7

Purely Commentary

Background of the Syrian Border AggressiOn

DETROIT JEWIS H NEW S -

For several weeks, Syrian troops were responsible for a series
of shootings at Israeli fishermen on the Sea of Galilee from their
military positions on the Israel border north of Nakeib. Israeli
defense forces found it necessary to destroy the illegal Syrian gun
positions in the defense zone located east of the international
Syrian-Israeli border. A full-dress battle developed, and as a result
it is admitted that 30 Syrians and five Israelis were killed and
many wounded.
There have since been attacks on the Israeli settlements of
Ein Gev and Puria, Israel utilized he: air force and Syria, similarly,
resorted to aerial attacks, Jordan stepped in with "threats" that
she will join her Syrian kinsmen in a battle against Israel, and
another grave situation has necessitated the interjection of the
United Nations into a situation that began with more than a
skirmish and ended with something vastly more serious than an
incident.
Jordan's threat is the least significant in the entire situation.
The Jordanese know that they owe their independence to Israel,
that if the Israelis had not been on Jordan's border to assure it
against aggression by Arab kinsmen, there would long ago - have
been an end to Hussein's kingdom which Egypt, Syria and Iraq
crave to absorb.
But the situation involving Syria remains serious. The situa-
4:1 tion, as it developed in the course of the past month. was outlined
= in a background statement, by an authority on Middle Eastern
affairs, as follows:

--

"The Sea of Galilee. and all its shores, lie within the State of Israel. The
international frontier between Palestine and Syria. established in 1923, at no
point actually touched the waters of the Lake, but ran to the East of it (IS
meters east of highwater mark in the northern section and considerably fur-
ther east in the south.rn part) so that the entire lake and its shores were
wholly within Palestine. The Israel.Syria Armistice Agreement of July 20,
1949. made the demarcation line between the State of Israel and Syria
follow the international frontier between Palestine and Syria.
"Moreover. according to the Armistice Agreement. which constitutes the
international document governing the relations between Israel and Syria the
area to the East of the Sea of Galilee, on the Syrian side of the international
frontier, is defined as a 'Defensive Zone.' In this zone, the placement of all
heavy weapons above a certain size is prohibited.
"For several years now. Syria has repeatedly violated the provisions of
the armistice agreement by placing forbidden weapons in the 'Defensive
Zone' east of the international frontier. by repeatedly violating the strip of
Israeli territory between the international frontier and the Sea of Galilee, and
by firing upon Israeli fishing vessels and other boats on the waters of the Sea
of Galilee itself.
"The waters of the Lake constitute a low lying area. below sea level, and
the slopes on the Eastern side of the Lake, upon which the Syrian emplace.
ments are situated in defiance of the Armistice Agreement, completely dom-
inate the waters of the lake.
"Although the Syrians have repeatedly created incidents during the last
few years, they have usually employed small arms or machine guns. How-
ever. an March 8. a much graver situation was created when heavy weapons
—Soviet-made 82 millimeter recoilless gun—opened fire upon an Israeli police
patrol boa( from the Syrian emplacements. The very positioning of such
guns in this area is a serious violation of the armistice agreement. The guns
were positively identified since one of their shells did not explode and is
now in Israeli possession. Two Israelis on the vessel were seriously injured,
one of them losing his foot.
"Israel immediately protested to the UN and stressed the seriousness of
the position. Nevertheless. on March 15 the Syrians again opened heavy
machine gun and mortar fire on an Israel vessel on the Lake, this time
fortunately without casualties. On March 16 mortars opened fire upon Israeli
vessels and north of the Sea of Galilee fire was opened across the border
upon an Israeli jeep near the Israel village of Kfar Hanassi.
"It should be recalled that this aggressive outbreak has taken place
against a background of increased mutual incitement and recriminations—
especially over the radio—between Arab countires. Unceasingly since Syria
split away from Egypt last October the Egyptian radio has accused the new
Syrian government of lack of vigor in pressing its attack against Israel. The
Syrian radio has replied in kind. loudly protesting its unceasing hostility
towards Israel. Facts now at Israel's disposal show that heavy Syrian rein-
forcements were moved into the border area east of the Sea of Galilee a
short time ago. The grouping of these forces points up the planned and
aggressive character of the incidents of the last week as is clear also from
the nature 01 the weapons used."

