THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Friday, Sep tember 5, 1958- 2
Purely' Cornmentary •
•
Unblushing Nasser: Vengeful and Impatient
Nasserism, more dangerous today than in any of its previous
stages, should be studied to be fully understood—and properly
met.
Oswood Caruthers, who has been reporting for the New
York Times from Egypt for nearly three years, analyZed the
"impetuous" actions of Gamal Abdel Nasser in an article, "What
Drives the New Arab `Saladin' ", and he provides us with the
following observations vis-a-vis the new Pan-Arabic reactions
to Israel: .
Nasser could not be a leader of the Arabs without an
unwavering dedication to the cause of removing Israel from
their heartland—or, at least, reducing the Jewish state to -a
condition where it no longer would threaten expansion and
no longer would threaten to outstrip the Arabs in economic
•competition.
Nasser does not appear to most people who know him
well to be a man bent on revenge in any field. But the shame
of defeat at the hands of Israel must be erased somehow, and
his inherent fear of Israeli expansion and economic domina-
tion is ever present in his thinking. Thus, the Western powers
are doubly indicted in Nasser's mind, because he believes
they wish to regain imperialist control of the Arab world,
and because they support the enemy state of Israel as a
"dagger at our throats." And, flirts, the Russians have been
doubly blessed by their ability to reverse their policy from
support of Israel in - its formative years to a declaration of
open hostility to this "tool of Western imperialism." Nasser,
for all his avowals of anti-communism and all his wariness of
Soviet aims in the Middle East, cannot bring himself to spurn
such attractive bait.
Although this attitude is known and understood, it is well
for it to be repeated in order that those afflicted by it should
be aware of a sentiment that endangers their existence.
Caruthers, in his analysis, explains Nasser's weaknesses.
We quote him on this score:
The greatest contradiction of all is Nasser's insistence
that he is not power-hungry — that his is not a pan-Arab
imperialism—while insisting, at the same time, that his is
the only right way to achieve Arab aims and that, therefore,
he must be given the power to carry out those aims. One
senses in him a mighty urge to be known as personally equal
among the great, like that of a young parvenu eager to be
seen with the cream of society.
Nasser has unblushingly accepted the role of hero in
the Arab world. But, as more and more people recognize him
in that role, he becomes less tolerant of criticism, more an-
grily impatient with those who thwart him. This has been
the major weakness of all dictators, and one wonders whether
Nasser' can overcome it before he rides to a fall. Can he
maintain his posture of humble dedication and puritanical
aversion to corruption while he forges ahead with his cam-
paign to overthrow the old order by every means, fair or
oul, at his disposal?
One wonders, too, whether Nasser is capable of setting a
limi
his ambition, now that he is caught in its toils. And,
havin' reached that limit, can he become another person—no
longer angry, no longer suspicious, no longer fearful that he
will not be dealt with as an equal among the leaders of
the world?
This must not mislead us into believing that Nasser already
is "riding for a fall." But it does serve as an admonition that
"whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad" — and
there is no doubting the madness of Dictator Nasser.
*
*
*
The Multiplicity of Publicity
In his column two weeks ago, Boris Smolar, the editor of
the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, called attention to discussions
current in Canadian Jewish circles regarding the multiplicity
of publicity material from national Jewish organizations.
Our fellow-columnist deserves commendation for calling
attention to this festering sore in Jewish activities. But it is
not anew development that has involved great expense to the
American Jewish community.
In 1949, this Commentator, then in his capacity as president
of the American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers,
framed a resolution at the association's convention in Wash-
ington, protesting against such expensive practices. The reso-
lution adopted in 1949 reads:
"The American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers
in convention assembled in Washington, D.C. February 18-21,
views with alarm the tendency in Jewish communities of pur-
suing exaggerated programs of public relations and publicity
seeking.
"Our convention desires to call to the attention of the
i
Jewishcommunities
the refusal of national organizations to
make ublic the expenditures of their publicity and public
relatio departments. Out of 47 organizations, approached for
such fa is only 10—those with minimal expenditures—had seen
fit to resent the requested facts.
