Purely Commentary By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Shocking Abuse of Decencies There is a group of agitators in the Middle East whose chief aim is to perpetuate the Arab refugee problem in order to utilize it as a weapon against Israel. This became evident in the past two weeks in Lebanon. There was comparative quiet on the Lebanese- Israeli frontier. It is a well known fact that the Lebanese would cheerfully make peace with Israel. But they fear the .wrath of the Arab Legion and therefore have remained in the ranks of Israel's antagonists. However, Lebanon has respected the calm and the peaceful atmosphere on her border and it was not until only re- cently that an unfortunate incident occurred there, resulting in the murder of three Jews near Meron. As a result of this incident, facts that were well known to the dispassionate, students of Middle Eastern affairs became more generally known. Not only has Lebanon undertaken to prevent re- currence of tragic incidents, but the existing situation among the refugees has been publicized. Harry Gilroy, the NeW York 'Times' correspondent in that area, has sent his newspaper several cables describing the refugees' position. Here is what he cabled from Beirut, Lebanon: "The Lekanese government decided to check agitators who had caused strikes and other protest actions among the 100,000 Palestine Arab refugees in the country. "Premier Rashid Karame gave assurance to this effect to • Henry R. Labouisse, director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. The United Nations_ offic- ial had written the Premier about the possibility that the agency would have to consider moving from Lebanon if the incidents continued. "Mr. Karame immediately called a conference attended by several of his chief ministers and advisers, Mr. Labouisse and Raymond Courvoisier, direCtor of the agency for Lebanon. "The officials told of several recent outbreaks. In one town refugee children were beaten by other refugees for trying to attend a United Nations-sponsored school:• In another place elder- ly refugees were maltreated by agitators when they went for their supplementary rations. Many of 1,067 Palestinian refugees on the agency's staff have had insults shouted at them. Staff members from other nations have received threats. "Picketing groups tried to prevent the distribution of rations to refugees in one town. "Refugee students under the supervision of the American University at Beirut destroyed records after completing techni- Cal surveys for a new vocational school. "The demonstrations' have been caused by the sentiment against Palestine peace proposals advanced by Secretary of State Dulles and against the resettlement program of the United Na- tions refugee agency. "The fact that the agency has no resettlement program in Lebanon was cited by Messrs. Labouisse and Courvoisier as an indication that the ring-leaders were either ignorant or deliber- ately misinforming the refugees. "The agency is building concrete shelters for refugees in three camps. The huts replace tents and makeshift struc- tures, which are scant protection for the refugees against the rigors of winter. "Mr. Labouisse asked government leaders how they stood on the provision of better housing for refugees. They all agreed they favored such a move. "The agency officials also asked that a new site in the south- ern province of Tyr be granted so that a new camp might be built to care for the 9,000 refugees thrust six miles north of the Israeli border in the last two days. The government officials said an answer would be given soon. "Mr. Labouisse is well aware of the refugee view on which the agitators are playing. They talk more than ever about repa- triation, he said in a private talk today.- "There is no interest shown in compensation as an alter- native to the idea that they might receive no reparations But Labouisse gathers that compensation might become important if the refugees once had it established that they could go to their former homes if they wanted to. "Mr. Labouisse hears from refugees who left property behind' that they- should receive rents but not a final settlement: - "The great mass of refugees who had no property still talk of returning to Palestine exactly _ as they knew it in 1948, before they were displaced by the Arab-Israeli war. ' "Mr. Lalbouisse finds. that, in general, the refugees show no knowledge that new Israeli settlements stand in what were open fields and that life is greatly changed there in many other as- pects since 1948._ • "The whole idea of resettlement elsewhere, he observes, is repugnant to the refugees. This attitude, he thinks, outrules .the idea of moving a large number to other countries such as Iraq, as has been suggested at times. "Mr. Labouisse believes that if the refugees knew they could return and if they then discovered that the way of life . they fol- lowed in • the old Palestine had changed under the - Israeli state, many of them would demand compensation. Undoubtedly many would ask for the same kind of life they had known,. he thinks, and large scale development plans would be needed to fill the demand. But no such desire now exists among the refugees, and so Mr. Labouisse finds that agitators can arouse a crowd to anger simply by saying the United Nations is planning to resettle the refugees and their declaring this is compensation. "The worst of it