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THE JEWISHr NEWS'

incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951

Member American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association, National Editorial Associa-
tion. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075.
Second-Class Postage Paid at Southfield, Michigan and Additional Mailing Offices. Subscription $10 a year.

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Editor and Publisher

CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ

Business Manager

CHARLOTTE DUBIN

City Editor

DREW LIEBERWITZ

Advertising Manager

Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the sixth day of Kislev, 5724, the following scriptural selections

will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Gen. 28:10-32:3. Prophetical portion, Hosea 12:13-14:10.

Candle lighting, Friday, Nov. 30, 4:44 p.m.

VOL. LXIV. No. 12

Page Four

November 30, 1973

Challenge to the Fairness of the Press

A national study of reactions to "Israel's States, Israel's best friend, can benefit from
fight for survival," conducted by the Anti- criticism. Condemnation of improprieties has
Defamation League of the Bnai Brith and its role for the newspapers of the free world.
published last week showed that left- and But damaging criticisms must be based on
right-wing extremists "pounced on the Jewish facts, not on rumors and legends. They must
state with the hostility and zeal of the Arab . be rooted in realities, not in the guess work
armies."
of suspicious minds. The very damaging, and
The survey also included an anlysis of the antagonistic, Detroit News editorial is clearly
attitude of the American press, indicating based on submission to suspicions and has
that 34 of the 50 top-circulation newspapers earned condemnation from all justice-loving
—68 per cent of that group — placed blame people.
for the Yom Kippur War on the Arabs; 14
There is an old Hebrew saying: lo m'ukt-
newspapers — 28 per cent — took a generally zeko v'lo m'duvshekho — rejecting the bee's
neutral posture; and two — 4 per cent — honey if it must come with the sting. Jews
blamed Israel for the latest war.
are not asking for unlimited honey, and stings
The latter two are the Washington Star must be accepted when justified. But when
News and the Oakland Tribune. Not included an editorial is based on a report that Israelis
in the list of antagonists to Israel is the were filling up the Suez Canal with sand,
Christian Science Monitor — perhaps the when it had been denied by Moshe Dayan;
worst offender in dealing with Israel's role in supplementing the charge with a list of faults,
the Middle East — because it is not in the chronicling sins that have been questioned —
group of largest circulating newspapers.
then it is time to ask whether a large news-
The ADL study was made public prior to paper can be excused for prejudices.
Nov. 20. Had it been delayed for a few days
Subsequent editorials in our afternoon
the surveyer would have listed three rather newspaper sought to re-establish impartiality
than two antagonists to Israel. It would have with claims to objectivity. They may have re-
included the Detroit News, for its editorial, stored the paper to the class of those who
Nov. 20, 1973, that was published under the were not opposing Israel, while not taking the
heading "A provocative act by Israel."
positive stand in support of a justified de-
Israel, and the Jewish people that is back- fense. But the damage had already been done
ing the Jewish state, as well as the United in an attempt to set up a bill of complaint
that helps the elements who seek the destruc-
tion of Israel and the imposition of another
holocaust upon a very small nation that is
surrounded by 18 enemy countries and is out-
numbered nearly 100,000,000 to 3,000,000.
We view the Detroit News editorial of
Two notable Freudian slips have gone on Nov. 21 as one of the most 'damaging yet to
the diplomatic record in the past weeks.
appear on the question of the outrages that
In his, address on the current major eco- accompany efforts to destroy Israel: that's the
nomic problem for the nation, President basic aim and no one with a sense of justice
Nixon slipped into speaking of an enemy has yet been able to deny it.
crisis..The substitution for energy was quickly
Therefore the Detroit News falls into the
glossed over.
group of extremists who "pounced on the
Israel Prime Minister Golda Meir, in her Jewish state with the hostility and zeal of the
speech in London, Nov. 12, spoke of the Arab armies.
trapped Egyptian Third Army as "The Red
The American press in the main is fair.
Army." Admitting "a Freudian slip," Mrs. Commentators and news analysts recognize
Meir added: "That's not so wrong."
the threat to world peace in the embattled
Indeed, both slips were not so wrong. Middle East as an emanation from the Krem-
Both were references to enemies. There is no lin. Extremists have not helped the cause of
doubt about the Red animosity. This nation justice and decency and freedom for all peo-
knows it, Israel suffers from it immeasurably. ples. That is why a small percentage of the
There would not have been a Six-Day War, or American press — now 6 per cent by the
a Yom Kippur War, or the tensions that addition of the Detroit News — is challenged.
existed during all the intervening years.
Those who judge foreign affairs must take
The Arab nations are not counted among into consideration the American role. Presi-
this country's enemies but they are Israel's. dent Eisenhower emphasized the importance
Neither condition is justified. Russia and of defending this country's position in view
the Arabs could work amicably with Israel of the Russian threats. He was not alone:
and the United States. There is no excuse for Secretary of State William Rogers submitted
animosities. The conditions are curable. But it as a vital factor in the situation, so have
the antagonistic forces have created crises diplomats in several administrations, and the
for the entire world. The moment East and last few presidents knew that Israel is a bul-
West collide, or there is bloodshed in the wark against those who aim to dominate that
Middle East, the threatening conditions are area and to control the oil sources. The Amer-
such that they are viewed as endangering the ican position is never defended with an attack
peace of the entire world.
on Israel. Editorial writers of most news-
Why do the hatreds continue? With China papers understood it; the minority followed
on her neck, why does not the Soviet Union a destructive line that stems from the Com-
labor for peace and justice — within her munist and Trotskyist elements.
borders and with.the outside world?
Churchmen are beginning to understand
Jews and Arabs are cousins. They can the issues involved, and there is recognition
live together in peace and profit from it. Why of the fairness with which Israel treats the
the constant warfare?
religious elements in Israel. Labor gives Is-
It is all too difficult to answer the first rael encouragement. NAACP and the Urban
question. The second relates, even among League do too.
distant cousins, to a deep-rooted hatred that
All that is asked is justice. When it is
seems to reverberate, regardless of the pro- denied, there is an obligation upon all who
gress we boast of in modern times. It is the demand adherence to the American principle
sim'at olam l'am olam — the eternal hatred of fair play. That's why those who place our
for the eternal people. So — we pray and Israeli kinsmen on trial must be challenged.
hope, and in the process we sharpen the tools We do that in the case of a misguided Detroit
for survival.
newspaper.

