THE JEWISH NEWS Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951 Member American Assoclaton of Englah-Jewlsh Newspapers, Michigan Press Association, National Editorial Association Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075. Phone 356-8400 Subscription 67 a year. Foreign $8. PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor and Publisher CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ Business M CHARLOTTE DUBIN City Editor Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the ninth day of Sivan, 5730, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Nuns_ 4:21-7:89. Prophetical portion, Judges 13:2-25. Candle lighting, Friday, June 12, 7:50 p.m. VOL. LVII. No. 13 Page Four June 12, 1970 Human Spirit: Justice for Israel Congressional action aimed at preventing escalation of the Soviet military policies in the Middle East is based in large measure upon the urgency of preventing the USSR from assuming control of that area. Russian policies, stemming from the days of Peter the Great, are based upon aspirations to dom- inate over vast areas, including the Mediter- tranean. The two-headed Czarist Eagle indi- cates the intention: one eagle looks to St. Petersburg (later named Petrograd, Lenin-. grad, Stalingrad) and the other to Constanti- nople. The Russian aim is clear, and the new congressional approach is towards clarifying the American stand. But there is much more to the issue than that. It is much more than a diplomatic move or a matter of power politics. Involved here is the need for historic justice, the urgency of assuring protection for a community of 3,000.000 people whose fate hangs in the balance in an era of threats to exterminate an entire nation, in a critical time when the non-Jewish population of encircled Israel is in as much danger as the Israeli Jewish pop- ulation. Many misleading representations have been made with respect to the Middle East. Israel's democratic role in the Middle East is of no consequence to- those who seek over- whelming control of territories rich in oil. The oil interests have begun to play a more evident role to retain power amid impover- ished Arab populations, and Israel could suf- fer great tragedies unless there is an end to the many threats which include rejection of any form of recognition of Israel's right to exist. The element of basic justice, the right of a small nation to survive, the historic legacy of the Land of Israel for the People Israel— these must be acknowledged without reserva- tions. There are 14 Arab states measuring mil- lions of miles in territories and there is little Israel with some 15,000 square miles that include the occupied zones over which the Israelis rule since June 1967. The Arabs be- grudge Israel this bit of living space, they deny an inherited right to the land, they seek destruction as was evidenced in the most re- cent attacks, mostly on children. In a renewed spurt of letter-writing by Arab propagandists in this country there is new evidence of arrogance. Without remorse, failing to admit the crime of premeditated attacks upon schools and school buses, those who write letters to American editors have the lack of a human spark in their claims that Israel is the aggressor. They remind the pub- lic of the tragedy in which Egyptian children lost their lives but they fail to admit that Israel attacks military points and when chil- dren are placed there the guilt is Egypt's. Yet a local newspaper editorialized over such a letter stating that "Israel is responsible," without even toenailing the brutal accusa- tions. The brave Arab terrorists apparently be- lieve that by killing children they will event- ually succeed in ending Israel's existence. This has not worked and can not work. Is- raeli children have lived for years in under- ground shelters, in search of protection. It is an established fact and many Americans who have visited Israel know it. Yet, there is a new form of silence, the humanitarian voices are limited, Christian clergy have been deluded by false propaganda. Therefore new ways must be found to acquire a state of peace. What had happened at Beisan and Avivim should serve added notice that a serious ef- fort should be made to force the Arab rulers to the peace table. No one with a sense of reality will deal with terrorists. Nasser, Hus- sein, Helou and other rulers in Arab lands must be brought to a negotiating table to talk peace—and they must do it by abandon- ing the Khartoum threat of "no negotiations, no peace." What senators and congressmen did in the past week should lead toward a renewed realistic approach to the situation and to the abandonment of policies by our media of communications which have glorified the El Fatah. It is unfortunate that Israel can not even protest to the Security Council. How can one possibly address himself to a world body in which the cards are stacked, where there are no voices of compassion or justice, in which the great powers—Russia, France, England— are bedfellows with terrorists? Public opinion must be aroused in this country against the terror, in defense of the right of the Jewish people to a place under the sun. That place has international endorse- ment. It must have international protection. There is a new angle in the entire tragic matter: one columnist last week had the gall to state: "Jews in America are far more fanat- ical and one-sided about the Mid-East conflict than many Israelis are." What did this chap expect? Silence from American Jews? In-, difference? Even if the author of that is Jew- ish, he deserves