Purely Commentary

World's Diplomats Put to Test by Outrageous

. Political
Yielding to Hijackers' Blackmail .
Differences Over a Vote That Defies Speculation

By Philip
Slomovitz

Killers as Heroes .. . Humanism Boiled in Oil

In retrospect, so many things assume a clearer aspect than the
original surface appearance! For example, the freeing of killers by hi-
jackers. West Germany feared the danger of another massacre, already
having been subjected to undeserved pangs during the Munich murders.
But Libya had no conscience. Neither did any of the other Arab nations,
with the exception of Jordan's King Hussein who expressed horror over
what had happened. All the others qualified their regrets (sic!) with ex-
planations that the murderous acts were understandable to them.
That's how the new development of the freeing of the murderers
by a Lufthansa plane hijacking is to be judged. Libya has already called
the killers heroes when the Munich outrage occurred. Was anything else
to be expected, other than glorification of the newest act?
What else can we expect when oil has become a controlling factor
in world affairs, with the oil-producing countries having just gained dom-
inance in world agreements that further enrich the Arab potentates?
What can we expect when humanitarian principles are boiled in oil?
What hope is there when politics is influenced by oil and the idea of
an international code to outlaw hijacking by punishing nations that con-
done it goes begging for support? Why should Libya assist in preventing
more crimes if the international community fails to reject the Libyan
arrogance, thus giving free leverage to international hooligans?

Germany yielded to blackmail: release of the three murderers was
deplorable.
But blame must be placed on an indifferent and calloused inter-
national community that permits Libyan-made principles of justice.
That's why humanity is being boiled in oil, with corrupt politics
influenced by oil, dominating over justice and common decency.
The Libyan arrogance continues to harass the world. It has defied
the United States and has driven us out. It demands the billions from oil,
and the world's powers have been compelled to grant every demand for
blackmail from this small Arab nation that appears to have cowed her
neighbors as well.
There hasn't been a single condemnation of the murderers' and
blackmailers' tactics from Arab sources. Yet there is all-too-frequent tear-
jerking for the poor refugees. Arab wealth could have made a great con-
tritution toward the rehabilitation of those in refugee camps. (Even there,
many have become rich by side-trading, and most refuse to work in order
to receive the UN handouts). But they really are not concerned with
refugee plight or Palestinians' demands: all that interests them is
Israel's destruction, and they refuse to admit that no form of terror will
accomplish it.

History of the 'Jewish Vote' . . . The Trend Among Jews Toward the Social Aspects

We are put to the test. Serious decisions are to be
reached on the Bay of Judgment. Tuesday. Is it to be
four more years, or are we to call in the opposition to
take over the guardianship of out nation? Have we been
properly educated to express our preferences? Have the
foreign policies been fully evaluated, do we understand
the status of our judiciary, are we aware of the domestic
needs that call for an end to miseries suffered by many
of the impoverished, the elder citizens who must have
our protection, the children in schools who must be
assured ever-rising standards worthy of a great nation
like ours?

These factors will enter into consideration as much
as the personality factors when many of us go to the
polls on Tuesday.

We have a duty to ourselves and to the nation not
to be swayed by deluding rhetoric and to deal with the
serious issues objectively, with a view to a future that
is affected by fluctuations evolving from the minds of
men who seek high office as well as the carefully evalu-
ated principles that inspire most careful approach to the
issues at hand.

The voters have been molested with many suspicions,
accusations, claims that often bordered on distortions.
The Jewish citizens have been hoisted into a limelight
that has proved embarassing for many. Suddenly, a new
breed of pollsters began to test us. Not unlike previous
elections but with an emphasis that often proved re-
pulsive, we became guinee pigs. Every speculator fel free
to count our votes before we reach the polling booths.
Monetary values became factors.

Factually, the Jewsih voter, in his iseparability from
membership in the larger American electorate, has been
moved into association with various political elements on
the basis of his (or her, of course) interests In social wel-
fare and the needs of the masses of the American people.
There were times when Jews on New York's East Side
were leaning to Socialism for these very reasons, and
it was not an accident that Meyer London should have
been the first Socialist to become an American Congress-
man in 1914 with a mandate from the heavily populated
Jewish area of New York's East Side.