Background of New
Syrian Assault . . .
An Arab's Testimony

By Philip `Invitation to Yiddish'
Slomovitz Album Is Released

propaganda of war against Israel. They are afraid to speak out.
I know that I am called traitor by some. But the thousands
of Arabs who feel as I do say that the time will come when
everyone will realize we laid the groundwork for the welfare
of the whole Middle East. Israel will endure. The Arabs who
are against friendship are the true obstacles to our welfare."
What Joubran does here is to prove that under Israeli
rule the Arabs in the Jewish State have had-their standards raised.
He made this supplementary comment:
"I was one of 3,000 Arab citizens of Haifa who were on the
verge of becoming refugees. The Arab broadcasts kept calling to
us, `Go, leave Haifa. you'll leave one house—but after we destroy
the Jews, you'll come back in two weeks and you'll have two
houses.' Well, some left for those 'two weeks.' They've been gone
now 14 years. They didn't listen to the Haganah and Histadrut,
which were sending out broadcasts and leaflets at the same time,
asking us to stay. I remember as we streamed toward the port of
Haifa, the old mayor, Shabbatai Levi, begged us, tears in his eyes,
to stay, to remain at peace. Many of us listened. We turned back.
We have not regretted it."
During the current Histradrut campaign, Joubran brought this
important message to many Labor Zionist audiences, but, unfor-
tunately, his admonitions still are unknown in Arab ranks. Where
the true facts are known, they remain hidden since anyone in
Arab countries rebelling today against the anti-Israel attitude
would be risking assassination. That is why peace is still a bit
remote—until the Joubrans increase in number.

The world's first record album
designed to teach the Yiddish
language has been prepared by
the American Jewish Congress.
Entitled "Invitation to Yid-
dish," the album consists of two
long-playing records, accompan-
ied by a 108-page Yiddish man-
ual. It was presented to the press
and public by Dr. Sol Liptzin,
chairman of the Commission on
Jewish Affairs of the American
Jewish Congress, under whose
auspices the project was con-
ceived and executed.
More than 400 copies of the
album have already been order-
ed, Liptzin announced. Individual
copies, he said, may be purchased
by writing to Julius Schatz, di-
rector of the AJCongress Com-
mission on Jewish Affairs, 15
84 St.; New York.
Cooperating with AJCongress
in the project are the Workmen's
Circle, Congress for Jewish Cul-
ture, Farband-Labor Zionist Or-
der and the Jewish Education
Committee of New York.

State Legislature Adopts Humane
Slaughter Bill with Amendments
Protecting Provisions of Shehita

