Purely Commentary

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Rotary Movement: Israel's Kinship With the U. S.

Trumani. Denies Anti-Jewish Provisions
In U.S.-Sandi Arabia 1951 Agreement;
Lehman, Humphrey Hit Discriminations

We are indebted to Raanan Sivan, Israel's Consul in Los
Former President Harry S. assignments to duty are con-
Angeles, for the following interesting facts about the Rotary
Truman, in a statement at his cerned or in any other way."
movement in Israel:
"I cannot understand the
home in Independence, Mo.,
"There are today 14-15 ,Clubs in. Israel, thp oldest of which commenting, on the criticisms in Government of the United
is in Jerusalem, having received its charter in 1929. At the time the United States Senate of the States officially subscribing to
of the establishment of the State there were 3 Clubs: Jerusalem, E i s e n h ower Administration's this prejudice and honoring
Tel-Aviv/Jaffa and Haifa. Jerusalem and Haifa always had a compliance with Saudi Arabian it," he said, pointing out that
mixed membership:i.e. Jews, Arabs and Christians, while Tel discrimination against Ameri- the government also tolerated
Aviv has many foreign diplomats as its members. The present can Jews, said that the 1951 Saudi Arabian discrimination
President of the Haifa Club is an Arab. Since 1949 the Rotary agreement between the United against American business-
movement began to spread over the entire country and now has States and Saudi Arabia was men. "It is a fact," he stated,
Clubs in Nazareth (an all Arab Club), Beersheba, Ashkelon, "not intended to bar American "that before any article pro-
Nathanya, Hedera, Acre, Safed, Nahariya and others. The over- Jews or any other American."
duced in America can be im-
all membership is close to 500, and contrary to more established
Mr. Truman said that there ported into Saudi Arabia on
clubs in other countries, the average age of the members is was
a standard provision where- a commercial basis, the sup-
comparatively young. The character of the membership depends by Saudi
Arabia reserved the plier of these goods has to
very much on the community in which it exists. In Jerusalem, right to object
to individuals the certify that his firm is not a
the largest single group is the professional and civil servant. In United States wished
to assign `Jewish' firm."
Tel Aviv the commercial world is predominant, while in Haifa to the Dhahran airfield, but that
Recalling that the Republican
the industrialists are in evidence. Most of the Clubs have civic "any country has that right" on Adminstration of William How-
betterment as one of their main objectives. Only recently the an individual and not on a race ard Taft in 1912 cancelled a
Clubs in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv/Jaffa and Petach Tikva combined or creed basis.
in a project which netted a profit of some IL. 45,000 which was
Senator Herbert H. Lehman
dedicated to the setting up of recreational facilities for under-
privileged children. In Haifa the Rotary Club was instrumental had protested in the Senate
in setting up a city-wide organization to deal with the problems. against the U. S.-Saudi-Arabia
of the rehabilitation of ex - convicts, while in Acre the Club - contractual terms "under which
undertook the publication of a pamphlet extolling the beauties the U. S. Government under-
of their citY. Other projects undertaken by the various Clubs takes to see to it that no Ameri-
include the support of crippled children's homes„ encouragement can soldiers of the Jewish faith
of vocational training, prizes for essays on civic affairs, etc. should serve in Saudi Arabia."
Senator Hubert Humphrey of
Among those who accepted honorary memberships in the
Jerusalem Club are His Excellency the Foreign Minister, Mr. Minnesota similarly condemned
Moshe Sharett (at that time the Prime Minister of Israel), and these provisions.

Russian - American friendship
treaty when the Czarist regime
discriminated .against U. S.
Jews, Sen. Lehman questioned
Secretary Dulles' attitude to-
ward such discrimination today.
He also questioned basic Ameri-
can policy in the Near East. "To
Mr. Dulles there is nothing
reprehensible about supplying
arms to a feudal autocracy like
Saudi Arabia which is bent on
the destruction of the free Re-
public of Israel. To me this
shows, on Mr. Dulles' part, a
kind of. moral blindness,' he
stated. (Purely Commentary, in
the Feb: 24 issue of The Jewish
News, dealt at length with this
question).

(See Editorial, Page 4)

Linen Group Is 30% Ahead in Drive

the President of the Supreme Court, Mr. Justice Olshan.

