of,
,..,,,Russitignt. Nixon's Role, as. Messenger
Pei. East . . . traditional InterestS in China I ' ' '
'in Recollections About Students at U-M, Two-Gun Cohen
Siomovftz
-
Fingers Away From Trigger: Nixon-Chou Experiment . . . Intereat-Creating China Facts
nt Lands
While Richard Nixon and his entourage were in China •there was silence in political
studi;. ? - bareed on official figures, released by the
laid* uniiIttAreveals' some tragic facts regarding Jews ranks.' Now the criticisms have erupted. But the Nixon image will not be shadowed. Even
'entintries; There were 850,000 Jews in Moslem
.
1948. :Of 75* ;riuber more than 550,000 settled in Israel: if the President is charged with having "usurped" State Depaitieent powars, the fact is that
•epresent escapees from- persecutions that forced Jews, who had he and Chou talked—and that moved fingers away from gun triggers. That is What counts.
Ilved.In-Some arels . aslosig*Lthe Arabs themselvel, to abandon homes
Talk is cheap in the United - Nations, yet even from that arena:4,1s :possible that
and possessions in - thetr selich for a haven in the ancient Jewish
homeland. The figures - compiled: by responsible demographers indicate. it prevented more active warfare. The UN failed inibe crisis,-it is ineffective
the contrast between 11148 and•1971 as follows:
in bringing about peace in the Middle East, but tare ii-alwayii the remote chance through
JEWISH POPULATION IN MOSLEM LANDS
tail
to accomplish something even in the ineffectual -UN.
1946
End 1971
-
,
But direct talks by two heads of state makes another story. There. is greater hope
from what- had transpired, and the President may have accemplishect soinething tantamount
to what he - .termed "a world' change." Perhaps' what had occurred. between him and Chou
may even lead to an end to anti-Israelism in the -Middle East.
. We shall
- , . hope for it.
Ideinwhile, new interest has been Created in-China and its people. -There was a China-
Michigan link --When the president of the University of Michigan; James:73'mill Angell,
during his term of office in Ann Arbor, from 1871 to 1909, had served: as U.S. minister
to Turkey and China. While he was said to-have been responsible-for-the-E hinese Exclusion
Att, It is also known that he had negotiated treaties with China iindrereeted amicability
between the U. S. and the-Chinese—to such an extent that studenta.from China flocked
to -the University of Michigan. Here is the interesting story that hal no•been told before!
In studying these figures, there is, this basic fact to consider:
A freshman in Ann Arbor, Lawrence Seltzer, who was the ,campus.' correspondent
Israel has direct contacts with Iran-and Turkey, and the Jevirles
there are still -to be viewed as free from.molestation. While theie are, ior one of.the.Detioit daily newspapers (there were four of them in_ 1920); had exceptionally
no contacts with Lebanon, Morocco and,Tunisia, these lands nfejnot good news _sense, and he wrote a story about the reduction in thenualber of Chinese stn.
cut off from communication with Jews in the Diaspora. Thus, in the
other lands in the above group there remain 7,540. Jevo• who are :dents at the AL of .31.-who had previously come in hordes when Dr. Angell- was president.
in dire straits, who must have help to emigrate for - theie enmity. The `flow stopped; and the Chinese began enrolling in Columbia-University, when Dr.
While some assurances have come from -Iraq that there will
be a measure of security for the 1,000 .iews whP remain 7there from Harry B. Hutchins -became IPM president.
the total of 120,000 who lived there 24 .yeksit-ago,` it is. the Syrian
'Hutchins didn't like the story and called Larry--to task. Our guesii is that he told the
Jewish - community that Is in grave danger.:.: ---
- student who
to become one of the university's Most brilliant graduates—he
A "spokesman" for- SYtian Jewry- reosistrx.::
to tics
itf_the:departinent of economics at Wayne State University for a ntunber of
a statement to a New York Times correspondent; etl
aWs. , g
freedom for Jews exists there. All reports, from--most - zeeponsible years==.4lldritioirtonder better service-to -his- school and to-humaartyt if w re to report
quarters, negate such forced assertions that have been made by on the'..many (oh so glorious!) social functions the U-M president was giving at thepresi-
self-appointed chief rabbis and so called presidents of the; Syrian dent's home!
Jewish community. Cessation of efforts in behalf .of the eadingered
Dr. 'Seltzer is now temporarily in San Diego, Calif. •He believes that the continuing
Syrian community will only contribute to the plight of the remaining importanca- of the University of Michigan department in Far East Studies is a legacy from
4,000 Jews whose sufferings are, described at -intolerable.
The puzzle in relation to the Jevis in Moslem countries is that Angell's days. He- adds this interesting note to the 'U-M experience witih the Chinese:
world public opinion—if such a factor is truly conceivable in a world "Another Chinese-Michigan point of contact was Henry Carter Adams, for - some years
marked by both tensions and indifference—fails tolake into-account chairman of-the U-M economics department. Adams had originally come to Michigan after
the incontrovet-tible fact that more Jews have 1/Mustily. been expelled being kicked out of Cornell (I believe) for radicalism. He became one of :the-founders of the
from Arab lands than the number of Arabs who have fled from the American Economic Aisociation and his book on 'Public 'Finsince' lainv,beeinie a classic
Holy Land when Israel was reborn.' Also—the Jewish losses were in in its field.. Adams went to China to organize a system of:alfaunis -for Chinese railroads.