(Special to The Jewish News)
LANSING — The humane
slaughter bill was adopted by the
State House of Representatives
Wednesday. It includes the Case
Amendment that was incorporated
in the Federal Bill, with this
added provision:
. . and to conform with the
provision and intent of this act,
animals not previously rendered
insensible, and to be slaughtered
in accordance with a humane
method .. . shall be slaughtered
immediately following total sus-
pension from the floor."
Senator Charles Blondy said,
in a statement to The Jewish
News, that the bill as adopted
protects the Jewish method of
Shehita which is viewed as hu-
mane in the Case Amendment.
Senator Blondy said that the
bill must clear the Senate agri-
cultural committee before April 4
before going to the floor of the
State Senate. He expressed the
This statement should be taken into serious consideration for hope Jewish rights, in accordance
many reasons. It is not only the abuse of the armistice agreement with traditional Shehita provi-
and the defiance of UN demand for a cease fire by the Syrians sions, will be fully protected in
Ili:at is of importance. Equally significant is the fact alluded to
here—that the new aggressions occurred just at the time when
Syria and Iraq again were defying Nasser and during a propaganda
campaign when the Syrians were accused of not being sufficiently
militant against Israel. Since Israel is "the unifying force" that has
created a common enemy for the Arabs, especially for their
propaganda purposes among their subjects and on the international
front. the Syrians must have found it advisable to attack Israelis,
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)
on the Sea of Galilee, in order to be able to say to the other Arab
JERUSALEM
— Israel's pro-
states that Syrians continue to hate Israel.
jected
press control law places
As a result of such a hate campaign, there was bloodshed,
Israel found it necessary to protect her citizens who were pursuing an "intolerable burden" on
a peaceful fishing pursuit. and the world at large was treated to journalists by failing to include
news of a battle. Taking into consideration all of the existing facts, a definition of libel .against the
the "battle" resolves itself into another unfortunate "skirmish" State, the executive of the For-
that necessitated unnecessary loss of life and the detruction of eign Press Association asserted
the type of Syrian property that was aimed at harming Israel's Tuesday in a renewal of its con-
security. It is only by presenting all the basic facts and by a firm demnation of the proposed law.
The statement was made spe-
demand from the UN that such occurrences should not be repeated,
that there is hope for an end to skirmishes that end in serious Cifically in reply to a criticism
by
the Israel Justice Ministry of
casualties. If proper action is not taken to expose the motivations
the Association's initial denuncia-
that lead to such incidents, then they are certain to recur.
tion of the measure. A Ministry
*
*
*
spokesman said that the criti-
An Israeli Arab's Testimony
cism did not reflect "the true
Syria's latest attempts to terrorize Israel's fishermen arouses intent of the bill."
renewed interest in the attitudes of Israeli Arabs.
In its reply, the executive as-
A recent visitor to this country, Salim Joubran, the Israeli serted that the claim that the
Christian Arab, who toured American cities as a member of the proposed crime of defaming Is-
executive of Histadrut. the Israel Federation of Labor, expressed rael abroad applied only to cor-
the view that "when the people of the Arab countries will rule respondents who were Israel
themselves, when they will have democracy, then we will have an residents or citizens was an
Arab-Jewish peace." Unlike many others, Jews as well as Arabs, "evasion of the issue."
Joubran concurred in Israel's need to he on the lookout, to defend
The executive said most for-
herself, to make thorough periodic checks on occurrences on the eign correspondents in Israel,
country's borders. Speaking about the status of the Arabs in Israel, and representatives of major
he said:
western news services, were citi-
"Before the Israeli state in 1948, we had no self-government,
zens or residents of Israel.
no democracy, no equality. Today, 95 per cent of the Arab
The executive added that the
workers are full members of Histadrut. Our goal is equal wages Jutice Ministry's contention that
for equal work—and we're getting there. All around us, life is
the law would not ban "fair
proof to our progress. Fourteen years ago, my mother had to
criticism" of the State was un-
go out to the village well and carry water back on her head.
tenable because the proposed
Today, she has water in her kitchen. Even the Bedouins in
law does not define any distinc-
the Negev can now get water from pipelines.
tion between criticism and de-
"I tell my Jewish brothers—do not be deceived by the
famation.
terrorism of a few Arabs. The Arab people have a deep hunger
An editorial in Haaretz, Isra-
for peace. I know first-hand. Every year, we Christian Arabs
el's leading independent daily
cross into Bethlehem; we don't go to sleep; we sit up all night
newspaper, supported the stand
and talk with our Arab brothers. They want peace—not because
of the executive as justified and
of any love for the Jews, but because they are fed up with the criticized the Justice Ministry.

