Purely Commentary A 'Manifesto,' the Nation's Dignity, a Race Issue Confounded and Religion Dumbfounded We the black people assembled in Detroit, Michigan for the National Black Economic Development Conference are fully aware that we have been forced to come together be- cause racist white Ainrica has exploited our resources, our minds, our bodies, our labor. For centuries ice have been forced to live as colonized people inside the United States. 'victimized by the most vicious, racist system in the World. We have helped to build the most industrial country in the world. We are therefore demanding of the white Christian churches and Jewish synagogues which are part and parcel of the system of capitalism. that they begin to pay repara- tions to black people in this country. We are demanding $500,000,000 from the Christian white churches and the Jewish synagogues. This total comes to 15 dollars per nigger. This is a low estimate for we maintain there are probably more than 30.000.000 black people in this country. $15 a nigger is not a large .cone of money and we know that the churches and synagoguges have a tremendous wealth and its membership. white America. has profited and still exploits black people. We are also not unaware that the exploitation of colored peoples around the world is aided and abetted by the white'DChristian Churches and synagogues. This de- mand for 5500.000.000 is not an idle resolution or empty words. Fifteen dollars for every black brother and sister in the United States is only a beginning of the reparations due us as people who have been exploited and degraded. brutalized. killed and persecuted. Underneath all of this exploitation. the racism of this country has produced a psychological effect upon us that were beginning to shake off. We are no longer afraid to demand our rights as a people in this decadent society. From Leftist Ranks: Jewish Self-Hatred. . . A Manifesto and Its Tragic Implications Week of Terror: Many Casualties, Lebanese Crisis By Philip SiOMOVitZ mands, and submit to an effort to take the issue out of the govern. ment's responsibility, we will be aiding in the revolt; and that can TEL AVIV (JTA) — Six Israeli soldiers have been killed and 14 wounded in action last week, a military spokesman said. Three Is- The demand for "reparations from churches and synagogues for raelis were killed in a battle with 200 years of Negro slavery" met with rebukes from the Jewish Labor Arab saboteurs in the craggy, sun- Committee and many movements that are committed to the cause of baked Samarian hills north of civil rights but can see eye to eye with what appears to be a blackmail Jerusalem. But Israeli forces suc- tactic. ceeded in wiping out all eight Affirming the need for "massive government action in the areas members of the Arab gang, a of employment, housing, education, health and welfare," the Jewish not be condoned. The Synagogue Council of American and other national Jewish groups have taken issue with Farmer's "Manifesto." on spokesman said. He disclosed that as Labor Committee views the Black Manifesto"'objectionable two other Israeli soldiers were kill- both moral and practical grounds." ed and seven wounded by an Egyp- But a sense of guilt that motivates the thinking and therefore tian mortar shell fired across the also the actions of the younger clergy gives a platform to the extrem- Suez Canal. ism that marks the new demands for "reparations." Forman's demands Four Israeli soldiers were wound- have gained support more impressively than they have aroused ed in fresh fighting near Kantara opposition. There is danger that the already declining religious forces will in the Canal zone. An officer, Capt. lose more drastically by fears that could creep into the hearts of David Klein of Jerusalem, was those attending services that may become part of a confrontation— killed and two others were injured or that they may have to part with a share in the $15-per-head-for- when a patrol was attacked by bazookas in the Besian area near every-Negro-in-the-land. Irrationality rules the day. The impractical approaches to the Ashdot Yaacov. basic needs to eliminate poverty—as a humanitarian effort in behalf The clash in the Samarian hills of all the impoverished—and to provide the educational needs and good housing, in addition to proper employment for the needy—are took place during the hottest part not helpful. They arc confusing at best. We need some real courage of the day on terrain that is cut as well as wisdom to solve our tragic problems. by deep canyons and has many • • • caves and rocks. The Arab sabo- Hate A Footnote on the SDS, New Left, Self - teurs occupied a peak which gave An evaluative article in Sunday's New York Times on the meta- them a topographical advantage morphosis in the New Left ranks and their thinking and attitude, —From "The Manifesto" by James For- Thomas R. Brooks quoted one angry man as shouting: "How dare you over the advancing Israeli forces, man, proclaiming "Total control as the only tell me that Jews in Germany are the same as blacks in America! a spokesman said. The Israeli unit solution to the problem of Black People. The —Jews in Germany had money." came within grenade range. There is so much consternation over this Manifesto in religious ranks, and