Purely Commentary
Administration's Policies and
Congressional Reaction—Negro
Editor Rebukes Anti-Israel i.
By Philip
Slomovitz
There have been numerous appeals for help not only for Iraq's have been very critical of many
President Nixon and the Middle East
remaining 2,000, but also for the 600 Jews who still are in Egypt, and Jewish individuals. He was a
John K. Cooley reports to the Christian Science Monitor from the approximately 3,000 who are subjected to misery and insecurity in staunch supporter of all civil rights
Beirut:
but he did not hesitate, several
"A cartoon in the mass circulation Cairo weekly magazine Rose Syria.
There is no help from the UN, the large nations are indifferent to years ago, in a statement he ad-
al Youssef, read throughout the Arab world, depicts President Nixon
dressed to the Monthly Review As-
the tragedy and there is little hope that relief may be in sight.
with a patch over one eye, carrying a machine gun. The cartoon por-
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sociates held in Town Hall in New
trays Gen. Moshe Dayan as President Nixon's shadow and is captioned,
York, to warn that the Negro
A Soviet Puzzle
'The Shadow and the Substance.'"
movement in this country would be
The Soviet Embassy's information department confronts us with a
This was to have been expected. Naturally, anything that sounds
set back by "many decades" if
favorable to Israel will be condemned by Arabs and pro-Arabs, as was puzzle. Under date of Jan. 18, it issued from Washington this statement: methods of violence were to be
A version of a Soviet diplomatic document on Middle East set-
the Nixon statement to the Jewish conferees in Washington.
pursued.
tlement which had been earlier handed over to the U.S. government
But the declaration itself was promptly analyzed by the Washington
Ile was not an anti-Zionist-
on a confidential basis has recently been published in the American on the contrary, be had strongly
Post and the New York Times as being merely a restatement of U.S.
press.
Mid East policies and as being in line with Secretary of State Rogers'
supported Jewish statehood In
The Soviet Embassy believes it necessary to state that the
Position.
the years when it was necessary
above-mentioned publication has not been made on the initiative of to battle the British policies of
Furthermore, at his press conference Friday afternoon, President
the
Soviet
side, but appeared in the press from other sources.
Nixon, in reply to a query whether the Libyan sale of 100 jets by France
intransigence that bordered on
What does it mean? Which of the many speculative analyses of the
"caused an imbalance in the Mid East enough so that the United States
cruelty. But the Cairo propa-
news does it refute? Is it to be implied that it rejects most of the
should now sell jets in Israel," declared:
gandists know how to resort to
The problem of the sale of arms to Libya .las been one that con- interpretations about documents accredited to the Kremlin about the
the trick—even when a man's
cerns us. As you know, that does involve our relations also with the Middle East? Russia remains not only a source of trouble for that area
obituary was being written.
French government. One encouraging thing that happened since we but also a presently unsolvable puzzle.
From Cairo came a report that
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came into office is some improvement in our relations with the
Russell's last words were that
French.
Israel
must withdraw from oc-
Zionism
Rejected
by
Black
Leaders
-
Cleaver's Anti
One of the reasons that those relations have improved, and
cupied territories. How subtle!
Valid proof of the contention that most of our black fellow-citizens
those relations improved when when I visited President de Gaulle reject anti-Semitism is provided in an editorial in last week's issue of
Try and prove that it was in-
in February, is that we have had better consultation and discussion the Michigan Chronicle. Under the heading "Support for Arabs?" the
credible! But that report did
with regard to our differences, and those differences exist primarily Chronicle editorial stated:
come from Cairo!
in two areas, our policies toward the Mid East and our policies
In an interview published by the official Algerian newspaper
Russell challenged Wladyslaw
towards NATO.
El Moujahid, Eldridge Cleaver, the Black Panthers' former Informa-
Gomulka on the introduction of
President Pompidou will be here next month and I will be dis-
tion Minister, says that the U.S. Black Panther movement fully
new anti-Semitic , policies in Pe-
cussing a number of problems with him. I would not want to specu-
supports the Palestine guerrillas in the Middle East. "Zionists,
land, and his exchange of letters
late now as to what I will be discussing with him, except to say
wherever they may be, are our enemies," Cleaver said in Algiers.
with the editor of Sovietish Heinz-
that all of those differences, naturally, be on the table.
land, Mon Vergelis, in which he
"We totally, support the armed struggle of the Palestinian people
As far as our own policy toward the Mid East is concerned, a
against the watchdogs of imperialism," Cleaver said. He claimed
took a strong stand against Rus-
question which was the latter part of Miss Thomas' question, let me
sian bigotries imposed upon the
that in the U.S. "the Zionists are used to torpedo the struggle of our
put one thing in context: I have noticed several recent stories people for its liberation."
