Purely Commentary
1956-THE DETROIT JEWISH
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Anti-American Council's Flagrant Distortions of Truth
We have seen many distortions of truth by the anti-American
and anti-Jewish Council that continues to call itself "American"
and "Jewish," but none as outrageous as its recent statement
that to the platform committee of the Democratic National Con-
vention.:,
The mere attempt by this Council to introduce the discredited
claim of dual loyalties and the stupid debate over a "Jewish vote"
is disgusting enough. But when it veers from the truth to the
extent of suggesting that a resolution, unanimously adopted by
the United States Senate, condemning discrimination against
American Jews on account of their religion, should be applied to
Israel as well as to the Arab countries, it brazenly distorts facts
and creates an atmosphere that is deserving only of contempt.
American Jews are being barred from Arab countries,
primarily Saudi Arabia. The 10 national Jewish organizations,
whose appeal for action was addressed to the Democratic Plat-
form Committee, have stated the issue fairly and squarely.
They showed how anti-Semitism is playing a role in our own
Government. They were courageous in their challenge to Presi-
dent Eisenhower and Secretary of State Dulles, who must share
guilt for this unfortunate situation.
If there were an iota of evidence that Israel, too, imposes
discriminatory practices against any group, anywhere—in or
or outside her borders—the charge would have been heard a
long time ago. Israel has enough enemies who would have
grabbed at an opportunity to harm her. But there is no ground
for such charges, other than in the minds of self-hating Jews
who are bent upon destroying their own kinsmen.
The disgraceful acts of this- anti-Jewish-anti-American Coun-
Cil —itl is the only description that fits this group — must be
exposed 'for all to know their true colors. This group is indifferent
to the criticisms of its own members. It had ignored the con-
demnations of the late Drs. Leo M. Franklin and Louis Walsey
eight years ago; they are ignoring the recent repudiations of
Rabbi Irving Reichert; they are indifferent to the Contempt
in which they are held by non-Jews who see them as betrayers of
common decency.
They do not speak for even a tenth of one per cent of Ameri-
can Jewry. But they make wildly false claims. When 1,300
American rabbis, representing all grodps in American Judaism,
issued a statement denouncing this Council, its executive director,
Elmer Berger, who himself dares to continue to use the title Rabbi
(note to the Central Conference of American Rabbis: isn't it time
he was -defrocked?), had the audacity to declare, in a statement
that received prominent space in a number of newspapers: "There
are an estimated total of 3,300 Orthodox, Conservative and Re-
forni rabbis in this country. It is significant that more than 2,000
of them seem' to have refused to sign this statement."
We have already exposed his charge. (See - editorial "Auda-
city!" in Jewish News of June 1. (There are additional facts which
must be stated, in the light of the recent resignation from this
group of Rabbi Reichert:
The Council for Judaism originally was organized, about 11
years ago, by 95 Reform rabbis who, before the rebirth of the
State of Israel, were anti-Zionists. Only eight rabbis are known
still to be affiliated with the Council. They are: Goldenson, Foster,
L
_azaron, Fineshriber, Cronbach, Berger, Singer, David Goldberg.
(If one or more of these have seen the light and will have
quit the Council by the time this is published, we apologize for
placing them in such bad company).
Undoubtedly, among 12,000 laymen who are Council members
there are many who have been misled and do not realize that
their spokesmen are using them as tooLs in a campaign to invite
wholesale murder of the Israelis by condoning Arab acts of de-
struction. Perhaps they will see the light upon reading the facts.
There are a few among those who are giving comfort to these
destroyers of common decency for whom we once entertained
great admiration. Among them is the editor of the Menorah
Journal, Dr. Henry Hurwitz. In an article in the Summer / issue
of Menorah Journal, "Three Ways for Israel," he proposes a "way
of mission" and abandomnent of striving to be a "nation like all
other nations," and to "offer to disarm and to merge its sover-
eignty into a Middle East Federation."
How long can a man be blind to reality and remain un-
reasonable? If he had gone to the Arabs and secured their con-
sent to such a program he might have had a leg to stand on. But, .
this deluded editor knows that Arabs have refused to deal with
Israel. He knows that they are bent upon destroying Israel. He
knows that all that is necessary • for the Arabs to accomplish their
purpose is to secure Israel's disarmament.
Henry: how long do you think Israel would last if she dis-
armed? Do yOu think it would be more than a matter of hours?
Yet, such utterly ridiculous opinions are printed in a journal
that is financed with contributions we make — small as they are
— through our Allied Jewish Campaign.
Poor little Israel! Why is she thus being penalized?
•
Isaiah, in the second sentence of the first chapter, warned us
of the erring sons of Israel:
"Children have I reared, and brought up
And they have rebelled against Me."
("Bonim gidalti v'romamti, v'haim posh'u bi").
The latter sentence truly should be translated "they have
betrayed me."
