NEW YORK (JTA)—Two national agencies involved in the civil rights struggle, the American Jewish Commit- tee and the American Jewish Congress, went on record in full support of the report of the President's National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders and called for its immediate implementation. Rabbi Arthur J. Lelyveld of Cleveland, president of the American Jewish Congress, said that all Americans "must accept the necessity of making the sacrifices that the Commission's programs will entail." He warned that failure to act now "would not only deny the slum dwellers of our cities of any hope for a better future but would also condemn the whole of our society to witness the sundering of American democracy." Bertram H. Gold, executive director of the American Jewish Committee, said all members of the committee were being urged "to promote in every possible way the fullest public understanding of the issues" and the Kerner Commission's recommendations. Kerner Report Given Strong Endorsement by Jewish Groups Purim in Our Critical Times A Russian's Plea in Defense of Oppressed Jews Editorials Page 4 VOL. LI I, No. 25 THE JEWISH NEWS * - MICHIGA N r A Weekly Review of Jewish Events Michigan's Only English-Jewish Newspaper — Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle ° 27 17100 W. 7 Mile Rd., Detroit —VE 8-9364—March 8, 1968 $7.00 Arab Problem Poses Israel's Predicaments Are We 'A Nation Divisible?' Commentary Page 2 Per Year, This Issue 20c Jarring Mission Stymied Anew; Nasser Threatens El Fatah Leader Offers Defense: Jewish Mother Was Not a Zionist (Direct JTA Teletype Wire to The Jewish News) TEL AVIV — The commander of an El Fatah sabotage gang, arrested by Israeli security forces, revealed under questioning Tuesday that his mother is a Jewess married to a Christian Arab with whom she lives in Amman. According to Jewish law, this makes William Naguib Nasser a Jew although he claimed to have been converted to Christianity. Uncon- firmed reports are that a second El Fatah leader, Kamal Nimri, who was captured with Nasser, also had a Jewish mother. The interrogation of Nasser and Nimri led to the smashing Monday of the El Fatah gang believed responsible for Saturday's sabotage raid on the Mekorot Water Company, heavy equipment storage depot near Jeru- salem, where a Druze watchman was murdered. Naguib Nasser, a sabotage expert, is the man who strangled the watchman to death, security authorities said. He disclosed under questioning that he was originally recruited by El Fatah in Germany where he spent a long time and that he subsequently trained other El Fatah recruits on German soil before they were sent to the Middle East. He himself received his training in Algeria and was later transferred to El Fatah headquarters in Damascus. Asked how, as the son of a Jewish mother, he could commit acts of violence against Jews, Naguib Nasser replied: "She was never a Zionist." (Detailed Related Stories, Page 8) A speech delivered Sunday at the Helwan industrial center near Cairo at a workers' rally by the Egyptian dictator, Gamal Abdel Nasser, described as having been violent in tone, threatening anew that combined Arab forces will recapture Israel "inch by inch," is believed again to have negated the peaceful efforts of the UN Ambassador Gunnar V. Jarring. Apparently reacting to demonstrations demand- ing stern action against former Egyptian army officers and clamoring for renewed warfare against Israel, Nasser is believed to have returned to an intransigent posi- tion, again reverting to war threats. The new Nasser approach came as a surprise in view of his assertions, in an interview with the editor of Look magazine, in which he was believed to have flirted anew for U.S. friendship, admitting that he and Hussein were wrong in accusing the U.S. of having participated in the June war. Dr. Jarring ended his conferences at the UN in New York with Secre- tary-General U Thant and returned to his Cyprus headquarters in Nicosia. While Israel indicated readliness to meet with Arab representatives on call fitom Jarring, there were new indications that neither Jordan nor Egypt will respond to- the calls too readily. Syria already has flatly refused to cooperate in the Jarring mission in any form whatever, adhering to a declared state of war. Secretary-General U Thant, in an almost unprecedented action, sharply de- nied a widely-quoted New York Times report to the effect that Egypt and Jordan had agreed to meet directly with Israel to discuss a Middle East settlement under United Nations auspices. Thant said he had received no indication of this. The (Continued on Page 9) - Purim-5728 As we prepare to celebrate Purim next Thursday, we anticipate the joyous occasion faith and our calendar with hope that just as the Haman of old was overcome with on adherence to aspiration for justice, so shall the counterparts of tyranny in our time, whether they are in Cairo, Damascus or the Kremlin, be conquered in their efforts to thwart justice and to undermine Israel's and Jewry's just position in the world. March 20 - May 8 Campaign Dates Set; Objectives Listed • Gen. Yoffe Dinner Speaker The 1968 Allied Jewish Campaign-Israel Emergency Fund will open its annual drive in Detroit Wednesday, March 20, Alfred L. Deutsch and Maxwell Jospey, co-chairman, announced. The campaign closing date has been set for May 8. "The spirit and generosity being shown by the community is an amazing demonstration of understanding for the Jewish community's local, national and overseas obligations," Deutsch said. We need to maintain our local and national communal services and at the same time realize that Israel's crisis is not over. Israel's people are depend. ing on us for help." The guest speaker at the opening campaign dinner meeting at the Jewish Center will be Brig. Gen. Abraham Yoffe. The dinner will precede the opening campaign meeting. During 1967 the Allied Jewish Cam- paign raised $5,750,000 and the Israel Emergency Fund raised $6,300.000 during the June crisis. This year the campaigns are being conducted simul- taneously. Co-chairman Jospey expressed confi- dence that enthusiasm and generosity as intensive work by thousands of volun- would mount during the coming weeks Leer solicitors gets under way. Contributions received from both Brig. Gen. Yoffe funds will be distributed among local, national and overseas agencies. Detroit organizations receiving assistance from the campaign are: . Fresh Air Society, Hebrew Free Loan Association. House of Shelter, Jewish Community Center. Jewish Community Council. Jewish Family and Children's Service, Jewish Home for Aged. Jewish Vocational Service-Community Workshop. Midrasha. Resettlement Service. Sinai Hospital and its Shiffman Clinic. Tamarack Hills Authority. United Hebrew Schools and affiliated schools: Combined Jewish Schools of Sholem Aleichem and Arbeiter Ring, Yeshivath Beth Yehudah After- noon Sch000l; and Hayim Greenberg Hebrew Yiddish School. Campaign funds will go toward maintaining such national agen- cies as: American Association for Jewish Education. Jewish Occupa- tional Council, National Conference of Jewish Communal Service and Synagogue Council of America. Overseas agencies that receive funds are: America-Israel Cultural Foundation, Inc., JTA; United HIAS Service and UJA. Related Campaign Stories on Page $