Arabs' Entry Barred by Swiss Government
to curb Arab terrorism aimed
(Continued from Page 1)
against Israel's airline and other
BERNE (JTA)—The Swiss gov-
ernment Monday night imposed airlines serving Israel.
. stateme,
nt by State
The
severe restrictions on the entry of
Depart ment
U. S spokesman Robert W.
Arabs to that country. The mess- Becker, followed the death of a
ure was taken in the aftermath Michigan woman, Barbara Ertle
of Saturday's fatal crash of the
Israel-bound Swissair jet believed of Grandville, Monday in an Arab
to have been sabotaged by Arab terrorist ambush of a busload of
American Christian tourists near
terrorists. The crash, preceded by
a mid-air explosion, took the lives Hebron. It was also apparently
aimed at Saturday's crash of the
of 47 passengers and crew mem-
Israel-bound Swissair jet at Zurich
bers.
in which 47 persons, eight Ameri-
Switzerland called on the Inter- cans among them, were killed.
national Civil Aviation Organiza-
"Such irresponsible and indis-
tion based in Montreal to summon criminate acts can only make more
an emergency conference on air difficult the search for peace in the
security and offered to host such a Middle East which is our over-
gathering.
riding goal," Becker said.
President Hans Peter Tschudi of
Switzerland said at a press con-
ference Monday that hereafter
Arabs would be admitted into
Switzerland only on "humanitarian
grounds" or where their visit was
deemed to be "important to the
Swiss visas, and all applications
the restrictions were not aimed
against any Arab government or
Arab citizens but only to weed out
possible Palestinian terrorists bear-
ing Arab passports.
President Tschudi said that hold-
ers of passpdrts from Arab states
would have to apply in advance for
Swiss visas and all applications
would undergo the closest scrutiny.
The measure applies to holders of
Algerian, Tunisian and Moroccan
passports even ough those coun-
tries have visa•waiver agreements
with Switzerland. The other Arab
countries have no such agreements
but in the past Swiss authorities
have followed a liberal policy to-
ward tourists and transit passen-
gers from all countries. Palestinian
Arabs, unable to possess national
passports, travel under passports
issued by the various Arab coun-
tries.
The stringent security measures,
approved by the Swiss cabinet, met
with general approval here Tues-
day, but some Swiss circles voiced
concern over taking measures
against countries which are not
proven to have been implicated in
the Swissair disaster.
Experts investigating the
wreckage of the plane said that
evidence obtained so far pointed
The Israel Embassy statement,
in the form of a policy back-
ground paper titled "Atrocity in
Zurich," amounted to a blanket
indictment of all nations and or-
ganizations which Israel accuses
of tolerating and even condoning
Arab terrorism. "The victims of
Zurich did not die at the hands
only of the PFLP (Popular Front
for the Liberation of Palestine).
They died at the hands of a cal-
lous permissiveness that has for
too long made Arab aggression
against Israel a tolerable excep-
tion, a phenomenon to be con-
doned, an aberration to be tol-
erated," it said.
The paper specifically charged
the governments of the Arab coun-
tries with "first degree murder"
for encouraging, sheltering and
supporting terrorists. "But how
much less guilty is the internation-
al community and its constituents
for having consistently shut its
eyes to it (terrorism), tolerated
and condoned it, almost with
equanimity," the paper said.
Referring to last year's prolong-
ed detention by Syria of two Is-
raeli passengers from a hijacked
American airliner, the Israeli
paper said: "Guilty of first degree
murder is the government of
Syria—a band of international
brigands of long-standing—an ac-
complice in the crime of kidnap-
ing . . . how much less guilty are
those who instead of immediately
instituting something of the order
of a total boycott of Arab civil avia-
tion acquiesced in the Syrian ac-
tion?"
"Guilty of first degree murder,"
to a bomb, apparently in one of the paper went on, "are those who
the mail pouches. Dr. Hans make available the arms and the
Schott, chief engineer of Swissair, means that feed and fan Arab pas-
said he was convinced that a sion for "seas of blood and blazing
bomb caused the crash and said horizons (Nasser) and who render
he expected to have conclusive them the requisite political sup-
proof within a few days. Dr.
