Purely Commentary

According to a JTA report from Rome, the People's Republic of
China views the Middle East as a region bullied by the Big Powers
and unable to take its destiny in its own hands. Peking's aim is "to
assist these people's liberation from foreign intervention and to
encourage them to decide their own fate," according to Premier Chou
En-lai who is -quoted in an article published in the Socialist daily
Avanti written by Pietro Nenni, leader of Italy's Socialist Party.
Nenni just returned from a visit to Peking. where he had a 4'h-
hour interview with Chou.
The Tel Aviv daily Maariv claimed that Chou's attitude toward
Israel is that the Jewish state should not exist but he does not foresee
a "violent end" to its existence. According to Maariv, that assessment
was conveyed to Premier Golda Meir in a letter from Nenni, who was
asked by Mrs. Meir to try to find out in Peking what Israel could
expect from the People's Republic now that it has been seated in the
United Nations.
Much more revealing is the analysis of the situation affecting
China's attitude on the Middle East by the diplomatic correspondent
of the London Times, who states:
"China has declined an inquiry from the French government
inviting her to join the United States, Britain, France and Russia
in their talks on the Middle East.
"The Chinese excused themselves on the grounds that they
know little about the problems of the Middle East; an excuse which
it must be said is eyewash.
"China has long been represented in a number of Arab coun-
tries. Indeed Mr. Huang Hua, who has just been appointed perma-
nent representative to the United Nations, was formerly Chinese
ambassador in Cairo.
"The Chinese have also received a number of Palestinian
guerrilla delegations in Peking, although in the past 12 months
or so their interest in the guerrilla movement has apparently
slackened. Either they saw that it was breaking down or they
wished to be on their best behavior during their own approach
to United Nations membership.
"By remaining aloof, the Peking government preserved its
freedom to attack any proposals or agreement.
"The refusal to join in the negotiations, while preserving
China's courteous and correct image, is in fact, therefore, a
foretaste of the spoiling tactics which must be expected."

Will there be destructive aims related to the "spoiling tactics,"
or will China's important role in the UN resolve into changing effects
and attitude on Israel and the Jewish state's struggles with the
Arabs? Interesting and exciting events can be foreseen on the inter-
national arena in the coming months.

*

The Postage Prepaid Zionist Ballot

-

There is a famous true story about a very popular Detroit Yiddish
radio broadcaster who, in 1936, had sold time on his program to the
Republican Party. He gave a long speech written for him—for the
purchased time space—about All Landon, the fine man, the great
administrator, the preferred candidate for President. Having finished,
he told his audience: "Dos iz geven a betzolter notitz. Ich voot far
Rocsevelt." ("This was a paid announcement. I vote for Roosevelt.")
It will be interesting to know, when the ballots are counted, how
many American Jews took into account all the aspects of a Zionist
Congress election, whether they studied the innuendos as well as the
direct appeals, before casting their ballots.
In this age of the lib movement, we will be curious to learn bow
Zicnis: constituents will react to our women's appeals.
They happen to be the only ones who have injected recriminations
into the campaign. Maybe that's the way to influence voters. Or,
is it passible that people do not change and refuse to budge from
party loyalties?
Having started up with wunen, let's try to finish the job before the
deadline for balloting for delegates to the 28th World Zionist Congress
which will open in Jerusalem on Jan. 17.
The women Zionists, in a message to their members, included
this paragraph:
"The Congress Tribunal requests that 'from now on the appellants
refrain from making public accusations liable to harm the entire Zion-
ist movement.' Every Zionist grouping in the U.S., with the exception
of the ZOA is, in good faith, carrying out this injunction."
This need not be interpreted as sanctimony. But what follows
certainly did not add to good will. Some one in the national Hadassah
office was a tilt too angry. It was well •to be angry before the Tribunal
acted in Jerusalem. Thereafter, even if Herman Weisman claimed
scme victories for ZOA in the tribunal decision, it was not necessary
to enter into recriminations. The women did, and we wonder how many
of the women Zionists will read their leaders' statement carefully and
will ask why they should have and could have been eliminated from
the current Zionist debate.
There is much else to be said about the Hadassah claims—espe-
cially about the partners in their deal. B'nai Zion is an insurance order
that has some members. Its leaders were active politically until they
got into personality squabbles and left the ZOA partnership.
The League for Israel? That's a story with another rendition. When
some very distinguished ZOA leaders left the movement to form the
League for Israel, it was said frankly by both sides: ZOA has members
without leaders, the League is composed of leaders without members.
Before Detroit Hadassah members fall for the tripe about non-party in
their leadership advertisement, let them inquire: are there Bnai Zion
or Israel League members in Detroit? About five years ago there were
two in the latter group, both unfortunately having departed; perhaps
more in the former.