"It is our conviction that funds presently used for publicity
purposes are excessive, that there is an extreme amount of
overlapping, that most of the copy coming from national or-
ganizations ultimately is consigned to the waste baskets and
that this therefore, is a situation calling for correction.
"National organizations have gone to extremes in sponsor-
ing bulletins and periodicals and in entering upon extensive
publicity campaigns. .
"In nearly every instance of news dissemination, the JTA
and SAFS carry the important news of Jewish happenings.
JTA and SAFS are fully equipped to serve our communities,
and the additional expenses used for campaigns represent the
excessive amount of expense and energy at an unnecessary
public expense.
"We especially deplore a situation which finds one national
organization in a position of having incurred a $164,000 deficit
in publishing a monthly magazine—at the expense of funds
contributed by our communities—and now nevertheless is even
undertaking the publication of a weekly newspaper. If the latter
step materializes this organization will be abusing a public trust
placed in it in a civic-protective sphere which its leaders are
trying to transform into a publicity field.
"Vast sums of money are being spent unnecessarily for
--5-
Vengefulness of Impatient
Nasser . . . Multiplicity
of Publicity
By philip
Slomovitz
publicity purposes. Only the vanities of some leaders and the
public relations men are being fulfilled, in the distribution of
news releases and mats which, in the main, are being ignored
and are not. It is imperative that, in the interest of econ-
omy- and our major causes for which large sums are being raised,
that the Amef-.;,can Jewish community should survey this situation
seriously with the ultimate objective of putting upon our national
leaders and organizations to examine this situation with a view
of remedying it."
Public relations executives were angry at the time—against
the publishers, against your Commentator who framed the unani-
mously-adopted resolution. But they had no defense and they
refused to make a public reply.
The' problem, as indicated in Smolar's column has become
even more aggravated. Will the American Jewish community
do something about it?
We spend a lot of money on many unnecessary so-called
civic-protective activities and on bombastic publicity. When it
comes to educational and cultural activities, we are impoverished.
The unfortunate waste is traceable to many national
agencies, and there are frequent abuses on the local scenes
as well—in foolish programming as well as in unnecessary
publicity. Often these abuses are ascribable to a lack of
proper leadership.
A new accounting is needed in American Jewish life. Let's
eliminate, waste, let us plan out programs realistically, for the
good of our communities. Else, our errors will multiply and to
the detriment of American Jewry.
Great-Niece of
Balfour Coming
for Bond Drive
Arabs Publish
Tito's Speeches
BELGRADE (WJA)—A col-
lection of speeches and articles
by Yugoslav President Tito has
been published for the first
time in Arabic by the publish-
ing house Dar el Maared, re-
ports Tanyug, the official Yugo-
slav News Agency.
The volume runs to about
200 pages, the first part con-
taining Tito's biography in the
light of the struggle of the
Yugoslav peoples for indepen-
dence and socialism, and the
second part being devoted to
important articles and speeches
by Marshal Tito on Yugoslavia's
domestic and foreign policy.
The third section contains
Tito's report to the Seventh
Congress of the League of Corn-
munists of Yugoslavia, and is
the first complete text of this
report in Arabic. The volume
is said to have been published
in 20,000 copies and is to be on
sale in all Arab countries.
Boris Smolar's
'Between You
• • . and Me
(Copyright, 195E,
Jewish TelegraPhic Agency, Inc.)
Jewish Leadership
LADY FERGUSON of Kil-
kerran, a, distinguished mem-
ber of many noble families
of Scotland and England, and
a leader in work in behalf
or the State of Israel, will
arrive in the United States
on Sept. 22 for an intensive
six-week speaking tour on be-
half of the Israel Bond cam-
paign. She is the great-niece
of Lord Balfour, who in 1917
issued the Declaration that
recognized Jewish rights in
Palestine. Lady Fergusson,
active in the Youth Aliyah
program in England and Scot-
land, is also the National
Vice President of the United
Kingdom Save - the - Children
movement. Her husband is
the Keeper of the Records
of Scotland. Lady Fergus-
son's Israel Bond tour in-
cludes engagements in De-
troit and a number of other
cities.
500,000 Israeli
Children Return
to School Rooms
Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News
JERUSALEM—Half a million
school children, including
44,000 Arabs and 50,000 first
graders, went back to school
Monday.