Jewish communities in the Soviet
stating that the United States is one day pro-Arab and the next day
Union indicated the courage he dis-
This is news to us. If the Black Panthers are against the sur-
played in condemning injustice by
pro-Israel.
vival of Israel as a legitimate Jewish state, they then entertain a
We are neither pro-Arab nor pro-Israel. We are pro-peace. We
a country he had otherwise ad-
feeling and opinion that is not shared by the masses of enlightened
are for security for all the nations in that area. As we look at this
mired.
American Blacks. We support Israel and believe in her right to exist
He was more than an iconoclast:
situation we will consider the Israeli arms request based on the
as a free and independent nation.
threats to them from states in the area and we will honor those
We view this as a rejection of anti-Semitism because all the attacks he was one of the great geniuses
requests to the extent that we see—that we determine that they on Zionism have, in reality, been abuses of everything Jewish. The of our time, and his name will be
need additional arms in order to meet that threat. That decision resort to the Zionist bogey as a scheme to hide the hatred for Jews imperishable in literary history.
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will be made within the next 30 days.
generally is fully exposed in the manner in which the Arab propaganda
We may be back where we started before the Washington confer- has been utilized as a means to malign all Jews, and the attempt to Dr. Henry I). Brown's
ence that was aimed at protesting a prejudical policy, with all the escape criticism by differentiating between Jews and Zionists. There Record of Service
In the annals of Michigan's his-
uncertainties, with confidence that the United States will not let Israel is no such difference other than in the scheming to destroy Jewry and
torical societies and museums and
down in a time of crisis, but also with the responsibilities of assuring Israel through this form of distortion.
that the crises are averted.
It is only for propaganda purposes that anti-Semites and Arab in the role of a curator who assist-
There won't be an easy time for any one. The pressures are great chieftains resort to the term Zionist as means of abusing Jews. When ed in gathering important data
for concessions and compromises, and Israel's can't afford to have her King Hussein of Jordan made his big blunder and attacked Israel on about our state as well as the
borders brought closer to those of her major cities. That would be an June 6, 1967, and began to sack the new city of Jerusalem, be ex- nation, Dr. Henry D. Brown played
invitation to annihilators. And the one thing Israel won't permit is horted his people to "kill the Jews." He did not mention Zionists: it an important role for a number of
years.
annihilation. That's what Jewish kinsmen won't permit. That's why the was common knowledge that he meant Jews and said so.
He had made a valuable contri-
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tension between the defenders of Israel and the seekers of compromise,
bution towards the gathering of
whether they are in Washington or Cairo or Birut.
Congressman Conyers' Initiative in M. E. Action
Jewish historical facts during the
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Michigan Congressman John Conyers' initiative in securing the American Jewish Tercentenary cel-
signatures of 226 of his fellow members of the U.S. House of Repre- ebration when he made the Detroit
The Rifts in Arab Alliances
There is a new wrinkle on the Muslim face. French plane sales to
Libya are causing anger among other Arab states who fear the added
power such military power might give to Nasser. Algeria, one of Isra-
el's worst enemies, seems to have joined with the moderates in Tunisia
and Morocco to express anger over the large fleerof war planes de-
stined for the Libyans.
While nearly all the Arab states are united against Israel, the new
development can hardly be interpreted a combine against Israel. It is
more likely that it is a protective effort against the escalation of
Egyptian power.
While this dosn't help Israel, perhaps it also weakens additionally
any further attempts at uniting all the Arab forces in an all-out war
aimed at destroying the Jewish state.
Yet every move in whatever direction, stemming from the Middle
East (and now adidtionally from Paris as well as Moscow) must be
viewed with suspicion. There remains the need for eternal vigilance.
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The Sand Runs Red in Baghdad Square
Only a handful are calling attention to the blood bath in Iraq. Golda
Meir protested in Jerusalem. A few more are speaking in condemna-
tion of the brutalities. Fortunately there still are newspapers that are
alerting the public against the horrors.
Thus, the Toronto Globe and Mail called attention to the fact that
"The sand runs red in Baghdad's Freedom Square with increasing
frequency these days."
Some of the facts revealed in this editorial should be emphasized
in the available record. The Globe and Mail summarized the situation
in Iraq as a "government by execution," stating:
sentatives for the statement for peace in the Middle East, with empha-
sis on face-to-face negotiations between Arabs and Jews, earns our
gratitude. He, and his associates, deserve highest commendation from
all Americans for a task in support of amity among nations.