Press Protests
Israel's Plans
for Libel Control

the final action.
on the alert to assure full pro-
Senator Stahelin, Republican tection of the religious rights of
leader, is cooperating with Sena- Jews and others who are in-
tor Blondy and others in being terested in the measure.

F

.NIMI11..1• ■•••■•■■ ••••..Mb.•• ■ •• ■ •• ■ =1•1.. ■ ..1•1...• ■ ••

Boris Smolar's

Between You
. and Me'

■

(Copyright, 1962,
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)

Military Notes
It was 100 years ago this month that the Senate approved

a proposal by President Lincoln which gave rabbis the right to
serve as chaplains in the American armed forces . . . Until the
time of the American Civil War, only Christian clergymen were
permitted to serve as military chaplains . . . Major national
organizations have, therefore, completed a program for the com-
memoration by American Jewry of the Centennial of the Jewish
Chaplaincy, coordinated by the National Jewish Welfare Board,
to be inaugurated in Jewish communities on April 1 . . . It will
conclude in July 1962 with the centennial observance of the Battle
of Gettysburg when the first Jewish combat chaplain was severely
wounded ... President Lincoln submitted his proposal to Congress
—and signed it into a law on July 17, 1862—after the first
Jewish chaplain, a young Philadelphia Hebrew teacher, Michael
Allen, was forced to resign because it was discovered that he
was not a Christian . . . His resignation was ordered by the
Secretary of War despite the fact that the commanding officer
of the regiment to which he was attached was a Jew, Col. Max
Einstein, as were many of the officers and men of the regiment .. .
Today there are about 90 full-time Jewish chaplains on duty in
the U.S. armed forces—many of them serving overseas—and about
265 part-time chaplains. Including 311 American-ordained rabbis
who were on active duty as chaplains during World War II, there
have been 652 rabbis in the chaplaincy in the past 20 years . . .
Of the 311 chaplains, 250 had overseas service during the war
on the European, Pacific and African fronts ... The largest number
of Jewish chaplains on duty at one time during World War II
was about 265 . . . There was one Jewish_ chaplain in service
for every 2,000 Jewish personnel, as compared with the average
of one non-Jewish chaplain for every 1,000 non-Jewish personnel
. . . Since 1950, there has been in the U.S. armed forces a Jewish
chaplain for every estimated 1,000 Jewish men.

The Philanthropic Front

With the new rate of three Israeli pounds to one American
dollar, philanthropic funds raised in the United. States for Israel
are becoming more helpful in meeting the needs of new immigrants
there . . . It is estimated that American Jewish philanthropic
agencies raised about $90,000,000 for Israel last year . . . This
includes funds provided for Israel through the United Jewish
Appeal, but not the money raised through the sale of Israel Bonds
. . . Bond sales in the United States totalled $45,200,000 in 1961,
an increase of nine per cent over the 1960 total . . . American
Jewish financial support for needs in Israel comes mainly through
the UJA . . . However, about $20,000,000 a year is raised for
Israel in this country by Hadassah, National Committee for Labor
Israel, Jewish National Fund and other groups . . . The UJA
receives over 90 per cent of its income from Jewish federations
and raises the remainder in hundreds of small non-federated
communities . . . Of the funds which the UJA secures, 67 per cent
goes for Israel through the United Israel Appeal and 33 per cent
is allocated for the Joint Distribution Committee for its overseas
work, including work in Israel ... The UJA "special" funds which
are being raised, in addition to the regular yearly sum, go
entirely to Israel to meet the needs of new immigrants . . . Outside
of American dollars sent to Israel by Jewish philanthropic organ-
izations in the United States, Israel has a foreign currency income
of about $90,000,000 a year from restitution payments made by
West Germany to individuals residing in Israel .. . This is about
as much as the total being raised for Israel by all Jewish philan-
thropic bodies in the United States . . . It does . not include the
approximately $70,000,000 a year which the Israel government
gets from Germany under the reparations agreement . . . These
reparations payments are now nearing their end.

