Czech, Polish Crises Add to JDCs Burdens
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)
NEW YORK — The executive
vice chairman of the Joint Distribu-
tion Committee reported here Wed-
nesday that the agency had to
divert some $400,000 from pro-
grams to meet the emergency
needs created by the Czech crisis
and the spurt in Jewish emigra-
tion from Poland because of the
anti-Semitic campaign there.
Samuel L. Haber spoke at the
closing session of the 54th annual
meeting of JDC. The 400 Jewish
community leaders from the United
States and Canada attending the
session were also addressed by
Mitchell I. Ginsberg, human
resources administrator of New
York City and a top member of
the Lindsay administration, who
said it was in the self-interest of
the Jewish community to support
an accommodation with underprivi-
ledged minorities in the urban
conflict.
Haber said that the additional
burdens placed on JDC by events
in Eastern Europe and elsewhere
resulted in some programs being
curtailed, postponed or eliminated.
Despite this, he said, JDC provided
some form of health, welfare, edu-
cational and rehabilitation service
for more than 350,000 needy Jews
in 27 countries in 1968 at a cost of
$22,842,000. He said the number
aided included 93,000 in Israel.
50,000 Jews in Arab and Moslem
countries, 73,000 in Western Eu-
rope, about 40,000 in Romania
and Yugoslavia and another 5,000
in widely scattered areas such as
Australia, India, China and Latin
America.
He said that in Europe the two
major areas of JDC operations
this year were France and Ro-
mania, while Vienna has become
the focal point of Jewish refu-
gees who left Czechoslovakia
after the Soviet invasion last
August. He said about 4,000
Czech Jews crossed the border,
most of them into Vienna en
route to other countries.
Haber reported that last sum-
mer's strikes and riots in France
resulted in price rises and un-
employment which required JDC
aid to about 50,000 needy Jews,
most of them newcomers from
North Africa and Eastern Europe.
The support they received was
mainly welfare aid, job-finding and
housing.
In Romania, where JDC com-
pleted its first full year of opera-
tions after an 18-year absence,
the agency provided cash relief for
4,500 of the neediest among the
100,000-member Jewish communi-
ty. Aid also included special win-
ter grants for 6,000, food parcels
for several thousand, as well as
Passover aid to over 6,000 and
kosher canteens serving another
1,500 persons, Haber said.
Referring to North Africa, the
JDC official said that his agen-
cy was most active in Tunisia
and Morocco. In the latter coun-
try, the Jewish population has
dwindled to 45,000 to 50,000—
less than one-25th its size a
decade ago.
Haber said JDC-supported pro-
grams aided about 20,000, mostly
school children who received food,
medical care and periodic cloth-
ing. In Tunisia, the Jewish popu-
lation has shrunk to about
16,000 and close to half are re-
cipients of JDC aid. In Iran, JDC
aided about 20,000 needy Jews,
mostly children and teen-agers.
Haber said that JDC's major
operation in Israel was Malben,
an institution run jointly with the
Jewish Agency to provide health
welfare and rehabilitation services
to about 40,000 aged, ill and handi-
caped immigrants. Care of the
aged is high on Malben's list of
priorities since its inception and
accounted for a third of the
$5,000,000 disbursed in 1968, Ha-
ber said. He reported that Malben
operates 12 institutions for the
aged with a bed capacity of 2,780.
Technion Brains Replace Brawn —
Hovercraft to Carry Heavy Produce
HAIFA—A special hovercraft, a then moved to the unloading point.
vehicle which "floats" above the The operator simply pushes or
ground on a cushion of air, has pulls it like a lawn mower.
been developed by Prof. Arthur
Meanwhile, a two-year contract
Stotter and Chaim Dror of the fac- for $45,000 has bene awarded by
ulty of mechanical engineering of the National Bureau of Standards
the Technion-Israel Institute of of the U.S. Department of Com-
Technology.
merce to the Technion Research
The craft, which is designed to and Development Foundation to
transport up to 330 pounds of ba- finance research undertaken by Dr.
nanas or other agricultural prod- Gabriella Schmuckler, senior lec-
uce, rides 8 inches above the turer in the Technion department
of chemistry.
ground.
