E JEWISH NEWS

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Michigan's Only English-Jewish Newspaper—Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle

VOLUME XXXIV—No. 3 10Z nViciiotT Stop

17100 W. 7 Mile Rd. — VE 8-9364 — Detroit 35, September 19, 1958 $5 Per Year; Single Copy 1 Sc

New Romanian Terror Seen;
Travel to Israel Stymied

Is ° ammarskjold's
Credit Huuni g Low?

BY SAUL CARSON

JTA Correspondent at the United Nations
(Copyright, 1958, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)

As the General Assembly convened here last Tuesday for its
13th annual session, one of the most important questions—asked
sotto voce but with genuine concern—was this: has Dag Ham-
marskjold over-reached himself? The answer is important to the
United Nations as a whole. It is particWarly pertinent to all
whose specific interest is the Middle East region, including Israel.
There was little doubt here among most observers, either
diplomatic or journalistic, that the indications point to a failure
on the part of the Secretary General in his efforts to solve the
Middle East crisis. There is disagreement as to whether the
failure is- temporary or lasting, superficial or basic. The conse-
quences of a basic, lasting defeat of Hammarskjold's Middle East
policy could be very serious indeed; especially for Israel. There-
fore, the search for the answers was serious.

*

*

*

Hammarskjold went to the Middle East on Aug. 25 armed
with a fresh mandate by the General Assembly. But the mandate
was embodied in a resolution drafted by the members of the
Arab League. The fact that Russia's Andrei Gromyko and Secre-
tary of State John Foster Dulles almost danced together in joyful
unison when the Arabs came up with their resolution, should
have made most well-wishers suspicious of the genuine worth of
the Assembly measure.
All that the unanimity, with which the Assembly adopted
the resolution, denoted was that all three major parties to the
Middle East dispute—the West, the East and the United Arab
Republic's Gamal Abdel• Nasser—wanted very badly to find a
device, a gimmic, that would ease tensions for a moment. None
was ready for a basic solution—and so none was achieved. The
very foundation of the resolution rested on muck and mire, since
it had been sired by Nasser's men here and was endorsed by an
Arab League that was split down, across and around the middle.
The resolution was a meretricious structure built on quicksand.
How then could Hammarskjold—how could anyone—be expected
to succeed under the circumstances?
Viewed in this manner, the fault for failure then is not
Hammarskjold's but the Assembly's. However, it is recalled that
the resolution was not an instrument foisted on Hammarskjold
or pushed down his throat. He wanted precisely the kind of
resolution he got. In fact, he pointed with glee, at a news con-
ference prior to his departure for the Middle East, that the
resolution embodied the very principles he had set forth before
the Assembly, when the emergency special session on the Middle
East opened Aug. 8.
*
*
*
Hammarskjold has been staking his entire career on his ef-
forts at solving the basic Middle East conflicts. Gradually, he
has acquired more and more power in the Middle East—power
vested in his own person as Secretary General. He is the boss
of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization, of the
United Nations Emergency Force, of the United Nations Observa-
tion Group in Lebanon, and of the United Nations Relief and
Works Agency for Arab Refugees from Palestine. He is ad-
vancing the idea of a stand-by UN Peace Force—over which,
again, he would be the headman.
One need not question Hammarskjold's motives. There is
hardly any doubt on anyone's part here that he desires peace
sincerely. A man in his early fifties, he has staked his entire
life's reputation on his work for the UN—for peace on a
world-wide basis and for peace in the Middle East first of all.
If he can be accused of building "an empire" in the Middle
East, he could answer that it is an "empire for peace."
But motivation and sincerity, hope and desire, do not alter
the hard facts of practical international politics. The fact is
that, in his latest try, Hammarskjold has come back—apparently
—with empty hands.
*
*
*
The qualification, "apparently," must be noted too. Maybe
he has more commitments than he is as yet ready to reveal to
public gaze. After all, his policy is one of quiet diplomacy—
which means secret talks that must, ultimately, result in open
convenants openly arrived at.
Officially, Hammarskjold has until Sept. 30 to reveal to the
world the true degree of his success or failure in the Middle
East. By Sept. 30, he must file a report with the General As-
sembly. He could, of course, file only an interim report, one not
expected to unveil the entire picture clearly. He will—again, of
course—speak of finding in the Middle East a "will to peace."
But he had better come up with something more definite, some-
thing much more concrete, before very long. Even his large
credit could run out.