When Lipsky, Goldstein, Levinthal, Shapiro and a handful of
others left the ZOA, they imperished Zionism because the new move-
ment is so abortive and numerically limited to the top brass. To say,
however, that the ranks they depleted became leaderless would be
a generalization applicable to all Jewish-movements. ZOA is no less
leaderless than any other American Jewish movement, and the Israel

2—Frilly, Datember 24, 1971

By Philip
Slomovitz

Over-Organized Jewry ... and the Passion for More Movements

Chou En-tai's Position on Israel

*

Zionism Meets Its Internal Denigrators . . . Some •
Con flicting Issues in an Election Approaching
Vindictiveness . .. New Group in Over-organized Jewry

THE DETROIT JEWISH IIEWS

•

For a few years, the charge that American Jewry was over-organized subsided. There must be an
element that thinks we are under-organized: therefore, out of Conservative ranks, there has just emerged a
new National Community Security Council.
There is no doubt that we are over-organized, that the several civic protective movements could
really work together and abandon overlapping. There was a time when there were ideological differences.
Anti-Zionists could not and would not work with Zionists, the traditionalists would not cooperate with
the Reform. Now there is greater cooperation in religious ranks (except from the extremists who often
show a lack of good taste in newspaper advertisements and by picketing notables), and the dispute over
Zionism has subsided almost completely.
In fact, at the annual meeting of the United Israel Appeal in New York last week, Max M. Fisher
(he has been called the most Zionist non-Zionist) sought and found an opportunity to pay high
tribute to Zionist pioneering in the establishment of Israel. He does it often and expresses his grati-
tude for Zionist devotions to Israel and to major Jewish causes.
So we now have a new movement, and we wonder whether it will develop into a council, whether
it will provide the security it aspires to, whether it will get community support and if it will really have a
national connotation.
We have the American Jewish Congress, American Jewish Committee, Jewish War Veterans, Anti-
Defamation League—and all other national Jewish groups often claim the right and resort to means of
backing Israel and relatedly appeal to the White House and to Congress for assistance; protest indignities
and racism; condemn anti-Semitism, etc.
So—we have a new group, and the Forest Hills dispute is one of its concerns. How about the other
groups, the New York Board of Rabbis, the Synagogue Council, in addition to the others we have listed?
Don't They all have a stake in efforts to prevent developing antagonisms, in the split in our communities
over the race issue, in the problems that arise out of the flight from cities to suburbs—in the Zionist-
non-Zionist-anti-Zionist controversies and a score of other issues?
It is the usual stunt in forming new committees and councils: resort to big names. Even Elie Wiesel
has been drawn into the new council together with prominent rabbis and academicians. In a sense it is a
rebuke to existing movements, with a challenge that they are not doing their duty. We'd better have a good
look at existing forces which are receiving considerable financial aid and are drawing upon our manpower
in their functions. Either we have a well-functioning community or we are marked by social failure.
If the existing groups have failed, can the new council hope to succeed?
The next move by this council might be to apply for funds from Federations, else threaten to
conduct its own campaign. Isn't this the routine? --
At any rate, Conservative Judaism, like other religious factions, has enough troyble of its own. Now
it has a new child to nourish. If the new council can be kept within its own confines, it'll be a blessing for
the rest of us.

League may have harmed a great deal but it created less. Now it is
a crutch for the 'women to be politicking with.
And about avoiding politics: ask those who had attended previous
Zionist congresses how skillfully political the women are once they get
to the Jerusalem sessions!
Because of the popularity of Israel and the philanthropic funds
for Israel, enrollment of Zionist members hasn't been easy. Hadassah,
claiming to be non-party but being ultra-political, hasn't helped the
cause with its voluminous propaganda campaign. It charges ZOA
with flooding the Jewish market with propaganda, but when weighed
the women's literature on the subject will outweigh the men's five to
one. The women sure have emerged politically !
And the women certainly haven't helped the cause of the new
American Zionist Federation under whose auspices the election by
mail is being conducted !
The labor and religious movements' appeals have been normal in
the political sense, but here, too, there is a problem. Was it proper
to use endorsements of Israel government officials for the Labor slate.
Eban reportedly protested use of his name. At least, this is not name-
calling.

