Purely Commentary Ezra Z. Shapiro Ilea s New

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Friday, May U,

Abba Eban's Mastery of Languages

If there are enough people who love classic English, and
who can appreciate the genius of a man who has improved
upon the King's English, they'll surely turn Israel Ambassador
Abba Eban's "Voice of Israel" (Horizon Press) into a best seller.
While marveling at Eban's masterful weaving of English
phrases, we should not forget that he is an expert in other
languages—that he speaks as fluently in Arabic as he does in
Hebrew, and that he has mastered other languages.
Let us not forget also that he possesses a fine sense of
humor. For instance:.
Recently he addressed the Overseas Press Club. After his
address he was questioned about Egyptian affairs and he re-
plied: "I am not conversant with conditions in Egypt, since
we do not maintain diplomatic relations with Egypt. Our Israeli
soldiers, however, have traveled extensively in that country."
Early last month, speaking on "Israel and the Middle East,"
which he gave as the final in the Edmund A. Walsh Lecture
Series at Georgetown University, in Washington, Ambassador
Eban was given an ovation when he said that "in the business
of surviving dictators we are second to none." It was so re-
markable an analysis of Israel's survival—especially now, when
the entire world seems to be yielding to Nasser who continues
to threaten Israel's existence—that it should be shared with
our readers. The Ambassador said:
"Can there be peace in the Middle East? I fear that there
is much danger in confusing the wish for the thought, and it
is difficult, despite the great allurement of parting from you
on -a buoyant and optimistic note, it is difficult in honesty,
candor, and realism to foresee an early healing of the breach,
for the central source of tension remains—Nasser and the
policy of belligerency which he upholds and exemplifies, this
regime which has fixed its hold upon the people of Egypt,
which has impoverished the life of that people, which reaches
out to the totalitarianisms of Europe for its political and
spiritual inspiration, which does not recognize Israel's right
to statehood or the right of European peoples to freedom, for
their economic sustenance, which believes that the heady wine
of diplomatic victory is a sufficient nourishment for the polit-
ical soul of a people, which turns aside from the great chal-
lenge of Egypt's internal consolidation in order to win these
spectacular and flashy triumphs in the arena of external di-
plomacy. This is the chief element in the life of our region
and it is, we fear, about to celebrate another victory- And
therefore, if we cannot defeat this despotism, then we the
free peoples of the Middle East can make one resolve; we
can resolve to survive it.
"And say what you like about the people of Israel, in
this business of surviving dictators we are second to none.
The long gallery extends from Nebuchadnezzar and Titus
through the despots and tyrants of the Middle Ages to Hitler
of accursed memory, and therefore to see a dictator at the
height of his power does not entirely intimidate our courage.
It is true that Nasser now looks majestic in his triumph, but
might it not remind one of the 'story of the man who leapt
off the roof of the Empire State Building and was photo-
graphed at that moment, a majestic spectacle of motion in
flight. But the question is, how did he look when he got
to the bottom? This might be true of the present profession
of Nasserism and all dictatorships in general across history's
stage. The final record has not been written and the free
peoples should make patience and endurance their shield and
their 'buckler. If anyone pretends that he has a quick remedy
for the Middle East for repairing the results of convulsions,
then we must suspect the authenticity of his advice."
We are considerably more pessimistic about Nasser. All the
concessions made to him point only to trouble for the civilized
world. But Ambassador Eban admitted in his Georgetown
University speech that "the road stretches out before us long
and hard," adding that "if the road is hard, the prize is worthy
of attainment• and almost- beyond compare." His conclusion, too,
is worth quoting because of its remarkable evaluation " of "the
drama of Israel's resurgence." It is:
"To restore the full cycle of Israel's broken nationhood,
to recapture Israel's roots in the most sublime and enduring
of all the historic cultures, to gather the scattered debris of
the most ancient of peoples and quicken it with energy and
compassion into a new birth of life, to rescue this sacred soil
from primeval desolation, to build a Hebrew society for the
perfection of man in the Divine Kingdom, to establish a strong
economy as the shield of a vigorous material and spiritual
culture, to console the wounded heart of our people for the
toll of bereavement which has tortured its memory and ex-
perience throughout the past two decades—to do all of these
things is by the grace of history within the power of our
hands. This is not an enterprise for a small generation; it is
a great drama conceived in majestic terms and acted in the
sight of eternity. Perhaps if we play our part in its unfolding_
course, then future generations will rise up and call our
memory blessed."
Eban's Georgetown speech, and a number of other remark-
able documents, are not included in the Horizon - published
"Voice of Israel." Even now, only a few days after the appear-
ance of his first volume, it is already time for a second volume
of Eban's public statements and addresses.
* * *

