Purely Commentary

Dramatic Story of
Cyprus • . . Israel's
Welcome to New State

By Philip

SiOMOVitZ

Redelheitn Talks
to ZOD March 18

were interned on Cyprus but who refused to crawl in their
captivity, added glory to • the last stages of Jewish history on
A new nation is in the making on the Island of Cyprus. Cyprus. Their determination to be in Israel, which was made

The New Nation of Cyprus: Israel's
Position and the Island's Sad Memories

The strife and the terrorism that has finally resulted in the
independence granted to the Cypriots bring back sad
recollections of the years during which their island was turned
into a British prison for many thousands of Jews who were
prevented from reaching the shores of Palestine shortly before
it was to become the State of Israel.
At one point, there were more than 17,000 "stateless"
Jews on Cyprus. Even after the rise of Israel, the British were
reluctant to release them. The ancient homeland was ready
to receive these exiles, but, on Dec. 22. 1948, the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency reported from London: "The British
government has no intention of relaxing at present its practices
governing the release of Jewish refugees interned on
Cyprus . . ."
There finally came an end to that painful era in modern
history. The internment of Jews on Cyprus began in August
of 1946. It terminated with the arrival in Haifa of 1,460
Jewish immigrants on the SS Galila of Israel on Jan." 25, 1949.
A number of boats carrying Jewish refugees were sunk
and many Jews perished when the British, while in control of
Palestine, prevented their entering the Jewish Homeland. Those
who were interned on Cyprus at least had a. hope. They were
more fortunate than those who went down to a watery grave.
There were more than 4,500 immigrants on the SS Exodus
alone, whose unfortunate passengers were turned away from
the shores of the Holy Land and who were taken back to their
port of exit in France.
The struggle attracted worldwide interest. Humanitarian
principles were flaunted by the British, but justice triumphed
in the end—just as justice finally was meted out last week to
the Cypriots.
When the Cyprus tragedy was at its height—with the
British refusing to permit the exit of the internees even
after the establishment of the State of Israel—the late Dr.
Stephen S. Wise, as president of the American Jewish Congress,
wrote this letter of protest to Sir Oliver Franks, the British
Ambassador in Washington:

I write this letter as a life-long friend of the British
people. I write it as one who during two world wars did all
he could to mobilize American support, both Jewish and non-
Jewish, far Britain because of the principles of freedom and
justice your country inspired and defended.
Last week there was returned to you, as representative of
the British Government in this country, the mamuscript of
the Magna Carta of 1225 which your Government generously
loaned to our own Library of Congress two years ago.. Free
men throughcntt the world, and millions still struggling to be
free, are the eternal debtors of your forefathers who centuries
ago won the guarantees of individual freedom inscribed in that
charter. We Americans are grateful to your Government for
having enabled us to view this document: It has served to
remind us of the priceless nature of the heritage it gave to
the wand and to render us more zealous in the defense and
furtherance of the principles it set forth.
I hope, however, that when the Magna Carta reaches the
:.shares of your country, it will not immediately be consigned
to its vault in the British Museum. For I deeply regret to
:-"say, there are members of your Government who need to be
reminded anew of the 'principles which the Magna Carta
;'established. They need to be reminded that by order of your
' : Government, thousands of Jews are forcibly detained on. the
jsland of Cyprus where they are languishing in concentration
-Catrups. These long-suffering heroes and heroines of the modern .
!.::odyssey of the displaced persons seek only admission to the
Zand of their fathers, the Land of Israel. Their only crime is
T. their passionate belief in and dedication to the principles of
the Magna Carta. Yet they continue to be imprisoned by
Government, in violation of every principle of law, justice
and humanitarianism, and in defiance of the guarantees of
individual freedom your forefathers won.
When the Magna Carta arrives in England, every member
of the British Government should read it carefully and
rededicate himself to its principles. Let them particularly
read the "Golden Passage" which asserts that:
"No free man shall be taken, or imprisoned. or
disseised, or outlaw'd, or banished or by any ways
destroyed; nor will we pass upon him or commit him
to priSon, unless by the legal judgment of his peers,
- We will sell to no man,
or by• the law of the
we will deny to no man, or defer right or justice."
Let them then search their hearts and souls and - answer to
-God, their consciences, and mankind, whether they can permit
the interned - Jews on Cyprus to continue under imprisonment
for a single day. Unless your Government immediately
.provides far their release and their journey to Israel, it will
have to suffer the inevitable judgment of mankind; though the
parchment on which Magna Carta is inseribed- rests once again
in Britain, its contents and spirit will have abandoned., and
. .
have been abandoned by, your land.

