THE JEWISH NEWS Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951 Member American Association of English—Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association, National Editorial Association. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit, Mich. 48235. VE 8-9364. Subscription $6 a year. Foreign $7. Second Class Postage Paid at Detroit, Michigan PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor and Publisher CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ Business Manager SIDNEY SHMARAK Advertising Manager CHARLOTTE HYAMS City Editor Sabbath Rosh Hodesh Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the eighth day of Heshvan, 5727, the following Scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Gen. 12:1-17:21. Prophetical portion, Isaiah 40:27-41:16. Licht Benshen, Friday, Oct. 21. 5:23 p.m. VOL. L. No. 9 Page Four October 21, 1966 Threat to Peace: Terror on Israel's Borders On Oct. 6, almost as if he had anticipated new attacks on his country, Israel's Foreign Minister Abba Eban, addressing the General Assembly of the United Nations on a variety of issues affecting the peace of the world, told the representatives of 119 nations, in- cluding the Arab states: During 1966, two ex-plosive tensions in Asia have been resolved or, at least, diminished. The fighting between India and Pakistan has come to an end through direct negotiations with the good offices of a third party. And the con- frontation between Indonesia and Malaysia has now ceased. The Foreign Minister of Malaysia has correctly ascribed this result to "direct con- tacts between the two countries in a sincere endeavor to bring about a peaceful settlement." He added: "We hope that this will set a pattern for the settlement of disputes between nations." Two clear lessons can be drawn from this and previous experience. First, there are no military solutions for disputes between States. The international order is defective; but it is not anarchic. It contains many obstacles to settlement by force. Second, there is a direct relationship of cause and effect between the decision to negotiate a conflict and the tangi- ble prospect of its settlement. These considerations are sharply relevant to the war in Vietnam. The choice lies between a negotiated solution now—and a solution at a future date. In the latter case, the price of postponement will be exacted in heavy loss of life; in expanding destruction and havoc; in the prolonged agony of the Vietnamese people, which has had no consecutive peace for a quar- ter of a century; in the constant growth of international tension; and in the frustration of what would otherwise be an authentic pros- pect for the improvement of international rela- lions. Indeed, the penalty of delay may be even heavier than this. It is true that there are many inhibitions against the escalation of local conflicts into general war. But who can be certain that these would hold firm against expanding hostilities in a region where the policies and interests of the Great Powers are intimately engaged? In these circumstances, the United Nations, as the central embodiment of man's quest for peace, cannot evade its moral responsibility. An international organization which had noth- ing to say about the world's most perilous con- flict would neither obtain nor deserve the respect of mankind. We are summoned to do all that lies in our influence to transfer the Vietnamese tragedy from the battlefield to the negotiating table. Developing the issues affecting the peace of the world, Israel's spokesman then turned to the situation in the Middle East and told the assembly: Unfortunately, many of our countries are called upon to face their international responsi- bilities in conditions of regional tension. The situation in the Middle East has not substantially changed this year. Behind the armistice fron- tiers established by agreement between Israel and her Arab neighbours in 1949, the national life of sovereign States has become crystallized in an increasingly stable mold. There is some evidence that thoughtful minds in the Middle East are becoming skeptical about threats to change the existing territorial and political structure by armed force. Such threats and the policies concerted to support them— of- fend the spirit and letter of our Charter. They violate bilateral agreements freely negotiated and solemnly signed. They undermine the central principles of international civility. And they have no chance of being carried into ef- fect. For they encounter insuperable obstacles in our country's will and capacity to defend itself, as well as in the opposition of the world community to the alteration by aggres- sive force of legally established and interna- tionally recognized situations. It is not necessary to formulate new or spe- cial principles for peace and security in the Middle East. Nothing is required beyond the precise application of Charter principles which enjoin respect for the sovereignty of States, and the abstention from the use or threat of force against their integrity and independence. It is sometimes forgotten that Israel's neigh- bors have already committed themselves in bilateral undertakings to the strict application of these principles. Seventeen years ago each one of Israel's four neighbors agreed to move forward to permanent peace; to regard the armed conflict between them a7ld Israel as permanently liquidated; to abstain for all time from undertaking, planning or threatening any aggressive action by their armed forces; to re- gard the present armistice lines as immune from any change without consent; actively to prevent any illegal crossing of those lines by armed forces or civilians; and to carry out all these engagements "until a peaceful settle- ment between the parties is achieved." It is extraordinary that the official rhetoric and policy of neighboring states are so little influ- enced by Charter principles or by agreements which they signed and sealed 17 years ago. It is with this as a background that Foreign Minister Eban made his plea for peace—for the Middle East and all other afflicted areas. But these appeals seem to have fallen on deaf ears. The United Nations delegations are fully aware of what was happening and it is common knowledge that Syria, with the tacit consent of the other war-mongering Middle Eastern states, are threatening war on Israel. Syria is waging such a war. Yet there is quiet in the international organiza- tion's quarters! The United Nations has emerged and re- mains the most valid instrument for the en- forcement of peace. The effectiveness of the UN Expeditionary Force on the Israeli- Egyptian border proved that war can be averted by firm action. But in the present situation involving Syria's threats and Jor- dan's concurrence—although