-

'All the Rules of Logic and Law' on Israel's Side

Nasser's Egypt once again is issuing warnings against any
attempts by Israel to navigate the Suez. It maintains that the
Constantinople Convention proscribes such rights because of the
warlike state between the two nations.
The Christian Science Monitor, in an editorial, "Suez, Ginger-
ly Navigated," had a proper answer to Egyptian claims when it
stated:
"The Israeli government is on such firm ground legally
that its promised test ship run should provide a strong case
before either the United Nations or the International Court of
Justice.
"Egypt has filed at the UN a document spelling out its
intention to run the canal in accord with the Constantinople
Convention of 1888. Article I of that convention reads: 'The
Suez Maritime Canal shall always be free and open, in time
of war as in time of peace, to every vessel of commerce or of
war, without distinction of flag.' By all the rules of logic and
fatly
. the blue-and-white flag of Israel should qualify."
Once again, we must depend upon time to solve the' war-
threatening problem; It is sincerely to be hoped that "all the rules
soat logic and law" WILL predominate.

-

,

U.S. Jewish League for Israel

NEW YORK, (AJP) — Dr.
Nahum Goldmann, president of
the World Zionist Organization,
gave his full blessings to the
newly - organized Independent
Zionists of America at its na-
tional founding assembly Satur-
day night, at the Biltmore
A large gathering of promi-
nent Zionists from all parts of
the country attended the week-
end sessions. Conspicuous in the
auditorium were a number of
regular ZOA members who had
come as observers.
Dr. Goldmann reviewed the
history of Zionism since its
inception and pointed out that
the creation of the Jewish
State in 1948—the fulfillment
of all Zionist aspirations,
ushered in a new era for - world
Zionism which called for new
and more important proce-
dures entailing stepped up
Zionist activity m the greater
work of consolidating the
State. He envisioned this sec-
ond phase of Zionism as tak-
ing up a period of time pos-
sibly longer than the first
50 years of Zionist activity.
Dr. Goldmann was emphatic
in stating that the times call for
the creation of such a move-
ment as that which was now be-
ing organized by "independent"
Zionists—who are in their hun-
dreds of thousands—who do not
wish to affiliate themselves with
any of the political parties in
Israel. But he' was equally as

Affiliation With
Political -Groups
Denied by. ZOA:

(Direct JTA Teletype 'Wire
to The Jewish News)

NEW YORK — The Zionist
Organization of America Tues-
day repudiated charges that it
maintains affiliation with politi-
cal groups in Israel and there-
by interferes in the internal af-
fairs of the Jewish State. The
charges were voiced at the
founding conference of the
American Jewish League for Is-
rael.
Repudiation of the charges
was contained in a statement
presented by Dr. Emanuel Neu-
mann, ZOA president, to a meet-
ing of the organization's national
executive council attended by
leaders from all. Parts of the
country. The statement, 'which
was endorsed 'by the meeting,
said that the ZOA has never
been "affiliated" with any of the
parties in Israel. It also asserted
that "despite their representa-
tion of themselves as unidenti-
fied," the leaders of the Am-
erican Jewish League for Israel
"have themselves maintained
close relations with the Pro-
gressive Party of Israel."
"We profoundly regret the
necessity of commenting on the
highly-publicized meeting held
a few days ago by a splinter
group of the Zionist Organiza-
tion of America which combined
with other elements unfriendly
to the ZOA to form an 'Ameri-
can Jewish League for Israel,' "
the statement says. "The con-
troversy which this small fac-
tion has sought to foment in
American Zionist ranks is sure-
ly not helpful to the Zionist
movement or to Israel's cause
on the American scene.
"The grave crisis in the Mid-
dle East should impel all re-
sponsible Zionists to concen-
trate their thoughts and efforts
on the task of safeguarding Is-
rael's legitimate interests," the
statement continued. "We re-
main determined that the ener-
gies and resources of our organ-
ization shall be marshalled for
this constructive end, and not
diverted to the battleground of
internal strife. If we are now
compelled to refuse certain un-
founded attacks against our or-
ganization by men who should
have known better, this should
not delude the enemies of Israel
and Zionism into believing that
our main purposes."