This is now part of history. It can not be a forgotten
.history, since Cyprus continued to play an important role as
Israel's neighbor. Travelers who are not permitted entrance
into Arab countries from Israel, or who can not go to Israel
while traveling from Arab lands, have used and continued to
use the Island of Cyprus . as the substitute transfer point
between planes.
Cyprus served as the commencement point for Leon Uris'
best-selling novel "Exodus."
Cyprus also played an important role in pre-Israel history.
Jews lived in Cyprus as far back as the . first century of the
Christian era. Throughout the century Jews lived there and
traded there. Russian and Romanian Jews settled there in
the latter part of the last century, and as late as 1897 attempts
were made by the Jewish Colonization Association (ICA) to
establish Jewish colonies there. It was Britain's Jewish Prime
Minister Benjamin Disraeli who made Cyprus a part of the
British Empire in 1878.
The Jews of the middle of the present century, who

a
reality
with the
aid of an
the
Jews
of the world and of their
Israeli
kinsmen,
marked
end
to humiliation.
May we hope, now, that the Cypriots and the Israelis, as
good neighbors, will help bring peace to that entire Middle
Eastern cauldron.

Cairo 1 O

EGYPT

Israel Acclaims Cyprus Agreement

Interestingly enough, Israel is acclaiming the Cyprus agree-
ment that is leading to the island's independence.
A special program over the Israel Broadcasting Service, on
Feb. 15, included the following statement:
"The most e,ncouraging thing that has happened in the
Middle East so far this year is the agreement reached between
Greece and Turkey - on the future of Cyprus.
"Public opinion in Israel has warmly welcomed the happy
outcome of these negotiations. There is general appreciation of
the sound, realistic statesmanship which both sides have shown.
The press has- been congratulating Turkey and Greece alike for
the businesslike, sensible way they have gone about . this matter,
and on the quick agreement which has been their reward.
"Cyprus has been connected with Israel ever since Biblical
days, and the connection has never been shattered. Even now,
archaeologists excavating ancient sites in Israel constantly come
across pottery and vases imported from Cyprus three thousand
and more years ago. The connection between the two countries
is, only natural, seeing haw close they are to one another. Apart
frorii the Arab Countries with which Israel has a common land
frontier, Cyprus- is the - nearest - foreign land. It takes only just
over an hour to fly from Tel Aviv to Nicosia, the capital of
Cyprus, or a short night voyage by sea from Haifa to the ports
of Larnaca or Limassol.
"Israel welcomes, first and foremost, the removal of a poten-
tial threat to the peace of the Middle East, and the achievement
by one more of the Middle Eastern .nations of freedom and the
right to determine its own way of life. At one time it looked
as if Cyprus might lead to armed conflict even between Turkey
and Greece, just as the Turks and the Greeks in Cyprus had
for - years. been fighting one another — side by side with the
more general fight against the British. All this should now soon
be a thing of the- past, with Turks and Greeks living in reason-
able harmony in, Cyprus itself, while Turkey and Greece repair
their relations after the strains which brought them so close
to breaking point."
'Of added interest is the point made by the Israeli broad-
caster that "Israel has noted, in particular, that this great suc-
cess has been achieved by. direct negotiations. From the start
of the dispute with the Arab states Israel has consistently held
that the deadlock could only be broken by direct negotiations
between the two sides. Indeed, this stands to reason. If there
is a dispute or quarrel between two parties, how are they to
settle it if not by negotiation? The value of direct talks between
the two was shown strikingly at-the armistice conferences of
1949, when Israel negotiated successively, and separately, with
Egypt, with Jordan, with Lebanon and finally with Syria. In
each case, the negotiations led to the conclusion of an agree-
ment, in one or two cases fairly soon, and in one or two others
only after prolonged bargaining and argument."
The Israeli broadcaster concluded with this enlightening
assertion:

