. And Justice Has Rested

THE -JEWISH NEWS

Incorporating the Detrort Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951

Member American Association of English—Jewish Newspapers. Michigan Press Associations, National
Editorial Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit 35,
Mich., VE 8-9364. Subscription $6 a year. Foreign $7.
Second Class Postage Paid At Detroit, Michigan

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ

Editor and Publisher

Business Manager

SIDNEY SHMARAK

Advertising Manager

HARVEY ZUCKERBERG

City Editor

Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the fourteenth day of Tammuz, the following Scriptural selections will be
read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Num. 22:2-25:9. Prophetical portion, Micah 5:6-6:8.

Licht benshen, Friday, July 5, 7:52 p.m.

VOL. XLIII. No. 19

Page Four

July 5, 1963

Independence Day and a Definition for Liberty

Perhaps at no other time in our his-
tory has Independence Day meant as
much as the one we observed yesterday.
The Declaration of Independence had
no reservations when it asserted that
"all men are created 'equal." Yet, unto
this very continent, on which was pro-
claimed the great truth of freedom, people
were brought in chains to be slaves of
fellow-men whose skins were of a dif-
ferent color.
It was the white man who, 101 years
ago, admitted the injustice of slavery
and even entered into a war of brothers
to put an end to serfdom.
But it took a long time to enforce
freedom, and the black man became
impatient. His white brother, too, has
become inpatient, and those who seek
freedom are on the march.

They are certain to win that battle,
just as all men who fight for justice will
surely eradicate indecencies as long as
they stand firm for their principles.
With these lessons also go the ad-
monitions that liberty is linked with
peace, that freedom is dependent upon
the ability of people to live together in
harmony.
Indeed, as Lincoln foresaw, liberty
can become tyranny when the term is
abused, and liberty must be so inter-
preted as to mean right and justice for
all men and to avoid using it at the ex-
pense of the rights of our neighbors.
Accompaning our current Indepen-
dence Day is a solemnity that beckons
us to respect the rights of others. When
we do that with dignity, the true ideals
of freedom will surely guide us in all
our human relations.

Practical Approach to Refugee Issue

In his report to the Committee on the

Judiciary of the United States Senate,
made on behalf of the subcommittee to

investigate problems connected with
refugees and escapees, Michigan's Senator
Philip Hart has included a section dealing
with the Middle East problem and the
Arab refugees. Urging continued support
to United Nations efforts through the
UNRWA (United Nations Relief and
Works Agency) , Senator Hart's report
makes reference to the controversial
efforts of Dr. Joseph E. Johnson, who
acted as special representative of the UN
Palestine Conciliation Commission.
Because Dr. Johnson's recommenda-
tions were rejected by both israel and
the Arab states, it is well to look into
the Hart report and to attempt to draw
from it the thinking of our Government
in the matter involving the Arab refu-
gees. Senator Hart's report states:

"In the Middle East, of course, the prob-
lem of Arab refugees continues to bedevil
international relations. More than 1 million of
these displaced persons are scattered in Jor-
dan, Syria, Lebanon, and the Gaza Strip.
They are given relief and assistance chiefly
through the United Nations Relief and Works
Agency (UNRWA), '70 percent of whose budget
is contributed in funds and kind by the U.S.
Government. A budding aspect of this assist-
ance is the growing stress on an educational
and vocational training program for young
refugees. A sobering fact which makes this
program mandatory, and which is clearly in-
dicative of the changing nature of the Arab
refugee problem, is that half of the refugees
are 16 years of age or under. Channeling this
youthful throng into useful pursuits, har-
nessed to the economic and social develop-
ment of the entire area, should become the
primary concern of UNRWA, its supporters
and especially the governments of the Mid-
dle East countries.
"The task of UNRWA is a noble one, in-
deed. It would be contrary to the interests of
the free world, to the cause of peace and
stability in the Middle East, and also a
cruel disfavor to the refugees themselves,
if we were not to show our active support for
UNRWA's task of assistance. At the same
time, however, it is easy to understand the
growing weariness in many quarters over the,
seemingly endless custodial n a t u r e of
UNRWA's program, the persistent intransig-
ency of political forces in the Middle East,
and the overall lack of progress in seeking a
solution to this refugee problem.
"The subcommittee believes America has
a responsibility in this situation. It notes
with great interest, therefore, the adminis-
tration's concern and initiative in this matter,
and its general support of the diplomatic ef-
forts by Dr. Joseph E. Johnson, president of
the Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace and special representative of the
United Nations Conciliation Commission for
Palestine. He has authored a carefully con-

ceived and detailed plan for progress which
includes, among other things, a flexible pro-
vision to implement the 1948 resolution of
the United Nations General Assembly calling
for the repatriation of refugees or compensa-
tion for loss of property.
"It is illusory to assume, however, that a
solution to the Arab refugee problem can be
manufactured and simply imposed upon the
situation. In the final analysis progress to-
ward a solution must necessarily evolve from
within the Middle East itself. Hopefully, the
Johnson effort and attending international
relations will help generate this progress.
Laborous activity and considerable time,
however, will be required. This underlines
the importance of continuing American sup-
port for the expanding services being handled
by UNRWA."
It is regrettable that Senator Hart's

report does not indicate what Dr. John-
son's findings and recommendations were.