emphatic in declaring that those
American Zionists who wish to
affiliate themselves with a po-
litical movement in Israel have
the perfect right to do so. He
made a plea for unity and co-
ordination among the various
Zionist groups — all having a
role to play in the common
cause which is Israel.
Ambassador Abba Eban
spoke to the new group dur-
ing the Sunday afternoon ses-
sion. Referring to the many
familiar faces of old veteran
Zionists in the hall, he wished
the newly-created movement
success in the name of the
State of Israel.
During the closing session, a
constitution was adopted and
elections were held. Louis Lip-
sky was unani-
mously elected
honorary pres-
ident. The offi-
cers include:
Ezra Z. Sha-,
piro, president;
Jacob M. Al-:
kow, secretary;
Samuel H. Dar-
off and Joseph
Mazer, treasur-
ers; Samuel , Ezra Shapiro
Rothberg, chairman of the
board, and Louis P. Rocker,
chairman of the executive com-
mittee.
The assembly adopted the
name "American Jewish League
for Israel" to replace the tem-
porary name "Independent
Zionists of America."
Officers of the new Ameri-
can-Jewish League for Israel
received a telephone call Sun-
day morning warning them
that if Ambassador Eban
speaks, a bomb would be ex-
ploded in the Music Hall
where the Assembly convened.
The scare brought a score of
N.Y. police on the scene and
a number of detectives who
kept a watch on the Israeli,
Ambassador all through the
afternoon session.
"Perhaps the best index Of
the interest which this splinted
group has aroused among the
Zionist membership is the frank

acknowledgement in a state-
ment by the Independents' fore-
most spokesman, Mr. Louis Lip-
sky, that although his group had
sent out 5,000 letters in connec-
tion with its founding assembly,
only 250 individuals indicated
a desire to be present. The
"Independents" therefore re-
present no constituency and
have, by their own admission,
already been rejected by the
rank and file of American
Zionism.
"One searches in vain for a
trace of a new and original pro-
gram to justify the formation of
this new non-party party. That
it is motivated by internal po-
litical considerations is evident
not only from the poverty of its
programmatic presentation, but
also from the rampant partisan-
ship which has characterized the
pronouncements of its chief
spokesmen. Surely, the contro-
versy which they are engender-
ing is not helpful to American
Zionism and to the movement's
efforts to marshall Zionist ener-
gies for constructive work in
support of Israel."

•

Protest In Knesset
on Eban's Appearance
JERUSALEM, (JTA) — The
Israel government was asked in
Parliament w h y Ambassador
Abba. Eban had addressed a
conference of the Independent
Zionists in New York.
The question 'was posed in.
Parliament by a General Zionist
deputy and was directed at For-
eign Minister Golda Meir. The
General Zionist deputy claimed.
that Eban had stated that he
made his appearance under in-
structions from Jerusalem. The
question was therefore directed
not at Eban but at the Foreign
Ministry.
"Is it the task of the roreign
Ministry to interfere in inter-
nal affairs of the American Zi-
onists by encouraging divisions
harmful to Israel?" the inter-
pellation, asked. Under Parlia-
mentary procedure, Foreign
Minister Meir will answer the
questions at a future session of
Parliament.

Capitol Spotlight

A New Public. School Religion

. BY MILTON FRIEDMAN

(Copyright, 1957, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)

WASHINGTON—The "Land of Egypt" is no longer described
as "The House of Bondage" in a new public school version of the
Ten Commandments. Whether the phrase "Land of Egypt" was
edited out to avoid offending Egypt's Nasser is unknown. But it
is clear that such developments are causing growing concern
over religion in the public schools.
Officials in Washington displayed interest in a comprehensive
report on the issue made here at a recent convention of the
American Jewish Congress. The presentation was made by Leo
Pfeffer, director of the group's Commission on Law and Social
Action. Pfeffer is a constitutional lawyer recognized nationally
as an authority on church-state relationships.
In Pfeffer's opinion there is emerging in American publie
schools an "artificial" religion—"a strange, new, hybrid creed."
School systems have responded to pressure' to provide religious
education and obserVance. To avoid favoring one faith over an-
other, a sort of compromise religion has -evolved. It vaguely re-
sembles the lowest common denominator of the three major
faiths. But it is actually different from them all.
Pfeffer terms the new faith "the public school religion." He
feels that it leaves children hopelessly confused and conflicts,
with authentic religion instruction at home and in religious
schools. Moreover, it is in violation of the American tradition
separating religion from public education.
In New Hyde Park on Long Island, the board of education
voted to place its own so-called "non-denominational" Ten Corn-
mandments on classroom walls. These resembled but were dif-
ferent from the Ten Commandments of all three major faiths. In
all three versions of the Bible at the opening of the Ten Com-
mandments appear the words: "I am the Lord, Thy God, Who
brought thee forth out of the Land of Egypt, the House of
Bondage." •
The authorities at New Hyde Park changed the traditional
Scriptures. They edited out the word's "The Land of Egypt."
"Whether they did this , because the current policy of our
State Department is not to cause President Nasser of Egypt any
annoyance," Pfeffer could not say. However, he could say that
"the public school Ten Commandments are different from those
accepted as God-given by the three major faiths."
According to Jewish tradition, prayers recited daily by Or-
thodox Jews were formulated by the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. According to the New Testament, the major prayer of
Christianity—the Lord's Prayer—was composed by Jesus. The
public • school prayers are composed by ordinary public school
authorities who depart from American tradition by injecting
their "compromise" religion into the minds of the nation's young.

