Purely Commentary
Trigger-Happy Arabs ... World's Failure to Prevent
Cruelties .. . "If UN Stops Caring, Who Else Will?"
For several months now, there have been shootings on the border
of Israel. The Syrians keep sniping. Even Jordanians, who have been
cautious for a number of years not to create incidents, are responsible
for attacks on Israelis, for shooting at Israel's representatives on Mount
Scopus.
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More serious developments are in evidence. An article in a recent
issue of The Nation revealed a situation that challenges the
conscience of mankind. Syrians are involved in exposes of brutalities
against Israelis, but world organizations responsible for human conducts
have become involved in the revelations. and their failure to act poses
a question: isn't there some force that can step in to avoid cruelties?
Writing in The Nation on a situation involving an exchange
of prisoners between Israel and Syria, Joel Lieber told of the release,
on Dec. 21. 1963. of 11 Israeli prisoners in exchange for 18 Syrians. The
exchange took place at the Bnei Yakov Bridge. The report states that
United Nations personnel who observed the exchange saw a group of
men who were oblivious to their surroundings, whose faces were apa-
thetic masks. but one of them, Reuven Liebes, who was a prisoner of
the Syrians for 11 years. suddenly shouted:
"It was unbelievable. It was too horrible for words. There are
still more of them (Jewish prisoners) back there."
Considered "the maddest of the lot" of released Jewish prisoners,
Liebes nevertheless was found to be "invincibly sane." He returned to
engineering school and to normal life, picking up where he had left
off 11 years ago. But seven of the released men were declared by
psychiatrists to be hopelessly insane.
The revealed account of the occurrences states that Israeli author-
ities withheld the news pending an investigation by the Red Cross and
the UN World Health Organization, but the Red Cross countered that
it could not be involved in a political matter, and the WHO also de-
clined to act, claiming that the issue was not within its jurisdiction.
Israel also was unable to secure the cooperation of world psychiatrists
who were asked to study the situation.
The issue is so serious, the tortures that were imposed upon the
Israeli prisoners were of such a shocking nature, that the story should
be known. Joel Lieber, in his article in The Nation in which he
related Reuven Liebes' revelations, wrote as follows:
"Liebes, however, remembered everything, and psychiatrists came
to regard him as a living refutation of the English penal code dictum
that after ten years as a POW no man can be expected to have his
faculties intact. Liebes told officials and doctors, with what is described
as "extraordinary accuracy as to times and dates," how he learned
Arabic and English during his imprisonment, and simply refused to
believe his jailers' oft-repeated contentions ticr the Israel Government,
when the Syrians announced their desire t return him, had replied
that it did not want Liebes back.
"The 30-year-old Liebes was born in Poland, where his parents
were soon killed by the Nazis. and where he endured the war in a num-
ber of hiding places. After being farmed out to various camps and
orphanages, he arrived in Israel in 1951 at the age of 17. The following
year. in 1952, he was abducted in a Syrian border raid.
"Liebes told questioners of 'routine beatings' with a whip on the
soles of the feet: of setting wild dogs on the prisoners (which drove one
of his fellows insane); of bodies smeared with honey and staked out in
the sun at the mercy of flies; of electric shock applied to the genitals;
of pummelings by new guards every time a new Damascus regime swept
into power; of solitary confinement, sometimes extended as long as
three months; of the lack of medical attention (one of the men went
mad from an untreated rupture which over a nine-year period de-
veloped to the size of a watermellon). Psychiatrists are still talking to
Liebes, trying to determine what strength of character kept him to-
gether for eleven fantastic years. when his comrades, none of whom
had been imprisoned for as long, distintegrated one by one.
"The prisoner swap at the Bnei Yakov Bridge had been in the
making for more than ten years. During this time. Israel. through the
UN Mixed Armistice Commission, sent dozens of letters to Syria, re-
questing a prisoner exchange. The Syrians denied holding the men
whose names appeared on the Israeli lists; at the same time, they re-
fused UN or Red Cross officials access to the prisons in Palmyra and
Damascus where intelligence reported that the men would be found.
