THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Fr iday, October 17, 1958-2 Purely Commentary By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Our Highest Possession—Natural Love of Learning There is a statement in the apocrypha that man's highest possession is "a natural love of learning." Jewry's chief aspiration, and strongest instrument for sur- vival, is the quest for learning. Indeed, the. Biblical injunction, "Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children" is the Jew's guide in life. On the occasion of Education Month, we reassert this prin- ciple—for our survival, and also for the making of better men, better citizens and better Jews. 'I: * * Humor, Anti-Partition Sentiments, In Briscoe Autobiography We already have referred to the keen sense of humor and the courage of Bob Briscoe, the former Lord Mayor of Dublin, as revealed in his autobiography, "For the Life of Me," written with Alden Hatch and published by Little, Brown and Co. There are many other qualities—and a few faults—of the genial Irish Jew to be found in his interesting narrative. The stories he relates in his book will undoubtedly be re- peated by book reviewers and public speakers. Much will be said about Briscoe's escapades. He shared in underground arms purchasing, in illegal gun-running, in extortion of funds from Irish banks: all for the cause of freedom. He doesn't apologize for some of the murders recorded during the Irish revolution: neither did the British apologize for I.R.A. leaders killed. Briscoe boasts of his membership in the I. R. A. He has reason to be proud of his record, and if there were a few un- ethical practices, they were for a great cause, and his defense sounds logical. After all, in time of war, when a people fights for freedom, you don't preach: you act. That's what Briscoe did. In the course of his experiences, emanating from a great loyalty for Ireland, he acquired a deep-rooted hatred for Eng- land. It deepened when the British committed untold crimes against the Jewish people during the few years preceding the birth of Israel. But in the end Briscoe says many kind things about the British. While he favored the neutrality of Ireland during the last war, there was no question about his pro-British sympathies. During the many years he spent in Germany pur- chasing arms for the I. R. A., he was witness to the rise of Hitlerism, and he hated it, and whenever possible battled against it, with all his Irish-Jewish might. A major meritorious element in the Briscoe story is his description of the women in his family—his mother, his wife, and later his daughter. He tells a few good stories about them. His father especially abhorred moneylenders, and his mother shared his feelings about them. The subscription of one such moneylender to the Jewish cemetery, of which Briscoe's father was a trustee, was never paid, and upon his death relatives were forced to pay a large sum to get him buried. They complained, and when Mrs. Briscoe heard the argument she told the moneylender's relatives: "Those good Jews who lie in the cemetery will rise when the Messiah comes. But your uncle will be there forever. He's getting a bargain." Briscoe describes his wife's travels with him on perilous journeys for the I. R. A. On one such trip, valuable messages for revolutionary leaders were hidden in their baby daughter's diaper. They remained safe that way: baby's diaper was the only item that was not checked by British police. One good story told by Briscoe is about a stop-over on one of his dangerous missions at a farm house. The rebels were having some fun in the evening, around a piano, played by the farmer's daughter. In the rebel group was a transport officer, Mr. Spratt, who "had a drop or more of poteen and felt like singing . . . Spratt only knew one song, but he knew it well —all 80 verses of it. Along about the fortieth verse," Briscoe writes, "I'd decided to go to bed, but even there I could hear Spratt roaring out increasingly indelicate adventures in 'The Foggy Foggy Dew'—he pronounced it `djew.' "The following morning Spratt came humbly up to beg my forgiveness. 'If I had known last night that you were a Jew I certainly would not have indulged in that song,' Spratt ex- plained." De Valera Opposed Partition Briscoe was very loyal to Ireland's chief rebel and later Prime Minister Eamon de Valera. The two traveled together to Israel and both admired the Israelis' achievements. In his life's story, Briscoe tells how Vladimir Jabotinsky con- vinced de Valera of the merits of Zionism. De Valera had asked how Jews can legitimately claim Palestine for themselves, having left the country in the possession of the. Arabs nearly 2,000 years ago. Jabotinsky replied by reminding de Valera that Ireland's population dropped from eight million to four million due to emigration as a result of the 1847-48 famine. "Supposing it had been reduced to 50,000 and the country had been resettled by the Welsh, Scots and English, would you then have given