Friday, July 20, 1956—THE DETROIT JEWISH NEW S-2
Purely Commentary
By PHILIP SLOMOV1TZ
The Zeineddine Scandal: Intruder Must Be Expelled
A policy of diplomatic appeasement has made it possible
for Arab propagandists to invade the sacredness of America's
democratic spheres and to attack the Jews of this country. The
Zeineddine scandal is described in this editorial, "Vicious
Falsehood," in the Chicago Daily News:
"For a sample of the kind of reasoning that blocks a peace
between Israel and the Arab nations we give you the remarks
of Farid Zeineddine, Syrian Ambassador to the United States.
Speaking at a Normal University forum, this diplomatic envoy
asserted:
" 'The American Jew is not an American emotionally or even
ultimately. A Zionist cannot have real allegiance to the country
in which he lives'."
"The effrontery of this attempt to pass on the qualifications
of American citizens is matched only by the bitter prejudice that
it reveals. It is interesting to note that a substantial number
of American Jews are opposed to Zionism, giving as one reason
that it would invite this false allegation. But it is equally a
falsehood when applied to the great numbers of Jews who
support Israel.
"It was undoubtedly Hitler's massacres that gave the greatest
impetus to the dream of a homeland safe from persecution.
American Jews view this effort with the same earnest, sympa-
thetic and helpful attitude that Americans of Irish descent gave
to the cause of Erin's freedom and that Greco-Americans give
to the cause of their countrymen on Cyprus.
To say that this makes them any less good Americans is
vicious nonsense. It is totally out of place in the language of
an accredited diplomat from another country."
An Arab who does not understand the sanctity of American
citizenship has invaded our shores. He has intruded upon internal
American affairs and is insulting American citizens. Common
decency demands that he should be expelled from this country.
`Don't Go Near the Water'—Story With a Thousand Laughs
The wise publisher makes it a point to produce at least
one good humorous story for summer reading. Random House,
whose president, Bennett Cerf, is America's chief authority on
humor, has a sure best seller in "Don't Go Near the Water" by
William Brinkley.
This novel (it is sub-titled on the jacket of the book as
"The side-splitting story of an intrepid task force of dedicated
Naval officers who made almost everything but sea duty!"), due
to appear in mid-July, slated as the mid-summer selection of
the Book of the Month Club, will keep you roaring. It is an
utterly funny tale of Navy public relations men whose chief,
fortified by Navy manuals, a sextant and paper clips he loved
to toss accurately into a corner wastebasket, constantly searched
for means of publicizing the Navy. There' are complications
galore, all of them solved with such hilarity that the reader
will find it difficult to move away from the story until he
has gotten all the funny juice out of it.
The front jacket shows a pair of bloomers flying from
a cruiser's mast. It was raised on the U.S. Seattle when a
woman correspondent was permitted to make a trip on it—and
the men _manning it fought with greater inspiration as a result
of the flag they foisted. The story of the woman correspondent,
and incidents akin to it, throw new light on the Public
Relations profession. Those in the field, and the laymen who
are intrigued by "publicity," • will relate the tricks in "Don't
Go Near the Water" every time they think of water or the Navy.
Ensign Max Siegel, one of the geniuses in the story, the
only man who had been near water in his career, is among
the chief pranksters. His love affair with the Tuluran girl, the
encyclopedia he brings her for her school, the new school
building he secures by tricking a thousand dollar bill out of
a loud-mouthed Chicago correspondent who had been terrorizing
the PR men, and his engagement to the Tuluran, add fun to
the score of side-splitting incidents.
The upshot, before the story's wind-up, comes with the
atomic bomb, with the incredulity of it, with the Navy PR men
failing to believe that anything like it could have happened
without the Navy. One of the men offered an explanation:
"Brother, you know what happened today? The goddam world
turned inside out, that's what happened. Moses threw the Ten
Commandments down off a cloud, a mushroom cloud, and they
busted into a million pieces • ." And another of the PR
geniuses later chimed in: "Actually, there is nothing new under
the sun . . . I think Ecclesiastes may have been the first
to say it."
It is not to be inferred from this that there is much
seriousness in "Don't Go Near the Water." Serious notes would
be too hot for summer reading, and the hilarity of this book,
instead, makes you forget the heat.
• •
:
Dublin's Jewish Mayor
Robert Briscoe probably will hold the limelight for a long
time—and will continue to bring glory to Ireland's capital. As
the Lord Mayor of Dublin, and as a Jew, he will be an object
of curiosity. Fortunately, he can hold his ground. He is an old
and tried politician, he is militant in the principles he pursues
and he knows how to hold his ground in defending a cause like
Israel's.
