Purely Commenter
Dean Acheson—Bearer of III Tidings, Spreader of III
Will vis-a-vis Israel: Result of 'Gross Misinformation
A new Daniel came to judgment on the University of Michigan
campus last week, bearing ill tidings, spreading new messages of
hate, revealing anew how opposition to the libertarian movement to
end Jewish homelessness has for years met with opposition in our
State Department and how a lack of proper information and ignorance
of history itself has caused men in public life who should know better
to become the enemies of Israel.
Dean, Acheson, former Secretary of State under President Tru-
man, will undoubtedly be shocked to hear himself described in such
harsh terms. But that's what he has earned for the "off the record"
views that have been publicized. They are undoubt-
edly views that motivated certain attitudes that
stood in the way of common decency in the Middle
East and postponed peace. They are attitudes which
to this very day prolong amity among the people
in the Mediterranean area. If it were not for ob-
structions resulting from a lack of knowledge about
history in that area as well as from unquestioned
prejudices against Jewish aspirations, there would
have been no need to retain large armies, existing
boundaries would have been assured and the low
standards of the peoples in states neighboring on
Israel would have been uplifted. It is the obstacles Acheson
placed in the path of seekers of peace that is responsible for the
lowering of the standards among Arabs, the perpetuation of their
poverty and illiteracy, the injection among them of hatreds that
could be wiped out of the Achesons of the past 20 or more years had
labored for proper understanding instead of, encouraging obstructions.
It was to have been an off the record, as the report about Ache-
son having been grilled for two hours by a group of about half a
dozen students in Ann Arbor. Acheson told the group that he didn't
feel "the idea of a Jewish homeland in the Middle East is a very
wise idea in the 20th Century."
When—Mr. Acheson—would it have been wise? During the Middle
Ages and the Crusades when Jews were burned in their synagogues,
or during the pogroms in Russia, or through the centuries when there
was not a foothold for Jews anywhere? And, since Acheson spoke of
the 20th Century, he could not have meant the Hitler era during
which Six Million were murdered. It is certain: neither he nor his
associates did much of anything to save that remnant and they cer-
tainly would not have provided a homeland for those who could have
been rescued!
Acheson must have done a lot of talking off the record—since it
is now on the record in the Detroit News report which stated:
"I can understand very well the great feeling of injustice
the Arabs have," he told about 2,500 students and faculty members.
Though the state of Israel has become established, Acheson
said the Arabs who lived in what is now Israel for 2,000 years
should not have been displaced on grounds that Jews lived there
2,025 years ago.
The main problem facing Israel now is deciding what to do
with land occupied during the war and how to handle the people
in this territory.
This is where both the ignorance and the prejudice enters. If
Acheson had studied history properly he would have known that
Jews never left the Holy Land, that they retained their residence
there even if in small groups in Jerusalem and in Tiberias and in
Safed. And their foothold has been firm in their prayers and in
prophecy. The former Secretary of State should read his Bible again
and should turn to historic facts. He'll find the roots of People Israel
in Israel and he will find that mostly there were nomads among
Arabs who came to destroy what had been built. And as an important
figure in U. S. affairs he may have learned that Jews came to what
was Palestine, before Israel, to rebuild against great odds what Arabs
had ruined!
And a high price was paid for every inch of land Jews acquired.
The absentee Arab landlords who gained materially from the Jewish
settlement in the Holy Land are the ones who oppressed the masses
of their kinsmen: they were the effendis among the Arabs who created
sufferings among the fellaheen! Yet Acheson spoke of injustice to
Arabs! He who did nothing to help end Jewish suffering and to pro-
vide havens for Jews who escaped the crematoria now talks about
territorial rights! What about the sacred right of a piece of sacred
land for the people of the Bible as a territorial adjustment and as
atonement by mankind for the centuries of sufferings imposed upon
the Jewish people? We wonder if it isn't useless to pose this question
now to a man who dares, at this time, after international rights have
been granted for sovereignty by Israel, through the United Nations
and with the approval of our government, to talk about injustice to
Arabs while ignoring basic rights to Jewry!
•
•
•
y
Acheson as Bearer of III Tid-
ings . . . Need for Facts
to Offset Many Prejudices
By Philip
***
al omovitz
Respect for Faith ... Revolt of Ignorant
At the request of House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford of
Michigan, Speaker of the U. S. House of Representatives, John W.
McCormack arranged a legislative schedule to avoid any important
Congressional business on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
In advance of his request, Rep. Ford said: Out of respect for
Judaism, one of our great religions and a cherished aspect of the
American heritage, Congress should rearrange its business to assure
that all Congressmen of Jewish faith are freed from any need to
choose between legislative business or attendance at devotional services
with their families?'