is, according to Mr. Labouisse, the chief agi- tatbrs have motives of personal or political gain rather than _con- cern for the welfare of the refugees." Note especially two important points made in this report: that the refugees were "deliberately" misinformed and the point made in the last paragraph, that the agitators are acting for personal gain and from political motives. In another cable to the New York Times, from Cairo, Mr. Gil- roy quoted Alexander E. Squadrilli, representative to • Egypt of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, who made his first visit to the Gaza strip, to; the effect .that a ser- ious new problem in the Gaza area is that children are being edu- cated .better .than their.parents and "then graduating into idleness." „Mr. Squadrilli stated that idleness is the worse aspect of life for the adult refugees. The trouble in Gaza—and in other areas where there are Arab refugees—is that their leaders seek to perpetuate idleness. By doing so they increase discontent, continue' the misery of people who live in camps, prevent-their being integrated into a wholesome environment and thereby create animosity against Israel. Those who are misled by false propaganda should consider these facts. When Arab leaders cease acting selfishly, when they stop using the refugees as political tools in a game against Israel, the Middle East- ern problem will be settled, as it should be: by peaceful means, at a conference table at which Arabs and Jews once again will act like cousins and not as warring enemies. ReutherInsisis Take Square Stand In Middle East The new look at Geneva is a tactical shift only, declared Wal- ter Reuther on Tuesday night in an address before 500 people at- tending the Golden Jubilee Din- ner of the Detroit Labor Zionist Movement. "Russia is ,attempting to pene- trate the Near East," Reuther de- clared. "Whether their maneu- vers jeopardize Israel or not, Russia will not hesitate." The "maneuvers" referred to the. recent arms agreement sign- ed by Russian-dominated Czecho- slovakia and Egypt. He warned American leaders not to "play footsie" with Egypt by saying if you don't take Russian arms we'll give you ours. Instead, Reuther said, the U. S. should be prepared to sign an agreement with the Arabs and Israel, putting the power and prestige of the American Government behind each na- tion. "Then, if - the Arabs refuse to accept the agreement, the U. S. should sign an agreement with Israel and stand behind it. The entire complex of the Middle East would change," Reuther said. Reuther, president of the UAW- CIO, was delivering his first public address since returning from Israel. He called his trip a two-fold mission: to build friendship between U. S. labor and Israel labor; and to partici- pate in the dedication of. the Philip Murray Center at Elath. "If America is known as •the melting pot," Reuther said, "then Israel is a pressure cooker." The power of the Israelis, who have doubled their population in only a few years, he added, is that they are fighting for something they believe in. The Union leader concluded by saying that the Arabs 'are op 7 Posea tO:tgrael'because it sym- bolizes If there was dictatorship in Israel," Reuther said, "there would be peace." . Morris Lieberman, chairman of the jubilee celebration, was the evening's toastmaster. He intro- duced the guest artist, Shoshana Shoshan, who sang several Israel, Yiddish and operatic _selections in a beautiful soprano voice. She was accompanied by Rebecca Frohman. Baruch Zuckerman, chair- man of the Labor Zionist As- sembly and a member of the Jewish Agency executive, shared the speaker's•platform with Reuther. In an emotional speech—be- cause he has lived all 50 years of Labor Zionism in America and was one of its founders—Zucker- man reviewed its history and ap- pealed for a• continuation of ef- forts in behalf of Israel. Harry Bodzin, a pioneer local Labor Zionist in Detroit, spoke nostalgically of the beginnings of the movement here. Both he and Zuckerman spoke in Yiddish. Detroit- Delegation Leaves. Paris for Israel PARIS—Satisfaction with 'what has been accomplished by Ameri- can generosity in rehabilitating the Jews of Europe was expressed here by four Detroit business and communal leaders, before leav- ing for Israel. Max M. Fisher, Max J. Zivian, Samuel H. Rubiner and Isidore Sobeloff, members of a special United Jewish Appeal survey mission to study the current needs of Jews overseas, left France after attending the 10th annual Country Directors Con- ference of the Joint Distribution Committee, major U.S. welfare agency aiding helpless Jews abroad with funds provided by the UJA. • At the four - day conference held in UNESCO House here, the mission members heard re- ports from JDC directors in 21 countries in Europe, North Afri- ca and the Middle East, along with reports from Jewish corn- munity leaders in those areas. 