It is no wonder that he leaned toward Revisionism in his
Zionist activities. He had fought for Irish freedom and he knew
that in battling for a just cause like Zionism you must be equally
as firm.
He is a close friend of the former Irish Premier, Eamon de
Valera, who had influenced him not to abandon politics. Briscoe
is the father of seven children. He can ill afford to be in politics
and he wanted to devote himself to engineering and his phar-
maceutical business. But de Valera urged him to remain in pub-
lic life.
Briscoe and de Valera toured Israel together. The Premier
was deeply impressed and as a result he arranged for the ship-
ment of a million pounds of Irish beef to Israel—kashered.
We are indebteded to Iry Kupcinet of the Chicago Sun-Times
for the reminder that another Jew, Sir Otto Jaffe, twice was
elected Mayor of another Irish City—Belfast—in 1899 and 1904.
For a time, Israel's Chief Rabbi, Dr. Isaac Herzog, was the
world's favorite "Irish Jew"—having acquired an Irish brogue
while Chief Rabbi of Ireland. But Briscoe now has stolen the
limelight,
Condemn Soviet Treatment of Jews: Warsaw
Organ Scores USSR Assimilation 'Claims, tint
Polish Communist Chief Is Called Anti-Semite
PARIS, JTA)—Soviet leaders'
explanations that Jewish cul-
ture disappeared in the USSR
because the Jews wanted to be
assimilated was scored in Folk-
stimme, Polish Jewish Com-
munist newspaper. The Yiddish
newspaper, published in War-
saw,. criticized the Soviet au-
thorities for their slowness in
rehabilitating Jewish cultural
institutions, and professed ig-
norance of why the situation of
Soviet Jews had been passed
over in silence at the recent
20th Congress of the. Soviet
Communist Party in Moscow.
Commenting on letters from
its readers, Folkstimme said
that one group of readers ques-
tioned Nikita Khrushchev's sil-
ence on the "tremendous suffer-
ings of the many millions of
Jews in the Soviet Union" and
the failure of the congress to
discuss the disappearance of the
Yiddish literature, press and
theater as well as other Jewish
social and cultural institutions.
"We don't know the causes" for
the silence at the Moscow con-
gress, Folkstimme admitted.
A second question posed by
its readers, Folkstimme said,
was: Why had the Soviet Union
failed to fully rehabilitate or
revive Jewish cultural and so-
cial life in the Soviet Union?
"There can be no doubt," said
Folkstimme, "that the attempt
to explain this by the so-called
full assimilation of millions of
Jews in the Soviet Union in
justification for a failure to re-
vive their cultural and social
life cannot stand up to any criti-
cism and does not correspond to
reality.
"Our readers are absolutely
right when they say to us that
recent experience blatantly
demonstrates how correct this
argument is. This is shown by
the fact that Yiddish concerts
and recitals in Moscow and
other places have attracted
large audiences and the theaters
could not absorb all those Jews
in the Soviet Union who were
eager to hear artistic Yiddish
expressions of Yiddish litera-
ture and theater, and to see
again the Yiddish press," Folk-
stimme concluded.
who shares the anti-Jewish
prejudice of the average Rus-
sian and Polish peasant."
The correspondent reports
that he has established that a
number of Jews have been dis-
missed from administrative posi-
tions and that there have also
been dismissals from the army.
"There are reports that graves
in Jewish cemeteries have been
desecrated and that Warsaw
school teachers have been
making Jewish children sit by
themselves," the correspondent
says. "The Jews in Poland fear
that these manifestations are
only the overture to a campaign
of severity against them by par-
ty chief Ochab which will make
all recent incidents seem but
a whisper," he concludes.
Soviet Suppression of Jewish
Culture Assailed by PEN
LONDON, (JTA)—The 28th
international congress of PEN
(poets, essayists and novelists)
clubs adopted a resolution scor-
ing Soviet suppression of Yid-
dish literature and the impris-
onment and execution of Jewish
writers.
The resolution, submitted by
representatives of the Yiddish,
Estonian and Latvian PEN cen-
ters, expressed grave concern
at the "number of writers in
various parts of the world still
imprisoned in forced residence
or in labor camps or prevented
from publishing their works be-
cause of their opinions, race or
language." The resolution asked
all PEN clubs and centers to
work for the freeing of impris-
oned writers and for aiding
writers who were not impris-
oned but were denied publica-
tion of their writings.
One of the sponsors of the
resolution, Joseph Leftwich,
representing the Yiddish PEN
clubs, said that the document
was intended to cover the liqui-
dation of Yiddish literature in
the USSR. He spoke of the dis-
appearance and recent an-
nouncement of the execution of
Russian Yiddish writers. His
speech was greeted by a storm
of applause from congress dele-
gates and then the delegates
stood in silence for one minute
in memory of writers who had
died in the circumstances de-
scribed by Mr. Leftwich.
