32
—.
Will U. S. Halt Russians
In Mideast? Israel Asks
Tuesday, Nov. 5, 1957
Philip Slomovitz, editor of
the Detroit Jewish News, and
Mrs. Slomovitz have been visit-
ing in Israel. This is another
of his special reports for the
Free Press.
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor, The Jewish News
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israelis
have only two fears — of what
Russia may do in the Middle East
and what the United States may
fail to do to stop Communist in-
filtration here.
While the enemy supposedly is
the Arab, there is little 'fear of
what the hostile neighbors may
do. The average
Israeli believes
that the Ara b
peoples know his
country can
stand its ground
against them and
they will not at-
tack Israel.
Israelis live
within a stone's
throw of Arab
Slomovitz
villages. The en-
tire country is one long border.
In some areas Israelis and Arabs
fraternize across the demarcation
lines.
BUT EVERY time Russia makes
an effort to get a foothold in an
Arab land as in the Syrian situa-
tion—Israelis show serious con-
cern.
"Russia already is in the Middle
East, that is why we are con-
cerned," an important Govern-
ment spokesman said. "But what
will the United States do? Will
your country stop the Russian in-
filtrations? •
"Will the United States be
firm against Communist domin-
ation in our area? At the mo-
ment we are skeptical about
firm United States action, and
that is what makes us uneasy."
Meanwhile the Israelis are dis-
playing deep anxiety over the fate
of the remaining 2,500,000 Jews
in Russia. Israeli youths who at-
tended the Moscow Youth Festi-
val have returned here with sad
forebodings.
They maintain that anti-Semi-
' tism in Russia is assuming violent
proportions, that Jews there live
in insecurity, but that they fear
to speak lest they and their fa-
milies should be compelled to
suffer an even worse fate at the
hands of the Communist terror-
ists.
* * *
"RUSSIAN JEWS followed the
Israeli delegation around in
— hordes, while we were in Mos-
cow," one of the delegates said,
"but they dared not get too near
to us out of fear that their in-
terest in Israel will bring punish-
ment.
"But often they sent us mes-
sages to tell us that they are
suffering from anti-Semitism and
that they wish they could go to
Israel. Often they sent their chil-
dren to us to touch us — we
seemed to them a symbol of some
hope of a better future if they
could escape to Israel."
One of the delegates reported
that an elderly Russian Jewish
couple managed to invite him
to their shabby one-room home.
They opened their hearts, spoke
of the bitter feeling against
Jews in Russia, and said that
although they lost three sons
in the war fighting with the
Russian Army, their neighbors
nevertheless shout the oppro-
brious term "Zhid"— "damned
Jew"—at them.
The returnees from Russia are
unanimous in their belief that the
vast majority would welcome an
opportunity to escape from there
and go to Israel.
But they are fearful that Russia
will never permit it and that
Russian Jewry may be doomed
at the hands of a people that re-
mains anti-Semitic and that is not
discouraged by its government in
its retention and practice of anti-
S emitism.
Shetz,er Forest One of Important
Sites Shown Visitors in Israel
One of the im-
portant sites shown
visitors from the
United States in Is-
rael is the Isaac and
Simon Shetzer For-
est, planted in Is-
rael in memory of
the eminent father-
son team of Detroit
leaders who died a
year apart, nearly
a decade ago. The
Shetzer Jewish Na-
tional Fund Forest
is one of several for-
ests planted by De-
troiters in Israel.
Isaac Shetzer was
one of Detroit's most
prominent Zionist
leaders. He was an
outstanding volun-
teer for A II i e d
Jewish Campaigns
and the Community
Chest and was pres-
ident of Shaarey Ze-
dek.
His son, Simon,
who was president
of the Zionist Or-
ganization of Detroit
from 1929 to 1931,
gained prominence
as national execu-
tive director of the
Zionist Organization
of America.