President Kennedy Takes Firm Steps
to Liberalize McCarran-Walter Measure
President's personal letter say-
ing that enactment of the new
WASHINGTON — President legislation would "help elimin-
Kennedy Tuesday made a ate discrimination between
sweeping move to liberalize the peoples and nations."
McCarran - Walter immigration
He recommended that the
act, including the elimination national origins quota sys-
of the national origin quota tem in effect since 1920 and
system and other forms of dis- which denied entry to many
crimination.
refugees from Hitler's Eur-
Kennedy sent proposals to ope be eliminated within five
both the Senate and House: years.
He pointed out that 60,000
They were accompanied by the
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)
quota numbers were wasted an-
nually because of a biased sys-
tem in which northern Euro-
pean countries were favored.
Eastern Europe and Mediter-
ranean areas were considered
less desirable sources of immi-
gration under the quota system
which has perpetuated in the
McCarran-Walter Act.
Under the proposed legisla-
tion 20 per cent of quota num-
bers a year would be put in a
Egypt Exposed by AJC as 'Officer State'
Overwhelmed by Illiterate Unemployed
■
Disease - ridden poverty, an tened cans. They are filthy and
army of illiterate unemployed, littered with droppings from
a bread-onions-and-tea diet, and livestock living in the same
a shaky economy bolstered by shelter as their owner.. The fel-
massive foreign aid—those are lah's working tools are the
the factors that tarnish the short-handled hoes, the same
glittering picture of an Egypt for four thousand years except
supposedly reborn. The facts that the end is now made of
behind the f a c a d e are con- steel. He has no spade, barrow
tained in a new report prepared or cart. The primitive plough
by the World Jewish Congress is the same as seen on the
thousands of years old murals,
in New York.
These are some of the facts except for the steel share."
Long Wait for Schools
the WJC survey reveals:
Turning to Nasser's efforts to
70% of Egyptians cannot spur on educational develop-
read or write.
ment programs, Dr. Robinson
80% of Egypt's males are notes that even if Nasser's
physically unfit for military claim is correct that he is build-
service.
ing schools and clinics in the
After 19, their health de- rural areas at the rate of one
clines so rapidly that they a day, it will take 40 years to
are old by 40.
meet the needs of Egypt's rural
Egypt's 20,000,000 fellahin population located in 14,000
(peasants) use basically the villages, at the country's pre-
same primitive type of tools sent population figures. At pre-
as their ancestors 4,000 years sent over 70 per cent of the
ago. -
population cannot write. In
The bulk of Egypt's work Cairo alone there are 825,000
force is happy to get the illiterates. The Minister of Edu-
legal minimum wage — 60 cation has reported that most
cents a day.
young people leaving primary
Agricultural development schools are almost illiterate.
cannot keep up with popu-
Dr. Robinson describes
lation growth.
Egypt as an "officer state"
Industrial development is
—administered by and
hampered by bureaucracy.
through "and, in a sense, for
The report, prepared by Dr. the officers. The army is Nas-
Nehemiah Robinson, director of ser's ally, his constituency
the World Jewish Congress In- and probably also his boss.
stitute of Jewish Affairs and It has been the regime's
based on reliable sources, ana- foundation. It has penetrat-
lyzes the situation of Egypt ed everywhere." There is a
since Nasser came to power 300,000 man bureaucracy "in-
and notes that both Washing- efficient a n d slow-moving.
ton and Moscow have com- Since the who
economic
mitted considerable sums in life is now state regulated,
economic aid to Cairo in recent this inefficiency - and slow-
years. Since 1952, the USA has ness must impede whatever
supplied Egypt with about $900,- progress could be made."
000,000 in economic aid, with
The WJC rep-ort states that
a similar amount provided by Nasser's skillful propaganda
the USSR. In addition, Moscow has made him "the hero of the
is estimated to have supplied, Arab world, although this pro-
since 1955, $700,000,000 worth paganda is apparently more
of arms to Nasser.
successful a b r o a d than in
But with all the help, Dr. Cairo." When the recent Arab
Robinson note s, "Egypt pos- Union Charter was signed there
sesses no reserves. A country of were only 2,000-3,000 persons
some 28,000,000 people, she on Cairo's streets instead of
has a foreign exchange reserve the 40,000 " 'delirious' demon-
hardly exceeding 7,000,000 strators of which the Cairo
Egyptian pounds." At the end papers boasted." The crowds in
of World War II, Cairo had a Damascus and Baghdad were
credit of 450,000,000 pounds larger and more enthusiastic.
sterling in London.