Jewish delegates to the con-
gress were given a reception
by the British Jewish Tercen-
tenary Council.
Boris Smolar's
'Between You
... and Me'
(Copyright 1956,
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
Israeli Currents
Israel will spend more than $107,000,000 in the United States
this year . . . A third of Israel's import from the United States is
foodstuffs, primarily grain and dairy products .This year,
more than ever before, Israel will be compelled to buy foodstuff
and consumers goods for stockpiling against the possibility of
war . . Very few persons realize that if war should come to
Israel now, the situation would not be nearly the same as during
the 1948 War of Liberation . . . At that time the Arab countries
had no bombers and no submarines . . . Israel was cut off from
the rest of the world by land, but not by air or sea . . • Products
could reach Israel by ship and plane . . . This would be much
more difficult now, since Egyptian submarines and bombers,
acquired from Russia, would make access to Israel by sea and
air almost impossible ... Thus, in case of war, Israel will have
to depend to a very great extent on reserves of food and other
necessities it can accumulate now . . . The foreign currency
budget approved by the Israel government for 1956-57 is $480,-
000,000, which is $78,000,000 more than last year . . . Of this
sum, a total of $250,000,000 is allocated for imports of consumer
Communist Chief in Poland
goods .. . Israel's imports from the United States are growing
Seen Inspiring Anti-Semitism
each year, and so is America's imports from Israel . . . However,
NEW YORK, (JTA) — Ed- about 75 percent of Israel's export to the United States consists
ward Ochab, chief of the Com- Of polished diamonds.
•
munist Party of Poland, whose
position is reported to be shaky Communal Trends
after the Poznan riots, is using
The need for the American Jewish community to establish a
anti-Jewish prejudice among
the Polish people to divert them school of Jewish communal service, to train social workers, has
from the real causes of the gen- been brought to the forefront by Isidore Sobeloff, executive vice-
eral discontent in the country, president of the Jewish Welfare Federation of Detroit . . . In an
it was reported in a cable from excellent appraisal of the changes in American Jewish communal
life, Mr. Sobeloff stresses that although there
Warsaw to the World-Telegram
are more professionally trained people in
and Sun.
Jewish communal service today, the great
The cable quotes an unnamed
shortage of personnel continues to be a real
Jewish official of the Com-
problem . . . He points out that American-
munist Party in Warsaw as
Jewish organizations have recognized the
stating: ''We believe the anti-
need for European and Israeli-Jewish schools
Jewish campaign has begun. It i
of social work, with the major component
is being directed from the very
being the professional skills of social work.
top by party secretary Ochab
. . . There is no reason, he argues, why
and his group." The correspon-
American Jewry should not recognize the
dent adds that "according to
need for an American-Jewish school of social
Polish sources, Ochab is relying
work, with emphasis on the Jewish compo-
on the backing of Khrushchev
nent ... Training in Jewish communal serv-
ice, he emphasizes, cannot be made available
in non-sectarian schools of social work .. .
Israel Signs 2- Year
Sobeloff
And the increased homogeneity of the total
schools
Oil Pact with USSR Jewish community seems to counter-indicate separate problem
under segmentary theological auspices . . . Hence, the
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)
can be solved only by the establishment of a school by the
MOSCOW—Israel and the
American-Jewish community as a whole . . . Mr. Sobeloff finds
that the creation of Israel—and the contributions that the Jews
Soviet Union on Tuesday
of America have made to it—had a strong impact on social
signed a two-year contract
under which Israel will buy
workers and social services . . The inclusion of Israeli causes,
primarily the United Jewish Appeal, in the framework of the
$18,000,000 t o $20,000,000
Jewish welfare funds, he says, has broadened the base of identi-
worth of oil. The oil will be
fication of the Jewish population in every community . . Pre-
refined at the Haifa Refin-
eries.
senting the domestic and overseas themes on the same platform
has given the friend of the local agency a world perspective . .
Negotiations also are under
It has also given the devoted friend of Israel the understanding
way for the purchase of
that the Jewish world includes his own home town . . . Mr.
Soviet oil drilling equipment
Sobeloff's analysis of the changes in American Jewish life, made
when contracts are signed.
before the National Conference of Jewish Communal Service,
They will provide for Rus-
will .give food for thought to many Jewish community leaders
sian technicians to go to Is-
when it is published . . . It deals with every phase of American
rael to help operate the new
Jewish life and with all the factors which influence the nature
machinery.
of Jewish communal service in this country-
•