Many Jews were active In the Republican party in
the early years of this century, yet it was no surprising
that in the era of Louis D. Brandeis and Stephen S. Wise
there was an overwhelming Jewish backing for the Dem-
ocratic party.

In all instances, the action was by Jews as Amer-
icans and the party line was often an alliance based on
economics and on the welfare needs of the country.
Foreign policies became the subject for discussion
and serious consideration in the current campaign. Has
it been settled that the issues affecting Israel and the
Middle East are non-partisan, that support for Israel is
hi-partisan? If it has not already been agreed upon, then
we are surely a rather naive populace. Support for Israel
has become national American policy. It is in this coun-
try's interest to assure the security of the only truly
- democratic country in the Middle East. Therefore, the
issue is no longer debatable.
A matter that can not be erased from discussion is
the one to which has been appended the Jewish vote
label. It certainly gave many many prognosticators and
political speculators something to juggle, and it remains
something to expose.
It's an old, very old, issue, and it dates back as
far as 1864, when the then editor, Myer S. Isaacs, of
then appearing English-Jewish weekly, the Jewish Mes-
senger, elaborated on the question in a letter to Presi-
dent Abraham Lincoln. It was reported at the time in
the American press—there were then only about 55,000
Jews in this country, no more than about 1 per cent
of the world Jewish population—that a Jewish delegation
had visited President Lincoln to jledge him the Jewish
vote. That's when Myer S. Isaacs wrote to President Lin-
coln—on Oct. 26, 1864:

"Jewish Messenger" Office,

119 West Houston Street,

New York, October 26th,
1864
To the President

Private

Your Excellency:
As a firm and earnest
Union man, I deem it my
duty to add a word to those
that have doubtless been
communicated to you from
other sources, with refer-
ence to a recent "visitation"
on the part of persons
claiming to represent the
Israelites of New York or
the United States and pledg-
ing the "Jewish vote" to
your support, and, I am in-
formed, succeeding in a de-
ception that resulted to
their pecuniary profit. -

Having peculiar facilities
for obtaining information as
to the Israelites of the Un-
ited States, from my eight
years' connection with the
yourself and the depart-
ments—I feel authorized to
caution you, sir, against
any such representations as
those understood to have
been made.

There are a large num-
ber of faithful Unionists
among our prominent core-
ligionists — but there are
also supporters of the oppo-
sition, and Indeed, the Isa-
elites are not, as a body,
distinctively (either) Union
or Democratic (Secession.
1st) in their potties. In the
conduct of our journal, for
example, while, from the
first fitting upon our na-
tional flag, there has been
a steady support of the gov-
ernment in its efforts to
maintain the integrity of
the Union and crush the un-
hallowed rebellion, there
has also been a studied per-
sistence in the expression of
what is our implicit belief,
that the Jews, as a body,
have no politics; and while
we (The Jewish Messenger)
ha v e earnestly counseled
and implored attachment to
the Union at whatever cost,
we have refrained from in-
terfering with the private
political views of individ-
ual readers. This is predi-
cated on our direct knowl-
edge of the character and
Jewish paper of this city
and my position as secre-
tary of their central organi-
zation, the "Board of Dele-
gates"—in which capacity I
have had the honor hereto-
fore of communicating with

opinions of our coreligion-
ists.

Therefore, sir, I am
pained and mortified to find
that you had been imposed
upon by irresponsible men,
animated, I am sure, by
mercenary motives; and I
wish to inform you, with all
promptitude, that such acts
are discountenanced a n d
condemned most cordially
by the community of Amer-
ican Israelites. As an illus-
tration that an influential
class of Jewish citizens are
warm adherents of the ad-
ministration, you have the
fact that a Hebrew will cast
for you the vote of a New
York city congressional dis-
trict. A single Union meet-
ing this week presented
these facts: the chairian
of the Executive Committee
and Committee of Arrange-
ments, the gentleman who
presented the resolutions.
two principal speakers and
many prominent persons
upon the platform were
Jews—I refer to the Ger-
man Union mass meeting
on Monday night.

