Brig. Gen. S.L.A. Marshall Acclaims Israelis'
Richards Gets Ike Appointment
Courage, Takes Issue With U.S., UN Policies
Anti-Israel Propagandist
Named Special Ambassador
Brig. Gen. S. L. A. Marshall, higher. Leaders go first in the
Detroit News military analyst, Israel army—they believe in
whose reports from Israel, on it and Carry it out. And more
his recent five-week visit there, and more men are aspiring
have attracted nationwide at- to army leadership."
tention, in an address at Tem-
In the 72 hours during which
ple Beth El, Jan. 10, outlined Israel defeated the Egyptian
the important phases of the army, Marshall said, its army
Sinai Peninsula Campaign and showed "extraordinary en-
paid high tribute to the cour- durance," having traveled 1,013
age of the Israelis.
miles.. He paid tribute to the
The Brown Memorial Chapel "Israel army's decency." Most
was nearly filled to capacity, of the prisoners, he said, were
nearly 600 turning out to hear let go free. "What was the pur-
Gen. Marshall's message in de- pose in killing them?" he was
fiance of that day's snow storm told.
and traveling hazards. The
Many of the army men went
meeting was arranged by the without sleep for 72 hours, he
Jewish Community Council, pointed out, in order to accom-
whose president, Samuel J. plish their objective. He said
Rhodes, presided. Gen. Mar- that at one point, at Kassima, a
shall was introduced by Dr. ,reserve brigade pleaded that it
Richard C. Hertz, rabbi of Tem- needed rest, not having slept for
ple Beth El.
two days, and was permitted to
Gen. Marshall prefaced his delay its attack for four hours.
Referring to the humanity
analyses by stating that he
of the Israelis, Gen. Marshall
does not agree with American
said he had never heard an
policy toward Israel, "and
Israeli express hatred toward
having seen Israel I disagree
anyone. "Israel," he said, "is
even more strongly," he add-
an oasis of human under-
ed.
standing in the desert of hate
"It is high folly," he declared,
that
is the Middle East. A
"to penalize Israel for having
done the inevitable. We will not people that, like Israel, acts
further peace by punishing this in such fashion, is indestructi-
ble."
nation for acting in self-defense.
(In one of his feature arti-
I regard Nasser and Egypt the
aggressors who made Israel's ac- cles in The Detroit News, on
tions possible by generating Jan. 10, Gen. Marshall described
an interview with an Egyptian
terror."'
Gen. Marshall also took issue officer, a prisoner of war, who
would not admit the untruth of
with the United Nations, called
its actions "ill-advised and in- any of the Nasser *misrepre-
deed silly." He referred to Arab sentations. Marshall admitted
that •such an experience, of
nationalism as "a bogeyman,"
urged that it should not be dig- blind hatred for Israel by an
nified, said that the Arabs .re- Egyptian, was most frustrating.)
"I shall always remember
sort to mass violence and ex-
ploitation of their downtrodden Israel as a place of great cour-
masses by calling their actions age and limitless faith," Gen.
"nationalism" and declared that Marshall said. "It was an unfor-
as an American nationalist he gettable experience and I shall
does not want "to see the term go back there—the next time
with Mrs. Marshall. But I will
nationalism cheapened."
not learn Hebrew before I go
Explaining that he went to
again—because it won't be that
Israel of his own choice because long."
he wanted to see it under pres-
During the question-and-an-
sure, he reported that he did not
find any pressure there and swer period that followed his
that the Israelis did not permit • lecture, Gen. Marshall express-
the world anxieties to disturb ed the view that the Eisenhower
their normal life and their sense doctrine is couched in "vague
terminology." He expressed the
of humor.
view that "Israel has gained a
"I have never known a more great deal from the Sinai Op-
beautiful land in my life," he eration—in the assurance with-
stated. "There is glory and in itself and in the friends it
majesty that will leave an gained in the United States.
imprint for the rest of your Americans are a fighting peo-
life when you visit the land. ple and they respect courage."
I urge you to go there, just as
...He said that he did not be-
I would urge my Government
lieve that Israel is in danger
to lift the bars on travel to
of attack from any of the
that country."