Rep. Conyers unhesitatingly rejects the policy of Secretary of State
William Rogers on the Middle East. It is good to note the emphasis
placed in the Celler-Conyers statement in support of the elevation of
the standard of living among the oppressed peoples of the Middle East
in the declaration signed by the 226 congressmen:
"All the people in the Middle East have a common goal in
striving to wipe out the scourge of disease, poverty, literacy and to
meet together in good faith to achieve peace and turn their swords
into plowshares."
Well said! Let there be tractors instead of tanks! Nasser could
order it promptly and get Israel's assistance for such a program of
assistance to the needy who predominate in his midst! Perhaps
congressional action will help.
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Responsibility for Our Aged
There is marked progress in our community in many areas in
which there is dire need.
Greater understanding is being achieved in tackling the problem
of the mentally retarded children. Parents have learned not to hide
the problem and not to treat it with shame but as something that
needs attention and correction. We shall soon undoubtedly be blessed
with efforts that will bring relief for many unfortunates.
Even greater interest has been and continues to be shown in the
needs of our elderly citizens who are primarily in need of proper hous-
ing and who must be assured of homes in which they can continue
their daily activities normally, without fear of an uncertain future.
Thanks to the dynamism of the able Rabbi Samuel Prero of Young
Israel, the existing community tasks in behalf of the elderly have been
supplemented with a high-rise apartment house rental which will
be most reasonable, where provisions are being made for religion:,
services as well as a kosher snack bar.
While this Independence Hall project engineered by Rabbi Prero
is not a Jewish project in its entirety, it will no doubt serve many
Jews who will form an impressive group in that housing unit, and
the proposed program of activities has an assurance of dignity and con-
cern for the welfare of the residents because the leadership of Rabbi
Prero carries with it respect and a sense of deep responsibility.
Dedication of the new Independence Hall must be viewed as a
distinct contribution to our community's needs, and to Rabbi Prero
and his associates go forth our gratitude for having turned a glorious
dream into a marvelous reality.
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Historical Museum available as the
center of activities during the ob-
servance in Michigan in 1954.
His directorial skills elevated
him to a high rank among his-
torians in our state. His sudden
death on Monday turns our entire
community into a family of mourn-
ers.
Red China's Chou en Lai
Vows Support to Arabs
LONDON (JTA) — According to
reports from Hong Kong, Premier
Chou en Lai of Red China has
pledged his support for the Arab
cause in a letter
to President Ga-
mal Abdel Nas-
ser of Egypt.
Chou received
the Egyptian am-
bassador, Salah
el-Abd, the Chi-
nese news agency
Hsinhua report-
ed, and denounc-
ed U. S. plans to
Send more arms
to Israel. He
gave the Egyp-
tian envoy a let-1 Chau
.
ter for Col. Nasser in which he
assailed Israeli military operations
against Arab countries, the report
said.
The latest executions are more numerous but not out of keep-
ing with the barbarism that has characterized Iraqi politics since
Gen. Abdul Karim Kassem murdered King Feisal, the crown prince
and the prime minister over a decade ago. Since then coups, coun-
tercoups and attempted coups have become commonplace in Bagh-
dad. The various coup attempts have had-a success ratio of approxi-
mately 50:50, but in almost all the aftermath has been bloody.
The successive Iraqi governments have all adhered to a general
anti-Israel, pan-Arab policy and Iraqi troops were engaged in both
the 1948 and 1967 wars against Israel, but politics within the country
has marched to a rhythm of its own. There are marginal differ-
Chicagoans Set Goal
ences between the present Baathist regime of Gen. Ahmed Hassan
CHICAGO (JTA)—Morris Glas-
al-Baler and the government of Gen. Abdul Rahman Aref that he
ser, general campaign chairman of
overthrew in July 1968, especially in their attitudes toward Russia,
the Jewish United Fund of Metro-
Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and Jordan and Syria.
politan Chicago, has announced an
By its own account, the Iraqi government has known about the
area goal of $12,340,000 for the
clumsily organized and ineptly executed "right wing" plot for over
1970 fund campaign. Last year the
three months. It appears to have used the opportunity to provide a
JUF raised more than $10,500,000.
ruthless demonstration of its intention to crush all opposition. The Bertrand Russell's Liberalism and Iconoclasm
Iconoclasts who relish the role of image-breaking must have envied Glasser also said that the Chicago
whole depraved imbroglio demonstrates the regime is bereft of any
of the facets of civilized government except the ability to exercise the power of Bertrand Russell. He was their peer. He was fearless Israel Emergency Fund, which
whether
he challenged Russia and Poland on anti-Semitism or the raised over $4,750,000 in 1969, "des-
■aked power.
perately needed" more funds this
United States on the Vietnamese issue.
He
defended
Jews when they were under stress, yet he must year.
2—Friday, February 8, 1970
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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