Even a Security Council request for the prisoner swap was rejected by
the Syrian authorities, who continued to claim that they held no Israeli
prisoners. The existence of the prisoners was indicated in several ways.
An Israeli turncoat, who had broadcast in Arabic from Radio Damascus
and had later settled in Czechoslovakia, underwent a change of heart
and sent Israeli officials the names of fifteen or so Israeli prisoners
whom he had seen. In confirmation, hired Arab informants provided
lists bearing almost the identical names.
"Early in 1963, Syria suddenly announced that it would release
eight prisoners. Damascus would supply no names, but this was at least
an admission that prisoners were indeed in Syrian hands. At this point
Israel held a total of eighteen Syrian prisoners and wanted an approxi-
mately equal number in exchange. Damascus countered this demand
by charging that Israel actually held fifty Syrians, and stated that all
must be returned. Israel termed the number fantastic, but added that
six or seven deserters from the Syrian army had eventually married,
settled in Israel and taken out citizenship. Upon interviewing these
men, the UN agreed they could not be forcibly repatriated.
"The charges and countercharges as to the number of prisoners
held by each side brought the exchange negotiations to the breaking-off
point. The UN then pressed Israel to exchange all the Syrians it held
for all the prisoners the Syrians would release, and the exchange went
through under these conditions.
"Both Israel and UN observers attested that the returning Syrians
were "strong and healthy, wearing good clothes" and "able to cross the
bridge under their own power." In addition to Liebes, the only sane
Israeli returnees were two men and a woman who had had the misfor-
tune, six months earlier, to be in a boat on the Sea of Galilee with
three Belgian friends when a sudden storm swept them onto the north-
east shore line. According to the UN Armistice Agreement, the shore
line is in Israeli territory, bu9he Syrians held the group, releasing the
Belgians after two weeks, and holding the others until the prisoner
exchange a half year later. Rumors circulated in Israel as to what the
Syrian soldiers had done to the woman turned out to be untrue; the
three said that the 'worst' consisted of several beatings and a few
whippings on the soles of the feet.
"Exactly how some of, the Israelis found themselves in Syria in the
first place is . still not entirely clear; two, including Liebes, were
soldiers known to have been captured in a Syrian border ambush in
1952; two mistakenly crossed over in a poorly marked border region,
Expose of Policy of Horror
Practiced by Syrians Who
Torture Israeli Prisoners
By Philip
Slomovitz
and the stories of the others, two of whom had a history of mental
illness, are still 'unintelligible."
"Liebes explained later that his outburst on the bridge, far from
being hysterical was designed to impress on the UN people examining
me that we had suffered inhuman treatment in the Syrian prisons. I
felt my making a fuss might prompt them to renew their efforts to
secure the release of the others. There are still ten more in Syrian
prisons.'
"Inevitably, Liebes was asked why he and the others had never
tried to escape. He explained that one prison in which he was kept, in
Damascus, was located within the grounds of an army camp; the other,
in Palmyra, was in the middle of the desert, on the Iraqi border. Only
two prisoners had tried to escape: one, Liebes said, was found and shot
within twelve hours, and the other was caught and put on reduced
rations in solitary confinement until he died—`he just wasted away.'
"Five of the Israelis known still to be held are feared in worse
condition than those recently returned. As before, the Syrians deny
their existence, but it is presumed that they are being kept for possible
bartering in the future. The Red Cross is unwilling to investigate their
condition in Syria, explaining that it is concerned only with the
exchange of war prisoners. (The fact that Syria never signed an
armistice with Israel and still considers itself very much 'at war'
apparently does not influence the agency's decision.)