Arab states—"I don't think
Gen. Marshall said he re- so and the Israel General
ceived a warm reception from Staff doesn't thing so." He
Israeli army officers because said that Israel won that bat-
several of his books on military tle alone, that "Nasser would
tactics have been translated have fallen of his own weight
into Hebrew and are required if Israel were given a few
reading in the Israel army.
more days" and if the. British
The Israel army, he said, "is and French had not hindered
unlike any I have ever seen the fight with their intrusion,
in its extraordinary care of its and he declared that there is
soldiers and in its concern for no evidence of "collusion"
the f ate of the people. The and that stories of collusion
troops, look and act the best are "probably false." "The
when in trouble." He then pro- man who wrote them had
ceeded to report incident after gone off half-cocked," he said.
incident revealing acts of cour-
He could not say what the
age and heroism.
chances were for peace: "if I
Small groups, after being re- could answer that question I'd
pulsed, captured treacherous rank on high and among the
hills in the dark of night, he Prophets; it's not easy."
pointed out. It was a "war won
Describing the humor of the
b y extremely small forces. Israelis, their warm hospitality,
Israel had to move great dis- their human approaches, Gen.
tances.., Israel won every point Marshall told of having
because its men were willing to addressed the Jerusalem His-
go forward, because' they were torical Society and of having
willing to die in defense of been acclaimed for his latest
freedom.
book, "Pork Chop Hill," which]
He. credited the "courage, the chairman did not mention
drive and understanding of by name. But he himself did.
the Israel troops" for their The next day, the Jerusalem
triumphs."
Post, reporting the incident in
Gen. Marshall mentioned a detail, said it would name the
number of the strategic points book, in spite of the non-kosher
captured by the Isrdtlis, and the term, and then referred to "Port
outstanding Israeli commanders, Chop Hill." ....
including Chief of Staff Gen-
Declaring that "Gaza is the
eral Dayan, Captain Sharon and key to Israel's security," Gen.
,others. He said:
Maishall expressed his convic-
tion that Israel should not
"Of the less than 200
evacuate that area.
Israelis killed, exactly half
were leaders—officers from
(In Tel Aviv, Israel Prime
the ranks of sergeant and Minister David Ben Gni:ion told
,
-
the Mapai Party's central com-
mittee that no matter what hap-
pens in the Sinai Peninsula
there will be no return to the
pre-campaign situation. He said
the Sinai action assured Israel
several years of peace which
should be used to bring in per-
secuted Jews from various coun-
tries).
Rabbi Hertz, in his introduc-
tory remarks, said Beth El was
happy to be host to the Jewish
Community Council meeting.
He pointed out that Operation
Sinai was the 13th war covered
by Gen. Marshall in 30 years of
newspaper activity. Marshall
served actively in both World
Wars.
M r. Rhodes deplored t h e
branding by our Government of
our two allies in the two World
Wars. He condemned "the re-
warding of Nasser for his per-
fidy."
Calling attention to the tragic
fate of 40;000 Egyptian Jews,
Mr. Rhodei urged generous sup-
port for the survival fund and
the regular funds being raised
for overseas relief by the United
Jewish Appeal in the forthcom-
ing Allied Jewish Campaign.
Marshall Likens Israel
To U. S. Pioneering Days
In an address before the
Michigan Chapter of the Ameri-
can Christian Palestine Com-
mittee, at Hotel Tuller, Jan. 11,
S. L. A. Marshall defined Israel
and the Israelis as a "wellspring
with responsible attitude to
life," and said he imagined
"America must have been like
Israel in our own pioneering
days."
Lt. Governor Philip A. Hart,
chairman of the Michigan Chris-
tian Palestine Committee, pre-
sided, with Federal Judge Frank
A. Picard, the honorary chair-
man of the Chapter. Father
Robert Allan, .director of social
action of the Roman-Catholic
Archdiocese of Detroit, and Rev.
Dr. Jessie Jai McNeil, of Taber-
nacle Methodist Church, deliv-
ered the invocation and benedic-
tion.
The large audience included
newspapermen among whom
were Harry Wade, editor-in-
chief of the Detroit News: Frank
Wurtsmith, managing editor,
Wage Earner; Charles Wartman,
editor, Michigan Chronicle; Ar-
thur Poinier, editorial cartoonist
of the Detroit News. The clergy
was represented by the Rev.
Canon John Shafelt, Rev. Philip
Gentile, Rev. Ralph Read, and
others. The Board of Educa-
tion was represented by Miss
Louise Grace and Mrs. Betty
Becker; and organized labor
by Alex Fuller, executive vice
President of the Wayne County
CIO; Frank W i n n, editor of
United Automobile Worker, and
Mrs. Mildred Jeffrey, who is in
charge of the community rela-
tions division of the UAW.
By MILTON FRIEDMAN
(Copyright, 1957, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
WASHINGTON—A man who
helped circulate anti - Israel
propaganda has been selected
by the Administration for a
vital task in the Middle East.
He is James P. Richards, a
South Carolina Democrat, who
has been named by President
Eisenhower as special assistant
and adviser on Middle Eastern
problems with the rank of Am-
bassador.
Until retirement from Con-
gress this month, Richards was
chairman of the House Foreign
Affairs Committee. His task
now will be to lead a group of
officials of the State and De-
fense Departments and the In-
ternational Cooperation Admin-
istration on a tour of Middle
Eastern capitals. The group's
mission is to explain U. S. in-
tensions and obtain foreign re-
actions.