Reports from Vienna reveal that a new wave of terror is in evidence in
Romania against the Jewish population. It is believed that the new campaign of
police terror against Romania's Jews has developed as a result of government
opposition to the exit of Jews seeking havens in Israel.
The arrest of seven Americans who were on a plane carrying 23 Jewish
emigrants on their way to Israel brought to light the new terroristic program.
A UPI report from Vienna stated that Romanian Jewish emigrants, who
had been arriving
the Austrian capital in groups of 20 and 30 by train and
plane from Bucharest, said the anti-Semitic terror campaign launched by the
Romanian Communist regime was "far worse than what we had to go through
under fascist dictator Mihali (Ion) Antonescu and the Rightist parties."
They confirmed reports that virtually all Jews in government posts had
been dismissed.
Jews, they reported, were forced to hand over all their property to gov-
ernment agents who used all types of pressure and torture to extract informa-
tion on where they might have hidden jewels or gold. They said they were told
of at least 20 cases of suicides of Jews who were unable to withstand the police
pressure.

Iteconstructionisis Propose One-Day
Rosh Hashanah Observance in Israel

Direct JTA Teletype Wire to The Jewish News

TEL AVIV—The non-orthodox Reconstructtionist prayer book was used publicly for the
first time in Israel this year at Rosh Hashanah services in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa,
sponsored by the Circle for the Renaissance of Religious Life.
In Jerusalem, where '70 worshippers attended services at Progressive headquarters, wor-
ship began with recorded organ music. - There was no separation of men and women. On
Monday, both men and women were called to the Torah. The group did not observe the
second day of the New Year on grounds that in Israel the second day was redundant.
(Interestingly enough, on the eve of the opening of the 13th regular session of the
United Nations General Asseinbly, Abba Eban, chairman of Israel's delegation, officially
notified Sir. Leslie Munro, the Assembly's retiring president, that the Israel delegation would
be absent on the opening day of the Assembly, on Tuesday, the second day of Rosh
Hashanah. Thus, the Israelis officially continued to observe Rosh Hashanah for two days.)

Yom Kip pur Meditations

By SOLOMON IBN GABIROL

Forget thine anguish, vexed heart again,
Why shouldst thou languish, with earthly pain?
The hush shall slumber, bedded. in clay,
Silent and sombre oblivion's prey,
But, Spirit immortal, thou at death's portal
Tremblest with fear, if He caress thee,
Thou must draw near, curse thee, or bless thee,
From Him the word of thy works to hear.

Why, full of terror compassed with error,
Trouble thy heart for thy mortal part?
The soul flies home—the corpse is dumb.
Of all thou didst have follows nought to the grave.
Thou fliest thy nest swift as a bird to thy place of rest.

Life is a vine branch, a vintager, Death;
He threatens and lowers more near with each breath.
Then, hasten arise! seek God, 0 my soul!
For time quickly flies—still far is the goal.
Vain heart praying dumbly, learn to prize humbly
The meanest of fare, forget all thy sorrow—
Behold, death is there!

Dove-like lamenting be full of repenting,
Lift vision. supernal to raptures eternal
On every occasion seek lasting salvation;
Pour thy heart out in weeping while others are sleeping;
Pray to Him—when all's still, performing His will,
And so shall the Angel of Peace thy.warden,
And guide thee at last to th.e heavenly garden."

(Translated by Emma Lazarus)