"Even the United Nations admits it can do nothing more than
`carry letters from the proper Israeli authorities to the proper Syrian
authorities.' Privately, UN officials acknowledge 'almost complete
helplessness,' not only in the agonizing prisoner negotiations, but also
in its efforts to restrain Syria from constant border harassments around
the Sea of Galilee, which most often take the form of firing on
farmers and fishermen.
"'Still, we go on trying,' a UN official said. On which an Israeli
army major commented, 'Yes, they try, but nothing happens. But
then, once the UN stops caring, who else will care?' World opinion
has never been an influence, because what is the torture and murder
of a handful of Israelis, compared to the murder of six million people?
For the six million, world opinion was equally nonexistent.
"The only difference is that some of these people now are being
tortured three times as long as the concentration camp victims. Reuven
Liebes endured thirty years so he can finally begin his life now. And
perhaps somewhere in Syria there is still another Liebes who has with-
stood the nightmare, not merely for three years, but for eleven years.
We can't afford to waste such people."
One would imagine that the incidents related belonged to the days
of Nazism or to the uncivilized era of medievalism. But the story is
about events in Syria, a member of the United Nations, that occurred
in the mid-20th Century. Is it possible that such conditions as
described here can continue in our time. that people still are being
tortured, that the Red Cross, the United Nations and its World
Health Organization are helpless in the matter?
The Red Cross was helpless in many instances during the Nazi
persecutions. The Western Powers were lax in their duties. Humani-
tarians refused to believe reports about brutalities. Does this mean a
perpetuation of silence in the interest of political expediencies?
There is no doubt that the UN is vital as a force for decency in
the world. It must not be permitted to disappear, lest even that inter-
national force should become unavailable for negotiations among
nations. But the shootings are continuing. Prisoners are being tortured.
There is a complete disregard for international authority in many
quarters. It is time to review the existing conditions in order to find
a cure for the ills that still permit the horrors enumerated to be
imposed upon human beings.
Arson Attempt Doused
After Nazi's Wife Is
`Insulted by Cabbie
LONDON (JTA)—Arsonists at-
tempted to set fire to the home
of Wolfe Busell, the 42-year-old
Jewish taxicab driver who was re-
cently fined in a London court for
"insulting" Mrs. Francoise Jordan,
wife of British fascist leader Colin
Jordan, police authorities report-
ed Sunday.
The action took place early Jan.
16, while Busell was out driving
his taxi, and his family was asleep
at his home in suburban Ching-
ford. Police said an oil-soaked rag
had been tossed at his home, dam-
aging the front porch and door.
No one was injured. Police estab-
lished a 24-hour watch over the
Busell home.
Busell had refused to accept
Mrs. Jordan as a passenger, tell-
ing her "I don't want you; I'm a
Jew, you stinking Nazi." He re-
ported she had retorted "If you are
a Jew, what are you doing out
of the ovens?" He told the court
he had then torn off her neck a
swastika-decorated necklace throw-
ing it into the gutter. The court
fined him four pounds ($11.20).
(In New York, Victor Riesel, a
columnist specializing in labor af-
fairs, reported that New York taxi
drivers "Jewish and gentile alike"
are raising a special fund to com-
pensate Busell for his court costs
because "they want to show their
solidarity with their fellow-hackie"
and his anti-Nazi stand.)
Mrs. Jordan's husband was
thrown out of an Election Eve
rally Wednesday night held by
the Labor Party. A smoke bomb,
believed thrown by Nazi youths,
exploded at the feet of Foreign
Secretary Patrick Gordon Walker.
He was not injured. but Jordan
bumped into a door, hurting his
nose.
High Holy Day Liturgy
W. ORANGE, N. J. — A two-day
meeting for study and fellow-
ship, focused upon the prob-
lem of "How to Make Yom Kip-
pur a More Meaningful Experi-
ence" will be sponsored by the
Metropolitan Council of the Rab-
binical Assembly, Feb. 3-4 at Gold-
man's Hotel.