Dr. Schmuckler's project, "Chem-
Prof. Stotter said the idea of de-
ical
Microstandards" is concerned
veloping a hovercraft for agricul-
wth
the development of homogene-
ture was brought to the Technion
by members of Kibutz Ein Hami- ous chemical substances for the
fratz, near Haifa. During the har- standard reference materials pro-
vest, they had a problem of bring- gram of the bureau.
* * *
ing heavy boxes of citrus out of the
groves.
Technion's Potential
"The banana trees grow outward
as well as upward, there is a net- for ME Betterment Cited
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
work of irrigation sprinkler pipes
to The Jewish News)
laid across the ground, and the
LONDON — A former British
dead fronds and branches of the cabinet minister said here Wednes-
trees are left to cover the ground day that the Haifa Institute of
to precvent the growth of grass Technology could make vast con-
and weeds. All this creates a clut- tributions to better living standards
tered "jungle" which the conven- in the Middle East if peace and
tional wheeled tractors cannot en- friendly intercourse were estab-
ter, and it is a back-breaking job lished between Israel and its Arab
for workers to carry the heavy neighbors. Ray Gunter, former
bunches which can weigh more minister of labor, spoke at the
than 66 pounds for hundreds of annual dinner of the British Tech-
meters out of the grove to a road, nion Society. He said the well being
Prof. Stotter said.
of humanity depends on the utiliza-
"So we decided that only a hover- tion of natural resources and the
craft could do the job since it does- conquest of nature by man for the
n't touch the ground," he said.
benefit of all.
The model is light and simple to
This is where the Technion
use. The operator starts the 6- makes its greatest contribution, he
horsepower gasoline engine which said. "The Technion is one of the
is linked directly to a large fan. greatest benefits of Israel to hu-
The fan sucks air through an upper manity. If it were permitted to
duct and forces it against the contribute to the Middle East as
ground, creating enough pressure it is contributing in Africa and
to lift the craft. It can be pushed Asia, the whole area could raise
over stones, pipes and other ob- its living standards and its outlook
.stacles, loaded to capacity and in a short time."
JDC aid in Israel also includes
support of 121 yeshivot, with en-
rolment of 17,000 students and
support of the ORT vocational
training programs.
Ginsberg, speaking on one of the
most urgent problems facing
American cities, warned that poor
people and minority groups have
been kept too long from a fair
share of control of community in-
stitutions and are now demanding
participation. He said when a so-
ciety is gripped by divisiveness,
Jews always take the biggest beat-
ing. Jews prosper in societies that
give broad opportunities to all
groups. When a society is repres-
sive, Jews are among the most
oppressed."
10—Friday, December 13, 1968
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Israel May Sell Its Hotel Interests
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
hotels. The government holdings in
to The Jewish News)
both hotels stem from loans which
JERUSALEM — The Israel gov- were later converted to shares.
ernment intends to sell its interest
The government financed con-
in two of Israel's major hotels —
the Dan in Tel Aviv and the King struction of the Tel Aviv Hilton
David in Jerusalem, in which it which opened in 1966. Treasury ex-
holds 15 and 26 per cent of the perts believe it could be sold at
shares respectively. The govern-
ment is also considering the sale
of its 85 per cent interest in the
Tel Aviv Hilton, a skyscraper
hotel on the shore.
The Dan is a modern hotel on the
Tel Aviv beachfront. The King
David, an edifice of Jerusalem
stone built in the 1920's with Per-
sian gardens overlooking the old
walled city, is still regarded as one
of the world's most luxurious
present only at a loss. However, it
is expected to show a large profit
this year, and the price of its
shares is expected to rise.
One should never take sides in
anything. Taking sides is the be-
ginning of sincerity and earnest-
ness follows shortly afterwards,
and the human being becomes a
—Oscar Wilde
bore.
H
-
Your Dollars elp
To support the philanthropies and agen-
cies in Detroit serving you, your family,
your neighbors and members of your
community.
To serve our young people and ourselves
by developing future leaders of the Jew-
ish community.
To build responsible citizens of today,
among our adults, and to invest in the fu-
ture of our youth by encouraging their
commitments to Judaism on and off the
college campus.
To provide sustenance to the needy, the
sick, the poor, regardless of race or creed.
To fight anti-semitism and bigotry, wher-
ever it exists, in order to strengthen
democracy.
To help ourselves by helping others.
GIVE TO THE
1968-69 B'NAI B'RITH
SERVICES APP i L CAMPAIGN
Sunday, December 15,
Bnai Brith Services Appeal Day