"There is another point I think worth making. The nego-
tiations between Greece and Turkey followed on a resolution
of the UN General Assembly calling upon the parties con-
cerned to seek a settlement by direct discussion among them-
selves. No such resolution has ever been adopted by the
General Assembly in the case of the Israel-Arab dispute. The
only attempt ever made to introduce such a resolution into
the General Assembly was defeated, and that was almost
seven years ago. Maybe the General Assembly, at its next
session, will draw encouragement from the agreeinent on
Cyprus and call upon Israel and the Arab states to settle
their differences by direct negotiation? Israel would be very
willing, and perhaps the Arabs states might be sufficiently
startled by the change in the Assembly's tone to consider
whether this might not be a course that has advantages also
for them?"

ABRAHAM REDELHEIM,
president of the Zionist Organi-
zation of America, will be here
Wednesday, March 18, to ad-
dress a public meeting of the
Zionist Organization of Detroit,
at the Beth Aaron Synagogue.
The new Israeli film, "Israel,
An Adventure," will be shown
that evening. A dinner in honor
of Redelheim will be given dur-
ing his brief stay in Detroit.

Dr. Segal, AJC Expert,
in Panel Here on Arab
Refugee Issue Tuesday

Dr. Simon Segal, director of
the foreign affairs department
of the American Jewish Corn-
mittee, will participate in a
panel discus-
' sion of the
Arab refugee
problem at a
meeting of the
Detroit Chap-
ter of the
American.Jew-
ish Committee
at Temple Is-
rael, Tuesday,
8 p.m.
Erwin S.
Dr. Segal
Simon will be moderator of the
pane 1. Participants will be
Charles Goldstein, Judge Vic-
tor J. Baum and Avern Cohn.
Dr. Segal will present the back-
ground of the problem from
his personal experience, which
includes nearly 10 years as a
foreign affairs expert with the
American Jewish Committee and
several visits to Israel and the
Near East.

Large Gas Reservoir
Uncovered in Negev

Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News

JERUSALEM—A reservoir of
natural gas believed to be the
largest in the Middle East has
been discovered in the Negev,
about 20 miles from Beersheba,
according to an announcement
Tuesday by - the Naphtha Oil
Company.
The company brought in
natural gas from one well re-
cently, and has now struck a
second pocket, about two miles
from the first.
The new bore is producing
daily about 90,000 cubic meters •
of gas, almost all of it methane,
ready for industrial use.

Ohio Shelves Measure
on Humane Slaughter

Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News

COLUMBUS, 0. — A pro-
posed "humane slaughter" bill
which has been pending in the
state legislature here has been
shelved and is unlikely to be

brought up again at this year's
session.
All Jewish congregational
Perhaps, indeed, the- Cyprus agreement will serve as an and rabbinical organizations
example for further action to assure direct negotiations between have been among the staunch-
Israel and the Arab states, leading inevitably to peace decisions. est opponents of the measure.
Israel's Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion also has taken Tuesday night, the agricultural
occasion to welcome the Cyprus agreement and to express satis- committee of State House of
over-
faction over it. There is no doubt. that the Greek-Turkish agree- Representatives voted
ment is one of the very wholesome diplomatic accomplishments whelmingly-14 to 1—to post-
of our time -and that it sets -good. example. for- other similar pone bringing the, bill to the
a floor for an indefinite period.
actions in the future.

