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 I I