On the eve of Rosh Hashana, last Wednesday, the Chaplain of the
House of Representatives, the Very Rev. Edward G. Latch, commenced
his prayer with the "Hear 0 Israel . . ." Shema from Deuteronomy
6:4, 5. In a brief speech of New Year greetings, Congressman Muller
of New York stated: "I cannot let this moment pass without extend-
ing a special word of thanks to you, Mr. Speaker, and to the leader-
ship on both sides of the aisle for cooperating with our colleagues
of the Jewish faith in so arranging the Legislative Calendar that we
can spend these High Holy Days with our families in performing our
religious duties."
Several addresses were delivered in both Houses of Congress as
greetings to the Jewish people, taking into account the legacy handed
down by Judaism to mankind. One speech (by Rep. Anunzio) even
listed all Jewish festivals as a mark of recognition of Jewish reli-
gions observances.
These were expressions of the type of respect that inspires self-
respect and attests to the American way of elevating the standards of
faith while adhering to a policy of Separation. We separate Church
from State but we respect the religious feelings of all citizens, regard-
less of differences in observances.
But in Southfield and Berkley, our neighboring communities,
there was disrespect. For the first time on record, Christian students
protested because Jewish fellow students were celebrating holy days.
There have been occasions when Jewish students encouraged dif-
ficulties with prejudiced and bigoted teachers who made it difficult
for the Jewish boys and girls to take time out for holidays. Then
authorities had to step in to prevent discrimination. Now it is "a
revolt"—young people marched with signs that read "Christian Power"
and "Christian Soul Brothers." They learned the worst—out of ignor-
ance! They even evidenced shrewdness to deny anti-Semitism—as if
the signs they carried could be anything other than the vilest type of
indecency and hatred. It was a sheer lack of self-respect that caused
a display of arrogrance. If this was not an inherited anti-Semitism
—as hatred usually is—the community's responsibility being to assure
the elimination of hatred from the home—we wonder how many of
the parents of the ignorant .rebels welcomed their children with a
sense of shame for what had transpired in Christian youth ranks on
Rosh Hashana.
We are told that the complaints are not one-sided, that Jewish
By RABBI SAMUEL J. FOX
(Copyright 1967, JTA Inc.)
i
of d many ting
practice
praaspecia
the
c u st om
candle before Yom Kippur (The
Day of Atonement) which is left
burning throughout the day?
This practice seems to be a very
old custom whose exact origin is
not precisely known. A candle has
symbolized the life or the soul
of man for centuries. The Bible
tells us that "the soul of man is
the candle of God" (Proverbs
20:27). Since Yom Kippur was des-
ignated as the Day of Judgment,
custom arranged for each and
every living soul to light a candle
before the 24-hour Day of Atone-
ment began. On the one hand, this
would indicate the frailty of the
individual in the hands of the winds
of fate which could extinguish the
candle so easily. On the other
hand, it impressed the individual
that he had a soul and that, in
spite of the forces of nature, It per-
sisted in maintaining its position
in his life. Orginally, people
brought these candles to the syna-
gogue. It seems that each could
recognize his own candle and
I would feel encouraged with an
outlook towards another year of life
upon seeing his own candle still
burning by the end of the day.
Yet, other circumstances cause
many synagogue to mix up the
candles because it came to be sus-
pected that, if one's candle hap-
pened to be extinguished before
the day was over, that person
would not complete his year of
life during the ensuing year. This
caused great fright and confusion
in the hearts of those whose can-
dles may have accidently been ex-
tinguished. Mixing up the candles
so that they could not be distin-
guished alley i at e d this fright.
Somehow, among many, this prac-
tice was eased out of existence. In
its place we have the practice,
youngsters who stay out of school for holy days are abusing which is now widespread, of light-
their privileges by heckling the non-Jews who are in their ing a candle before the eve of
classes and that holy days have become occasions for shopping, Yom Kippur, to represent the soul
playing, self-entertaining. Such abuses are subject to as much
condemnation as the display of "Christian Power" placards.
There are abuses and self-abuses. Both are contemptible. If
Jews desecrate their festivals by resorting to unethical tactics they
are a disgrace to themselves and their people. This is where Jewish
parents are as guilty as the non-Jewish. Jewish parents of rowdy
youngsters who abuse privileges had better look into the matter and
do the judging whenever there is evidence of disrespect.
•
•
•
of a loved one who had passed
away. There are many, even today,
who light two candles — one for
the living and one for the de-
ceased.
• • •
Why Is it customary to affix
the letters "Nun" "Yod" after
writing a person's name when
referring to him?
Most scholars feel that this is
an abbreviation of the two words
Clement Attlee and Sir Norman Angell — Zionist Foes
Two names of world prominent figures were in the obituary col-
umns this week. Both were eminent in political spheres. Both came in
contact with Jews and had backed the Zionist cause early in their "Nero Yair" which mean "May his
candle keep burning." They trace
careers. Both became bitter foes of Zionism.