Commenting on his assign-
ment, Richards said "there have
never been any differences be-
tween myself, the President and
the Secretary of State on basic
foreign policy."
The record indicates that
Richards may receive a warmer
welcome in Cairo than Tel Aviv.
At a press conference in his
Congressional office on Dec. 13,
1954, Richards alleged that Is-
rael sought favoritism in its re-
lations with the United States.
Israel, he then said, should be
considered no better than any
Arab state "regardless of pres-
sure groups" in the United
States.
Richards made clear he was
"not at all" in favor of efforts
to prevent the supply of arms
by the United States to the
Arabs. — He termed Arab mili-
tary power in America's "na-
tional interest." According to
Richards, America owed Israel
"no more or less" than any
other Middle Eastern state. He
held that Israel should be con-
sidered "just another foreign
state" and not be regarded a
special friend of America.
Subsequently, Richards ex-
pressed a view that develop-
ment assistance funds for eco-
nomic aid should be denied to
Israel because Israel had no
military agreement with the
United States. He failed to men-
tion, however, that Israel ap-
plied to Washington for such a
military agreement, but was re-
jected. In fact, he had been
among those who urged rejec-
tion of the Israel application.
Last May, Richards inserted
in the Congressional Record a
four-page attack on Israel. It
was originally made at a con-
vention of the anti-Zionist
"American Council for Juda-
ism" by Rep. Othar Burleson,
Extra Passenger on Israeli Ship
Mrs. Eliza Sittayoun, 19, Israeli wife of British-born Herzl
Sittayoun (right), 23, holds daughter born during stormy cross-
ing from Israel to New York aboard the SS Zion. The baby,
named Ziona in honor of the ship, was delivered -with the help
of Dr. Sara Lieder (left). The Sittayouns are bound for Canada.
Texas Demo,crat. Drawing Con-
gressional attention to Burle-
son's anti-Israel speech, Rich-
ards described the Texan_ as
"very able."
The material publicized by
Richards alleged that those de-
siring "objectivity" on the Arab-
Israel issue run a "grave risk
of being denounced" as anti-
Semitic. "There is always the
possibility of this devastating
accusation being made when
any of us in public affairs dare
raise our voice against the
methods of the Zionists of this
country, or when we happen to
disagree with any expression of
the views of those who are dedi-
cated to putting the power and
influence of the United States
at the disposal of, and for the
furtherance of, the national as-
pirations of the Zionist State of
Israel," Burleson said.
By advancing the Burleson
arguments, Richards revealed
his own thinking. In the speech
recommended by Richards, Bur-
leson contended that "had we
been less partial to Israel in the
past, Israel, as well as the rest
of the free world, might to-
day be much more secure." The
Burleson formula for aiding Is-
rael seemed to be the adoption
of an anti-Israel policy.
An attempt was made by Bur-
leson to justify Egypt's arms
deal with the Communist bloc.
He said Egypt needed Commun-
ist arms "to meet what, with
concern for its own national se-
curity, it believed to be a rising
threat from Israel following the
Gaza attack of February, 1955.
Yet we in the United States help
make it possible for Israel to
purchase arms with dollars im-
ported through the United Jew-
ish Appeal but not segregated
for strictly charitable purposes."
Burleson said "one certain
contribution Israel could make
today to the peace of the world
is to renounce its Zionist Inter-
nationale . .. and, with a gen-
erosity commensurate with the
favoritism it has enjoyed in the
past, actively seek a peace with
its Arab neighbors. This, more
than its propaganda, would
demonstrate its dedication to
Western hopes for peace. In
this way Israel might repay
some of its debt to the West."
Sale of U. S. arms to Israel
was opposed. Israel sought
American arms to balance the
flow of Russian weapons to the
Arabs. Burleson said Israel's
future was not in an "arms
race," but in "making such con-
cessions as will buy them what
they most need to survive,
namely, peace."
When the present Congres-
sional session began, Burleson,
using ammunition provided by
Richards, opened an attack on
United Jewish Appeal contribu-
tions as "a deductible item for
income tax purposes," On Jan.
3 Burleson mailed out reprints
of the anti-Israel matter insert-
ed in the Congressional Record
by Richards. Burleson urged
colleagues, with reference to
the question he raised about
the tax-deductible status of
UJA donations, "to examine
this material and reflect con-
cerning its implications." -
Burleson and Richards have
been in touch here with Syrian
Ambassador Farid Zeineddine
and Egyptian officials. Zeined-
dine has used the Burleson line
of argument. He did so when
urging the State Department to
withdraw the right of tax de-
duction by UJA donors under
U.S. income tax laws. Because
of his attempts to stir up anti-
Jewish prejudice in the United
States, Jewish organizations
have urged that Zeineddine be
declared persona non grata by
the State Department and de-
ported for agitating in internal
American affairs.