— THE DETROIT JEWISH NE WS-2

Friday, June

Purely Commentary

$200 Million in Jewish Claims Approved
in German. Budget; $60,000,000 for Israel

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Arab Boycott—'Affront to Comity of Nations' .. .

Last week, in defiance of all efforts to establish peace in
the Middle East, The Arab League's economic committee an-
nounced plans for an intensified boycott of Israel. The plan
proposes to blacklist all firms which provide Israel with goods
or services.
Whereupon, the New York Times, in an editorial comment
on the subject, called for United Nations action to enforce
respect for the principles set forth in the international organiza-
tion's charter. The Times editorial states:
"The Middle Eastern situation has taken a new turn for
the worse, with the Economic Committee of the Arab League
deciding to tighten the boycott and blockade against Israel
and to extend the boycott to all foreign concerns furnishing
goods or services to that country. The committee also recom-
mended the setting up of a unified boycott system to prevent
any exchange of Arab-Israeli goods through third parties
and the unifications of Arab oil refinery output and distribu-
tion in the interest of the Arab states.
"The proposed action of the committee is not only an
affront to the comity of nations but also a proposed violation
of the United Nations Charter, of the Arabs' own professions
of peaceful intent and in particular of a specific Security
Council decision denying the Arab states any belligerent rights
against Israel. It may be hoped that the more reasonable
Arab leaders will think twice before they adopt the Economic
Committee's plan. If they go through with it, it would seem
time for the United Nations to rouse itself and take the action
which it should have taken a long time ago to enforce respect
for its principles and its decisions."
The real danger lies in pressures that may be exerted upon
important firms which now deal with Arab countries n _ ot to
trade with Israel. Several European countries already have
defied the Arab League in similar demands. West Germany has
rejected - an Arab request to terminate reparations payments to
•Israel. Ethically-minded Americans have expressed a sense of
revulsion upon hearing the Arab boycott proposals, just as the
New York Times called it "an affront to the comity of nations."
But other affronts are being tolerated: such as the banning
of Americans of the Jewish faith from U. S. bases in Arab
countries. Therefore, we must be on guard lest, by default,
another similar coup is perpetrated, in defiance of the peaceful
intents of. Israel.
Once again, Israel and her friends must be on guard. If
Israel is harmed by an irresponsible boycott, other nations also
will suffer. There is justification for the warning issued last
week in Haifa by N. Widra, president of the Israel Chamber of
Shipping, that Egypt's blockade of the Suez Canal against Israel
might interfere with the shipping of other nations. It is to be
hoped that the nations of the world will heed Widra's admoni-
tion that shipping lines which have "yielded to the Arab boy-
cott against . Israel" by not permitting their ships to call at
Israeli ports may soon learn that the boycott weapon may be
turned against them by Egypt.

And so, the economic tensions continue, Israel re-
maining in constant danger. But by being firm the
Jewish State's friends can provide the proper protection

BONN (JTA) — The federal
budget for 1957-58, which sets
aside $60,000,000 for Israel
reparations and more than twice
that amount as compensation,
restitution or pension payments
for Jewish victims of Nazism,
received final approval from the
West German parliament.
After allowance is made for
the benefits devolving upon
non-Jewish applicants, w•ll-
i•formed observers consider it
likely that the individual Jewish
victims of Nazism, the Con-
ference on Jewish Material
Claims and the State of Israel
will together receive between
175 and 200 million dollars from
the West German Treasury in
the coming year.
This is the first time that
indemnification payments from
the Bonn Treasury will outrank
reparations and all other cate-
gories for Jewish claims, with-
out even taking into account the
funds which Germany's indi-
vidual states are obliged to
contribute " fior indemniti cation
purposes.
With regard to reparations to
Israel, the Federal Republic is
for the fourth time in succes-
sion resorting to an escape
clause in the reparations pact
permitting her to restrict pay-
ments for reparations shipments
to the contractual minimum,
which is $60,000,0.00 per year.
The $74,000,000 designated in
the Reparations Agreement as
the "normal" rate has never
been made available, Germany's
unprecedented economic pros-
perity notwithstanding.
In the last two budgets, large
amounts were provided for the
restitution of identifiable Jewish
property confiscated by the
former German Reich. Alithough
duly appropriated, these funds
were in fact hardly touched, the
necessary legislative frame of
reference having been delayed

for the harassed people of Israel. One of the weapons
of defense on the economic front is the Israel Bond
Issue which enables the Israelis to advance economically,
to build homes for the newcomers, to establish new in-
dustries and, eventually, thereby to benefit the entire
Middle East.