Isn't it clear from what we tell
you here that we reject the de-
nigration by ,Hadassah of the cen-
trist movement, the ZOA?

There is lots more to be repeated
about the-Congress elections: the
women could have helped save a
million or more dollars for Israel
by avoiding the expensive vote-by-
mail. (If you are a voter you'll
have a cinch and a bargain: your
return envelope has prepaid post-
age at Zionist badly-needed-dollar
expense).

So—having read the ads, will
constituents merely emulate the
slogan of the quoted Yiddish radio
broadcaster?

UN Anti-Israel Position Deplored
by Costa Rican Ambassador-Priest

UNITED NATIONS (JTA) —
Costa Rica, one of six countries—
all Latin American—to join with
Israel in voting no on the UN
General Assembly's pro-Egyptian
resolution, defended Israel against
charges of brutality in the ad-
ministered Arab areas. Speaking
in the Special Political Commit-
tee areas. Speaking in the Special
Political Committee on the ques-
tion of Israeli practices in the
territories, Costa Rican delegate
Benjamin Nunez said the Israeli
attitude actually constituted the
most beneficent occupational au-
thority in history.
Nunez, a priest who serves. as
Costa Rican ambassador to Is-
rael, suggested that the "cloud
of preconceived ideas and posi-
tions" about Israeli policy could
be dissipated if those delegates
critical of Israel would visit him
there and see the situation for
themselves.
The territories, he said, had
freedom of religion and passage,
and the Israelis were providing
agricultural, health and sanitation
facilities. He was shocked, he said,
that the Special Committee had
not accepted a single "crumb of
truth" from the Israeli side before
submitting its critical report.
Israel's delegate, Shamay Ca-
hana, charged that the report
of "Special Committee to In-
vestigate Israeli Practices Af-
fecting Human Rights of the

Occupied Territories" was polit-
ically motivated and 'tendenti-
ously ignored or misrepresented
the facts." In a speech delivered
to the Special Political Commit-
tee, Cabana noted that the
three-member committee repre-
senting Ceylon, Somalia and
Yugoslavia, had used procedures
incompatible with accepted in-
ternational standards of inves-
tigation.
"It has suppressed evidence fa-
vorable to Israel, has been selec-
tive in quoting from Israeli sources
and has accepted as absolute truth
evidence which was false; so long
as it supported its preconceived
ideas," Cabana said. He cited a
number of examples of charges
accepted by the committee without
investigation, charges which were
refuted upon proper investigation
by objective observers.
Cahana also charged that the
committee had far exceeded its
mandate by asserting as its point
of departure, that "it considers
that in this case the fundamental
violation of human rights lies in
the very fact of occupation." With
such an assertion, he said, there
was no reason to investigate. The
committee's mind was made up
before it began its work. Cabana
said the committee has given cur-
rency to the myths of Israeli mass
"deportation of Arabs from terri-
tories under Israeli administration"
and was guilty of deliberate mis-

representation of Israeli policies.
The reality is, Cahana noted,
that Israel administers the oc-
cupied territories, fully recog-
nizing that it is "bound by law,
by humanitarian considerations
and by enlightened self-interest
to treat the inhabitants as it
does its own subjects." Arabs
of the Gaza Strip and the West
Bank move freely from one area
to another without permits, he
stated. Israel pursues a policy
of "minimum interference" and
the presence of Israeli author-
ities is as "discreet" as possible,
he asserted.
"The Arab population enjoys al-
most complete autonomy in ad-
ministering its municipal and com-
munity affairs" and "freedom of
expression" exists in the adminis-
tered territories, Cabana declared,
including the right to criticize the
Israeli government and its policies.
Israeli practices have provided
the Arabs with the means of mak-
ing economic progress and improv-
ing their standards of living and
has maintained "security and pub-
lic order" in the administered terri-
tories, Cabana declared. He
acknowledged that the Arabs do
not "particularly welcome" Israeli
administration of the o _ ccupied -ter-
ritories. "The present administra-
tion will eventually come to an
end," he continued, "when the con-
flict is settled and fittid boundaries
established."