only a few days ago both of the latter nations were threaten- ing war upon each other—is a threat to the peace of the world. The United Nations can prove its effectiveness in this crisis or it can emerge again as helpless, impotent, un- able and perhaps also unwilling to act. That would be a sure admission of failure and might result in a great calamity. There is one basic factor to be taken into consideration. Unless the U.S. delegation at the United Nations takes a firm step in the direction of peace in the Middle East, we may have an all-out war and that area will certainly be doomed to unending, continuing, perpetual tensions. Such tensions can lead to a world conflict -- with Russia and the Arab states so deeply involved as a combined element leading to conflict — and the West- ern powers will be responsible for what may occur. This is a time for firm action. Delay is inexcusable. Let there be a declaration from the international organization, under the in- spiration of the United States, that war-- mongering will not be tolerated. Israel has a perfect right to demand action from the UN. Established in the interest of peace, the world organization of nations is again being put to the test. It must emerge nobly as a defender of its own Charter. A foolish act by the New York Betar group which, in a desire to register a protest against the aggressions on Israel's borders, invaded the Syrian UN mission, has temporarily hurt the Israeli cause. If that unwise "invasion" which was no more than a demonstration is to prove irreparably harmful to Israel it will be another indication of a spreading prejudice. There have been similar demonstrations against Russia and Cuba and other aggressor nations, but at no time have they, as in the instance of the Betar, inspired such adamant official U.S. protests. Israel's case must stand on its own merits as a demand for an end to the campaign to destroy the Jewish State. It is the responsi- bility of the UN and its member nations to avert the threatened crisis that borders on war. Extraneous matters involving individ- uals must not influence the case in the direc- tion of further injustice. Lowenstein's Novel Splendidly Narrates Israel's Freedom War Could "Bring My Sons From Far" by Ralph Lowenstein, published by World, possibly be autobiographical? It is a novel about the Israel War of Independence. The author is presently a candidate for his Ph D at the University of Missouri of whose school of journalism he is publications editor of the Freedom of Information Center. A native of Danville, Va., he joined the Israel army in the war of 1948 at the age of 18. A Korean War veteran, he earned his BA at Columbia University and his MS from the Columbia Graduate School of Jour- nalism. For a series of stories about immigration problems, he was given the Pall Mall Big Story Award and the Columbia Journalism Award for Distinguished Service to Journalism. Thus, after fighting with the Israel army of liberation, he returned to this country to pursue his studies in journalism. This is what the hero of his novel, Evan Copperman, did after fighting with the Israel liberation army, after falling in love with the heroine in "Bring My Sons From Far," in spite of her appeals that he remain in Israel. Like the author, the hero of the story came from Virginia. He gave up his studies to join the Israeli armed forces. His parents ob- jected to his enlistment, but he defied them. Evan Copperman fell in love with Shulamit while both served in the army of liberation. There was a deep love. But she warned him, when he readied to go back to the United States and to his studies: "When you leave Israeli soil you'll stop existing for me, just as you stop existing for the army." He pleaded. He said he would write, he would return. She warned him she would not respond, that by leaving he was deadening the love affair. He had his choice, and he left. A prefatory note to the novel states: "The author served in the '79th Armored Regiment, Army for the Defense of Israel, during Israel's War of Independence. None of the characters in this book is intended to resemble any person who was a member of the stalwart regiment. The battles described in this novel are often fictitious, as are the incidents around which the story was built." Yet, there is much of alikeness in the author's personality with the characteristics of the novel's hero. Aside from this, there are many excellent elements in the story: the descriptions of the battles, the analyses of the characters the hero meets and befriends—those with whom he fought side by side. There are the stories of the survivors from Auschwitz—that's part of Israel's history. There is the Ethiopian black Jew around whom is woven the struggle against segregation and the color line in Israel. A well-written, well-motivated plot marks this splendid novel. It throws light on the libertarian Israeli struggle. It is a fine study of human relations. It depicts the heroes of that important year in Israel's history with skill. Lowenstein's may well be considered one of the very best Israeli novels to have appeared thus far. 'Human Beginnings': Instructive New Book for Young Readers Viking Press has just issued a children's book with facts about the firsts in human experiences that could well serve as a textbook for a course to bear the title of the book, "Human Beginnings." Splendidly written by Olivia Vlahos, well illustrated by Kyuzo Tsugami, this volume contains a marvelous collection of facts about human relations dated to earliest known times, man's existence among mammals and verte- brates, man's development in time and his tools—and his weapons for defense and existence; man's language, clothing, writing skill. It all leads up to the emergence of the civilization as we know it. It explains the steps from ancient time of cave dwelling to the present civilized state—"the icing on the cake," as the able author describes it, explaining the origin of the word civilization, from the Latin civitas—which means 'of the city-state'—the root from which we get civics, citizens and related terms. Of special interest is her explanation of the role of Hebrew in the development of languages. "Latin," she writes, "is an in- flected language. So are the Semitic tongues such as Hebrew and Arabic. These prefer stems consisting of three consonants. The changing vowels in the middle tell time, number, possession, etc. The group k-t-b conveys the idea of writing. As `kataba' it means `he has written'; as `katib,"writer'; as "kitab,"book! " This reminds us of English words like 'to sing,' which, with internal vowel changes, becomes 'sang' and then 'sung.' Thus, a book for children emerges an instructive volume for class- rooms, people of all ages having much to learn from it.