But they are few in number, and their inanities must not
remain unanswered. Let the facts be known, so that their sins
be exposed and their poisons detected before their self-hatred
harms innocent people.
Congressman Powell and the Arabs
In the closing days of Congress, the Hon. Adam C. Powell,
Jr., member of Congress from New York, emerged as the cham-
pion and the glorifier of Yemen - and Saudi Arabia.
It is difficult to understand how a man who is battling for
/justice for downtrodden people can overlook the fact that the
people on the defense in the Middle East are not the Arabs but
the Israelis; that glorifying the offenders does not help the
cause of the embattled people of Israel.
Rep. PoWell spoke of: "The success which King Ibn Saud
has achieved through his efforts, and with the minimum of
external support, has gained for himself universal esteem and
the affection of Arabs."
Really, Congressman? Did you ever hear of the $1,000,000-a-
day oil royalties that go to this hero of the Saudians—for use
exclusively by the King and his Princes—to the detriment of
his subjects who live in squalor?
You might do a little checking, Congressman, before you
place a dictator on a pedestal.
Dulles Hears Jewish Appeals in Support of
Israel, Against Arab States' Discrimination
WASHINGTON, ( J T A )
Seeretary of State Dulles has
been called upon to place so-
lution of the Suez Canal con-
troversy within the framework
of long range objectives de-
signed to achieve peace in the
Middle East. The appeal was
made by Irving M. Engel, pres-
ident of the American Jewish
Committee, at a meeting with
the Secretary of State. Within
this franiework, Mr. Engel
urged a solution of the Suez
Canal dispute which would in-
sure free navigation of the can-
al to all nations without ex-
ception.
Mr. Engel suggested that
despite the Suez Canal crisis,
the United States reiterate
its interest in objective that
would insure the peaceful de-
velopment and security of the
Middle East. He called upon
Mr. Dulles to "publicly reaf-
firm the determined resolu-
tion of the United States to
safeguard Israel's sovereignty
and to .oppose all acts that
threaten that sovereignty."
Such a declaration; Mr. Engel
said, would offset any at-
tempts by both Arab and
Israeli extremists to exploit
the present tension in the
Middle East.
Mr. Engel discussed with the
Secretary violations by Arab
governments of the rights of
American- citizens of the Jewish
faith and interference by Arab
diplomats in the internal af-
fairs of this country. A docu-
mented brief detailing the mul-
tiple infringements upon - the
rights , of American Jews by
Arab nations -and an extensive
study including a series of com-
prehensive, long-range recom-
mendations for -solving Middle
East problems were presented
to Mr. Dillies.
Jacob Blaustein, honorary
president of the American Jew-
ish Committee, had a long con-
ference at the State Depart-
ment with George V. Allen,
Assistant Secretary of State for
Near Eastern Affairs, his deputy
secretary William M. Roun-
tree, and Raymond A. Hare
in a general review of the Mid-
dle East situation, including the
arms matter and the Suez Can-
al problem. Mr. Rountree will
shortly succeed Mr. Allen in
his post. Mr. Hare is succeed-
ing Henry A. Byroade as Amer-
ican Ambassador to Egypt.
In London, British Foreign
office spokesman Sir George
Young declared that the Suez
Canal crisis is "wholly separ-
ate from the Arab-. Israel dis-
pute." He warned that any
attempt to inject that dis-
pute "would not be helpful
to a settlement" of the Suez
problem. He said. that the con-
ference of 24 nations on the
Suez Canal issue would in no
way prejudice a final settle-
ment of the Arab-Israel con-
flict. This is being interpreted`
here as an assurance to the
Arab States.
- The Foreign Office spokesman
said that it was the intention
of the United States, Britain
and France, however, to assure
that the Suez Canal is operated
in accordance with the inter-
national convention of 1888
which guarantees free passage
to ships of all nations at all
times. Egypt had barred Israeli
ships long before she seized the
Suez Canal.
That Israel is becoming an
object of concern to Britain
was also demonstrated in a
number of editorials in the
British press. The papers
point out that Egypt must not
forget that she is already un-
der censure by the Security
Council for interfering with
ships and cargoes destined for
Israel.
Expresing distrust in Egypt's
promises of eventually 'permit-
ting free passage to the ships
of any nation, the British press
stresses that Egypt is maintain-
ing her blockade against Israel
despite the fact that the 1888
convention on the Suez Canal
be subjected to exercise of indicating that reports to the
rights of blockade."
effect that the United. States
Commander Stephen. King- intends to cut off economic as-
Hall, former MP and a re- sistance to Egypt pending an
tired distinguished naval offi- easing of the Suez Can-al crisis
cer, advocated in the Man- are premature.
chester Guardian that Britain
The State Department official
sign a 25-year mutual de- said that no decision has yet
fense treaty with Israel, in- been made whether to offer aid
cluding provisions for Britain to Egypt during the fiscal, year
to use Haifa as a base and 1958. At the same time, he made
the right to station troops it clear that current aid corn-
in Israel.
mitnients to Egypt are "still in
Such a move, Commander t h e pipeline continuing to
King-Hall asserted, would cause move." Current aid commit-
the other Arab states to turn ments amount to $38,000,000.
against Egyptian President Nas- Earlier, Secretary of State John
ser.