Israel Waits for
French Decision
on Use of Canal

Meanwhile, those who are anxious for peace in the Middle
East and who are concerned about Israel's security must be on
the alert. Proof of the indefiniteness of American policy may
be found in the statements that were made last week before
the National Press Club, in Washington, by Ambassador James
P. Richards, President Eisenhower's special envoy to the Middle
East on the Eisenhower Doctrine. He refused to state his views
on Israel's "realistic prospects" for the future, declaring that, if
he answered that question, the "State Department fellows would
have a fit."
That's what Israel is up against. That's what her friends
must contend with. But as long as there are continued efforts
for peace in the Middle East, hope should not be abandoned.
•
s
•

JERUSALEM (JTA)
will make no effort to send
cargoes through the Suez Canal
unless France agrees to auth-
orize its shippers to use the
canal, a spokesman for Israel's
Foreign Ministry declared here.
He was amplifying a statement
made by Premier David Ben-
Gurion to a grodp of Hebrew
editors that Israel would first
test Egypt's attitude toward Is-
raeli cargoes by sending them
through the Suez Canal in
foreign bottoms.
Premier Ben Gurion also told
the editors - that he is deter-
mined to send "at the approp-
riate time" an Israeli ship
through the Suez Canal and
that this was essential "to
demonstrate Egypts behavior to
the world." With regard to - the
•passage
• of Israeli ships through
the Gulf of Aqaba., Mr. Ben-
G tit-I on said that Israel "would
meet force with force" if her
ships were molested in their
passage through the gulf.
(In Damascus, Syrian Pre-
mier Sabri Assali threatened
that "Israeli ships will never
pais through the Suez Canal or
the Gulf of Aqaba.")

.

A

Fantastic Arab Red Herring

Arab potentates are involved in so many feuds, they are so
violently embroiled in struggles for control of their territories,
that they appear to be finding relief in emitting pevish spite on
a common enemy who does not wish to be an enemy: Israel.
As a result, we hear fantastic tales about Israel's alleged
"imperialism" and intent to capture territory belonging to Jordan
or the other Arab neighbors.
Thus, in his interview with Hussein, reported from Amman,
Jordan, in which he pictured the boy king as "Jordan's 'David' "
(how history can be distorted!), Basil L. Walters, executive editor
of Knight Newspapers, stated in his opening paragraph:
( "King Hussein, Jordan'sgallant young David, said that the
United States should offer him enough slingshots to discourage
Israel from taking more lands of the Bible."
How could this boy king possibly remember that his grand-
father was assassinated because he wanted to make peace with
Israel? How should he know that Israel was originally allotted
about 6,500 square miles of territory in the United Nations deci-
sion to establish the Jewish State, and that an additional 1,500
square miles were acquired only because his kinsmen sought to
destroy that little state and to deny it even the little ground that
was granted it by the international organization?
Perhaps he does not even know that the 12 Arab states, with
a total population of 50,000,000, possess more than 2,000,000 square
miles of land, which is , in dire need of cultivation, as compared
with Israel's tiny territory of 8,000 square miles.
But even the mite is begrudged the Israelis! And a fantas-
tic charge, made in order to get sympathy and slingshots, appears
as a misleading lead in a boastful story about a young potentate
who was rescued by the United States!. The tiny "David" (sic!)
doesn't even appreciate that Israel is probably his strongest buf-
fer against his own kinsmen who seek to swallow him up! Poor
Hussein! He has forgotten his grandfather—and his father!
The newest outburst of "brotherly love" among the Arab
nations proves the point. The struggle for power ; for territory,
is among the sanctimonious Moslems who have the Western world
foaled by poseur roles .like little - (very little) David's of Jordan.
We are certain that while a--correspondent is fooled for a brief
moment, the Arab effendis have not fooled the entire world.

Seized Austrian Property to
Be Returned to U.S. Owners

-

Austrian property in the
United States which was con-
fiscated by the American Alien
Property Custodian during
World War II is scheduled to be
returned to the owners.
Announcement of this new
directive under the "Trading
With the Enemy Act" was re-
cently made by the Department
of State in Washington.
Persons, corporations and
other entities in Michigan may
direct their claims to .Austrian
ConsUl Norman 11:- Birrikrant - at
ROO - National: Bank.•Building - in
Detroit.

for many years.
Now that the Federal Resti-
tution Law has been passed by
the Bundestag and is expected
to enter into force in July, the
$35,700,000 allotted for this
category will soon be exhausted.
By 1962, a total of $357,000,000
is required.
The Federal Republic some
time ago assumed liability for
the pensions due to nearly 3,000
former German rabbis or erst-
whi•e officials of Jewish com-
munities, institutions and or-
ganizations.
The 1957 58 budget allocates
$6,800,000 for this purpose, as
compared to ,$7;600,000 last
year.. The pertinent Dump-sum

-

back payments show a sizeable
drop, since only a few hundred
new applications are still pendr-
ing.
A residual $50,040 has been
allotted to crippled victims of
Nazi medical experiments Who,
because of technical or legalistic
reasons, are deemed ineligible
for regular compensation. Fur-
ther, the International Tracing
Service (ITS), which maintains
the Arolsen concentration camp
archives on behalf of the Inter-
national Red Cross, will receive
$420,000. The aggregate total of
payments appropriated for all
categories of the indemnifica-
tion, restitution and reparations
Prognam is $245,000,000.

