to
join a Middle l± astern Defense
command.
Arab peaCe with Israel is not
excluded as a goal, but it is not
high on the State Debartment's
agenda. Israel's friends insist
that Naguib needs the United
States more than this country
needs him. They feel that the
United States can insist that
Naguib make peace with Israel
as a conditioned precedent to an
arms supply. This was the posi-
tion taken by Louis Lipsky,
chairman of the Zionist Council,
in a letter of protest to Dulles.
State Dept. Anti-Zionists
Anti-Zionists in the State De-
partment who concealed their
bias during the' Truman Admin-
istration are beginning to assert
themselves.
As the Republican Administra-
tion shapes its new- Israel-Arab
policy, one State Department of-
ficial went so far as to read' an
anti-Jewish speech on behalf of
the Iraqi Minister to Washing-
ton. Edwin M. Wright, of-
ficer in charge of Turkish af-
fairs, who has a long record of
prejudice against Israel, on Feb.
24 took advantage of an
"off the record" conference of
business executives at the • Stat-
ler Hotel here to read an Arab
propaganda speech that im-
pugned the loyalty of American
Jewry.
The propriety of an American
official helping a foreign govern-
ment spread hatred against a
section of the American public
was questioned. Wright was call-
ed into the office of Assistant
Secretary of State Henry A. By-
roade, in charge of Near Eastern
Affairs, and asked for an expla-
nation. Wright apologized to his
superior but sought to justify his
action.
The meeting at which Wright
read the Arab propaganda
speech was part of a conference
for corporation executives spon-
sored. by the Foreign Service
Educational Foundation in co-
operation with the School of
Advanced International Studies
of Johns Hopkins University. An
examination of some of the
Foundation's trustees, overseas,
and officers is illuminating.
Among them are:
and cautioned aainst a state-
ment which it is said might be
exploited by Communists in the
Arab world. Meanwhile, the De-
partment continued to ignore
Israel's application for non-re-
imbursible munitions although
provisions for such aid were
made in last year's Mutual Se-
curity Act.
These events do not neces-
sarily mean that the Admin,
istration has turned against.
Israel. What they do mean is
that the Administration has
•turned for the Arabs in a
positive way. Top spokesmen
for the Administration insist
that Israel has no cause for
alarm and that the Republi-
cans have no desire to cold-
shoulder Israel or anyone else.
But the distance the Adminis-
tration will • go in -pursuit of
Arab friendship remains to be
revealed.
The Arab states may now be
expected to raise their price for
peace and demand that Israel
pay it. They are encouraged by
the new developments and are
exploiting t h e Israel-Soviet
break to the utmost Their pro-
tagonists in Washington speak
more boldly than in many years.
They concede that Israel will be
permitted to exist but they
place the onus for the lack of
peace in the .Middle East on
Israel. They speak glibly of Isra-
el'S ceding large tracts of the
Galilee and the Negev to accom-
modate Arab refugees and Brit-
tish garrisons. The internation-
alization of Jerusalem is' again
discussed. There is the wide-
spread impression that these
proposals will find their way
more readily into official work-
ing papers in the State Depart-
ment.
The last month in Washing-
ton has been full of anti-Israel
alarms. There were rumors that
Loy Henderson, architect of the
anti-Israel plan to scrap par-
tition in 1948, or Kermit Roose-
velt, a vigorous pro-Arab propa-
gandist, would be named to suc-
ceed Assistant Secretary of State
Byroade to supervise Near East-
ern Affairs. A series of reports
by the conservative Associated
Press said that the Administra-
tion was preparing a shift in
policy inimical to Israel's inter-
ests.
A bad. sign was the resolw-
tion introduced by Chairman
Langer of the Senate Judici-
ary Committee to investigate
the "plight" of the Arab ref-
ugees — .a proposal that can
only serve to provide a new'
forum for anti-Zionist propa-
Gov. Christian A. Herter. of Massa-
ganda. The author of the Lan- chusetts, until last November, •president
the Foundr.ltion; Allen W. Dulles, new
ger resolution was Richard of
chief of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Arens, who as staff director Dulles was an original executive Commit-
teeman of "H.E.L.P.," an organization so
of Sen. Pat McCarran's Immi- violently
ant,-Zionist that Gov. Herter gave
gration Subcommittee wrote that as his'reason for resigning from it.
Gov.
Herter
membership in "H.E.L.P."
the discriminatory features placed him said
in an "inconsistent position"'
into the McCarran-Walter Im- because "it has long been a primary
concern of mine that there should be a
migration Act. Arens was or- strong
Israel which can offer haven to
iginally employed by the an-' the countless persecuted Jews of the
He- explained that H.E.L.P. was
ti-Semitic ex-Senator Chap- world."
comprised "in large part of persons
man Revercomb of West Vir- who have publicly taken a position
against the creation of an ,independent
ginia.
Israel." Dulles is the brother of Secre-
Another omen was seen when tary of State John Foster Dulles.
C. D. Jackson, publisher of Fortune
a high-level business conference magazine,
a part of the Luce publishing
held in Washington with , the interests. The Luce magazines, which in-
clude Time and Life, have indicated
cooperation of the State De- anti-Israel
slanting. Jackson has been
partrnent witnessed the unpre- named by President Eisenhower as State
Department
representative on the Presi-
cedented spectacle of a State dent's Committee
on International Infor-
Department official pinch-hit- mation Activities.
