Renewed Plea
for Reversal
of Center
Decision on
Sabbath
Programming
Commentary
Page 2
Vol. XXXVI, No. 9
SHE JEWIP NE
A Weekly Review
Michigan's Only English-Jewish N
loo j:ri;TintlodniLoap
17100 W. 7 MP
.1,
t o
hEvents
.0>
to*.
co
iS 44
Jewish News
Salutes
Canadian Jewry
on Its
Bicentenary
a
Editorial
Page 4
porating The. Detroit Jewish Chronicle
—Detroit 35, October 30, 1959 — $5.00 Per Year; Single Copy 15c
'Renault A,:b.dnits Yielding to
Threat of ,Boycott by Arabs
Canadian Jewry s History
Reviewed on Bicentenary
Marking the 200th anniversary of the beginning of the
permanent settlement of Jews in Canada, the National Bicen-
tenary of Canadian Jewry, to be observed for an entire year
with many important events commemorating the historical de-
velopment of- the Canadian Jewish community, this week is be-
ing marked by many highlights
Major celebrations are being
introduced at the 12th Plenary
Session of the Canadian Jewish
Congress, sponsor of the cele-
bration, which commenced yes-
terday. Speaking at the Con-
gress this Saturday evening will
be John Diefenbaker, Prime
Minister of Canada.
Canadian Jewry's history com-
menced with the permanent
settlement of the first Jew,
Aaron Hart, on Sept. 18, 1760.
Hart was a lieutenant in the
British army serving with the
German Legion in the British
North- American colonies. He
recruited a battalion of the 60th
AARON BART
Royal American Regiment of
New York which formed part
of General Sir Jeffrey Am-
herst's forces which' marched
upon Montreal. He received the
surrender of Montreal on Sept.
8, 1760, remained in Canada and
settled in Three Rivers.
A group of 18 other Jews
came to Montreal, Three Rivers
and Quebec from 1760 to 1763.
In 1763, when the second post
office was established in Can-
ada, it was opened in Aaron
Hart's home in Three Rivers.
Hart's son, Ezekiel, was the
first Jew to be elected to the
Canadian General Assembly.
The dramatic story of the battle
EZEKIEL HART
to assure for Jews the right to
sit in the Assembly is related
in the editorial in this issue
of The Jewish News.
The fourth oldest congrega-
tion on the North American
continent—Shearith Israel—was
founded on St. James Street in
Montreal on Dec. 30, 1768. •
A petition of the Montreal
Jewish residents for incorpora-
tion of .a Jewish religious cor-
poration was granted by an act
of Feb. 7, 1829, which received
Royal Assent on Nov. 30, 1830.
On March 29, 1831, a bill was
passed by the Legislature of -
Lower Canada "that all persons
professing the Jewish religion
LAVY M. BECKER
are entitled to the full rights
and privileges of other subjects
of His Majesty . ." In that
year, the Jewish population of
Canada numbered only 107,
The complete record of
eanadian Jewry's history has
been compiled by Louis Rosen-
berg in a publication of the Na-
tional Bicentenary Committee
of the Canadian Jewish Con-
gress, "Chronology of Canadian
Jewish History."
Canadian Jewry presently. .
numbers 246,000.
Lavy M. Becker, a former
Detroiter, is chairman -of the
National Bicentenary .Commit-
tee. Samuel Bronfman is presi-
dent of- the Canadian Jewish
SAMUEL BRONFMAN
Congress.
JERUSALEM, (JTA) — Israel may enter the brisk market of foreign car sales
with a made-in-Israel small auto as a result of the cancellation by Renault com-
pany of its contract with the Kaiser-Frazer company plant at Haifa.
A specific promise that Israel-made cars, assembled at the Haifa plant, would
be exhibited throughout the world within two years was made by Ephraim Illin,
manager of the assembly plant. He said that while the Renault decision was "a
_severe blow," he hoped that the action would lead to production of an all-Israel
compact car soon.
The Renault company, which is partly.. French
government owned, conced-
e d in a statement issued in
Paris that Arab boycott pressures had been the prin-
cipal reason it had cancelled its contract for the assembly of its Dauphine in
Haifa where one-third of the plant's capacity-had been used for such assemblies.