up the claim of Ireland for the Irish?", Jabotinsky asked. De Valera replied that "as long as one Irishman remained, Ireland would still rightfully belong to the I•ish." Jabotinsky then pointed out that there always were some Jews left in Pal- estine and that it was then reassured them as a National Home by Balfour for England and President Wilson for the United States. Briscoe said he felt Jabotinsky had convinced de Valera in the justice of his arguments. Briscoe also tells about a visit to de Valera in 1937 by the late Prof. Selig Brodetsky, who was the president of the Federa- tion of British Zionists. It was during that meeting that de Valera reminded the Zionist leader of the Solomonic story about two women who claimed the same baby, and Solomon proposed that it be divided into two parts, to be shared by the two women. It was then that the rightful mother screamed that she would rather protect the life of the baby than have half. De Valera thereupon told Prof. Brodetsky, in his comment on the question of partition which was then up for consideration: "This is my answer to partition. The rightful owners of a country will never agree to partition." There is a lot more of quotable material in the Briscoe book. It is well worth reading. Israelis, Arabs Have Free Exchange at Mediterranean Religious Parle FLORENCE, Italy (JTA) — The opinion that the Mediter- ranean Conference of Chris- tians, Moslems and Jews re- siding in countries along the Mediterranean shores holds a promise of "reconciliation" among the three civilizations, was expressed here by Moulay Hassan, Crown Prince of Mor- occo, who presided at the par- ley. Addressing the closing ses- sion, he said: "The three civili- zations co-existing on the Medi- terranean must find understand- ing." He invited all participants to a second Mediterranean Con- ference to be held in Morocco. Delegates from Israel were among the principal speakers at the conference, and Arabs and Israeli participants mixed freely during the session ex- changing views. This was the first time since the establish- ment of Israel that Israelis and Arabs met jointly to discuss common problems. Speaking in Arabic, Roustom Bastoune, an Israel Arab and member of the Mapam executive committee, told a session at- tended by all the Arab dele- gates that Israel-Arab peace was a necessary step "because Israel is an integral part of the Middle East and participates with Jordan, which has been transformed into a homeland for the Palestine refugees, in a common destiny." He added that he was "proud" of the Islamic cultural and religious heritage while under- standing Israel's return to "the motherland with the goal of reconstructing its national life." "The Israeli Arabs," he con- tinued, "symbolize the historical necessity of cooperation be- tween the Jewish progressive national movement and the A r a b liberation movement." Within Israel, he said, Jews and Arabs fight in a common move- ment for equality and the aboli- tion of all discrimination against the Arab minority. The speeches of the Arab participants were moderate and Israelis, attending in a non- governmental c a p a c i t y, re- frained from replying sharply to what they considered objec- tionable statements. Reuven Barkatt, leader of the Israel delegation said the Israel par- ticipants were bringing a mes- sage of peace to the confer- ence. Noting that Israel had con- tributed to the place which the Middle East "holds in human civilization," Barkatt offered to share with Israel's Arab neigh- bors the social, economic and cultural achievements of Israel in a spirit of "equality and co- operation." Allal el Fassi, Morocco's Istiqulal party president, said the history of Morocco demon- strated his country's belief in the principle of equal right for all without regard to color or creed. The proof, he said, was that in Morocco Jews were al- lowed to "thrive" and in the proclamation of equality of Jews and Moslems after Morocco achieved independence. The Moroccan leader said that there was also "the prob- lem of occupation of countries," which he called "the central problem." The Jewish people, he said, had the right to estab- lish a Jewish State but they should not have sought "the Arab homeland." Acknowledg- ing "the ability and dynamism of the Jews, who have always been active elements in all civi- lizations," he said Israel must not forget the problem of the Arab refugees. Asking that Israel take back all the Arab refugees, the Mor- occan leader said discussion on such issues "must take place elsewhere." He concluded with an expression of "faith and determination" for the achieve- ment of peace between Jews and all the Arab countries. Georges Henein, an Egyptian poet and writer, called the 1948 Palestine partition a "physical tragedy like vivisection." He said: "Problems cannot be re- solved by resuming the tradi- tion of displaced persons." Adel Sabet, Egyptian editor, declared that Islam requires of its followers that they respect Christianity and Judaism. However, he