Congressman
Frances
Bolton, Ohio
ting for the Minister of Iraq. Republican, chairman of P. the
Near East-
The official, Edwin Wright, read ern Subcommittee of the House Foreign
Committee; Paul .H. Nitze, direc-
the Iraqi's speech attacking Affiirs
tor of the Policy Planning Staff, Depart-
Israel, Zionists, and the loyalty ment of State; Harry D. Collier, director
of the Standard Oil Company of Cali-
of American Jewry.
fornia; Dr. Philip W. Thayer, dean of the
It is all reminiscent of 1948 School of Advanced International Studies
and a trustee of the Foreign Service
when lobbyists, commentators, Educational
•Foundation. He was asked
the Jewish Telegraphic Agency if it
Columnists, fanatical anti-Sem- by
is the policy of his oxganization to permit
ites, and even a Cabinet mem- religious hatred like that exhibited in
the Iraqi speech read by Wright. Thayer
ber • rushed into battle. They said
what he regretted was -that
charged that oil and Arab "the that
news leaked out.' The source of
the
leak,
he
thought, was "one or two
friendshiP were being sacrificed Jewish individuals"
who were not present
because of domestic political at previous conferences.
This particular
covered the' subject of "de-
pressure. Today the charge is 'conference
velopments in the Middle East" yet no
heard, that America has been Israeli or Zionist representatives were
There were a number of Arabs
partial to Israel in Mutual Se- invited,
and anti-Zionist Americans listed on the
curity program — again alleged- program.
ly out of concern for domestic • Asked if it was not' natural•
political considerations.
•is that decent-m inded people
should resent the injection of
religious bias into an "objective"
search fdr international truth,
Thiyer's reply was that there
were Jewish business executives
at the conference who were
pleased by the proceedings. He
said, "it all depends on the type
of Jew." He indicated that fol-
lowers of Les,.sing Rosenwald's
anti-Zionist group were reason-
able but that "the others" were
beneath comment. In- this latter
category, presumably, are those
who fight anti-Semitism even
-when it is disguised as anti-
Zionism—whether in the Soviet
Union or the United States.
Wright read the Iraqi speech
because the Iraqi Minister was
away that day at, the United Na-
tions. However, the Iraqi press
attache, Madam Bedi Afnan,
was present and Wright decided
to assist her in presenting the
Arab propaganda.
Denying that the conference
was pro-Arab, Thayer explained
that the speeches represented
"certain important points of
view" and that there just wasn't
room on the program for the Is-
rael or Zionist viewpoint. Thay-
er said he knew what would
happen to any protests Zionists
might make at the State De-
partment. He did' not elaborate
on this point. Hoivever, all in-
quiries at the State Department
about the conference were re-
ferred to Thayer.
Wright apparently went tog
far because Byroade felt that
some explanation was necessary.
However, Wright feels confident
because of support from ele-
ments higher up in. the Depart-
ment. Byroade is a Truman-ap-
pointee.
The previous position held by
Wright was that of Intelligence
Adviser of the Near Eastern bi- •
vision of the Department, a po- •
sition presumably demanding
objectivity. However, his theme
at that time was that Israel was
to blame for the absence of
peace in the Near East.
Many letters of protest were
received by the Department
when the press reported anti-
Israel remarks by Wright• from
various parts of the country. The
Department said he- was "not
speaking officially." Wright said
he was misquoted. In November ;
1950, Wright told an audience at
the U. S. Naval Academy at, An-
napolis that Israelis murdered
Arabs. He made similar remarks
before the Army War College in
Washington in 1951. A gifted
speaker, he was invited to the
University of Indiana, the Uni-
versity of Maryland, and other
places where thousands got the
"unofficial" facts on Israel.
Finally, on Feb. 28, last year,
Wright stood on the platform oz
the auditorium of the State De-
partment in Washington. This
time he had the official assign..
ment of the Department to brief
a group of American editors who
were preparing to leave for a
visit to Israel and elsewhere: Ac-
cording to the United Press
Patch of that date- "he and the
U. S. had to give financial aid
to Israel when the United Jew-
ish Appeal fell short in its quest
for funds but, he contended, as
long as American aid is forth-
coming, Israel does not feel the
need to' compromise with its
Arab neighbors."
The question of American pol-
icy in the Near East may be an-
swered when the attitude of the
Administration toward Wright
and his high-level -fellow travel-
lers becomes known.
Dance. Canister Drive, Award Program -
Set for PW Child Day Observance -
- Working on the three phases of 'World Jewish Child Day,
planned by the Detroit Council of Pioneer Women, are a trio of
chairmen, left to right, Mesdames GERALD E. GOLDBERG, BEN
BAYER and JAMES BRINDZE.
• ,
*
With April 12 prodlaimed as
World Jewish Child Day, mem-
bers of Pioneer Women in De-
troit are busily engaged in a
three-fold project to observe the
occasion.
Mrs. Gerald E. Goldberg is
chairman, of the Council In-
stallation Luncheon, at which
a trip to Israel will be awarded.
The affair is scheduled for
May 27. •
Previous events are slated for
April 11 when a ,dance, under
the chairmanship of Mrs. Beft
Bayer, at Adas` Shalom Syna-
gogue, will launch the program,
and also for April 12 to 18 when
a canister collection will be in
full swing.
Proceeds from all events will
be sent to aid children in Is-
rael.
Tickets for the dance may be
obtained from any Pioneer Wo-
man, or by contacting the Conn-
ell office, 11818 1,6xter, TO
9-7180.
Laundry Drivers Enlist .for Campaign
.
ISAAC LITWAK, chairman of the Laundry and Linen Drivers
Section of the Services Division of the 1953 Allied Jewish Cam-
paign, (fourth from left)', is shown discussing campaign plait
with members of his section, (left to right) DAVE GOLDSMITH ;
JOHN ISAACS, JULIUS GERSHON, SAMUEL A. CASCADE, HARRY
EHRLICH, GEORGE GALLAGHER and HARRY SCHUMER,. De•
troit Service Group chairman of the services division;
1