Expose of Errors in Charges Against Israel
Regarding Liberty Attack Leads to Demand That
Damages of $3,323,500 Should Be Refunded

(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)

WASHINGTON—A disclosure in
Congress Wednesday that United
States communications errors led
to the presence of the U.S.S. Lib-
erty off the Sinai coast, where
Israel attacked her by mistake
during the Six-Day War, has given
rise to a Congressional demand
that the U.S. refund to Israel the
$3,323,500 in damages paid.
Rep. Seymour Halpern, N e w
York Republican, told the House
that "Since the testimony just re-
leased by a House subcommittee
discloses that it was the U.S. gov-
ernment communications--system's
negligence, mistakes and incompe-
tence which jeopardized the Lib-
erty, why should Israel have to
pay for our own tragic comedy of
errors?
Israel has paid in full compen-
sation to the U.S. government on
behalf of the 34 Americans killed
in the June 8, 1967 attack and
their survivors, additional claims

are pending for damages to the
intelligence ship. There were 171
wounded in the incident.
The extent of the errors that
led to the improper positioning
of the Liberty and its failure to
withdraw from the battle zone
was revealed in testimony pub-
lished by a House appropriations
subcommittee. They were dis-
closed in hearings on defense
department appropriations for

1969.

Testimony made known that the
Liberty never received messages
to move away from the shore be-
cause U.S. communications facili-
ties could not contact the Liberty,
a ship especially equipped as a
"communications" vessel. The or-
der was "misrouted by personnel
in the army communications cen-
ter, Pentagon, to the Naval Com-
munications. Station, Philippines.
There, a second personnel error
misrouted the message to the Na-
tional Security Agency, Ft. Meade,

Traveler Back From Egypt Reports
Vile Conditions Where Jews Jailed

missions inspect the prisons. Both
countries have refused to allow
JERUSALEM — Egyptian au- United Nations representatives to
thorities are holding Jews as host- inquire into the condition of the
ages under "appalling conditions" Jewish communities. Their refusal
until Israel withdraws from the has held up Secretary-General U
territories it occupied in the June Thant's appointment of a special
war, it was learned here Monday. emissary to investigate the condi-
The information came from a tion of civilians in the Middle
European visitor who was in Egypt East. Israel has agreed to allow
and inquired about the Jewish pri- the UN inspector to visit the oc-
soners at a camp called Thaura. cupied territories on condition
The informant said he elicited it that the Arab countries facilitate
from Egyptian government a like inspection of the Jewish
sources. About 250 Jews are held communities within their borders.
in the camp's "political wing,"
Israel's ambassador to the
which is controlled by security
police. They range in age from United Nations, Yosef Tekoah,
18 to 60, the informant said, and Monday conferred with Dr. Ralph
have been imprisoned for over a Bunche, UN undersecretary for
year without trial or charges special political affairs, and
handed him a note renewing Is-
brought against them.
rael's request that a new UN
This report and others of a
envoy that will study conditions
similar vein have been brought
of civilian populations in the oc-
here by travelers who visited
cupied territories should also
Egypt despite Egyptian attempts
look into the condition of Jews
to hide the facts, especially
in Iraq, Syria and Egypt.
from foreigners. Relatives of the
prisoners were permitted to visit
Tekoah met with Dr. Bunche, as
them once a month or once in Secretary-General U Thant's rep-
six weeks, and every time they resentative, since Thant is current-
returned from a prison visit they
expressed shock at the conditions ly on a tour of European capitals.
they saw, according to the re-
Tekoah told Dr. Bunche, an Is-
ports.
raeli source said, that the refusal
Several prisoners have commit- of the three states to permit an
ted suicide and others have made investigation of the status of Jews
repeated attempts to do so. A there is a cause of grave concern
number have become mentally un- for their welfare. The human rights -
balanced and are confined to a of Jews affected by the Six-Day
"mental wing" of the camp, the War deserve the same considera-
tion as other such affected groups,
travelers said.
_The reports of inhuman condi- Tekoah said, and suggested that
tions in camps where Jews are the UN should not permit itself to
confined have been given added be a party to discrimination by al-
credence by the adamant refusal lowing its representative to be
of Egyptian and Syrian author- blocked from probing the status of
ities to let International Red Cross Jews.