Clement Attlee—Lord Attlee at the time fo his death—Great Bri- this to the old practice of kindling
tain's Prime Minister during the crucial years of Israel's emergence a light before Yom Kippur and
having it burn throughout the day,
into statehood, from 1945 to 1951, may have been
indicating that the individual him-
counted among the friends of the Zionist ideal dur-
self will enjoy We throughout the
ing his leadership of the Labor Party. But like many
coming year. Others feel that the
other members of his party he joined the anti-Israel
original appendage consisted of
forces. The most venomous opponent of the Jewish
three yetters "Nun" "Resh" "Vov"
State was Attlee's Secretary for Foreign Affairs
which was an abbreviation of the
Ernest Bevin, who not only souhgt to liquidate the
Aramaic expression, "May the Al-
Jewish National Home, who was responsible for a
mighty watch over him and save
drive against Haganah, the Jewish self-defense force
him"
(Harahaman, Yishmereyhu
in Palestine, who approved of the arrest of Jewish
Attlee
leaders in Palestine on the Sabbath and ordered attacks on boats carry-
ing escapees from Nazism into the Holy Land, but who also delivered
Veyifdehu). Generally speaking,
this kind of appendage is an indi-
cation that one should always have
in mind blessing and good will to-
wards a person when one refers
vile anti-Semitic speeches in which he attacked not only the Zionists
but also the Jews of New York. His name will be recorded among the
bitterest enemies of Jewry.
Sir Norman Angell, the 1933 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in the to him.
early 1930s, was socially minded. He was a friend of Jewry and ap-
peared numerous times on Zionist platforms. He was considered among West Germany to Loan
the leading Christian Zionists in the world.
- In October of 1938 Sir Norman was a speaker, together with Dr. $40 Million to Israel
Chaim Weizmann, the Labor leader Herbert Morrison, Prof. S. Brodet-
BONN (JTA) — The West Ger-
sky, Chief Rabbi Dr. Joseph H. Hertz, Lord Rothschild, R. D. Denman man government has agreed to
and Commander 0. Locker-Lampson, at a public meeting at Friends' lend $40,000,000 to Israel, it was
House in London, in protest against restrictions by the British govern- announced here by the foreign
ment on immigration of Jews in Palestine. In that ministry. The Bonn government
speech Sir Norman called restrictions on Jewish immi- stipulated that Israel was not to
gration "morally unjustified" and said in part: "For use the proceeds of the loan for
Obligation to Let Facts Be Fully Available
It is becoming clearer as time progresses that the prejudicial
propaganda against Israel is spreading rapidly, that basic facts are
not generally known, that the lie, as defined by Hitler, is being cir-
culated, and the Nazi idea to keep telling the lie until it emerges
as truth must create new vigilance so that untruths should not
dominate.
In spite of the great humanitarian efforts that are being exerted
by Israelis as "conquerors" to provide the best treatment for Arabs
residing in the territory acquired by Israel in the Six Day War, in-
credible stories are being spread to give the impression that Jews
are brutal, that they seek to dominate over all Arab lands, that they
something over a thousand years we Christians, includ-
are molesting children, that the holy places are being desecrated.
ing we English, persecuted, tortured, kicked and in-
All lies, lies, lies . . . circulated in the Hitler fashion!
sulted
an unarmed and defenseless people, for the
Which proves anew how urgent it is that the basic facts should
single crime of belonging to the race that gave us Jesus
be made common knowledge, that we should once again compile data,
Christ,
His Mother, His Apostles and about the only
present the facts, undertake a new campaign of pamphleteering.
religious literature that has given to the West its re-
In the interest of truth, it is urgent that Christians—and Moslems
ligion
and
its moral law. Today, that people suffer,
among the fair-minded—should join with Jews in spreading enlighten-
perhaps worse than ever before. Over much of Christen-
ment. We need new vigor among the youth in this task, in an era in
dom they are robbed, tortured, imprisoned, starved,
which the elders are among the tired liberals.
diven out. Yet everywhere the doors close against them,
It is in the interest of world peace that lies should be exposed,
Angell one after another, inexorably. And now we, too, propose
that truth should be spread, that no one should be permitted to flaunt
ignorance as knowledge and thereby mislead people—as some in Ann to close doors that we had solemenly promised should be kept open as
Arbor may have been misled by a former high American official. a shelter and a sancturay for persecuted people whom Christendom has
And what we plead for—the truth!—must not be off the record! so deely injured; close them at the time that shelter is most needed."
In 1939 this Commentator interviewed this interesting and brilliant
The truth is ON the record!
2 — Friday, October 13, 1967
Yom Kippur Quiz
military purposes.
Jewish liberation movement, that
he was counted among the truly
great friends. Then something hap-
pened and soon he became an
enemy. He began to propagate
against Zionist. He joined ranks
akin to the Council for Judaism.
From friend he turned to foe. It
was an as unexplainable as the
about face of Dorothy Thompson
and a few others like her. Let's
remember Sir Norman Angell for
the good years during which his
man who was as great in spirit as he was short in stature. He gave hope for a better world did not
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS views that were as thoroughly pro-Zionist, he was so dedicated to the exclude Jews.