Max Frei-Sulzer, chief of the port . . . and no less guilty are
Zurich Crime Laboratory which those who, in their sophistry, have
t c h lothed and embellished a nihilis-
is analyzing powder burns found
t' destructive and cowardly phe-
in the wrecked cargo compart- tic,
nomenon
such as the Popular Front
ment, said, "I'm already con- for the Liberation of Palestine
vinced it was a bomb." He also
'
said he would have "complete freedom
fighters'."
The Conference of Major Ameri-
proof" in a few days.
can Jewish Organizations called on
Experts here speculated that if the international aviation commu-
it was a bomb, it was of the same nity to "refuse to surrender to the
type that exploded in the mail Arab terrorists' blackmail cam-
compartment of an Austrian air- paign" against international air
liner forcing it to crash land at travel. A statement issued by Dr.
Frankfurt airport last Saturday, William A. Wexler, president of
shortly before the Swissair crash the conference, declared: "We de-
at Zurich. That bomb was acti- plore the action of certain airlines
vated by a barometer which deto- in suspending deliveries of cargo
nated explosives when the plane and mail to Israel. Punishing the
reached an altitude of 14,000 feet. victims of sabotage while reward-
Unconfirmed reports from Frank- ing the criminals can only further
furt said that two small parcels incite the terrorists."
ostensibly containing radios of East
The statement added that
German make were mailed simul-
"Arab fanatics cannot be halted
taneously to Israel. One reportedly by yielding to them but only by
went on the Austrian airlines flight resistance against them. This
and the other on the Swissair
means action by governments,
plane.
by the United Nations, and by
the international aviation com-
State Dept. Condemns
munity."
Death of U.S. Woman
Dr. Wexler sent telegrams to the
International
Air Transport Asso-
WASHINGTON (JTA)—The
United States government Tuesday
strongly condemned Arab acts of
"terrorism against innocent civi-
lians." The Israeli government,
through its embassy here, issued
a statement at the same time bit-
terly condemning the "internation-
al community" for allegedly re-
maining silent and taking no action
48 Friday, February 27, 1970
—
ciation, the International Federa-
tion of Airline Pilots Associations,
the American Airline Pilots Asso-
ciation and the International Avia-
tion Organization, urging them to
take "prompt and effective action
to meet the threat to all civil avia-
tion posed by the Arabs." He de-
clared that "for too long, these
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
bodies failed to act in the face of
mounting air piracy. This failure
has led to escalation of murder in
the air."
Rabbi Solomon J. Sharf man,
president of the Synagogue Coun-
cil of America, condemned "the
Arab liberation movement as a
facade for cowardly criminals who
murder innocent civilians."
He urged political and religious
organizations "who have in the
past uncritically glorified the Pale-
stinian guerrillas that they search
their consciences for having given
encouragement, however indirect-
ly, to the shedding of innocent
blood."
American Woman Killed,
Two Wounded When
Tourist Bus Ambushed
TEL AVIV (JTA)—A Michigan
woman was killed and two other
Americans were wounded Monday
when Arab guerrillas ambushed a
tourist bus near Hebron, about 20
miles south of Jerusalem.
The victim was Barbara Ertle,
31, of Grandville, the mother of
two. Her husband, the Rev. Theo-
dore Ertle, was sitting beside her
when machinegun bullets ripped
through the vehicle carrying a
group of American Christian
tourists.
Severely injured and hospitalized
were Lucille Draper, 53, of Buf-
falo, and Tabea D'Amico, of At-
lantic City. They were taken by
helicopter to Hadassah Hospital in
Jerusalem where Miss Draper un-
derwent surgery. She is a sister
of the Rev. Irving Draper, of Al-
den, N. Y., leader of the 10-day
"Bible Land Tour."
Zvi Greenberg, an Israeli guide,
suffered slight injuries.
Funeral services for Mrs. Ertle
were held Wednesday at the Ameri-
can cemetery in Jerusalem's Ger-
man colony. Mr. Ertle asked that
his wife be buried in Jerusalem.
Rev. Ertle had visited the Holy
Land before but he promised his
wife when they were students at
the Moody Bible Institute in Chi-
cago that he would take her there
some day.
Kenneth Bos of Grandville, who
with his wife has been caring for
the Ertles' two children, said the
minister and his wife weren't wor-
ried about strife in the Holy Land.