the public is either so confused or so terribly panicked, that the issue needs immediate handling so that a confrontation should be in the spirit of America. on the basis of genuine humanitarian con- siderations. Let it be stated at the outset that the new approach, on the basis of "$15 a nigger," horrifies us no end. Those of us who have always labored for and supported the cause of justice, of civil rights for all. and who were appalled whenever the term "nigger" was used, feel a resentment that it should be linked with the white man's guilt by the spokesmen for a small group of blacks. If it was an insulting term in the past it remains h that form for us always. We view it as sort of insolence by those who prefer the black description to resort to it. Perhaps that's not our business, yet we smart at the very use of the term. If James Forman desires to adhere to it as a weapon, let him: we can't go along with that tactic. It's the Manifesto we are primarily concerned with, and we are I confronted with the fright the presentation of that document has caused. What does it really demand? Forman's proposal demands S500,000.000: that the sum of $200.000 be set aside to establish cooperative farms; that a Wadi: university, in the South, be created for a sum of $130,000,000; thea'fte - ,000,000 be used for four black publishing houses and four black.,television net- works; and that the balance of the half billion dollar` giiiirlie- used for research centers, communications training, a black labor strike defense fund. and the establishment of an International Black Appeal to be funded "with no less than $20.000,000." There is no doubt that the major objectives are rational and the demands for them justified. But if the government and the people of the United States are to be denied the right to supervise the expend. itures indicated, who is to have charge of the large fund: James For- man? On what basis? Who delegated him: do the tens of millions or out Negro fellow-citizens have a say in the matter? Granted that all the demands are justified, then it is the govern- ment of the United States that must act in the matter, and it may well be that as a matter of policy of ending poverty, of raising the standard of living of the blacks, we may need much more than the half billion indicated. And if there is to be retribution for wrongs committed by having permitted enslavement, and impoverishment, there are many millions of whites who similarly must be helped. Therefore: the anti-poverty program and the cause of humane and just treatment of all our citizens becomes a matter of concern for the entire American people, in behalf of all the afflicted in our midst. And the responsibility is not of churches and synagogues. but of THE PEOPLE. Therefore there must be rejection of any- thing and everything that could spell ANARCHY. And the rejection of anarchy becomes the responsibility of the fearless in religious ranks. It should be noted that James Forman's Manifesto advocates revo- lution. It is summarized by the following: Our demands are negotiable, but they cannot be mini- mized, they can only be increased and the Church is asked to come up with larger sums of money than we are asking. Our slogans are: ALL ROADS MUST LEAD TO REVOLUTION UNITE WITH WHOMEVER YOU CAN UNITE NEUTRALIZE WHEREVER POSSIBLE FIGHT OUR ENEMIES RELENTLESSLY VICTORY TO THE PEOPLE LIFE AND GOOD HEALTH TO MANKIND RESISTANCE TO DOMINATION BY THE WHITE CHRIS- TIAN CHURCHES AND THE JEWISH SYNAGOGUES REVOLUTION BLACK POWER WE SHALL WIN WITHOUT A DOUBT Perhaps we already are in a state of revolt. The unrest on the cam- puses has contributed immensely to the disquiet—due in the main to the black-white conflict and the Vietnam war. Now the new demands and the confrontation with the religious groups :ontributes towards the aggravation of an unfortunate situation. We started late, very late, to solve the tragic problems. But it is never too late to be good fellow citizens, to work together as fellow Americans, to correct the evils of the past and to assure a state of decency for all citizens. If we yield to panic, and to unreasonable de- 2 — Friday, June 20, 1969 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS The old bogey ofter emerges as a state of mind in many ranks! It's always the link of Jews with money. The interesting portion in the Brooks article, appearing as a foot- note to the above quotation is the following: There is a growing anxiety within the Jewish community, I am told, about the couldn't-care-less attitude among Jewish youth active in the New Left toward anti-Semitism, Israel, Jewish identity and other concerns of the Jewish community. When a friend of mine expressed worry about the rise in black anti-Semitism to a young Jewish SDS-erg tthe youth sneered. "Oh, come on, tell me, liodistAhe holocaust." Sociologist Nathan Glazer estimates that among the com- mitted, identifiable radicals on the most active campuses probably one-third to one-half are Jews. Assuming that rough- ly the same proportion of Jews were present among the 800 to 1.000 youths of the SDS conference, I find it sur- prising to discover that only seven people in all attended an "international" workshop devoted in good part to a discussion of SDS's anti-Israel, pro-Al Fatah (Arab