12-Friday, June 2, 1967
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Boris Smolor's
'Between You
.. and Me'
By BORIS SMOLAR
(('opyright, 1967, JTA, Inc.)
Jews in Brazil Protest
Slur by Syrian Envoy
RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — A
delegation representing the Con-
federation of Jewish Communities
of Brazil presented a protest to
the minister of foreign affairs
against an attack on the Jewish
community by the Syrian charge
d'affairs in Rio de Janeiro, Hassan
Saka.
The protest pointed out that
Saka had attributed to Dr. Nahum
Goldmann, president of the World
Zionist Organization, a statement
he had never made. The alleged
statement implied that the Jews
of the entire world must harbor
loyalty only to Israel.
D r. \V. Winterstein and Tofic
Nigri, who delivered the protest to
the chief of the Middle Eastern De-
partment of the Foreign Ministry,
were told that the Foreign Minis-
ter had already expressed his dis-
satisfaction to the Syrian ambassa-
dor over the attack, and now that
the protest from the Jewish Con-
federation had been received, it
would be brought to the atttention
of the Syrian government in Da-
mascus.
MIDDLE EAST CRISIS: High authorities in this country indicated
to American .le\%ish leaders that any mass meetings, rallies or other
demonstrations in connection with the present Arab-Israel
tension would at the present time be counter-productive ... This does
not mean that local Jewish organizations, either individually or jointly
w ith non-Jewish groups, cannot send moderately worded appeals to
the White House. the State Department or Congressmen .. . The U.S.
Gas ernment has in the past issued statements affirming and hacking
free and innocent passage through the Straits of Tiran
the right
. . And
anil the Gulf of Aqaba to and from Israel's port of Eilat
I S. commitment to Israel had been undertaken by four Presidents
w ithout regard to their political persuasion . . . This justifies any
Amerkan citizen to urge the U.S. Government to act vigorously and to I
make it absolutely clear that the U.S. intends to safeguard the inde-
pendence and integrity of Israel . . . President Johnson's statement
declaring Eypt's blocking of the Straits of Tiran against Israeli ships
or ship,. of other nations carrying cargo to and from the Israeli
port of --- as - illegal" was warmly received by American Jewish
or.2,aniz.itions . . But there are elements in Washington who urge the'',
Get your facts first, and then
President to 40 slow in taking any action against this illegal act which you can distort 'em as much as
is coifing off Israel from acquiring oil in Iran — needed for its
you please. —Mark Twain.
and air and ground forces — and from trading with Afro-
. It is to strengthen the President's hands vis-a-vis !
nations .
IF YOU TURN THE
these elements that the sending of appeals to Washington is important
(if course. Nasser's mining of the waters leading to the Gulf
Ailaha affects the interests of the United States, Britain and other •
UPSIDE DOWN YOU WON'T
inariiiine nations no less than it affects Israel .. . With the Suez Canal
FIND A FINER WINE THAN
lulls under Nasser's control and the Straits of Tiran now coming fully
Limier his control any ship of any nation is left to Nasser's will
w bet her to pass it or not.
BLACK SPOT: The hasty withdrawal by United Nations Secretary-
General I. Thant of the U.N. armed forCes from the Gaza Strip and
Eg ■ plian territory in Sinai will remain a black spot on his record as —
,tatcsinan directing the affairs of the United Nations . . By now,
inere is no doubt left in the minds of leaders of many nations that
"dr Thant was too much in a hurry to give in to Egyptian President
"\asser's request for the withdrawal of the U.N. troops ... The question
n•mg posed: "Why did Mr. Thant do it? He could have easily told
\asset: that he must consult first with the Security Council, or with
Ge.i•ral Assembly, or at least with the states which have supplied
the ■ co• for the U.N. forces on the Egyptian-Israel border . . . Many
suspect that the U.N. Secretary-General rushed into acting the way
:lc acted hecouse he was afraid that President Johnson and leaders
other Western states might exercise pressure on him not to do what
h• did and gain a cooling off period ... It is no secret that Mr. Thant is
:agonistic toward President Johnson, thus he wanted in this case
to -how his independence even at the price of undermining one of
the most use'ul functions of the United Nations in preserving stability
at least on the Egyptian-Israeli front . . . It is hard to believe that
1):, his rushing to order the withdrawal of the U.N. troops from that
front — without consulting anyone — the U.N. Secretary-General
did not realize that he is opening a Pandora's box in the Middle East.