severest condemnation. When a people's existence is threatened, there is need for a friendly attitude and not con- doning of genocide. And condoning murder of a people or its individuals is shameful There must be unification of forces to protect Israel and to end murderous schemes. Human obligations are to strive for peace and not to glorify terrorism. This is the aim to' be pursued, and we feel a sense of pride in those members of both houses of Congress who have shown the true humanitarian American spirit in their stand on Israel's behalf. Gilner Volume Recapitulates History of the Jewish Legion A number of historical records of the Jewish Legion, the force that fought under General Sir Edmund H. H. Allenby for the liberation of Palestine from the Turks, have already been published. There was one by the founder of the Legion, Vladimir Jabotinsky. A most valuable supplementary volume has just been issued by Herzl Press. It is titled "War and Hope—A History of the Jewish Legion," and was written by an associate in the legion with Jabotinsky, Elias Gilner, who now lives in Mount Vernon, N.Y. Gilner's record of legion activities, the preliminary stages in its creation, the people who were involved, the difficulties, the eventual role, the military leaders—these and many other factors combine to introduce an interesting work that serves as a supplement to modern Zionist history. The author had enlisted in the Jewish Legion under his original name of Elias Ginsberg, before he had Hebraized it. He knew Lt. Col. John Henry Paterson, commander of the legion and the good friend of Jewry and Zionism, and his frequent references to him and the account of his role emphasize the im- portance of this additional work on the legion. Furthermore, his association with Jabotinsky enabled him to gain a deeper insight into the entire Jewish Legion motivation and the aims for a Jewish statehood. Actually, the Gilner story draws extensively upon historical data so that his account is as much a chapter in Zionist history as it is a review of military efforts during World War I. Many personalities pass in review in the Gilner story, and Zionists will be interested in the references not only to Jabotinsky and the dynamic role he played in establishing the Jewish military force for the redemption of Zion, but also many of the pioneers In modern Zionism—Menahem Ussishkin, Dov Hos, Pintas Rutenberg, Chaim Weizmann, Nahum Sokolow, the Rothschilds and many others. The role of Sir Herbert Samuel, as first high commissioner for Palestine, is reviewed here, and the men who came with him as British officials are described in their various capacities. It is noteworthy that Gilner takes into account the friendly attitude of Sir Wyndham Deedes, the civil secretary of the British administration, and he notes the atti- tude of others, the antagonists especially, who stood in the way of achieving the goal prescribed in the Balfour Declaration. Many human interests angles are touched upon in relation to the enrollment in the Jewish Legion as well as the military unit's activities in which David Ben-Gurion and Itzhak Ben-Zvi played important parts. For instance, the activities of the Brainins—Joseph and Moses who the most effective form of public relations enrolled as fighting members and their father, the eminent Hebraist, media through which to reach our friends Reuben Brainin, who encouraged the formation of the legion. Joseph and those who are misled by a lack of knowl- Brainin, who died Feb. 7, was an enrolling officer of the legion in this edge of existing problems—that we should country and in Canada. To End Prejudices—Let Truth Be Known A major responsibility devolves upon Jew- ish communities in free countries. The attacks upon Israel, euphemistic re- sort to the libertarian idea of Zionism as if it were an evil specter, the re-emergence of the vilest forms of anti-Semitism that is often cloaked in Russian-created anti-Zionism, and many other developing factors demand a thorough knowledge of existing conditions in order to be able to refute the libels with which we are being showered. All we ask from our adversaries is an understanding of the truth—and to make that possible it is vital that there should be a knowledge of truth in our own ranks. Therefore, there is the obligation to create even be able to reach our enemies, the Rus- sians, the anti-Semites, the Arabs whose minds have been poisoned against us. That is why the most pressing need today is the establishment of the type of public relations activities that will reach out to those who need the facts, in order that we may best be able to overcome the menacing situations that confront us. Our communities must not overlook such vital planning in these serious hours of menacing crises for Jewry and for Israel— and the peace of the entire World. - Many of the activities for the legion were conducted in Detroit and Windsor. There are interesting photographs in this book and a reproduction of an issue of Palestine Weekly to indicate some of the British preju- dices against Jews in Palestine. The British antagonisms are described here to show the struggle the Zionist pioneers faced under the manda- tory power. While there was talk about a British covenant with Israel, there was the defiling of pledges, and since the legion was to have played a major role in redemption, the review of those experiences fits in well into the Gilner book, which serves a good purpose in recalling the role of the Jewish Legion in Palestine's liberation and in the advancement of the ZioniSt'calde.