THE JEWISH NEWS 1951 Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, National Editorial Member American Association of English—Jewish Newspapers. Michigan Press Association. Association. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co.. 17100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit, VE 8-9364. Subscription 57 a year. Fceeign $8. Second Class Postage Paid at Detroit, Michigan PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor and Publisher CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ Business Manager .Mich. 48235. CHARLOTTE DUBIN SIDNEY SHMARAK City Editor Advertising Manager Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath. the 24th day of Nisan. 5729. the following .scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion. Lerit. 9:1 - 11:47. Prophetical portion. 1 Samuel 20:18 - 42. Torn reading for Rosh Hodesli lyar, Friday. Num. 28:1 - 15. Candle lighting Friday, April 11. 7:51 p.m. VOL. LV. No. 4 April 11, 1969 Page Four Big Powers and the UN in the Middle East With the deliberations over Big Power talks about peace in the Middle East continu- ing to be in a state of uncertainty and of diplomatic wrangling, it may well be that the roots of many of the difficulties may lie in the United Nation.5. A recent editorial in the Detroit News charged: "The record shows the United Na- tions has some strange double standards on how peace should be maintained. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the treatment of the warring factions in the Middle East." Given this state of affairs. and the equally un- comfortable truth that Israel's proposals for head-to-head negotiations with Egypt and com- pany are thus far totally rejected by the Arabs, President Nixon's effort here is thus seen as about the only option currently open to him. Still, there are mighty realities which strongly suggest, Israel's objections entirely aside, that this program for having the United States, Rus- sia, Britain and France lead the way here is a tricky thing. The United States truthfully stresses that it is not suggesting a forced settlement under Big Four auspices; but the truth also is that if it isn't to be one backed by massive Big Four sanctions held ready in the closet it can hardly work anyhow. Alternatively, if it is in fact to be a settlement of Big Four sanctions in re- serve, however primly disclaimed, then the United States, for one, is going to buy a very big commitment in the Middle East. It could be such as one day to find a great many Americans cry- ing out against "any more Vietnams." For if a settlement is to be more or less com- pelled, those nations involved in the act of com- pulsion — most certainly including the United States—really cannot then simply stand aside if somebody later breaks the concord and starts ' shooting in a large way. "The Israelis are stressing and factually so, that theirs is one country that seeks no commit- ment of "American boys." And while it is quite true that these fellows are no fools and know a good semantical appeal when they see one, the ultimate actuality still is this: If they themselves cannot bring off a peace in the Middle East by one-by-one negotiation with their enemies it is difficult to see how it can be done from above without in truth risking at least the implied commitment at some future time of "American boys." The New York Post charged editorially: "Amid the crashing echoes of two more bombs in Jerusalem, Israel is demanding— in the words of one of her diplomats—that the United Nations 'must exert its influence on the Arabs to end their support of the terrorists.' The plea is as just as it is urgent; the blasts in Jerusalem may be new signals of a devastating new explosion engulfing the Middle East. "It has become commonplace for some analyst-apologists. lately to argue that Arab leaders cannot fully control the fanatic fella- been. When did they last make a serious effort to do so? "The Arab commando terrorism is not only a violation of the UN-ordered cease-fire but a violation of a particularly sinister and inflammatory kind. All who yearn for peace in the Middle East share that opinion. It is the UN's obligation, so far undischarged, to express it forcefully, in the name of man- kind." The most ChnlIcmcTincr ef ,ite.nlcint was by It is, of course, cause for deep regret that the eminent columnist, William S. White, the situation should have assumed such an who sees justification for Israel's "shyness" aspect involving suspicion of the motives of of the proposed Four Power settlement of the secretary general of the international the .emerging Middle East issues. Mr. White organization. But it is due to the submission unhesitatingly accuses U Thant of giving aid of U Thant to Gamal Abdel Nasser's de- to Arab extremists. Mr. White's important mands for the withdrawal of the United column on the subject declares: Nations Expeditionary Force from the Gaza The more one looks squarely at the mare's border, U Thant's failure to call for an in- nest of the Middle East, the sounder appears vestigation of the treatment of Jews in Arab Israel's stubborn resistance to the kind of Big countries while he was propagating the prob- Four-monitored settlement with the hostile Arabs ing of the status of Arabs in Israel-held ter- which the Nixon administration is with the best ritory, that have pointed to possible preju- of motives trying so desperately to arrange. dices on the part of the directing head of the For the facts of the matter are themselves UN. Unless his hesitancy stems from fear it obstinate; and themselves support the case of the is difficult to adopt a different attitude to- Israelis. And this is quite apart from the not in- ward him. considerable circumstance that Israel, even if one wishes to attribute to it a whole catalogue of Taking these factors into consideration, regional sins, still happens to be essentially a there is added cause for strong support of pro-Western and non-Communist bastion in the Israel's position with regard to the proposal Middle East, whereas the