(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)

Israel Will Acquire Supertankers
for Oil Transportation to Eilat

(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)

JERUSALEM — Israel will pur-
chase three 250,000 deadweight-ton
supertankers to transport oil to
Eilat, on the Gulf of Aqaba, where
a 42-inch pipeline is being laid to
the Mediterranean Port of Ashke-
lon, Minister of Transport Moshe
Carmel told the Knesset Wednes-
day. He said that these vessels,
which will be among the largest
afloat, will make Israel indepen-
dent of foreign shipping in hauling
the oil a vital resource.
He said that a fourth super-
tanker has been taken by Israel
on a 15-year charter.
Cannel disclosed that a survey
is being made of the feasibility of
transporting goods other than oil

over the "land bridge" from Eilat
to the Mediterranean. In that con-
nection an American company has
reportedly asked for a concession
to produce, maintain • and repair
20 ton containers for use on an
Eilat-Mediterranean -transportation
link.
Israel already owns tankers in
the 60,000 ton class, a size that
was considered "super" up until a
few years ago. Several of these
vessels however are registered
abroad and fly foreign flags.

Michigan has a larger variety of
commercial tree species than any
other state, and its forest product
industries contribute over $650,-
' 000.000 annually to the Michigan
economy.

the ship was 15.5 nautical miles off
the Sinai when attacked by Israeli
forces.
A Pentagon summary of a Navy
Court of Inquiry, which was heav-
ily censored before being made
public in June 1967, said that their
chiefs of staff had ordered the
Liberty to move farther away
from the coast but that the mes-
sage had been misrouted and did
not reach the Liberty until after
it had been hit.
The commander, Captain William
L. McGonagle, had been instructed
not to come closer than 12.5 nauti-
cal miles from the coast.
However, Gen. Klocko admitted
to the subcommittee that the
message to move away from the
coast "was never delivered to
the U.S.S. Liberty."
As a result of the hearing,
efforts have been initiated to re-
evaluate the entire U.S. communi-
cations effectiveness in such situa-
tions. Rep. Halpern commented
that "the revelation of the fact
that American mistakes were re-
sponsible for the terrible losses
sustained in American dead and
wounded would indicate that the
administration's legal authorities
reassess Israel's responsibility in
the restitution question. Israel
voluntarily offered at the time of
the incident to make restitution.
It would have been only fair and
honorable for the administration
to have disclosed to Israel and to
American public opinion that U.S.
incompetence rather than Israeli
irresponsibility was culpable."
The Congressman suggested that
"a grave disservice appears to
have been done to Israel by
"bureaucrats anxious to cover up
their bungling and inefficiency. If
do not know how to operate the ship had followed orders that

Md., where it was filed. This ...
was never delivered to the U.S.S.
Liberty," the testimony said.
Lt. Gen. R. 0. Klocko, director
of the U.S. Defense Communica-
tions Agency, admitted that be-
cause of personnel failures "the
message was sent to the Pacific
instead of the Atlantic."
A study of the misplaced orders
fiasco showed the waste of "an
abnormal amount of time," the
testimony indicated. It was re-
vealed that still other errors were
made: "The routing clerk aboard
the flagship U.S.S. Little Rock
failed to detect he had information
available indicating the U.S.S. Lib-
erty was copying the fleet broad-
cast from the Naval Communica-
tions Station, Asmara. As a result,
the message was misrouted to
the Naval Communications Station,
Morocco."
Congressmen at the hearing
were apparently furious. Rep.
John J. Rhodes, Arizona Repub-
lican, a member of the subcom-
mittee, asked the general why
a message was not sent directly
to the ship to move its position
"100 miles from the shore" in-
stead of going "through all this
rigamarole to move that ship."
Rep. Rhodes asserted that "the
whole thing cries out not only for
some kind of personnel action, but
also for some means of simplified
contact with ships at sea just to
say, hey, fellow, get away from
the shore." •
Rep. Rhodes said the fiasco in
transmitting orders to the Liberty
"would be funny if it were not
so tragic. Here we are, with the
most sophisticated communications
system ever known to mankind,
and maybe it is so sophisticated

we

Israeli planes and torpedo boats
attacked the Liberty, which wal-
lowed helplessly during the sorties
against it.
Israel later said that when the
Liberty was challanged by an
Israeli torpedo boat, it answered
with the signal that had been
used by Egyptian ships during
the 1956 Suez War. The Liberty
was consequently mistaken for
an Egyptian ship.
Israel expressed regret for the
incident shortly after it occurred
and said it was "prepared to make
amends for the tragic loss of life
and material damage."
The United States claimed that