"They were looking forward to the
trip, and we agreed to take care
of the children."
Remaining members of the tour
group vowed to continue their trip
around the Holy Land despite the
terrorist attack.
Knesset Warns Israel Will
in the present situation." She said
that Israel "would not accept the
situation." "When the air routes
to Israel are undermined, Israel
will do everything in its power to
defend them," she said.
At the same time Israel de-
nounced the actions of at least 12
international airlines which sus-
pended cargo and mail flights to
Israel in the aftermath of the
Swiss airliner's crash. Earlier,
the cabinet wound up a day-
long session on the Swissair disas-
ter with a call to governments, air-
lines and international pilots or-
ganizations to stop the "running
amok" of Arab terrorists through-
out the world.
Mrs. Meir said "The terrorist or-
ganizations, through their criminal
acts, have removed themselves be-
yond the bounds of morality and
civilized society." "Terrorist acts
against planes and travelers to
Israel began in 1968 when an El
Al plane was hijacked to Algeria,"
Mrs. Meir said. "It has continued
in mounting bloodshed and destruc-
tion. Not only Israelis and Israeli
planes but international planes and
airports and citizens of all the
world have been victims. But while
the terrorist acts have shocked hu-
manity, the international commu-
nity to date has not yet adopted
suitable means to combat the
mounting attacks on civil avia-
tion."
In Geneva, Swiss government of-
ficials said an investigation was
under way to determine whether
the "presumption of an act of
criminal sabotage" was borne out
by evidence found in the wreck-
age of the Swissair jet. The names
of the American victims given
were Thomas Lingafelter, of
Huntington, Long Island; Melville
Meyerson, of Stamford, Conn.;
Mr. and Mrs. S. Silvershots, of
Chula Vista, California; Dr. and
Mrs. Glenn Ware, of Barrington
Hills, Ill.; and Dr. and Mrs. Wein-
ermann, of Hamden, Corm.)
mond broker; Adella Han, 56,
fashion expert; Marcel Attaya, 30,
Swissair local employ e; Ada
Freudenberg, wife of Swissair local
employe; Dr. Paul Horn, 64, tex-
tile expert and industrialist; Me-
lani Horn, his wife, 60, president
of Israel ORT; Mrs. Ruth Golan;
Mrs. Herta Wurtmann, 70; Yerzy
Brzezovski, 48, new immigrant
from Poland; and Dr. Naim Kral
Young, 33, surgeon.
U.S., Swiss Back Parley
on Combating Terrorism
NEW YORK (JTA)—A confer-
ence of a United Nations Civil
Aviation Agency was scheduled for
Wednesday in Montreal, with Unit-
ed States and Swiss government
backing, to grapple with the diffi-
cult problem of finding means of
preventing Arab terrorist attacks
on commercial airliners.
The U.S. State Department indi-
cated that it planned to deal with
the anti-Israel aspects of assaults
on such planes by the approach of
international talks through avia-
tion officials. State Department
Press Officer Carl Bartsh said
Tuesday that the United States has
no plans to halt commercial air-
flights to Israel.
Bartsch said the State Depart-
ment had instructed Charles But-
ler, U.S. representative to the In-
ternational Civil Aviation Organi-
zation, the UN specialized agency
with headquarters in Montreal, to
seek a meeting of the ICAO
He said he had no information
on whether the U.S. was taking any
specific steps to strengthen secur-
ity of international flights.
It was reported in Washington
that Israel Premier Golda Meir
had proposed that the United
States impose sanctions against
Arab nations for their support of
guerrilla attacks on airlines and
that the official United States
response was "no comment."
Presidents of American, Swiss,
West German, French and British
branches organized in the exec-
utive committee of the Internation-
al Air Transport Association, a
Israel in Mourning
for Air Victims; Bitter
non-governmental group, had a
Anguish at Lydda Airport
TEL AVIV (JTA)—All of Israel telephone conference Tuesday on
the
problem. There was no indica-
was in mourning for the victims
of Saturday's Swissair disaster.
The chief military chaplain, Rabbi
Shlomo Goren, flew to Zurich to
help identify the bodies of the 16
Israelis aboard the plane, some of
whom were reportedly burned be-
yond recognition when the Swiss
Coronado jet crashed in flames.
