Purely Commentary
Arab Tentacles Strike at French
Community .. . Hatred for Israel in
Evidence in Worldwide Bigotries.
By Philip
Israel's G. N. P.
SiOMOVitZ
By HAIM SCHACHTER
Israel's Gross National Product,
refused to go to Israel. They preferred their pension-status under at fixed prices, rose in 1969 by 101/2
The deteriorating French Situation
French rule. They feared going to Israel where they once again would
per cent (eight per cent per capita)
In an analysis of "Fascism in France," in the Free Press Sun- be neighbors of Moslems who harassed them.
day Magazine section, the situation as it has developed there is
Now there is a new attitude. There is a wave of anti-Semitism. over the G.N.P. for 1968. This rise
outlined as follows:
Not only Algerian and Tunisian but also native French Jews have is slow when compared with the
"For one month this past spring fright panicked most of the
begun an Aliya to Israel. It is, of course, distressing that the much rise in 1968 of 14 per cent, which
120,000 citizens of Amiens, France. They believed that their women
desired Aliya should be under such conditions. But that's our historic was particularly steep of one takes
were systematically drugged, abducted, abused, and finally sold
experience.
into sexual slavery in South America and Africa.
The tragedy is as much if not more France's than it is ours. into account the rise of 11/2-21/2 per
"Unbelievable? Now, they admit it, but this past March, the
There is nothing glorious about being a country steeped in bias. What cent during the years of 1966 and
tale spread plague-like through the town.
is happening does not mean that all of France, all Frenchmen, are 1967. At the same time, private
"Although no local women were ever reported missing, the
in a sinful stage of dondoning Jew-baiting. But it is happening there
headquarters of this white slave ring, people claimed, were located and the land Jewry and Israel loved so much for its glorious partner- consumption continued to grow in
1969, rising by 111/2 per cent (nine
in six dress shops whose owners purportedly drugged customers
ship with the Jewish State until de Gaulle's blunders now has so
while they tried on clothes. At the peak of the panic, outraged
much to atone for. And our hope Is that realism will be restored and per cent per capita), which is more
citizens surrounded the suspected shops, shouted viscious anti-Semitic a French-Jewish amity will emerge new before very long.
than the rise in the G.N.P. This
growth in private consumption was
threats at the shopkeepers, all Jewish.
"Today the bizarre witch hunt is over . . . or is it? One French
somewhat lower than that in 1968
sociologist. Edgar Morin, reports similar outbursts—all involving The Observer's Bias of Pompousness
which stood at 12 per cent and was
National Observer's recent article maligning Zionists was not the particularly steep when compared
Jewish shopkeepers—in other provincial French towns: Orleans,
Toulouse, Tours, Limoges, Douai, Rouen, Le Mans, Lille and Valen-
end of an episode. Giving space to a number of letters in defense of with the rise of 1 1/2 and three per
Zionism as well as an equal group additionally slurring the movement cent in the years 1966 and 1967
ciennes.
"Anti-Jewish fervor is an important rallying cry for a variety of
that created the foundation for Israel's statehood, the Observer editors respectively.
Fascist organizations which are becoming increasingly popular among
did an unusual thing in newspaper practice. Instead of permitting con-
Public consumption (including
discontented Frenchmen. Some appeal to small shopkeepers, others tinued discussion and analyses of the issues, it stated in an editorial
provisional figures for outlays on
to workers and directionless students. All are small, but growing.
note that "we stand on the facts as presented in the new account."
All condone violence. And all, like traditional Fascist organizations,
But the facts in the news story were distorted, there was too-evident security) continued to grow (111/2
denounce the capitalist, Communist and Jewish conspiracies.
an effort to paint Zionists as bogeymen whose actions were veiled in per cent) albeit at a slower pace
"In the 1965 residential election 1,260,208 Frenchmen repre.
secrecy. It was a piece whose premise was to harm a libertarian cause. than during the years 1967 and 1968
when public consumption rose by
-senting five percent of the vote chose Tixier-Vignancour, an extreme Now the Observer's editorial note adds insult to injury.
"right-wing lawyer, as their candidate.
It is becoming a bit difficult to battle the misrepresentations that 36 per cent and 15 per cent respec-
"Today one of his former aides, Jean-Francois Calvaire, heads
are inherent in the anti-Israel campaign, as evidenced in the Observer's tively.
a Fascist organization called the Ordre Nouveau (New Order). Gal-
The steep rise in production was
approaches to the issues and in the published letters, as well as in what
vaire claims 7,000 members.
was intended to be dialogues on TV which turned into brawls against accompanied by a rise in the scope
"Recently the Parti National Populaire, the Restoration Nation.
Israel. All of the anti-Zionist campaigns have been part of the Big Lie. of gross local investments even
ale, and Jenne Europe (Young Europe) advocates expulsion of all
Now we have a law suit by a disgruntled employee against the though a certain slowdown was
foreign workers from France. Its leader, who suffers from a
Bnai Brith and his claims are that Bnai Brith has unduly turned its noticeable. Investments in building,
nervous twitch, looks a little like Adolph Hitler.
attention in the direction of Israel, with an all-out support for the Is- equipment and communications in
"With De Gaulle in retirement, France is at the moment leader-
raeli cause. On the basis of his claims, which became the source of 1969 rose by 22 1/2 per cent, as com-
less."
material for the Observer's attacks on Israel and Zionism, every Jew- pared with investments in 1968.