Although, Dr. Robinson
The 28,000,000 population to- state s, Nasser's "hereditary
day compares with 23,000,000
in 1956, and 19,000,000 in 1947.
At the present rate of increase, UJA Study Mission
by 1984 there will be twice as Meets Top Israelis
many Egyptians as there are
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Moshe
now.
But while the population has Sharett, chairman of the Jewish
doubled in the last 20 years, Agency executive, met with the
agriculture had not kept pace. 74-member United Jewish Appeal
The cultivated area has in- Young Leadership Study Mission
creased only by 15 per cent so which is currently visiting Israel.
that wheat production per Rabbi Herbert A. Friedman,
capita dropped from 90 kilo- executive vice-president of the
grams in 1942 to 50 in 1962. UJA, introduced the members of
The agrarian reform carried the mission to Sharett.
The mission was also ad-
through by Nasser has not
done much to improve the lot dressed by Prime Minister Levi
of the Egyptian peasant who Eshkol. When questioned on
constitutes three - quarters of American Jews settling in Israel,
Eshkol replied that Israel's need
the population.
The fellah, the Egyptian pea- for know-how in many fields, as
sant, dwells in "houses that are well as the overall challenge and
almost the same as they have inspiration of participating in
been for thousands of years, the upbuilding of the Jewish
made of crude bricks mixed state, would eventually attract
with mud and straw, or shanties more and more American Jews
fashioned from scrap and flat- to settle here.
enemy" is Israel and the Jews
at large, "he does not relax
his war of nerves towards all
his other enemies, in particular
the Western 'imperialists and
the Arab and Moslem regimes
which are not willing to submit
to his proclaimed policies . ."
Nasser's foreign policy is ex-
emplified by his professing
friendship f o r President Ben
Bella of Algeria on the one
hand and, on the other, wel-
coming Ben Bella's enemies to
Cairo where they receive, "pre-
sumably f u n d s to continue
their fight against Ben Bella."
The World Jewish Congress
report compares the patent -
misery of child labor (at the
"age of six, seven or eight"
Egyptian children work -for
eight to ten hours at a stretch
in the blazing sun . . .") with
the country's military might:
a standing army of 100,000,
"a luxury which a poor coun-
try like Egypt cannot afford."
It notes the ineptitude of the
administration and describes
the dictatorial atmosphere in
a country which has thrown
out all "foreign elements
(Jew s, British, French,
Greeks, Italians, Swiss)
which had so greatly con-
tributed to the culture and
economy."
Today in Egypt only the offi-
cial line is tolerated "although
no open terror is seen. Re-
pression is muffled and usually
bloodless, but through political
control and police surveillance,
the opposition is effectively
stifled."
The World Jewish Congress
pamphlet, distributed to the
organization's global executive,
is entitled "Nasser's Egypt—a
Report on the Present Posi-
tion."
"quota reserve pool" for re-
distribution. At the end of five
years the old- structure would
no longer exist.
The President stipulated
that no single country should
be permitted more than 10
per cent of quota numbers
in any one year.
He . proposed the establish-
ment of a new seven-member
board of immigration matters.
He asked authority for the
,
White House to carry out the
board's recommendations to re-
serve up to 50 per cent of un-
allocated numbers for issuance,
to persons disadvantaged by
change in the quota system and
up to 20 per cent to refugees
in cases where sudden disloca-
tion requires special treatment.
The recommendations w i 11
facilitate immigration from. Is-
rael and by Algerian and other
North African JewiSh refugees.
ADL Survey Finds More Moderate
Reaction to School Prayer Ruling
NEW YORK (JTA)—Ameri-
can reactions to last month's
Supreme Court decision prohi-
biting Bible-reading or recita-
tion of the Lord's Prayer in
public schools have been "most-
ly calm," a survey of public
expressions in the first four
weeks f ollo wing the High
Court's ruling disclosed.
The survey was conducted by
Arnold Forster, general coun-
sel of the Anti-Defamation Lea-
gue of Bnai Brith, and its re-
sults were announced by Dore
Schary, ADL president. The
public expressions of the latest
Supreme Court ruling, Schary
stressed, were "considerably
more moderate" and in "mark-
ed contrast to the angry out-
bursts" voiced in the summer
of 1962, when the same court
had declared unconstitutional
the New York State Regents
prayer in public schools.