2--DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, October 21, 1955 WHY, DADDY? How do you answer the child who asks: "Why isn't - there enough room in our schools for all our children?" . . or "Why don't we have enough school books?" . . . or "Why isn't there a full time teacher for each classroom?" ,61 ,4 wools Ah The best answer to these questions is to -% give your full support to your community - ( school board, to your religious and commu- nity , United Hebrew Schools' supervisory bodies, to the PTAs and similar public-spirit-• ed organizations. • '16#4, Comt0 The illustrations on the First and Edi- torial pages of this issue have been prepared by the National Citizens Commission for the Public Schools in cooperation with the Advertising Council of America, for the Better Schools Campaign. The special articles in this issue aim to guide our people towards a better understanding of our educational problems. For a fuller understanding of the truth S84•1 that better schools build better communities (t` --an ideal applicable to our United Hebrew Schools as well as our public schools—write for the free booklet, "How Can Citizens Help Their Schools?", by •addressing Better Schools, 2 W. 45th St., New York 36. Moroccan Clashes Analyzed in Britain; Position of Jews Remains Unsettled LONDON, (JTA)—The French Moroccan struggle for national autonomy has aggravated the position of the Jews in Morrocco, according to a report presented to the Board of Deputies of British Jews. Some of the Moroccan Jews, "more advanced economically and socially," are "assumed" to be siding with France, while "large groups of Jews" support the nationalist movement, but the net result is that Jews often suffer attacks "for allegedly supporting one side or the other, and - their position has become gravely unsettled," the report states. To gain support of world opin- ion, the report continues, nationa- list parties declare that they. are not anti-Jewish. But, the report points out, "whenever nationalist demonstrations against t h e French occur, Jews and Jewish shops are among those attacked. A number of Jews have been killed, and much Jewish property has been destroyed. Declaring that it is impossible to foresee how long the present tensions will persist and whpt further outbreaks may take place, the report states: . "It is under the pressure of this dangerous posi- tion that an ever-increasing num- ber of Moroccan Jews is becom- ing increasingly and anxiously interested in, immigration to Is- rael whose government and Par- liament are now devising means of taking in as many of them as possible." In New York, Dr. Maurice L. Perlzweig director of the inter- national affairs department of the World Jewish. Congress, de- clared at a meeting of the Ameri- can Jewish Congress that the conflict in Morocco "repre- sents only one front in a war be- ing fomented throughout North Africa and the Middle East" by a Moscow-Cairo Axis which, "has long been in preparation." The Moscow-Cairo alignment, he declared, "revealed itself overtly with the projected sale of Communist arms to Egypt' but has been evident "for many months in French MOMCCO, par- ticularly in the form of incessant incitement by Radio Cairo - and Radio Budapest." The United States government was called upon by Dr. Israel GOldstein, - president of the AJC, addressing the opening session, to declare its "unequivocal guarantee of Israel's integrity" in order to prevent armed conflict in the Middle East. "In the light of the 'arms agreements which Egypt has reached with Com- munist nations," he stated, "the urgency of a guarantee for Is- rael's security has become the mere pressing." Claims Delegation Arrives in Austria (Direct JTA Teletype Wino To The Jewish News) VIENNA—A delegation of the Committee on Jewish Claims on Austria is arriving here this weekend ,to work out with offi- cials of Austrian finance ministry, regulations governing a fund from which payments will be made to Jews, who formerly held Austrian nationality. Between You and Me By BORIS SMOLAR (Copyright, 1955, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.) Washington Echoes . - Washington is sincerely worried over Moscow's increased ef- forts to penetrate the Middle East through arming the Arabs and offering them economic assistance . . . And the- worry is not due so much to the fact that the Soviet move creates danger for Israel, but to the possibility of Moscow realizing its _old ambition of be- coming a "protector"- of the Arab world . . . It is no secret in Washington that the Soviets have a stock of arms which they can give to the Arab nations without suffering any depletion in their arsenals . . . They • have thousands of postwar tanks that are ob -4 solete by Soviet standards, but are modern by Arab standards .. . They also have about 5,000 MIG's that are outmoded by later Soviet jet fighters, but would be grabbed by any small nation .. . Thus, by getting rid of a lot of surplus weapons, the Soviet loses nothing and stands to gain. not only influence in the Middle East, but also access to the Mediterranean and Indian. oceans . . . This would mean that the Truman doctrine, Which was an American move to block Soviet penetration in the Mediterranean, -would be breached like the Maginot Line was breached in France by the Nazi Army during World War II . . . This dismal prospect gives the State Department a headache because at the moment none of the higher officials knows what can be done ,to effectively paralyze the Soviet action • . . It is clear that an important sector of the Middle East would become a Soviet outpost because arms gener- ally do not come unescorted, but bring parts, replacements, tech- nicians and influence . . . If the Soviet deal with the Arab countries is not effectively checked now it will en.danger .NATO and the entire defense structure which the U S has: built 'pveir,sgaq!Nr a kree • :W-orad.