The leaderless condition of France is undoubtedly affecting the ish movement, except the anti-Zionist and anti-Israel Judaism Coun- These investments increased the
people of France but it has nothing to do with the Jewish position. cil, could be classed as having an interest in Israel's security. Imagine gross capital value of fixed assets
The fact is that the new prejudices commenced under de Gaulle and any person of any faith serving as an instrument for the destruction of by almost 10 per cent.
and continuing under Pompidou. The most recent events, the injec- Israel and for a renewed Holocaust?
In 1969, there was a 4 per cent
tion of medievalism in the charges of sex slavery, the bitterness that
What is happening is that the Observer is serving as a tool for the
has resulted from the American protests during the Pompidou visit anti-Israel forces in their desire to deprive the humanitarian Jewish increase in the number of working
have combined to accelerate a deteriorating situation. Now the Arabs, causes of tax deduction status. They have aimed for it for a number of hands and in that of working hours.
apparently encouraged by what .is transpiring, have added their bit years and have failed. Knowing the American quality of fair play we
The product of the building trade
of hatred to the situation and have begin to loot stores, break windows are certain that Israel's enemies will never succeed on this or any in 1969 rose by 23 1/2 per cent at
in Jewish-owned establishments, attack Jews physically.
fixed prices, and was about equal
other
score.
The latest occurrence in Paris was described in a lengthy cabled
to the rise in 1968. A 16 1/2 per cent
report to the New York Times by John L. Hess. Because of the details
rise also took place in the product
given and the revised attitudes of Jews from Moslem countries now Jeremiah T. Mahoney — Man of Great Courage
of
industries, mines and minerals,
Men of courage and honor must not be forgotten. The passing of
residing in France, this report merits total quotation. Hess reported:•
former Judge Jeremiah T. Mahoney should be occasion for genuine which was lower than the 28 1/2 per
PARIS—Tunisian Jewish merchants in the slum known as Belle-
tributes to a man who had the vision to see the advent of tragic times cent rise in 1968.
ville swept the glass from their shattered store-fronts today and
The national income at fixed
reepaned for business. It was not the first time, and it wou , 3 not in the early years of Nazism and who acted in accordance with his
conscience.
prices in 1969 was 13 per cent
be the last, they said.
Judge Mahoney, who was an all-round athlete in his youth, had higher than that in 1967. General
Belleville, in eastern Paris, is inhabited mainly by Algerians
and by poor Jewish refugees from Tunisia. On good days, Moslems risen to the presidency of the Amateur Athletic Union. In 1934, sensing wages in the economy registered
the menace of Hitlerism, he opposed American participation in the a rise of 11 to 12 per cent, which
come from all around Paris to shop for North African foods and
Olympic Games that were to be held in Germany. He lost on his pro- was somewhat lower than the rise
pastries, and the two Arabic-speaking communities usually mingle
posals
by a vote of the board and resigned the presidency, but was in other types of income. This rise
easily as they once did, for centuries, at ithme.
elected again in 1936.
in wages must be ascribed to a
Now, however, it takes only a small spark to ignite the tinder
Now
his sense of honor in his opposition to any partnership with 7 per cent rise in the number of
of hostility. Last night, it was a fight between an Algerian and a
Nazis is recognized as having been a mark of his high standards and wage earners and to an average 41/2
Jew in a bar on the Boulevard de Belleville.
his democratic idealism. All honor to the name of Jeremiah T. Mahoney. per cent rise in wages earned.
Within minutes, hundreds of Algerians were roaming the neigh-
borhood, armed with stones, clubs and iron stanchions from the
street market in the boulevard.
When the police finally restored order an hour later, 28 stores
and cafes, mostly Jewish, had been sacked; several cars had been
burned; 33 Algerians had been arrested and several policemen and
A special feature by Naum Kish- Odessa and, on receiving the ad- Odessa, he followed his father's
trade in his younger years. One
an unknown numbered of civilians had suffered minor injuries.
inevsky, Novosti Press Agency cor- mission call, he left Krivoi Rog.
The damage was less than in a series of similar riots in Belle-
respondent in Odessa, describing
"Upon graduation from the day the young worker was sum-
ville two years ago, on the first anniversary of the six-day Arab-
the role of Jews in the USSR mari- school, Meer served as a deck moned by the director of the Kalin-
Israeli war. By this afternoon, most of the windows had been
time service, was submitted to hand on the dry-cargo ship "Lenin- in Works to his office. The direc-
replaced and the district was teeming normally, except for a few
The Jewish News by the Soviet grad" scrubbing decks and repair- tor said that the seaman needed
boarded-up storefronts and the presence of scores of riot police.
embassy in Washington.
ing rigging. Three years later he good people and that he had
At the Bar a l'Etoile de M'sila, named for a city in Algeria, a
Pointing to the "beautiful Gothic- entered a cadet school, received a decided to send Yakov. Yakov gave
group of Arabs all denied that they had been around last night. But
style structure" on Odessa's Push- navigator's certificate and started his consent and became a dis-
one of them said: "It was the Jews that struck first—they always
inskaya Street which serves as steering ocean-going ships with patcher. As a part-time student he
strike rust. They took the Algerian in the bar to a hospital, didn't
headquarters for the USSR largest cargoes to European, American studied at the Odessa Institute of
they?"
