`A Village by the Jordan' ";Mrs. Meir Meets Soviet Envoy z to Protest S hipin,2n,t of Submarines U) Friday, July 5, 1957 TEL AVIV, (JTA)—Soviet ; Ambassador Alexander Abra- mov conferred Monday with Is- • raeli Foreign Minister Golda to( Meir on the matter of Russia's shipment of submarines to ;T.4 Egypt. • No details of the talks were released from the meeting, which was called at Mrs. Meir's request. (The British Embassy here denied reports that Britain was engaged in talks with Egypt on resumption of diplomatic rela- tions. An E in b a s s y official called "equally untrue" reports that his country would pay reparations to Egypt for last November's Suez intervention.) The talks between Mrs. Meir and the Soviet Ambassador fol- lowed Israel's decision to make a formal protest to the Soviet government for the explosive gift of three submarines -to Nasser. Israeli circles consider Mos- cow's action is a subject more suitable for discussion be tween Israel and the Western Powers than between Israel and the Soviet government, _ both because Israel alone can- not hope to influence a major change in the Soviet policy and because the presence of Soviet submarines in the Middle East is no less a headache for the Western Powers than for Israel. The Israelis see four main issues involved in the Soviet arms delivery program: Continuation of the arms supplies as a means of inter- ference in the Middle East; an attempt to prove to the Arab states that despite the Eisen- hower Doctrine and the recent show of force by the U.S. Sixth Fleet, the USSR will stand by the Arabs staunchly; a con- tinuation of the anti-Israel policy as part of a program of maintaining maximum tension - in the area; and an attempt to impress the West with the fact that the USSR must be a party to any Middle East settlement. Egypt Defies U.S. Position on Free Passage for Israel WASHINGTON, (JTA) — Egypt has defied a stand taken by the United States that the Gulf of Aqaba is an interna- tional waterway and that Is- raeli shipping must not be molested there, or in the Suez canal. In a broadcast from Cairo Aly Sabri, Col. Nasser's chief political aide, challenged the U.S. view and said: "If Israeli ships try to force their way through the Suez Canal or the Gulf of Aqaba, we will' pre- vent them. If Israel attempts to obtain foreign assistance in such a move, the outcome will be the same as the out- come of the tripartite inva- sion." The attitude of the U.S. Gov- ernment with regard to Israel's right to use the Gulf of Aqaba and the Suez Canal was made known by the State Department in a note to all Arab nations. The note rejected the Arab contention that Egypt is within its rights to bar Israeli shipping from the Aqaiya. and Suez wa- terways. It was a reply to a demarche delivered by di- plomats of the 11 countries to Secretary of State Dulles on May 24. The United States reply sup- ported Israel's rights to passage through the Suez Canal and said this country does not be- lieve Egypt has any rightful claim to bar Israeli shipping under a "self-defense" provi- sion of Article 51 of the United Nations Charter which Egypt has been citing. On the Aqaba matter, the U.S. note also supported Israel and reiterated that American ships would use the waterway in the course of normal commerce and join with others to secure gen- eral recognition of this right. The note was addressed to Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, a Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Ye- men. It . was delivered through diplomatic channels. On the broad question of in- nocent transit into the gulf, the note cited Egypt's own state- ment of Jan. 28, 1950, assuring that Egyptian occupation of Tiran and Sanafir, the two is- lands at the mouth of the gulf, would in no way interfere with free passage. According to the U.S. note, Israel's transit rights existed be- fore the Sinai war. The United States called for solution of differences in ac- cordance with the spirit of the United Nations and said this Israel Dooms MAC Asks Direct Talks . JERUSALEM (JTA)- Israel will not meet Egypt within the framework of the defunct Mixed Armistice Commission, although Israel is prepared to send her dele- gates to meet Egyptian rep- resentatives to discuss any subject Egypt cares to raise, official sources said. country would take into account any future decision by the In- ternational Court of Justice re- garding the 'Aqaba Gulf. The note said the U.S. "sup- ports the continued stationing of the United Nations Emer- gency Forces at the Straits of Tiran believing that the force contributes importantly to peace in the area." On Israel's Suez rights, the note cited the UN Security Council resolution of Sept. 1, 1951. It also noted the six principles of the Security Council resolution of Oct. 13, 1956, particularly the one re- affirming "free and open transit through the canal, without discrimination, overt or covert." Egypt's belligerency rights were questioned on the matter of denial of passage to Israeli shipping. Goldmann Confers with Nehru L 0 ND 0 N, (JTA) — D r. Nahum Goldmann, president of the Jewish Agency, met during the weekend with Prime Min- ister Nehru of India. The two leaders discussed Middle East problems. Ben-Gurion Repeats Hope for Direct Israel-Egypt Talks TEL AVIV, (JTA) — Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, at a press conference here, gave a review of Middle East problems and reiterated Israel's desire to negotiate peace with Egypt whenever that nation wishes. He said Israel was ready to help solve the refugee problem, but denied that negotiations on this matter were in progress. Ben-Gurion said he saw no contradiction in Israel's re- fusal to sit with Egypt in the Mixed Armistic Commission while at the same time de- claring her readiness to ne- gotiate peace. He made the point that the armistice agreement provided obligations and rights for both sides and that it was an impos- sible situation when Israel was pressured to fulfill her obliga- tions while Egypt enjoyed rights of her own choosing. The Premier repeated pre- vious assertions that Arab rulers were using the refugee problem as a political weapon against Israel. He said that since 1948 he had been urging refugee resettlement in Iraq or Syria where there was adequate land and water and man-power was needed. When asked how many ref- ugees Israel was prepared to take back, assuming the ma- jority would settle