the billions whereas there is certain to be a form of compeniation He did this with such outstanding success—by providing the information :needed-for intelligent
for Arab refugees when peace is established. These facts must receive tise of the railroad resources—that his system became the basis of all railroad -accounting
full consideration in dealing with,the Middle VOL_
nearly everywhere."--
There are so many matters- of great interest about China, and It - 'Blood that it has
A Measure of Inhumaii Thinking
Here is another sample of the type of thinking that emanates from been revived by the Nixon visit to Peking. For instance, there is the frequent reference to
ignorance, despair and inhuman. attitudes. "Al Destour" is a semi- the Chinese thousand-year-old eggs. We have no proof of anything:bg - that old, and only
official organ of the Jordanian government. In a recent issue It carried in the Psalms do we read: "For a thousand years in Thy sight arnbut as a watch in the
an article by Fuad Faras who advocated "a simple mathematical equa- night . . ." Eggs are pickled in China and are aged considerably. The thousand year claim
tion that will achieve Arab victory over the Jews," explaining it as lends myth to reality.
follows:
But the old egg is never ignored in conversations about China. When Prof. Isaiah
"If we say that the killing of one Jew will cost us four of our
own people, then we would need 12,000,000 Arabs in order to kill Leo Sharfman, then chairman of the department of economics at UAL headed the. Campus
3,000,000 Jews — and our beloved Palestine would be purified Liberty Loan Campaign—this commentator was then the volunteer Liberty:Loan publicity
of this desecration while the Arab states would recover their losses writer—we met frequently at his home to plan the appeal among students and faculty. Prof.
within two and a half years. In addition, the rotting of our Sharfman often reminisced about China. Upon his graduation from Harvard (where he was
casualties' corpses on oar pure soil will guarantee that the Jews one of the founders of the Menorah Association), he was, for a time, before becoming
are killed by disease and plague."
economics professor at U-M., professor of law and political science at the Imperial
With such mental giants as guides, is it any wonder that Jordan Pei-Yang'University in Tientsin. He loved to talk about the thousand-year-old-egg myth.
remains backward and doesn't take advantage of the benefits offered
China is always reminiscent of the famed General Moishe Two-Gun Cohen who was
its citizens by its neighbor s progressive Israel ?
the bodyguard of Sun Yat Sen who was then—in 1910—touring England (Gen. Cohen's birth-
Death of Three Npted Personalities
place), Canada and the United States in search for support to overthrow the Manchu dynasty
We have suffered additional losses in our ranks during the week. and to establish a republic in China. Two 7 Gun Cohen, who also was called General Ma-Ma,
Joseph Saphir, who had served in the Israel cabinet, was a leader went to China in 1922, was named one of the Edmonton delegates to Dr. Sun's regime, was
in the Liberal ranks in Israel. He was among the outstanding person- given an army coloneiship by Sun, and upon Sun's death in 1925 became the bodyguard of
alities in General Zionist leadership. Highly respected for his consistency Chiang Kai-shek, Sun's successor. Cohen reportedly saved Sun several times from assassins.
in adhering to middle-of-the-road policies in _ Israel, his passing will -
Jews played significant roles in China. There were Jewish communities in numerous
be a loss to Israel, to Zionism and the Jewish people generally.
Another loss to Israel and Jewry is the death on Wednesday of Chinese areas,. and in Shanghai there were synagogues, a school, newspapers. New research
-needs
to
be done about the status of the few hundred Jews who now are known to reside
Moshe Sneh. He became an extreme leftist, and his ultra-radicalism
which kept him very close to the Soviet Union and to communist.' in both Chinas- Many -Jews had fled to Shanghai during the last war and escaped the Nazi .-
ideologies is believed to have eliminated bins from any possibility terror. The restored American friendship should facilitate new studies about Jewish associa-
of ever attaining the prime ministership.
tions with the Chinese.
Aden
Afghanistan
Algeria
Egypt
Iraq
Iran
Lebanon
Libya
Morocco
Tunisia
Turkey
Syria
Yemen
9,000
5,000
130,000
80,000
120,000
90,000
6,000
35,000
240,000
90,000
80,000
30,000
70,000
200
1,000
600
1,000
80,000
1,800
40
35,000
.9,000
25,000
4,000
700
.
.
-
.
In 1967, when Russia spearheaded Egyptian antagonism to Israel,
Sneh became a critic of the Kremlin. There was never any doubt about
his Israeli patriotism, and even while propagating Communist ideas
he retained the respect of Israelis because he was a high ranking
intellectual with whom one could differ but who could be admired
regardless of' idealistic differences with him.
Sidney Hollander stemmed from different quarters. He was, in
fact, an anti-Zionist long ago. But as president of the Council of
Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds he commenced to support the
settlement of tens of thousands of Jews in the ancient hozneland.
He had a unique sense of humor. He was among the best story-
tellers in the leadership ranks of the CJFWF. Prof. William Haber
paid him great honor at a CJFWF assembly banquet several years
ago, and he quoted a typical Hollander story. It was in relation to
awards that were then being made. The aging CJFWF leader said
in accepting an honor: "Whenever I have a bit of an argument with
my wife, I go into my study, close the door, gather up the plaques
and awards issued in my honor and read them for consolation."
Saphir, Sneh and Hollander were distinguished personalities, and
they'll be missed in our ranks.
,
2—Friday, March 3, 1972
•THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Prof. Lawrence Seltzer
Late Prof. Sharfman