This is one of the many ways in which Israel has cemented
a kinship with American movements. There also are a number of
Masonic lodges in Israel and branches of the Lions movement.
There is a fascinating story about the Rotary movement in
Israel, written for the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) Bulletin
by its Haifa correspondent. We quote from the ADL Bulletin's
story "Arab in Israel: Haifa's Rotarians were unanimous in their
choice of Fawzi Banda":

"Arab-Israel tensions haven't destroyed the brotherhood
spirit of this city's Rotary Club. Its president this year is Fawzi
John Banda, a 48-year-old Palestinian Arab. He was the unani-
mous choice, a tribute to an urbane and deeply humanitarian
personality which has endeared Banda to his fellow Rotarians,
most of whom are Jews.
"If his selection is a pleasant surprise to the outsider viewing
it against the backdrop of Arab-Jewish animosity, it is accepted
as commonplace among Haifa's 170,000 citizens.
"Banda himself is a shy man, but of strong moral convictions.
Banda can, with pride, trace his ancestry back to the 13th
century. For almost 600 years the family members have been
faithful communicants of the Greek Orthodox Church.
"Banda was born in 1907 in Acre, the son of a prosperous
grain merchant. On sunny days he can see the city of his birth
across the semi-circle that is Haifa Bay. His adopted city of
Haifa is not yet 40 years old as a modern Westernized port,
although for 2,000 years it existed as a fishing village in the
shadow of Acre, one of the world's oldest communities.
"But by the 20th century, ancient Acre had lost out to its
younger, more energetic rival. Within 20 years, Haifa's popula-
tion jumped from some 7,000 in 1910 to nearly 50,000 in 1930.
Christian and Moslem Arabs, Jews, Germans, British, French,
Italians, Armenians and others who live side by side in the ex-
panding city, keep much to themselves socially, mixing only
during working hours.
"One of the few common meeting grounds was the Rotary
Club, founded in 1932. Its membership reflected- the cosmopolitan
nature of the populace.
"Up to 1947, the list of club presidents included 11 Britons,
three Jews, one Arab and one Italian. To this day, English has
remained the club's language.
"Fawzi John Banda was educated in Roman Catholic and
Protestant boarding schools, the French-Jewish Alliance School
and a German Templar institution. One result of this is that
speaks English, French, German and some Hebrew, besides his
native Arabic.
At the age of 11 Fawzi enrolled as a cub in the Baden-
Powell boy scout movement. Six years later he was chosen to
represent Palestine's boy scouts at a world-wide jamboree in
England.
"But when the Palestinian branch quietly but firmly in-
stituted a restrictive racial policy, Banda, characteristically, quit
the movement cold.
"He studied accounting, banking and insurance, becoming
senior representative in Palestine for a large insurance firm.
Young Banda wrote policies for Arabs and Jews; both respected
his integrity in business and liked his gentle ways.
"The outbreak of war between Israel and the Arab states in
May, 1948 caught Banda in Lebanon on a business trip. The
borders of newly-born Israel, besieged by the armies of five
Arab states, were sealed. Banda was, involuntarily, a refugee.
When hostilities ended, Jewish Rotarians successfully pleaded
his case and the Israeli government allowed him to return.
"Banda had been gone for 20 months.
"Like his father in World War I, whose grain stocks had
been confiscated, Fawzi Banda suffered his share of war damage.
During his temporary exile, he lost his home and personal
effects. But he kept the affection of his fellow citizens.
"While he was gone, Haifa's Rotary Club experienced its
most trying period. At the time there were 13 Arab members,
18 Jewish, 12 British and one Dutch. Whatever may have been
the political differences among them, they met on common
ground at Rotary when they came, often crawling under gun-
fire, to the brotherhood luncheons."

Sen. Lehman said: "Our
airbase in Saudi Arabia may
be an important one, but I
doubt whether it is as impor-
tant as the maintenance of
the integrity of the United
States." He called on the State
Department to disavow anti-
Jewish discrimination by re-
negotiating contractual ar-
rangements with Saudi Arabia
to eliminate discrimination
against Americans "insofar as

Edmonton Jews Win
On Issue of Schools'
Religious Teachings

EDMONTON (JTA)—Opposi-
tion by Dr. J. D. Dower, presi-
dent of the Edmonton Jewish
Community Council, against the
introduction of religious in-
struction in the local public
schools has caused the local
authorities to turn down a pro-
posal by the Edmonton District
Council of Churches for a
weekly half-hour of religious
instruction in the schools.
After studying a memoran-
dum from Dr. Dower, acting in
behalf of the Jewish commun-
ity, the school authorities ex-
pressed "unalterable" opposition
to the proposal which would
have placed the onus "upon the
pupil to leave the room if he
does not care to listen" to the
religious instruction. This rul-
ing returns the situation to what
it was previously: the school day
may be started with the reading
of a prayer and one day each
week may be closed with the
reading of a Biblical selection
from a compilation provided by
the s c h o 01 authorities and
drafted by a representative
group of ministers.