criticized the creation of Israel "without con- sideration of the rights and justice due to the Arabs, caus- ing more than 1,000,000 Arabs to be forced out to make place for the European refugees." (Joesph Golan, World Jewish Congress official in Italy who attended the Mediterranean Conference in Florence, was not representing the Congress at the Conference, Dr. Nahum Goldmann, President of the Congress, said in Jerusalem. Dr. Goldmann said the WJC was not invited to attend. Second Case of School Segregation Rouses Protests in Buenos Aires BUENOS AIRES (JTA) — A new case of anti-Jewish dis- crimination in Argentina's Cath- olic-dominated school system was exposed here on a television program by news commentator Dr. Augustin Cuzzani. The telecaster revealed that in School Number 16, a state commercial high school in this city, the principal, Mrs. Maria Teresa Quiroga de Nocetti had forced Jewish and Catholic girls to sit in separate sections in the classes. The school is situated in the heart of a Jew. ish residential district. The entire parent member- ship of the school's parent- teacher committee resigned in protest and both Catholic and Jewish parents have urged their children to stay away from school until the principal re- signs. The Jewish students have voiced demands that the school system be returned to lay con- trol. Parliament's action in approv- ing a Catholic-controlled univer- sity system aroused so much opposition that the population has been split and students pro- testing the move have battled police in bloody encounters. Dr. Cuzzani, in reporting the incident, the second case of bias in the schools in recent days, expressed the hope that this was an isolated "Nazi-Fac- ist" type outburst. Critics of the religious controlled school system noted that these inci- dents clashed with President Arturo Frondizi's pledges that there would be no • racial or religious discrimination in this country. Dr. Luis Mackay, the Argen- tine Minister of Education, told newspapermen this week that his ministry was launching an immediate investigation into the action of the principal. A Jewish deputy, member of the Government party, announced that he would raise the case in Parliament. The DAIA. the Jewish repre- sentative organization, has not yet intervened in the case, hav- ing been asked by the parents of pupils at the school to let them fight out the issue. The chairman of the parents' committee said that he had doc- umentary proof that Mrs. de Nocetti, had ordered the seg- regation. He expressed belief that she would be removed from her position as principal of the school. Boris Smolar's 'Between You ... and Me' (Copyright, 1958, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.) Hadassah Convention The season of Jewish communal activities has been resumed in full force after the quiet summer months . . . Within the next four weeks, American Jewry will witness a number of very important conferences and conventions which will lay the basis for Jewish communal work for the entire year . . . Among the interesting conventions this month is that of Hadassah, in Miami Beach . . . The Hadassah is generally viewed as an organization of American women working for the interests of Israel . . . Actually, the Hadassah plays an extremely important role in molding Jewish life within the United States itself . . • • • I mean the influence which the 300,000 Hadassah members have on educating their families in the Jewish way of life and imbuing them with interest in things Jewish . . . In my opinion, Hadassah does more indirectly for Jewish survival in the United States than any other Jewish organization. CJFWF Assembly The most important conference will, of course, be the Assembly of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds in Washington in the middle of next month . . Its agenda will embrace all the problems with which American Jewry will have to deal in the course of the year .. It truly reflects developments in American Jewish communal life by posing problems in which every Jewish institution in the United States is interested . . . As the financial backbone of all the philanthropic endeavors in this country, the federations and welfare funds are today the source of existence for most of the local and national Jewish institutions and organizations . . ZOA Convention The annual convention of the Zionist Organization of America, which will take place in Miami Beach at the end of this month, will apparently be less interesting than the other gatherings . . . This is because the ZOA today has no real issue to discuss. . . . Through no fault of its own, the ZOA has lost a good deal of its strength since the establishment of the Jewish state. . . . However, fields that are still open to the ZOA are: the development of propaganda among its members for priv- ate investments in Israel and the promoting of Hebrew education among American Jewish youth . . . These two issues will probably become the center of discussion at the ZOA convention.