Merchant Marine's Engineers to
maritime transport agency, the and Asian countries.
In a cafe decked with the Star of David, a dark youth munching
"I asked him if he knew many become an engineer-planner.
Black Sea Shipping authority, the
a sandwich of hot peppers and meat observed: "It is not a struggle
"The chief of the Shipping Auth-
author of the article states that the Jewish captains on the Black Sea
between the two communities—we have always lived in peace. It
USSR authority possesses "over ships. Meer Vaisman could name ority's Commercial Department,
was instigated. It is no accident that this happened, close to the
several who were among his Grigori Brukhis, started to work at
200
large
modern
ships
of
different
anniversary of the six-day war."
types" which cruise ports in 60 friends. The unique vessel with a the authority after finishing the
"The Arabs spend all their time thinking of vengeance," another
countries. Kishinevsky reports that gas plant, the "Parizhskaya Kom- inn Engineers.
youth said.
his friend Grigori Rozenblyum in- muna," is under Felix Davydov's
"Maria, Grigori's wife, is a law-
Sidney Meimun, a stout baker, left Tunis 20 years ago in the
formed him that the authority has command, a huge dry-cargo ves- yer with the Shipping Authority,
first wave of Jewish emigration that followed the establishment of
sel, "Admiral Ushakov", has Meier and their son Alexander is a senior
workers
from
18
nationalities.
Israel as a state. He was most of the rest of his community arrive
Blaivas :or her captain, Shimon engineer at the Commercial De-
In the mid-1950's and in 1967.
Jews had been barred from
Smekun is on the new motor-ship
Ile said he would reopen his shop as soon as he could replace
shipping industries in pre-revolu- "Donetsky Komosomolets," and partment of the Baltic Shipping
Odessa Institute of Merchant Mar-
his stock and repair the damage, which he estimated at the equi-
tionary Russia. Kishinevsky de-
Lazar Keiman is in charge of the Authority in Leningrad.
valent of $1,700.
scribes a new approach under
llf ashuk."
"Three men in shipping service
"Once it quiets down," he said, "we'll rebuild. But finally,
Communism and writes especial.
"Vaisman was in a hurry to go- with their distinct lives. They were
we'll have to leave. Where? Israel. Do you think we'll stay in
ly about 50-year-old Meer Vais-
a
random choice, for I could tell
home.
His
daughter
was
graduat-
France?"
man, a seaman "in a smart uni.
form with four gold bars on his ing from the Odessa Institute of you an equally interesting story
A teen-ager chimed in: "All the young people want to go now.
about
David Hats, who bad started
Merchant
Marine's
Engineers
that
sleeve"
who
has
visited
nearly
But our parents won't sign the papers. They're afraid of the war."
every country on the globe as a day and getting married, too. Vais- as an accountant at the Black Sea
In a corner bar, where a glazier's crew was replacing a shat-
port
of
Sukhumi to become the
man's
son-in-law
was
a
seaman
ship captain.
tered window, the woman at the cashbox complained, "The Jews
Shipping Authority's chief book-
too.
and Arabs were fighting each other, and then they attack us!"
Kishinevsky relates in the course
keeper,
or about Semeon Sofier,
"Yakov
Grinberg,
chief
of
the
Her husband left a customer to say angirly, "You can stay that
of his report on Jews in the mari- Operational Planning Sector for who has received higher education
we Frenchmen had nothing to do with it, but they broke our win-
time USSR service:
and
is
now
holding a responsible
the
Black
Sea
Shipping
Authority,
dows."
"In the large family of Moisei has the reputation of a highly ex- post with the Authority as Chief of
Sociologist will find cause for study of attitudes in this new
Ship-Repair
Plants' Service, or
Vaisman,
a
poor
man
from
Krivoi
perienced specialist in shipping
trend. When the French Jewish community grew to the second in
size next to Russian Jewry on the European continent, as a result of Rog, Meer was the youngest of operation with a special talent for about Itskhok Lerner, Deputy
Chief of the Authority for capital
the flight of Algerian and Tunisian Jews from their old homelands four sons. He worried his parents planning work.
"I asked Grinberg what had construction, or Yefim Tonkonogy,
where anti-Semitism had grown rapidly, the newcomers in France when he had set his mind on be-
coming a sailor. But at 16 Meer brought him into the shipping serv- Chief Engineer at the Material and
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS wrote to the Ship Boys' School in ice. Born into a tinsmith's family in Technical Supplies Service .. ."
2—Friday, J. 26, 1970
Russian Reports on Jews in Maritime Service