Foster Dulles said that if the
U. S. Aid to Egypt Not
London conference on the Suez
Withdrawn, Official Says
Canal failed, "economic pres-
WASHINGTON, ( J T A ) — sure" might be brought to bear
The State Department has made
it known that there has been on Egypt, but he did not ex-
no change in the status of the plain by whom this pressure
U.S. aid program to Egypt, thus might be exercised.
Boris Smolar's
'Between You
and Me'
...
(Copyright 1956,
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
Election Moods
Adlai " Stevenson told a cheering Jewish crowd in Boston
that Jews make the best Democrats . . . Exactly 40 years earlier
President Taft assured a Jewish audience that "Jews make the
best Republicans." . . . The conversion of many Jews from good.
Republics
an to good Democrats did not occur overnight . . . It
was Woodrow Wilson who became the first Democratic Presi-
dential candidate to break the Republican hold over the Jews
in half a century ... The shift greW unusually large in 19.32 and
1936 when - Jews — parallelling the nation as a whole — voted
heavily for Franklin D. Roosevelt . . . It reached the highest
point in 1940 and 1044, when 90 out of every 100 Jews in the
United States, according to the American Institute of Public
Opinion, voted for Roosevelt . . . Jewish Democratic strength
diminished slightly in 1948 . . Actually the combined Truman-
Barkley vote was almost as high in Jewish districts as the vote
for F. D. R had been four years before . However, there was
a slight defection in the 196a Presidential elections, when a por-
tion of every element of traditional Democratic strength switched
to Eisenhower .. . Why did about 76 percent of American JewrY
remain Democratic in 1952? . . . A variety of studies offer no
clue to explain the continued Democratic strength of- Jews in
the face of the Eisenhower landslide . It was established that
Jews in the subur‘bs were primarily responsible for the Jewish
defections which took place in 1952 . . . 'Jews may continue to
vote for the Democratic candidate because the Eisenhower Ad-
ministration has shown itself much less -friendly to Israel than
the Truman Administration .. . This does not reflect on Eisen-
hower, whom many Jews consider liberal-minded .. It does
reflect on the State Department whose Middle East policy has
been strongly criticized ever since Secretary of State Dulles
began to display a tendency of appeasing the Arabs, often at
the expense of Israel.
Communal Trends
The Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds is
introducing a medal as a token of recognition of lay and profes-
sional leaders for outstanding achievement in Jewish communal
service . . Eligible for the award—which will be presented
annually—are men and women who have demonstrated con-
structive leadership in Jewish communal, activities, especially in
the achievement of cooperation among Jewish organizations .. .
The medal, which will be known as the Edwin Rosenberg Award,
carries Mr. Rosenberg's name in recognition of the role he played
in bringing about the merger of HIAS, United Service for New
Americans- and the emigration department of the J. D. C. into
a single organization, now known as United Hias Service . . .
The award is financed by Ben Touster, former president of HIAS,
now United Hias Service, who admires Mr. Rosenberg's devotion
to ending overlapping' functions among Jewish organizations .. .
Both Mr. Touster and Mr. Rosenberg are active in the Council
of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds . . . The first presen-
tation of the medal will be made at • the national convention of
the CJFWF, which will take place in Toronto in November.
U. J. A. Distinction
Speaking of medals, an advertisenient used by the United
Jewish Appeal in its fund-raising campaign was awarded a medal
by the "Advertising Age" . . . The advertisement was carried
in the general press under the title "It's Going to be Mom's Night
Out" . .. It shows a preoccupied Israeli mother with the rifle
in her hand while her two children are watching her intensely.
. . . She will be out during the night guarding her border set-
tlement and she is preparing for it . . . "If any advertising illus-
tration deserves a medal, we feel this one does," Advertising Age
says . . The authoritative magazine especially lauds the im-
mense power developed in the ad by the conjunction of the right
picture with the right headline . . The headline and the copy
for the advertisement was written by Raphael Levy, the UJA
national publicity director . . . This is the second time in three
years that Advertising Age has taken special cognizance of United
Jewish Appeal ads. •
' A group of men are now planning to merge the English-
Jewish weekly publications in New York into a single national
weekly . . Plans have reached the stage where headquarters
for the merged publication have been rented and furnished . .
The American Hebrew and the Brooklyn Jewish Examiner are
in the scheme . . A full-page advertisement announcing the
merger will probably appear soon in the larger New York daily
reads: "The canal shall never newspapers.