The end of the vacation found
900 new teachers at classroom
desks, including 600 Arab teach-
ers in State schools for Arab
children.
One thousand new classrooms
were put into service providing
seating space for more than
40,000 pupils. Another 1,000
units must still be constructed
to provide for 50,000 children
still on "second shift" in various
schools around the country.
What is the definition of a "Jewish leadership?" . . . David
Einhorn, noted poet and essayist, has put this question to me
publicly ... He finds that I often use the term "American Jewish
leader" in writing about persons who, in his opinion, do not qual-
ify for such a title ... His concept of Jewish leadership is limited
to personalities -like Dr. Theodore Herzl, who inspired millions
of Jews to believe in the ultimate establishment of a Jewish
State . . . Another example of leadership he cites is that of the
late Vladimir Medem, who led hundreds of thousands of Jewish
workers and intellectuals in the Jewish Socialist Bundist move-
ment in Europe . . . He also considers the Hassidic rabbis lead-
ers, inasmuch as they inspired thousands upon thousands of Jews
to become -part of the Hassidic movement His idea of a Jew-
ish leader is a person who inspires a large number of Jews to
follow and look up to him in veneration . . . In other words—he
recognizes as leaders only those personalities who enjoy the fol-
lowing of masses blindly believing in them, irrespective of the
fact whether they hold office in an organization, or not . . .
And he asks me to explain what I mean when I write of one or
another Jewish personality that he. is "an American Jewish
leader."
The Inspiring Leader
My gifted friend Mr. Einhorn, whose views I respect highly,
seems to make a distinction—without knowing it—between
"accepted" leaders and "elected" leaders .. . His conception of
a leader is the "accepted" leader who stimulates the masses to
believe in him and to follow his ideas . .. In my lexicon, the
"elected" leader is also recognized as a bona fide Jewish leader
... It is true that the elected leader is only elected for a certain
period of time, whereas the "accepted" leader does not depend
on being elected . . . He leads not by the grace of recognition of
his qualities as a fine human being interested in a certain cause,
but because he is a natural-born leader with certain ideas which
attract mass followship . . . Jewish leaders of this kind were
Louis Marshall, Dr. Stephen Wise and many in the American Jew-
ish labor movement a generation ago . . . They were considered
American Jewish leaders—and accepted as such—whether-on not
they were elected to the presidency of a Jewish organization ...
Their strength was in their inspirational qualities . . . Inspira-
tional qualities of this kind can also be found among some Jewish
leaders today ... The young Edward M. M. Warburg, for instance,
is today inspiring American Jewry to unprecedented heights in
philanthropic giving . . . His name has a tremendous followship
among all Jews in this country ... And this is not because he is
the elected reader of the Joint Distribution Committee or because
of his devotion to the United Jewish Appeal, but because he is
looked upon by all classes of American Jewry as the inspiring
force in the field of Jewish .philanthropic endeavor.
'
In general it can be said that each generation has the kind
of Jewish leaders required by contemporary conditions of Jewish
life. . . Jewish life in the United States today is not what it was
a generation ago •. . . The great majority of American Jewry
today are American born, whereas the great majority of Jews in
this country a generation ago were immigrants ... The "stormy"
problems which existed in Jewish life a generation ago, do not
exist today . . . Thus, Jewish leadership in America today is
rather a "quiet" leadership, devoted primarily to the quiet as-
pects of Jewish life, like building community institutions, keeping
an eye on civil rights, and seeking to give maximum aid to Jews
abroad . . . Actually, local Jewish leadership in the communities
distinguishes itself today much more than a generation ago, when
organized Jewish communities were practically non-existent .. .
Jewish community life throughout the country is better organi-
ized today and is conducted with much more modern methods
than a generation ago . . . American Jewish community leaders
—although they do not possess the leadership qualities of a Dr.
Herzl, Mr. Medem or the Hassidic rabbis—are therefore entitled
to be called "leaders" even though they are only elected leaders
. . . This is true even to a greater extent of the leaders of nation-
al Jewish organizations . . . American life in general has today
no accepted leaders to whom the masses look, but is conducted
by elected leaders; why should this not be the case with Amer-
ican Jewish life also?