Chaplain Goren will arrange for
the return of the remains to Israel
for burial. Those who cannot be
identified will be interred in a
Take 'Emphatic Measures'
common grave. Scenes of bitter an-
Against Arab Air Terrorists
JERUSALEM (JTA)—The Knes- guish took place at Lydda Airport
Saturday
where the families of the
set issued a stiff warning that Is-
rael would take "emphatic meas- Swissair passengers gathered in
ures" against aerial terrorists and late afternoon, unaware that tra-
Arab countries sheltering them. It gedy had struck. All of them ap-
demanded that all governments parently had missed the 5 p.m.
and international organizations join radio news bulletin reporting the
to put an end to the kind of ter- crash. A chill went through the
rorism that took 47 lives in the crowd when a Swissair official in-
crash of a Swissair jet Saturday vited all waiting relatives into the
and is "aimed at destroying civil VIP room where he solemnly read
aviation." The Knesset's resolu- the passenger list and announced
tion and a statement by Premier that there were no survivors.
Each name was greeted with a
Golda Meir that preceded it will
be distributed by Israeli diplomatic scream of despair. A doctor was
in
attendance. No one required
missions to governments all over
the world. The government is also medical attention, but tragedy was
planning to call an international written on the faces of everyone
conference of airlines and air at the air terminal whether or not
transport groups serving the Mid- they had relatives aboard the strik-
dle East to discuss ways of insur- en plane. Deputy Premier Yigal
ing the safety of passengers and Allon phoned the airport to con-
aircraft against terrorist assaults. firm his fears that his old friend
The Knesset did not specify what and associate, Hanoch Lev Kochav,
measures might be taken. But Mrs. was one of the victims. The 41-
Meir could barely contain her emo- year-old Palmach veteran and law
tions when she demanded rigid teacher served as director general
steps by the world community "to of the public works ministry when
check the outrageous activities, the Allon was minister of labor.
uncontrolled and mean activities, Another prominent victim was
of the Arab saboteurs." The 72- Prof. Hanoch Melvidzky, 58, head
year-old premier sharply admon- of the cardio-vascular department
ished international airlines and of the Hadassah-Hebrew Univer-
governments for not taking steps to sity Hospital in Jerusalem, a pio-
curb Arab air terrorists when they neer of ope.i heart surgery in Is-
committed their first act in 1968, rael. Other victims were: Michael
the hijacking of an El Al airliner Koren, 39, electronic engineer;
to Algiers. Mrs. Meir contended Mordechal Moue h, 41, archi-
that if firm action had been taken tect; Raphael Neuberger, 43, chem-
then, "we would not have reached ical engineer; Benjamin About-
the deterioration which culminated boul, 44; Nathan Ellenzweig, dia-
tion as to whether they had found
any solutions for the problem.
Members include the heads of Pan
American World Airways, Trans
World Airlines, Lufthansa, Air
France, Swissair and British Over-
seas Airways Corp.
The director general of TATA,
Kurt Hammerskjold, issued a
statement distributed by IATA
headquarters in Montreal, de-
manding tougher actions against
such terrorists. He declared that
governments which fail to crack
down on the terrorists "will have
to share the responsibility for
the escalation of these crimes."
An El Al pilot and a stewardess
said at Kennedy Airport that secur-
ity precautions on El Al planes
were adequate and that passengers
and crews were not worried. Mrs.
Ozar Hope, an El Al spokesman,
said that there had not been an
increase in requests for transfer
or in resignations in the El Al
organization since the first attack
on an El Al plane in Geneva a
year ago. A spokesman for Swiss-
air also reported there bad not
been any widespread requests by
Swissair flight personnel for trans-
fers from Mid East air routes
Swissair spokesman Philip Schaub
said here that security precautions
would be so strict that it would
be nearly imposible for a recur-
rence of the explosion which
wrecked the Swissair plane last
Saturday.
Air
has imposed a tem-
porary delay in the shipment of
all unaccompanied baggage ear-
marked for Israel. Airline officials
want a 24- to 48-hour "screening"
of such baggage to make certain
it does not contain any dangerous
nriraeonle.
Cmaam
ntaoedi
Abbey, president
of the
- Jewish Congress, has
sent a telegram to UN Secretary
General U Thant urging strong
and effective measures be taken
to prevent acts of terrorism.