!t!
NAACP President Applies Jewish Soul to Civil Rights
By CHARLOTTE DUBIN
A threat to replace him as presi-
dent of the NAACP just doesn't
rattle an old fighter like Kivie
Kaplan, who wears his civil rights
battle scars like so many ribbons
across his chest.
The 68-year-old retired Boston
industrialist, in Detroit for the an-
nual convention of the National
Association for the Advancement
of Colored People, figures that "Ii
you believe in a cause, you don't
let such things bother you."
That the NAACP ought to con-
sider changing its integrationist
image and replace its traditionally
w hite president with a black
leader was the suggestion of the
Boston chapter of the association.
The chapter president did ac-
knowledge, however, the consider-
able achievements of Kaplan, who
has served the organization for the
past 40 years and has been re-
elected national president every
year since 1966.
Kaplan said he will he "avail-
able" for re-election in January.
but no matter what happens, "I'll
work for them as long as they
want me."
Ile added: "If you're a veneer;
liberal, all you need is an alibi
to conk out (of the civil rights
fight)."
Kaplan is well aware that he
has made enemies with his out-
spoken criticism of those Jews
who once prided themselves on
their liberalism, but now talk
another game. "The Jews have
suffered for thousands of years,
but not until we came to this
country did we have the fran-
chise. If we're not aware of the
need for open housing and equal
education for all, then we're not
Jews, we're hypocrites. We've
got to practice Judaism in our
everyday life,"
Kaplan has the credentials to
talk like that. He is a vice chair-
man of the executive committee
of the Union of American Hebrew
Congregations (Reform ) and with
his wife Emily established th: ,
❑ AIIC Religious Action Center in
Washington. D. C.
Ile is proud of the fart that he
belongs to three Reform templ,,,.
as well as one Conservative an.?
one Orthodox synagogue. And a
Congregational church.
L'One of my closest friend- and
a true friend of Israel is the Rev .
S. Ralph Harlow, a founder of the
American-Christian Palestine Com-
mittee. lie always believed that if
you loved people, you prayed with
them " But when Rev. Harlow
sought to join two of the temples
to which Kaplan belonged. he was
turned down. Thus, "I joined a
Congregational church so Ralph
and I could pray together.")
Kaplan's own devotion to Israel
is evidenced in the many trips he
has taken there including one
with officials of the NAACP.
He is pleased by the associa-
tion's many pronouncements of
friendship for Israel, particularly
those by its executive director, Roy
Wilkins, who in March was award-
ed an honorary fellowship by the
Hebrew University.
Kaplan
pooh-poohed reports
that the NAACP was hoping to
rejoin the Black Convention
which recently rammed through
an anti-Israel resolution in Gary,
Ind. Most of the conventioneers
had left when some 200 militants
voted for the dismantling of Is-
rael, for black separatism and
against cross-district busing.
These are three issues with
which the NAACP cannot com-
promise, Kaplan said. "I assure
you I have heard of no effort to
rejoin the Gary convention. What
you have heard is just press sen-
sationalism."
Despite President Nixon's grow-
ing popularity among Jews be-
cause of his aid to Israel, Kaplan
— who describes himself as a Re-
KIVIE KAPLAN
publican — has made it perfectly
clear that he doesn't want the in-
cumbent Republican President to
serve another term.
"The Jews are under the im-
pression that Nixon is the mo-
shiakh (messiah) for Israel. But
he is doing for Israel only what is
in America's best interests. Any
President would do the same." It
is on domestic issues that Mr.
Nixon has Kaplan — and the
NAACP — worried. "You think
he's a friend?" Kaplan asked
rhetorically. "How many Jews did
he name to the Supreme Court"
How many did he name to the
Cabinet?"
At the reminder that President
Nixon's closest adviser, Henry
Kissinger, is a Jew, Kaplan sug-
gested that Kissinger's Jewishness
is an accident o f birth. The t wo
men shared the same beach on
Martha's Vineyard. where the
Kaplans spend their summers.
"and for the longest time, I was
unaware that Kissinger was a
Jew."
Kaplan insists the Nixon adminis-
tration has demonstrated — in its
treatment of school desegregation,
employment policies in govern-
ment. housing and other issues --
a lack of concern for minorities.
Unlike other NAACP leaders,
w ho have ex pressed support for
Sen. Geor;z.e McGovern, Kaplan is
•licking by Hubert Humphrey.