Arab Threats Prove Empty; Leading U.S. Firms
Ignoring the Economic Boycott, ADL Reports
NEW YORK (JTA)—The Arab
economic boycott against Israel has
dwindled into little more than a
publicity campaign so ineffectual
that its threats are being ignored
by leading American and Euro-
pean companies, the Anti-Defama-
tion League of Bnai Brith re-
ported.
N. J. School Board OKs
Nonsectarian Prayer
While Battling Courts
HAWTHORNE, N.J. (JTA)—The
Hawthorne Public School Board,
which is still fighting a State Su-
preme Court decision to comply
with the U.S. Supreme Court ban
on required prayer and Bible read-
ing in school classrooms, indicated
it would accept 3,000 book covers
with a nondenominational prayer
for pupils.
The book covers will be distrib-
uted by an American Legion post
for use of Hawthorne's school chil-
dren. The Rev. Jerry Van Der
Veen, a Methodist minister who is'
president of the board of educa-
tion, said that there was no legal
barrier to the children reading
the prayer to themselves at the
start of classes.
Legion Post 190 officials said
they would start distribution of
the book covers this week and that
they hoped to circulate the book
covers to other parts of New Jer-
sey later. The covers will be given
to members of the Parent-Teachers
Association to take home to their
children.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
2—Friday, January 22, 1963
Arnold Forster, gereral counsel
of the ADL, made puolic a selec-
tive list of 70 major American
business firms currently operating
in Israel despite the threat of Arab
economic reprisds.
Among them are 15 of the top
corporations in the United States,
IBM,
Westinghouse,
including
RCA, Monsanto, International Pa-
per, Republic Steel, General Tire,
National Cash Register and Inland
Steel.
The list supplemented a special
ADL report which examines the
efforts and results—from 1946 to
the present — of Arab League
threats to blacklist all business or-
ganizations unwilling to terminate
commercial dealings with Israel..
The survey was undertaken by
ADL in the belief that the "facts
about the Arab boycott may dispel
illusions for an effective efficient
boycott machine."
The report points out that the
Arab Boycott Committee often
makes threats even when it knows
such sanctions cannot be realized,
for the benefit merely of the re-
sulting publicity and propaganda.
It lists instances of boycott failure
to illustrate its assertion.
The Anti - Defamation League
study summarizes formal and un-
official protests by European gov-
ernments—including those of The
Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Switz-
erland and France—which have de-
nounced the boycott.
It stresses that since 1956, the
United States Congress and both
political parties have expressed
their disapproval of the Arab boy-
cott threats. The ADL report also
quotes from a letter by Assistant
Secretary of State Frederick G.
Dutton in which he said his de-
partment "will not recognize or
condone the boycott."
The ADL report calls for strong-
er U.S. Government resistance to
the Arab Boycott Committee and
sees hope in the recent proposal
by Sen. Harrison A. Williams of
New Jersey to amend the Export
Control Act.
The proposed amendment would
prohibit "the furnishing of any in-
formation or the signing of agree-
ments by domestic concerns en-
gaged in export . . . which have
the effect of furthering restrictive
trade practices . . . by any foreign
country against another country
friendly to the United States."
* * *
Bundestag President
Hits Arab League for
Undiplomatic Warning
BONN (JTA)—Dr. Eugen Ger&
tenmaier, president of the Bunde-
stag, lower house of West Ger-
many's Parliament, expressed op-
position here to the decision taken
by -the prime ministers of the 13
Arab League states, at their meet-
ing in Cairo, who had warned ail
governments to refrain from es,
tablishing diplomatic relations with
Israel.
"No country with self-respect,'
said Dr. Gerstenmaier, "could let
itself be dictated to by foreign
countries as to what it should do."
The Arab premiers had threaten-
ed that they- would extend recogni-
tion to Communist East Germany
if the Bonn government should es-
tablish diplomatic relations with
Israel.