Nasser-Egypt Arab types are essentially pro-Soviet and Soviet-backed. that the great powers should be the peace- makers. There really are, as Israel's Foreign It is necessary to say at the outset that the Minister Abba Eban said, only four legiti- administration's approach here is all but re- mate powers who should act jointly for quired of it at this point, since there is not the peace: Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt. slightest possibility that the United Nations could fairly arbitrate in this wretched business. If for They are the ones involved, they should meet no other reason it could not in light of the pro- together and effect a proper peace with rec- found and obvious anti-Israel bias of Secretary ognized boundaries. Any other step would be General U Thant. illogical and ridiculous. Though it is somehow widely regarded as akin to making rude noises in church to speak of U Thant as though he were merely mortal man, the plain truth is that for years he has had for The remarkable progress already made by Communist-backed Arab extremists precisely the the Allied Jewish Campaign points to a signi- sort of curious sympathy he has so repeatedly ficant year in humanitarian efforts in Detroit. shown for the Communist assailants of South Vietnam. Of late for illustration, he has solemnly There is one aspect not to be ignored. So declined Israel's request that he use his good offices to ask the Arab states to cease giving aid far, more than 15,000 have made their con- and comfort to terrorist raids by a so-called tributions. At least as many more are yet to Palestine Liberation Front -that is most markedly be reached. Some are difficult to reach. It is similar to another so-called National Liberation vital, therefore, that all prospective contribu- Front in Vietnam — a splendidly "democratic" tors should voluntarily respond to a great group called the Viet-Cong. drive that is the duty of every Jewish citizen When, however, the Arabs associated with in our midst. Nasser Egypt, the enemy of enemies in Israel's This is a time of urgent need, and any eyes, request U Thant's good offices on their side delay in giving negates the compassion of a of the fence, he is happy to oblige. Both sides are theoretically equal in his eyes; but in prat- people in which each citizen is responsible for the needs- of the hour. tice -the Arabs are far- more equal, -indeed. 15 000 More Must Give , - - - Tina Levitan's 'Jews in American Life From 1492 to Space Age' Biographical sketches of eminent Jews always provide excellent reading and serve to introduce the reader to the various periods in history in which they figured prominently. Such sketches serve a double purpose—to introduce the heroes in history and to outline the events and the people they influenced. A work of note that serves this purpose is "Jews in Amer- ican Life From 1492 to the Space Age," by Tina Levitan, a Hebrew Publishing Co. product. The 90 American Jews whose biographies appear in this volume commence with Luis de Torres, who was the inter- preter in the Christopher Columbus group and who was the first newcomer to step on American soil; and concludes with Arthur J. Goldberg. Good judgment was displayed in selecting the personal- ities for this volume. * Miss Levitan, in a four-page introduction to this large-sized volume, points to the pioneering role of Jews who came to this country. She makes this important point in defining the character of the Jews who were among the builders of America: "Jewish settlers proved the point that a minority adhering faithfully to a religion abhorrent to the majority, yet discharging to the full all obligations of good citizenship, caused no danger to the state in establishing freedom of worship—a new enlarged liberal policy of religious liberty for the first time in a modern state." The contributions of these heroes to this country are recounted and she points out that the pioneering spirit led to the democratization of American society. She also credits to the newcomers the following: "From their Yiddish-speaking ghettoes came piquant phrases, ex- pressive words, ear-tickling exotic combinations of imagery which so seized American imagination that before very long our language incor- porated these as part of the everyday speech of the land. Words and expressions like kibitzer, mazuma, kosher, blintzes, gelfilte fish, 'it's all right by me,' I should worry' and innumerable others became the com- mon currency of our language." The personalities included represent such a variety of interests, so many eras in American life, that reading about the men and women the readers should be expected to become interested in the periods during which they lived and to study American history to the fullest. Thus we meet the first Jewish settler in New Amsterdam, Jacob Barsimson; the man who introduced Hebrew at Harvard, Judah Monis; the patriot rabbi of the Revolution, Gershom Mendes Seixas; the Jewish builder in Pennsylvania, Aaron Levy; and the bookdealer and publisher, Benjamin Gomez. What a glorious list of pioneers—for so many decades—who were among the builders of this country! And so many are well known as near-contemporaries! Arthur Goldberg, Senator Herbert H. Lehman, Louis D. Brandeis, Dr. Abba Hillel Silver, Leonard Bernstein, Bernard Baruch, Albert Einstein, Stephen S. Wise, Louis Marshall—these and many others are in the list of those who are so close to the present generation. Labor leaders, statesmen, political leaders, actors, scientists, rabbis, financiers—men and women active in all fields of endeavors—have been chosen for inclusion in this volume. Emma Lazarus, Lillian Wald and Henrietta Szold stand out among the women selected for this honor roll. A photograph of each of the persons included in this volume accom- panies the biographical sketch. Miss Levitan's volume supplements available encyclopedias and the Jewish Who's WWI) with valuable and well compiled details about the 90 prominent American Jews in this volume. She has produced a highly,cornmendabie work: - •