- Why? Because of 25 years of civil
rights effort. I remember when
he :led Walter R eut her and Arthur
Goldberg and Ralph Helstein, head
of the packing men's union in
Chicago, used to go to every
NAACP convention. -
Recognizing
that
busiim
has
worked magic for George Wallace
( - My children were bused almost
Military Balance
in ME Outlined
LONDON (ZINS)—How does the
present military balance of power
appear between Israel and her
Arab neighbors five years since the
Six-Day War?
According to the Strategic Insti-
tute of London, the relative
strength in war material five years
ago of Israel and the three Arab
states, Egypt, Syria and Jordan,
directly involved in the fighting
was as follows: Arab states, about
400,000 soldiers, vs. Israel's 250,-
000. In armored equipment, the
Arab regimes had at their disposal
2,200 tanks vs. 800 in Israel's
arsenal. The combined Arab air
power amounted to 656 aircraft vs.
the Israel air force of 240 planes.
In June 1972, the relative strength
in personnel and equipment is as
follows: Arab forces, some 490,000
troops vs. Israel defense force now
numbering 300,000. Arab tanks •
total 2,800 vs. Israel's 1,300. Com-
bined Arab air strength consists
of 770 planes vs. Israel's air force •
of 375 combat planes.
No data is given concerning''
other military equations such as
naval forces, including submarines.:
and missiles of all descriptions.
40 years ago. But you didn't hear
any complaint from whites till
there was talk of busing blacks"),
Kaplan dismisses talk of Wallace
as - a vice presidential running mate
on the Democratic ticket. "We
must keep as far away from bigots
as possible," he said.
Bigotry is what brought Kap-
lan to the NAACP in the first
place 40 years ago. He recalls
seeing a sign on a Miami hotel
that read: "No Dogs or Jews
Allowed." His Negro driver,
aware of the pain it must have
caused Kaplan, remarked that
discrimination was old hat to
him; he could not go out after 8
p.m. without a permit. "And
when I couldn't reply, my driver
added: 'We Negroes can't go
swimming in the ocean.' I went
home and joined the NAACP,
and have been working ever
since."
The presidency is no figurehead
title to Kaplan_ He's been in so
many civil rights marches, he's
lost count. To the Selma. Ala.,
march in 1965, he brought his son
Edward (today a professor of
French and teacher of Jewish
mysticism at Amherst) and one
of his grandsons. Fifty-eight mem-
bers of his family, including his
ife, two daughters and his grand-
children, hold $500 life member-
ships in the NAACP.
One of the photographic treas-
ures he carries with him is that
of himself. and Martin Luther King
Jr., with whom he had a close
friendsip.
The fact that Jews have been in
the forefront of civil rights efforts
is nothing new. In fact, the NAACP
includes among its founders the
late Rabbi Stephen S. Wise and
Lillian Wald. Kaplan's predeces-
sors as president. Joel and Arthur
Spingarn, also were Jews.
This is a point of pride to Kap-
lan, the grandson of a rabbi in
Europe w hose name he bears. At
the same time, he is disturbed by
the actions. and words, of indi-
vidual Jews who like other whites
"don't really know Negroes. All
they know are maids and the guys
ho clean their cars. React Ebony.
and you'll learn a lot that snit don't
o-e in the is hit, pre,
You know. I often meet women
who tell me about the trouble
they're ha, ing w oh the inaM. and
it all gets mixed up wilh ti' or feel
trigs about•roc-:. I tell them
they're letting a personal
merit problem get contused w
the issue
of
human
Something else he doesn't like is
- We don't
the word "shvartza
like piople to call u. yids or
sheemes. Well. Negroes don't like
to be called niggers or shvartzas "
Kaplan wishes for a return of
the good old days, when young
Jews were involved in the civil
rights cause. lie acknowledges
that the Blacks
themselves
started to turn assay white vol
unteers, but he hopes it was
temporary.
He excuses many such black
!Egypt to Pay Netherlands
After Seizing 2 Concerns
expressions of pride, just as he in-
sists that some "affirmative ac-
tion" in employment and educa-
tion is necessary. "We Jews are
2.9 per cent of the population of
the United States, yet we are 10
per cent of the college student
population and 25 per cent of the
college faculty population. If our
Jewish young men and women
apply to college and are turned
down, they can apply to 99 others.
A Negro cannot."
Kaplan knows he doesn't always
say the popular thing , --- two.
policemen *ticking close to him
are proof of that — but he sin-
cerely believes that what he says
is motivated by "Jewish soul. -
That spirit was conveyed in a cita-
tion presented to hint last weekend
by Temple Israel.
It describes Kaplan as a "dis-
tinguished American, a committed
Jew and a noble humanitarian
whose people are all God's chil-
dren, whose congregation is all
mankind."
Friday, July 7, 1972-19
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