It Is because I sympa-
thize heart and soul with
the action of (the) govern-
ment in using every means
to restore the Union and
overthrow the machinations
of those who seek its dis•
ruption, that I the more re-
gret this attempt to deceive
you. There is no "Jewish
vote" — If there were, It
could not be bought. As a
body of intelligent men, we
are advocates of the cher-
ished principles of liberty
and Justice, and must in-
evitably support and advo-
cate those who are the ex-
ponents' of such a platform
—"liberty and Union, now
and forever."

Pardon the liberty I take
in thus trespassing on your
attention, but I pray that
you will attribute It to the
sole motive I have, that of
undeceiving you and assur-
ing you that there is no
necessity for "pledging" the
Jewish vote which does not
exist—but at the same time
that the majority of Israel-
ite citizens must concur In
attachment for the Union
and a determination to
leave no means untried to
maintain its honor and in-
tegrity. With the expression
of high esteem, I am, sir,

Yours Most Respectfully,

MYER S. ISAACS

It was 60 years later that the debate assumed greater
proportions when the late Louis Marshall, president of
the American Jewish Committee, was angered by the
formation of the "Hebrew American League of New
Jresye. On Oct. 31, 1924, Marshall wrote to Felix Fuld,
an eminent American Jew:

"It is needless to say that there is no such thing as
a Jewish vote. It would be a misfortune if there were.
As citizens we give our adherence to the several political
parties in accordance with bur political convictions. It
would be just as bad for the Jews to vote as Jews as it
would be for any other religious denominations to vote
as Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians or Free-Thinkers.
Such action would only stimulate movements like that of
the Ku Klux Klan. This in itself would be a sufficient
cause for condemning the men who are responsible for
this circular (announcing the formation of the New Jersey
Hebrew American League) and for the degradation of
the faith to which they pretend to belong."

This was one of numerous statements Marshall had
made on the question. On Nov. 1, 1916, he protested,
in a letter to the editor of Der Tog (The Day), against
the appeal for support of President Woodrow Wilson by
Henry Morgenthau and Herman Bernstein "because of
what he (Wilson) had done for the Jews." Marshall then
wrote:

"What has he done for them that It was not his duty
as the President to do? What has he done that, under
like conditions, any other President would not be likely
to do. He permitted vessels belonging to the government
to be used in transforming food and money to Palestine.
Thas was an .act of humanity which was almost inevitable
under the extrordinary condtions which prevailed . . .

Isn't this the reasoning In our time—in the emphasis
that is needed that support for Israel Is not a one-party
obligation but Is an American principle?

There were numerous other declartions on the sub-
ject, primarily those by Louis Marshall, and to this day
politicians come to us with Jewish appeals while the
Jewish voter, treasuring his mandate and his citizenship,
is moved by considerations of human needs, of American
ideals, basing his touch of the lever as he enters the
voting booth on principles motivated by the need to raise
the standards of American politics above the indignities
that stem from corruption, suppression of free speech
and a free press, insisting that the less affluent have
the opportunities that are vital to the struggle to erase
poverty and especially to reduce those inequalities which
have led to race hatred and in turn to the reduction of
the educational values in our big cities.
Not unlike his fellow Americans of all faiths, the
Jewish citizens, casting his American vote, has a good
sense of human and American values when he vests his
ballot.

At the risk of repetition, we remind our readers of
the days during Tammany rule In New York. A Jewish
citizens was in an especially good mood. He was enjoy-
ing his Election Day holiday, strolling on Delancey Street,
humming, smoking a big cigar, with hands on his back.
A friend met him and asked the reason for his good mood.
"I earned $5 and this fine cigar from the Tammany boss
of my district, and voted against Tammany," he explained.

There are no payoffs these days, but there are
tempting resorts to conflicting political appeals. There
is talk about a Jewish vote, some assumptions being based
on claims of serviced to Jews as Jews, and the Amer-
ican who is a voter and also happens to be a Jew will
be at the polls next to a man who may be an atheist
or a Catholic or a Baptist or a Moslem; and he'll think
of his fellow men and of his country. He'll be motivated
by his conscience. The politicians had beter atop count-
ing the votes cast by such hands as they pull the lever
in the voting booth on the coming Tuesday morning.

2—Friday, Nev. 3, 1972

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