in Arab countries, Ben-Gurion replied: "Why discriminate between 90 percent of the refugees who would resettle among their brethern under Arab rulers and the ten percent who according to this assumption should be returned to Israel?" Discussing the Middle East in relation to the great powers, the Premier said that Arab- Israeli peace was attainable even without the termination of the Global cold war. "Although East-West rivalry increases Middle East tension, Middle East trouble also serves as a stimulant for worsening the global situation," he ob- served. "The time will come when the Arab peoples will understand that they will not be able to reach real independ- ence from the great powers on either side unless they make peace with Israel." On the matter of recent bor- der raids from Syria, Ben-Gur- ion felt that they might be the responsibility of local com- manders only. However, he added, the responsibility for them rests with Damascus "or even somebody higher." Never- theless, he said, he intends to assume they are just local in- cidents. At the same press conference, the Israeli Premier praised West Germany for fulfilling reparations obligations, and ex- pressed hope for the establish- ment of diplomatic relations in the near future. He noted that reparations payments were pro- ceeding normally. Comedian Jerry Lewis Honored Comedian Jerry Lewis receives a silver - covered Bible made in Israel from Abe Stark, chairman of the "Music Under the Stars" concert held at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, and attended by 20,000 persons. Lewis was honored for his "understanding of the need for deepening the cultural relationships between the United States and Israel." The Foundation supports more than 40 projects in Israel. 'A Village by the Jordan' Baratz's 'Story of Degania' Joseph Baratz as an Officer in the Jewish Brigade in World War II Joseph Baratz on His Visit in Detroit Seven Years Ago Israel's famous village of Degania, whose settlers heroically repulsed the Syrian army with a few hand-made Molotov Cocktails in the 1948 War of Independence and thereby possibly rescued the new state from submission, was established by ten men and two women in 1911. Today, the settlement has two sections, Degania Aleph and Degania Beth. It has a thousand settlers. It is one of Israel's showplaces, having been developed by the sweat and toil of the pioneers who first took hold of a parcel of Jewish National Fund land in the Arab village of Urn Juni and transformed swamps and mud into a garden spot. The story of Degania is told by one of its founders, Joseph Baratz, in his book, "A Village by the Jordan," which Sharon Books (45 E. 17th, N.Y. 3), the publishing firm of the Labor Zionist Organization of America, has just issued in a second English edition, the first having been completely exhausted. "A Village by the Jordan" is not a literary work, but it must nevertheless be rated among the very great human documents because of the story it relates Of a struggle by a handful of people, to build up a new life for themselves and their oppressed people and to assist in establishing the founda- tion for an autonomous Jewish State. * * * - This book will undoubtedly gain an undying place in the history of the State of Israel. It is the chronicle of a people that suffered a great deal in order to gain a foothold on the soil of their ancestors' ancient homeland. They paid, a heavy price for their liberties—in lives, in their own health, in the abandonment of luxuries they could have had elsewhere. They were Russian and Polish immigrants in the beginning. Today in Degania: "People have came from everywhere—. Germans, Romanians, Poles, Persians, Moroccans Iraqis, some have come as adults, others as children to be trained and have stayed on .. ." A great ideal moved the Degania pioneers to action: "We never intended to have industry—industry isn't for the Jews, we wanted to be peasants—and we never wanted to employ labor," Baratz states. It is in this vein that Joseph Baratz, one of Israel's most colorful pioneers, describes how he and - his associates came to work on the land, to be-come farmers to work their fingers to their bones; how they objected to the employment of Arab' labor in the early settlements because it was their feeling that the people who established colonies in Palestine should have worked the land themselves. * * * As a young boy just past 1 ,6, Baratz set out for Palestine. He landed in Jaffa, then went to Rishon LeZion, from there to Rehovoth, before embarking upon the pioneering venture in Urn Juni for the establishment of Degania. The great idealist, Dr. Arthur Ruppin, who later requested that he be buried in Degania, made it possible for the young idealists to secure JNF land for their venture. It was a) struggle from beginning to end. It is no wonder that some could not stand the strain and committed suicide. But the strong—Baratz and his remarkable wife, Miriam, Ben- Gurion, Ben-Zvi, A. G. Gordon and others—carried on the battle for life so that Israel might live. At times, the story sounds incredible: the women's insistence upon their share of hard labor on the farms, the cooperative spirit, the work-by-day and watch-by-night against the odds of nomad Arab antagonism and stealth. But the details are inscribed for all generations 'to know in the remarkable Baratz-Degania story. * * Baratz's marriage to Miriam was the first in Degania. Their first child also was Degania's first. The second wedding was that of the parents of Moshe Dayan, the Commander-in-Chief of the Israel Army. "A Village by the Jordan" is a- story not only of struggle, but also of accomplishment. Baratz tells, for instance, how Degania improved its poultry: "We began with a few scraggy little chickens . . • Then we imported white Leghorn—they are huge birds and they lay over 160 eggs. Now we have 15,000 of them; last year alone we sold more than 110,000 eggs to Tnuva, used 16,000 in our kitchen and incubated close to 27,00-0—that's well over 150,000 eggs produced in a year!" In this fashion, a simple farmer, who has emerged a great man and a courageous pioneer, expresses his pride in ac- complishment for his people—through labor! These are just a few details of the remarkable Story of Degania. Hats off to its pioneers—and to its chief founder, the author of this book, Joseph Baratz! One must go to Israel fully to appreciate this remarkable story.