Hebrew Corner

A Working Uipan

.4rielt is an engineer, Walter is a doc-

tor, Miriam a teacher, and Jacob a pian-
is
ist. However, now Jacob, th-e pianist,
working in a grave; Ariel', the engi-
neer, is also working there. Miriam, the
teacher, is working in the children's
home, and Walter, the doctor, is work-

ing in the chicken-coop.
What happened to these people?
Something important .. and interest-
ing happened to them! T. hey decided a
short time ago, to go to Israel, and now
they are learning Hebrew in a working
Ulpan, in one of the kibutzim.
Arieh, Walter and Jacob are young
men. They work five hours a day on
farming, in the kitchen, the children's
home, and all other work. Through
this work. They pay the kibutz for
food, room and study. They eat in the
dining room, together with att the mem-
bers. The kibutz gives them cigarettes,
soap, razor blades, tooth paste, work
clothes and laundry. They receive med-
ical care, books, writing paper, pencils,
etc.
The classes begin after the noon rest
period and continue until the evening
hours. After supper they gather in the
club room, for a talk, lecture, singing,
folk dancing, convivial gathering, a
meeting, or games •.
• Day by day, hour by hour, they learn
new words. Day by day, it is easier for
them to converse with- the children on
the farm. Little by little, the barriers
that previously separated the students
from various countries, conic down.
All their learning is not in the class-
room. They learn much in the kitchen,
in the children's home, and in the
fields.
Soon they will be able to say it all
in Hebrew; true, in simple Hebrew, but
correct Hebrew.

Translation of Hebrew column. Pub-
lished by ,Britit , Ivrith Oiamith Jerusa-
• •
• :•iitIm•ri ••:•

were dispatched, but never re-
ceived, it was obvious that the
Israeli action would have never
occurred."
He said the "sad conclusion is
that the ultimate responsibility for
the honored dead having met their
untimely and unnecessary fate
rests upon their fellow country-
men rather than the Israelis."
A court of appropriate jurisdic- -
tion should have access to all
the new facts now available and
the material still suppressed by
the joint chiefs of staff, said Rep.
Halpern. He said this would pre-
sent "not only elementary fair ,
play and courtesy to a friendly
foreign nation but also a service
to the American people who de-
serve greater competence from
their government."
A U.S. Navy Board of Inquiry
had ruled that the attack was
"unprovoked" and said that the
Israeli forces had ample opportu-
nity to correctly identify the
Liberty.

(

Vote-Buying New
Hussein Tactic

TEL AVIV (JTA) — King Hus-
sein of Jordan was reported Tues-
day to be resorting to an old po-
litical tactic — in essence, vote-
buying. He is said to be trans-
ferring large sums of money to
Arab notables and chieftains in the
Gaza strip in an effort to undercut
Egyptian influence and win their
support in the event of a settle-
ment with Israel. The money is
carried by West Bank couriers who
are allowed to visit Jordan and
move freely in the Gaza area as
well.

r14 71..PPri:

c4;?7p w.".1 Pri:P4
.711nL? 46 71.PP /14.V1 1 1715t?
.1,1171
nr!K iz t:P 4r.rr.)n
trtz:i7p4 nto 17417747
rorri
4Irix
ErPt?NrIP 21.17)
,m$4.171
i ri;pp ,n17 - 9117") ,Tr.r?T.
..,v/prip; nip ix nypti
tri7 ;1;7 rp, r4r/t;i1
1314 ni4 ► itt/tri nstp ovizpi'?
4 1.'?4 D17
1Pi4 r3;7.0?
niL7 yia vxt? tate? .iptppri
rripritg
ni36-pirrip trylp?Pri

TIN
,tatprip
of V'1 rriTin orp ,xpin
nisi 7K .77)4p

111)40P;1 zPv:

,trpnpn rinx na 1;117
trip
r144 trt. itt
t•rpivi 1p 1111 tr.erri
,L?Vpz
nigsrt,
rin
...21tvrt 141 n;7'7
PVT 44P'?
tl%!
417
17 1tg
:111717. 5 147
IP L?kq r141;17 trwiPi5 Gil
.E34411 17ri‘ -trittttf fl1 17
tir.! vlYg n
,rrix
ti1;i17 0;1 .ny1 ,17*
rptppl nit/4 nirl 5 Itz174
.44 tri;PP4,,, .4k:e?Pn71

55n rlx xi7
osurpiz?
Crt?. 7-
7141 ► :i r341.P 1 5 ti4 •nrP.
-rrip trifr bl it riltpz
3341•7:•?
ft7i•ti.7 -r1t4 10.12;7.17
•••nlf).4
r34tnitt
:ftrozz?rrl
nniL7
c3;71 tow? lir
17 . 13V ItY". L7k11:1
.r)41 1.7 4 17}3 ntr
tv:3Li?
rrIftp
.17V7.7
,jinn
,rrinrp
orn,2117 rrInv
rwsin)
in:17,-Pritg7?

48—Friday, July 12, 1968

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

