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A Muddled USSR Issue Involving Fulbright
BY MILTON FRIEDMAN
(Copyright, 1964, JTA, Inc.)
WASHINGTON—The controver-
sial roles of the State Department
and Chairman J. W. Fulbright, of
the Senate Foreign Relations Com-
mittee, complicating efforts against
Soviet anti-Semitism, puzzle many
senators.
No one has accused Sen. Ful-
bright, Arkansas Democrat, nor the
State Department of sharing the
anti-Jewish prejudices of the Sov-
iet Union. But they have been
charged with "whitewashing" the
problem, failing to appreciate the
actual plight of Russian Jews, and
obstructing moves to alleviate
pressures.
Eighty-two Senators were last
month recorded as either voting
on the floor or recording votes in
favor of the Ribicoff amendment
condemning Soviet anti-Semitism.
Only one Senator fought the
amendment and voted against it.
This was Sen. Fulbright. Behind
him <. was the State Department.
Stn. Fulbright offered a substi-
tute amendment, eliminating all
references to Russia and to Jews.
It would have only vaguely de-
plored "infringement of religious
freedom anywhere in the world."
He saw no special and unique
threat to the Jews. "I do not know
why we should be so exclusike as
to restrict the condemnation only
to the persecution of the Jews,"
said the Senator.
Sen. Abraham Ribicoff, Connec-
ticut Democrat, objected strenuous-
ly to the Fulbright substitute. He
said that Sen. Fulbright sought "to
completely undercut the original
resolution and take the Soviet Un-
ion' "off the hook.' "
Sen. Ribicoff explained in detail
boW the Jews in Russia were sin-
gled out and treated differently
than other groups. He. told how
JeWs were denied privileges ac- .
corded others and subjected to
forms 'of discrimination and abuse
reserved only for Jews. He said
"the Soviet Union does not treat
the Jews as belonging to a religion,
but as a nationality."
Other faiths were treated as re-
ligions in the Soviet Union, "but
the Jew has stamped on his pass-
port 'Jew,' representing his na-
tionality. A Russian methodist does
not have stamped on his passport
"Methodist." Sen. Ribicoff went on
to point out that "Jews cannot
have schools of their own. Other
nationalities can. The Jews cannot
have theaters of their own. Other
nationalities can. The Jews cannot
have their own religious semi-
naries . . . newspapers and mag-
azines."
Sen. Fulbright's response failed
to recognize the Soviet sophistry
in branding Jews a nationality
but denying them the benefits of
event the categorization. Sen.
Fulbright commented "the idea
of Jews being a nationality was
not confined to the Soviet Un-
ion" because "Ben-Gurion re-
garded the Jews as a nation."
Sen. Fulbright read to the Sen-
ate a letter from the State Depart-
ment, approved by the Adminstra-
tion, and signed by Frederick C.
Dutton, assistant secretary of
state. The letter said approval of
the Ribicoff amendment might lead
the Kremlin "to take the very ac-
tion against the Jewish people of
the Soviet Union which we are try-
ing to prevent. The resolution
might therefore redound seriously
to the detriment of Soviet Jews
and other religious people of the
Soviet UniOn . . . the Department
does not recommend adoption of a
resolution . . . "
Sen. Ribicoff, a former member
of the U.S. Cabinet (under Presi-
dent Kennedy) responded with a
forthright statement. He said "the
State Department never has been
sympathetic to these problems. The
State Department treats Jews
merely as numbers. The State De-
partment seems to be consistently
Kremlin Envoy to Sign
Pact in Jerusalem
ignorant and uninformed on this
problem." .
"For the life of me," said Sen.
Ribicoff, "I cannot understand
why, whenever we come up
against a problem on which we
seek to speak our conscience, the
State Department seeks to throw
cold water on the efforts of the
American people . . . I stand on
the Senate floor condemning the
attitude of the State Department
in this particular instance, be-
cause the State Department
shows its ignorance of what is
happening to three million Jews.
It shows its indifference."
Sen. Ribicoff added that "the
State Department has a lot to learn
about people as human beings and
humanity in general. The time has
come for the State Department to
get a little education of its own.
One way to give the State Depart-
ment some education is to reject
the substitute . amendment offered
by the Senator' from Arkansas.
Senators applauded Sen. Ribi-
coff. Not one Senator backed Sen.
Fulbright or the State Department-
Fulbright position.
Sen. Ribicoff commended: "We
who are U.S. Senators understand
public opinion and understand bet-
ter what will move the Soviet Un-
ion than do some bureaucrats who
sit in the State Department."
Drive to Aid Pilot Medical Center
Detroit Cancer Fighters, City of Hope, will appeil to residents of
the Northest area Sunday through Monday for support of the
internationally known pilot medical center at Duarte, Calif. Under
the leadership of Mrs. Elliot Schubiner (right), vice president of fund
raising, and her chairman, Mrs. Fred Prag (center), scores of volun-
teers are being mobilized for the three-day house-to-house canvass.
Also assisting is Mrs. Harry Fink (left), chairman of the Blue Bank
drive. For volunteer information, call Mrs. Schubiner, EL 7-5166,
Mrs. Prag, LI 7-3586.
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JERUSALEM ( J T A ) -- The
Israel-Soviet agreement, providing
for the purchase of Soviet prop-
erties here by the Israel Govern-
ment, was scheduled to be signed
in Jerusalem by Soviet Ambassa-
dor Mikhail Bodrov and foreign
Minister Golda Meir.
The purchase, which involves
$4,500,000, will be paid for by .
Israel with one-third in cash, and
the remainder in kind, mostly with
citrus shipments. Ambassador Bo-
drov informed Mrs. Meir that his
government was willing to have
the agreement signed in "Israel's
capital."
At Tel. Aviv, Sunday night, the
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra,
opening its season, paid tribute to
Ambassador Bodrov in a special
program note for helping to break
Russia's boycott against the orches-
tra.
As a result of the recent cul-
tural exxchange agreement signed
between the two countries, Soviet
soloists and a conductor will, for
the first time, appear with the
Philharmonic this season. In re-
turn, Israeli artists have been
scheduled for appearances in the
Soviet Union. Bodrov was instru-
mental in arranging the cultural
pact.
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