. Of 185 newspaper editorials
on the issue published this year
in 169 newspapers in 35 states
and the District of Columbia,
the survey found 61 per cent
supported the Supreme Court's
decision of this year. In the
northeast section of the •coun-
try, embracing nine states, plus
the District of Columbia, 39 of
61 newspapers supported the
High Tribunal's ruling. It was
noted that the margin of al- .
most two to one "was a signifi-
cant change from 1962, when
the papers were evenly
divided." .
Southern newspapers w e r e
evenly divided on the issue
this year, the same as in 1962.
In the seven Midwest states,
the "greatest shift" was noted;
there, 18 of 25 newspapers sup-
ported this year's r u li n g,
whereas last year's decision
was opposed by a ratio of two
to one.
Opinion among Catholic lead-
ers was found by the survey to
be "more divided" than last
year. As for Protestant leaders,
most were found reflecting a
statement issued by the Na-
tional Churches, which had de-
clared: "teaching for religious
commitment is a responsibility
of the home and the commun-
ity of faith—such as church or
synagogue — rather than the
public schools."
On the Roman Catholic side,
three cardinals opposed the
Supreme Court ruling, but one
cardinal refused to comment,
while another joined Protestant
ministers and the local rabbini-
cal association in pledging co-
operation and respect for the
decision as "the law of the
land."
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Hebrew Corner
n4ip
nirv? 111 21444 r)111.7
wont
A Working Ulpan
14137
np'n nhtrri,
rrptmr. ln • 41327
Arieh is an engineer, Walter in a
doctor, Miriam a teacher, and Jacob
.5Vpz
a pianist. However, now Jacob, the ,nt:tiri mirip
pianist, is working in a grove; Arieh,
the engineer, is also working there.
nblt4T7r',
Miriam, the teacher, is working in fri. , 497?
the children's home, and Walter, the
doctor, is working in the chicken-
141 ti71'? r7`17
...n7r:it???.nrIt? itt
coop.
What happened to these people?
1 v 1 ?rY17.1 12.! .1:11770
Something important . . . and in- Or.1
IP!'
711, 711 Mt' ti',
teresting happened to them! They
decided a short time ago, to go to
tzi4 mit In. nor? nip* 12"171 51.7 ' 1? P1517.5 14p,
Israel, and now they are learning
Hebrew in a working Ulpan, in one
of the kibbutzim.
-W?t.t? r141; n"TP15 is
r34 7 141 1 7 11:04 n;:l z .7
Arieh, Walter and Jacob are young
men. They work 5 hours a day on
i-rmx4! n-Tinv,
farming, in the kitchen, the chil nil? i1
rote? wiz? .pt,g4In
dren's home, and all other work
Through this work, they pay the
kibbutz for food, room and study. ri'?.r.117a
nPv.r.)
1111PritP Pi2r.IP71
They eat in the dining room, to-
gether with all the members of the
rnl .tvIT4 truj44
Tn',211;-1 144
farm. The kibbutz gives them cigar- nix-pirp
ettes, soap, razor blades, tooth paste,
work clothes and laundry. They re-
ptgrpm
nitlz
nirtt, 5 litg4
ceive medical care, books, writing
paper, pencils, etc.
The classes begin after the noon nip* tar 54rr rlrt xtp
irR.t?Pz .4ke?Pr
ril,
rest period and continue until the
evening hours. After supper they
rrlinr
.;1
tr-er.1
gather in the club room, for a talk, ;1417 tr "pi5 n.;7! .ropz
lecture, singing, folk dancing, con-
vivial gathering, a m e e t i n g, or
games . . .
trxtril.
,r1;.P7;z "n4pt?tv72- pr.; it rrlinpal
Day by day, hour by hour, they
,5i.trj 1174 rzi7.5
learn new words. Day by day, it is
easier for them to converse with the
children on the farm. Little by little,
11rp wtpitt n;7 .11epro
the b a r r i e r s t h at previously in* ei`714 471 tovr?
separated the students from various
countries, come down.
457
z7krt
Lptm
All their learning is not in the t3 7 7)s
classroom. They learn much in the
kitchen, in the children's home, and
rztpyi
z7.0?
rrizr
in the fields.
• min3
r 5ntir—itnVo
T
t
• : •
Soon they will be able to say it
,r117. 7 - 444c1 ;Ono ,ninra
all in Hebrew; true, in simple Heb-
rew, but correct Hebrew.
(rp'pr n'-R31 ro-)
Translation of Hebrew column,
published by Brith Ivrith Ola-
mith, Jerusalem.
0. 171 .rri?4
!? rai*iri?)
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