• The Renault company Paris statement said that for the past several years
"several countries" — which the statement did not specify — "had refused ad-
mission of goods from companies having contracts with Israel firms "contrary to
the rules and practices of international law."
It was believed that without the boycott pressures, the cancellation would
probably have not taken place and that even under boycott pressures, the opera-
tion would have been continued if profits to Renault were substantial. In fact,
it was understood, the profits were small, particularly in comparison to the Arab
market.
-
Cancellation by the French Renault automotive concern of agreements for the
sale and assembly of Renault cars in Israel is being discussed "at the highest
levels," Foreign Minister Golda Meir reportedly informed the Israel Cabinet.
Mrs. Meir's report did not raise any question of counter-action against Re-
nault. That the Renault affair will not affect Franco-Israeli relations was indi-
cated by the fact that the Cabinet also approved a decision by the Zim-Israel
(Continued on Page 3)
Quiet 'Election- Day Predicted in Israel;
Proportional Representation Major Issue
By
ELIAHU SALPETER
Copyright, 1959, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.
JERUSALEM—Election Day—Nov. 3--Lis going to be an unusually quiet ,one. Propor-
tional representation is the major issue.
Naturally, the government coalition parties—particularly the dominant Mapai—do their
best to knock down any peg on which the opposition can hang its propaganda.
But, somehow, all this is done with much less zest and zeal than could have been an-
ticipated.
Mapai (which 10 years ago also dreamed about "Socialism In Our Time") has followed
liberal economic policy, abolishing rationing, easing foreign currency controls and foreign trade a
restrictions, destroying the favorite slogans of the General Zionist campaign. Due to a gen-
eral economic upswing, as well as to the receipt of tens of millions of dollars in personal
compensation by the victims of the Nazis, there is enough money circulating in the country,
and there is plenty of goods to buy.
Herut, which as the right-wing nationalistic party traditionally based its vote-getting on
demanding a tough policy vis-a-vis the Arabs, has not mentioned the slogan of "Both Shores of
the Jordan" for quite some time. As a matter of fact, Herut's leading speakers conspicuously
abstained from injecting the Suez blockade issue into the election campaign. They—as prac-
tically everybody else—have realized that the average voter does not foresee any chance for
a
fundamental change in Israel's international position.
The only new issue, injected into the elections on the heels of the Wadi Salib riots
few months ago, is the grievance of some oriental immigrants against alleged discrimination. a
s These grievances, however, are also slowly fizzling out, and the government parties are also
making an effort to tell the Oriental voter that they, too, have his problems at their heart.
Moreover, to the extent that the opposition parties hoped to cash in on these grievances, their
chances of vete-getting have been gravely under-cut by the organization of three new parties
which appeal specifically to the North African and the Oriental immigrants.
Supreme Court' Justice Yoel Sussmann who heads the Central Elections Commission,
may be unable to vote in the elections next month to the Knesset. When he found himself
listed in the voters register as "Sissman," he requested that the misspelling be corrected. He
is now listed as "Suissmann," which may disqUalify him from casting his ballot._
Vital statistics relating to Israel's election on Tuesday, results of the last three popular
elections and current vital statistics are:
1949
election
Number
of
Seats
46
14
7
Name of Party
Mapai (Palestine Workers' Party)
Herut
General Zionists
Hapoel Hamizrahi
Mizrahi
Achdut Avodah
Mapam (United Workers' Party)
Agudat Yisrael
Paolei Agudat Yisrael•
Maki (Communist Party)
Progressive Party
Arab Democratic List
Work and Progress (Arab)
Agriculture and development (Arab)
United Religious Front
Sephardim
............... ..
Yem,enite Federation
Fighters
Women's Zionist • Organization (WIZO)
Number of persons qualified to vote
Number of votes per seat
Number of participants in election
19
—
—
4
5
2
.....
16
4
1
1
120
506,567
3, 592
86 .8%
1951
election
Number
of
Seats,
46.
8
20
8
2
15
3
2
5
4
3
1
1955
election
Number
of
Seats
40
15
13
11
10
8
6
6
5
2
2
3
3
1
120
924,885
5,6 92
75%
120
1,057,609
6,938
62.8%