•
•
•
CONTROVERSIAL VIEWS: Speaking of the U.N. Secretary-Gen-
eral. it is worth drawing attention to a book which just appeared in
th:s country written by Major General Carl von Horn, former high-
1!::nkii•: officer of the now withdrawn U.N. peacekeeping forces in
Nliddle East . . The hook, entitled "Soldiering for Peace" had
raied strong criticism in Israel when it was first published in Sweden
there the author was born and is residing now after six years as
ommander of U.N. troops ... Published this week in this country by
Nictiily Publishing House, the book will raise as much protest here as
in Israel because of its controversial contents ... The author seems to
be a disgruntled man who accuses United Nations administrators of
bureaucratic humbling and makes allegations against Israel, especially
against Israel's intelligence system . . . He relates his difficulties
pith Ralph Bunche, the top U.N. official under whom he worked, but
writes with much admiration for Dag Hammarskjold, the late U.N.
Secretary-General . . . His opinions about U Thant, the present Secre-
tary-General are highly interesting . . . In general, he hopes that his
re velation.: will lead to administrative and policy changes at the United
Nations which he thinks are needed in order to make the U.N.
more e'lective.
Touster— Poetry Prize Winner
A Review by BORIS SMOLAR
The winner of the 1966 major prize of the Kansas City Poetry
Contests—the Devins Award—is Saul Touster, a member of the faculty
in the School of Law of the State University at Buffalo . . . His
manuscript was selected from more than 275 book-length manuscripts
submitted anonymously by poets in 44 states . . . One of the provi-
sions of the award is publication by the University of Missouri Press.
. . . Thus, Touster's prize-winning poetry has now appeared in a
volume under the title "Still Lives and Other Lives," published by
the University of Missouri The Devins Award is made possible by
Dr. Edward A. Devins, president of the Kansas City Jewish Com-
munity Center and a patron of the Center's American Poets Series.
. . . Touster. who incidentally was this week appointed Assistant to
the President of the State University at Buffalo, has been writing
poetry since his early youth and his poems have been published in
practically all English-language poetry magazines throughout the
world . . . Ile is the son of Ben Touster, the noted Jewish communal
leader, who has been national president of United Hias for many
years and whose active participation in the leadership of the New
York Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, the UJA, and in the Ameri-
can Jewish Committee are well known ... Busy with teaching law and
enjoying reading and writing poetry, the author of "Still Lives and
Other Lives" finds time also to attend a Conservative synagogue in
Buffalo of which be is a member . . . He had formerly belonged to
a Reform temple, but switched to the camp of Conservative Judaism.
Milan Wineries, Detroit, Mich.
Madonna Stamp Blasted by ACLU
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Post Office announced here that
the 1967 special Christmas stamp would be the same as last year's —
a five-color reproduction of Memling's "Madonna and Child With
Angels," but would be twice the size.
When the stamp was issued last year, a number of Jewish organ-
izations were joined by the American Civil Liberties Union in pro-
testing the issuance of the stamp with a Christian religous theme.
The Civil Liberties Union Tuesday announced that it would pro-
test even more strongly this year.
Also protesting the plans by the Post Office to issue the contro-
versial stamp this year was the Americans United for Separation of
Church and State. The group, a predominantly Protestant organization,
announced Tuesday that it would bring court action against Postmaster
General Lawrence F. O'Brien.
C. Stanley Lowell, associate director of the organization, said
that it was "simply incredible" that O'Brien should reissue in a larger
size the same "sectarian" Christmas stamp that caused controversy
last year.
"It is nothing in the world but a Roman Catholic stamp portraying
Mary enthroned as Queen of Heaven, holding in her hand a Roman
Catholic missal, a book of liturgy used only in the mass," he declared.
DUETO THE CRISIS
Our June 12 Israel Bond Event
Will be an
ISRAEL EMERGENCY DINNER
The New Location Is
COBO HALL
The New Reduced Price Is $5.00 Per Person
These emergency changes were made so that all Jewish families
can attend and participate in support of Israel in its most critical hour.
Philip Slomovitz, who is just returning from Israel, will bring an
eyewitness account of Israel's life and death emergency.
1_
Phillip Stollman
Dinner Chairman
The way
we figure it,
5% on your savings
keeps coming out
to 5%%.
We compound the interest on your 5% Savings Certificates contin=
uously, so what starts out as the maximdm legal bank interest rate
winds up in your account as even more—an effective rate of 5Y2%.
We guarantee to compound your 5% interest for 3 years and ten
months—but anytime you need your money, you get it on 90 days
notice. You can buy Bank of the Commonwealth Savings Certifi4
cates in amounts as small as $100. And, your deposits are insured
to $15,000 by the Federal Deposit insurance Corporation. How
can you go wrong ? By not stopping in at your nearby Bank of the
Commonwealth office. Come on in this week.
The young-old bank
BANK OF THE COMMONWEALTH
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