Latin American Jewry Backs
Israel In Its Present Crisis

(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)

MONTEVIDEO—A resolution
pledging s u p p or t of Latin
American Jewry for the State
of Israel in its current crisis
and a "Montevideo declara-
tion" drafted by leading non-
Jewish friends of Israel from a
number of Latin American
countries, were adopted by ac-
clamation at the historic Pan-
American Jewish Conference,
which closed here Monday
night. Some 150,000 persons,
crammed into the Penarol Pal-
ace here and the square outside
the building, shouted their ap-
proval during the reading of
the declaration which expressed
solidarity with Israel and asked
There are friendly relationships between Arabs and Jews on the entire civilized world to
many other fronts in Israel. That which is being accomplished defend and aid the Jewish
by Rotary also is possible on the broader Israel-Arab arena. If State.
only the war-mongers could see the light and realize that peace
in the Middle East would redound to the benefit and progress of
2—Detroit Jewish News

of the PrItire

VItieltalv Alf. roll

0 1 ()KR

The linen and laundry drivers, under the leadership of
Isaac Litwak, are doing an outstanding job in the Allied
Jewish Campaign following their meeting of plant stewards.
With 46 members of the section present, campaign contribu-
tions averaged a 30% increase over '55 giving. Pictured here
are (left to right), seated: J. Stein, Harry Schumer, chairman
of the services division, Litwak, Arthur King, William
Avrunin, Federation associate director who addressed the
meeting; (standing), S. Cohen, B. Zipser, Louis Zamler,
Harold Berk, Maurice Sandler, vice-chairman of services
division, George Gallagher.

Between You and Me

By BORIS SMOLAR

(Copyright, 1956, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)

Political Notes

Will President Eisenhower—now that he intends to run for
a second term—permit the State Department to continue its pol-
icy of withholding arms from Israel while supplying them to
Arab states? . . . This question is being asked by many in Wash-
ington who are deeply interested in the Arab-Israel situation.
... It does not stand to reason that Eisenhower would like to have
such a policy of discrimination practiced for the next four years.
. Actually, it is expected that Israel will soon obtain some arms
from the United States, although not to the extent she asked.
... There is talk in Washington that the United States is planning
to offer NIKE anti-aircraft rockets to both Israel and the Arab
states for defense of their cities against possible air attack. . .
NIKE is a ground-to-air missile that has great accuracy against
high-flying craft and cannot be used for offensive purposes. .
Among members of both Houses of Congress the mood is grow-
ing in favor of providing U. S. arms to Israel for defensive pur-
poses. .. . A declaration expressing this sentiment will be pub-
lished in Washington in the near future, carrying the signatures of
151 members of Congress. .. • Among them are 101 Democrats and
50 Republicans, and they include 13 members of the House For-
eign Relations Committee.

Communal Problems

Why are the Jewish Centers losing their young adult mem-
bership? . . . Why are members between 18 and 30 drOpping out
of the Centers. in large numbers? . . . Answers to this question
have been offered by experts in Jewish Center work. . . . They
partly explain why young adults, who constituted about 30 per-
cent of the Center membership in pre-war years, now present
hardly 5 percent of the membership. . . One reason Is that the
average marriage age is lower today than in the pre-war period.
. . . Thus, young people, when they get married, find their inter-
ests in building a home and a family rather than in Center activ-
ities. . . . Also young men drop out of the Center when they are
drafted into the armed services. . . . When they return from
service, they are changed men. .. . They usually seek to make
up for lost time in study or in business, and find no time for the
Center. . . Another reason is the fact that today's young adult
has enough money to purchase recreation outside of the Center
and is willing to pay well for it . . . Still another reason is the
automobile. . . . Most of the Jewish young adults today have cars
and are highly mobile. . . They no longer depend on functions
in the Jewish Center. . . They can pick themselves up and,
within an hour or two, be in a neighboring large city where they
can find sports, recreation and entertainment on a much larger
scale than at their local Jewish Center. . . . Some experts believe
that a major reason for losing young adult membership lies in
the fact that the Jewish Centers have actually -no Jewish content
in their programs. .. . Sports, relaxation and entertainment alone
is not a sufficient attraction for Jewish young men and women
today because they can get it anywhere else .. . It is Jewish con-
tent and a Jewish atmosphere that they seek when they come to
the Jewish Center.. . And Jewish content, as Charles Permet,
a Jewish Community Center leader, points out, cannot be turned
on and off like a water faucet on Chanukah, or Purim or Passover
and still retain real meaning. . . He rightly suggests, that instead
of blaming the young adult for apathy, the Jewish Centers should

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