Boris Smolar's

'Between You
and Me'

...

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

Basic Predictions .

.

The overwhelming- majority of Jewish teen-agers in this
country will remain Jews, according to the results of a survey
conducted by the American Jewish Committee . . . They are
not inclined toward intermarriage and have no intention to
deny their Jewishness . . . The survey shows that they will
grow to identify themselveS with the Jewish religion and to
contribute to the welfare of the Jewish community . . . They
do not display any inclination to shut themselves off from in-
terest and participation in the general community . . . Seventy
percent of the interviewed Jewish adolescents indicated they
would not like to be married to a person of another faith and
44 percent of them disapproved of intermarriage outright . . .
Of the remaining 30 percent, many were uncertain; some of
them said they would not feel right about intermarriage because -
their families would disapprove . . As for the Jewish parents
interviewed, most of them thought it unlikely that their children
would marry non-JeWs, but about a third of them were not
prepared to affirm this with absolute certainty . Almost all
would be unhappy about an intermarriage, and would try to
prevent it . . Still, faced with an accomplished fact, the large
majority would make their peace with their children . . . Fifty-
seven percent of the parents thought intermarriage would work
out badly; 42 percent of the teen-agers agreed- with this estimate
. Asked whether they would pick a non-Jew they were in
love with, or a Jew they were not in love with, 75 percent of the
young people chose love . . . Faced with a similar choice, 40
percent of the parents decided in favor of love, rather than
Jewishness, for their Children.

S

A Fundamental Survey ...

The American Jewish Committee survey—of which only *
part has been made public at this time—is known as "The
Riverton Study" . . . It took several years to prepare and deal
with all aspects of Jewish life in the United States . • It aims
at establishing how observant are Jews in America, what is
their attitude toward Jewish culture and Jewish philanthropy
.. . It seeks to establish whether Jews in this country have the
will to survive as Jews, what is their conception of JewiShness,
and how do they feel among non-Jews . . Riverton is a
pseudonym for the town in which the survey was conducted ...
It is an induStrial town of about 130,000 people among whom
the Jews are seven percent . . . The Jewish population there is,
like the Jewish population, in so many American cities, engaged
in professions and trades . . • Two-thirds of the parents inter-
viewed, and almost all adolescents, were American-born—and
this, too, is roughly the proportion one can find in other Jewish
communities in the middle : Atlantic states_.... Of the remainder,
more than one-half had come to this country when they were
less than 13 years old . . All in all the Riverton Jewish corn-
munity is not very different from scores of others . . . Eighty-
two percent of the Jews belong to at least one of the 40 Jewish
organizations in town, and many are members of non-sectarian
organizations as well.

*

Jewish Reflections . .

How do Jews in Riverton view themselves, and how do
their attitudes toward themselves as Jews affect their relations
with their fellow Americans? . . • The "Riverton Study" estab-
lished that of the adult group, the older people proved more apt
to think that Gentiles hold unfavorable views of Jews . . . In
the adolescent group, only -21 thought so . .. About 33 percent
of the adult group—the younger people—thought that "it depends
on the individual" and that "some Gentiles think good and some
think bad" of Jews . . . Seventy-five percent of all adults inter-
viewed said they had experienced anti-Semitism, as did 86
percent of the adolescents . . About one-half of the adults
found their explanation for anti-Semitism in "jealousy," while
21 percent of them attributed anti-Semitism to religiously-
motivated bigotry ... Among the teen-agers, only eight percent
mentioned the Christ story and the church, and only 13 percent
spoke of "jealousy" . . . The emphasis among the young people
was on the contemporary view that all problems can be over-
come by reason and education . . . Sixteen percent of the parents
in Riverton described themselves as Orthodox 43 as Conserva-
tive,. 30 as Reform . . . The remainder said they were non-
religious or gave no answer at all . . . To the question whether
they observe Jewish customs, only one in ten claimed to observe
all customs, while 89 percent said they observe some .. . Of the
latter, 72 percent mentioned the High Holy Days, 47 percent
mentioned Bar Mitzvahs and • 44 percent said they have Passover
Seders than so. percent of the adolescents approved of
:the eu8tOrns..stin..observed in their households, but 14 percent
reported indifference or negative feelings.