terror- ists) stand. Recent issues of New Left Notes have carried, without apparent protest, a -series on the "Middle East Liberation Struggle," and the youth corps of Al Fatah is described as "the vanguard of the struggle of Palestine." S.D.S.'s pro-Arab stance may not be widely known. It certainly was not stressed at any of the meeting or rallies I attended. If it were, I should think it would do SDS no good among liberal and radical Jewish youth. In any event. SDS has not really done too well in attracting Jewish students as far as total numbers are concerned. Rabbi Benjamin Kahn, the national director of Bnai Brith's Hillel Foundation, cites studies by his organization indicating that radical Jewish students, though highly visible in the leadership and ranks of the New Left, generally make up "not much more than 5 per cent" of the total Jewish student enrollment of 350,000. There is lots of dynamite in these facts, and much to consider. Some have claimed that Jews predominate in SDS and similar ranks. Our own view is that they do prevail in leadership but that the rank and file of Jewish students is a normal adherent to rational acting and thinking, devoid of violence, while adhering to the basics in student demands. Self-hatred mingled with ignorance plays a great role in the entire situation. Primarily, it is the lack of knowledge about Jews, Judaism and the time in which we live that causes much of the trouble, linking murdedous El Fatah with New Left, with some Jews becoming ad- herents to an anti-Semitic merger. It's a sad situation — but one, like so many similar ones, that we are sure to overcome. Lt. Moshe Sharhabani of Petach Tikva was mortally wounded after he hurled a grenade that killed four of the saboteurs. The remain- ing four were slain in a fierce bat- , tle that followed. The names of the other Israeli casualties were not announced. An Israeli soldier was injured when an Army car was attacked near the West Bank town of Heb- ron. Another vehicle was attacked in the same area some time later. I The fire was returned and area was searched, a military spokes- man reported. Sources here predicted renewed fighting along the Israel-Lebanese border as reports from Beirut in- dicated that a verbal agreement between Palestinian guerrillas and Lebanese authorities to freeze action on the border had broken down. The agreement was report- edly reached between Lebanese authorities and Yassir Arafat, commander of El Fatah, the prin- cipal guerrilla band. It was supposed to end com- mando operations against Israel from Lebanese soil pending the establishment of a new Lebanese government. Lebanon has been without a government since the cabinet of Premier Rashid Karami resigned April 23 in the midst of pro-guerrilla rioting and demon- strations. The agreement was said to have broken down after June 6 when Israel reportedly fought a four-hour mortar and machine-gun duel across the Lebanese border. Guer- rilla sources accused Lebanese authorities of arresting eight of their number following the clash. Israel Reshapes Ec onomic Future After Six-Day War By VICTOR M. BIENSTOCK Editor, Jewish Telegraphic Agency (Direct JTA Teletype Wire to The Jewish News) NEW YORK — Finance Minister Zeev Sharef of Israel stoutly main- tains that the economic strains and pressures on Israel resulting from the Six-Day War and the subse- quent absence of peace will never be decisive factors in consideration of Israel's political and defense policies. Winding up a visit to this country for meetings with World Bank and United States government officials, industrial figures and Jewish lead- ers, Sharef discussed the Israeli economic situation describing the impact of the war on his country's economy, present and future. "How long can Israel hold out against such a war of attrition as the Arab states are waging against it today?" the slight, soft-spoken Israeli was asked. "As long as necessary!" was the unhesitating reply. What is the war costing Israel? In dollars and cents, said the finance minister, $275,000,000 every ally — about 1973 —imports for de- fense needs will be reduced, ex- ports will go up and the outcome may then be a more balanced economy. 19 In his talks with members of the single day. Over all, Israel's secur- United States Cabinet, including ity consumes 20 per cent of the the secretaries of the treasury country's Gross National Product— a staggering total when compared to the about 9 per cent of the GNP in the United States applies to its defense and military opera- tions all around the world, includ- ing the Vietnam war. The finance minister noted soberly that Israel is going through a critical period which he said could last three or four years. But, he said, as exports grow and local defense production expands, "we have reason to hope that eventu- and commerce, Sharef stressed that Israel was not asking for hand- outs but, in view of its very heavy purchases in this country, including defense material and the consider- able adverse trade balance In American-Israeli t r ad e, wanted better credit terms. He said he en- countered a sympathetic attitude but expalined that "we did not get down to brass tacks." One definite agreement, however, was an exten- sion of the use of counterpart funds in Israel for research purposes.