Having stirred up so much commotion,
without having made itself known, that
report must have had in it elements of a

disturbing nature to both peoples in-
volved. But the Hart report, even at this
very late date, seems to accept that re-
port. This is not an altogether fair way of
dealing with a matter so turbulent that it
interfered with the peace of the entire
Middle East.
Perhaps the Hart report could not be
expected to go into every detail of the
Arab refugee question. Nevertheless,
since it does mention that half of the
claimed total of a million Arab refugees

Exotic Jewish Communities
Describes Jewries of Asia

'

Thanks to the sponsorship of the World Jewish Congress,
its Popular Jewish Library is enriched by an evaluative work
that provides much needed information about little known Jewish
communities—about the Yemenites, Karaites, Samaritans, the
Bene Israel and the Cochin Jews.
In her book "Exotic Jewish Communities" now added to the
World Jewish Congress series, published by Thomas Yoseloff
(11 E. 36th, NY16), Schifra Strizower describes the origins, the
present interests and the status of Jews in India and Cochin, the
Yemenite Jews and their relationship to Jewry, as well as the
story of Karaism.
As Dr. James Parkes states in a foreword to the book, Miss
Strizower performed her task skilfully.
Her account of the Yemenite Jews relates how they were
asked to return to Jerusalem by Ezra, and when they refused,
claiming that the Second Temple also would be destroyed, they
were cursed. Appended data, from the writings of the late
President Itzhak Ben-Zvi of Israel, adds to the accumulated
knowledge on the subject.
It stands to reason that Maimonides' Epistle to the Jews
of Yemen is reviewed here, an account is given of the sufferings
and their educational efforts, as well as of the Exodus which
brought most of them back to Israel.
Equally thorough is the description of the role of the Bene
Israel in India, their claim to being the Lost Ten Tribes which
"provides a basis for the renewal of relations between 'peripheral'
Jewish communities and the main body of their religionists."
The conflict with the Baghdadis, the other Jews of India, develops
into an impressive evaluation in Miss Strizower's excellent story.
The struggle between the White and Black Jews in Cochin,
the refusal to count the latter into the ivIinyanim of the former,
the castle-like relations the emigration to Israel and the beginning
of the end of the Cochin Jewish historical chapter mark another
interesting chronicle in the history of Jews in Asia.
Expansion of Karaism, the story of the Bene Mikra, the
Children of the Bible, their ways of life, habits and their rela-
tionship to the rest of Jewry are described.
Similarly, the story of the Samaritans and their relations
with the Jewish community is a most informative part of this
book. "Exotic Jewish Communities" is a most valuable addition
to Jewish historical records.

15 Israeli Stories in Kahn's
Collection, 'A Whole Loaf'

In "A Whole Loaf," the collection of stories from Israel,

are 16 years of age or under, there de- edited by Sholom J. Kahn and reissued by Grosset and Dunlap
volves upon all who are taking an inter- (1107 B'way, NY10) as a paperback, are featured 15 short stories
est in the grave problem the respon- by Israel's most distinguished storytellers,
the

sibility to view the matter realistically.
Are these youths provided with training
to make themselves self-supporting in
an area where they would find them at
home, or are they being encouraged to
remain unemployed and to continue to
serve as a stimulant to trouble-making
in Israel?
There were approximately 550,000
Arabs who left Israel, under instigation
from Arabs outside Palestine, at the time
the Jewish State was formed. That
number has nearly doubled—if we are
to accept the figure as given by the
Arabs. It will continue to increase.
Youths are growing up and they need to
be taught to earn their livelihoods. Are
they to remain as pawns in an Arab
game of war, or will there be a serious
effort to find homes and jobs for them
in Arab enviornments where they will
be productive and happy people?
There has to be a sense of realism in
dealing with an explosive problem. The
Hart report does not offer pragmatism for
the Arab refugees.

Universal in character, the stories nevertheless reflect
spirit of Israel and depict life in the new State.
The stories appear under two section headings, Wars and
Independence and Backgrounds. It is evident that the struggle
for independence as well as the life in Israel are described in
these narratives.
A typical sample of the background of Israel will be found
in the story "Shaitana" by Moshe Smilansky, who was one of
pre-Israel Palestine's most noted Jewish leaders and authors.
Then there are the stories of the eminent Shmuel Yosef
Agnon whose "Metamorphosis" and "A Whole Loaf," the title of
the book being based on the latter, are among the classics in
Israeli short story writing.
As the editor indicates, only a fragment of Israel's life will
be gleaned from this collection. Yet, what it. does offer represents
a notable contribution towards understanding Israel and the
Israelis. A typical example is the Yemenite story by Hayim Hazaz,
"The Lord Have Mercy!" It does help understand the Yemenite,
even if to a limited degree.
The struggle for independence is related in seven of the
stories, the others dating back to the pre-Israel statehood era.
Authors represented in addition to those already mentioned
are S. Yizhar, Moshe Shamir, Yehuda Yaari, Nathan Shaham,
Aharon Meged, Benjamin Tammuz, Yaakov Churgin, Yitzhak
Shenhar, Yigal Mossinsohn, Yehishua Bar-Yosef.
Translators, in addition to Dr. Kahn, are I. M. Lask, I. Schen,
A. Hodes, D. Sara, Z. Albert, K. Kaplan, S. Katz, D. Briskman,
S. Ketko. Biographical and critical notes and a glossary add to the
merits of this fine collection.