Freudian Slips...
Their Realities

Ida Kaminska's Life Story
Relates to Theater, Exiles

Ida Kaminska has become a legend in her lifetime. One of the great
actresses of modern times, a heroine in her day in Poland, she lived
through two world wars, suffered in both, returned to her native land
after many depressing experiences under the Communists as well as
during the German persecutions — and
innumerable prejudices by Poles — soon
to be exiled from the land she loved and
for which she had labored as an artist
for many years.

Her deeply moving and very reveal-
ing story is told in "My Life, My The-
ater," published by Macmillan, in a trans-
lation from the Yiddish by Curt Leviant.
It is the story of her mother, from
whom she inherited the skill as an ac-
tress; her husbands, daughter, son-in-law
— all deeply interested and devoted to
the theater.

It is also a Jewish story, the story of
the ghetto and the emergence into world-
wide recognition. Drawn here are the
steps which led to her international ac-
claim as the great star in the award win-
ning Czech film "The Shop on Main
Street."

IDA KAMINSKA

Because she and her family had gone through the miseries of
exile from their homes during the war years, their stories echo the
cries of the wanderers, especially during the Hitler years. Because
they are survivors, their remarkable story, related for all of them by
the grand dame who heads the family is especially moving.

Not only does her story recapitulate experiences of war sufferers,
refugees, escapees, those who struggled for survival. It also offers a
portrait of experiences in the land of escape — in the United States
where the Kamiskas found refuge, only to go through the miseries of
seeking rehabilitation into the art they inspired — the Yiddish theater.
It was not successful, but neither is this theater.

Because she was among the most honored in Poland and had
gained recognition as well as fame, it could have been expected that
the anti-Semitism that emerged, especially after the Middle East Six-
Day War, might not be applied to her. But the cries about Zic
chauvinists, Jews as the kinspeople of the Israelis and therefore _
targets of the Communists, were applied to all. She had to leave, and
the miracle is the escape of the entire family.

Indeed, the Yiddish State Theater was established and there was
hope for succor. It didn't last. The expulsion — the exodus — began to
the detriment of Polish Jewry.

The achievements of this great actress have left an indelible mark
on the theater, and her role in "The Shop on Main Street" has elevatea
her to the highest rung in film history. There is an interesting comment
in her book on this score:

"My granddaughter, Erika, who was spending two years in Chicago with my
cousin, Dina Halpern, and her husband, Danny Newman, a well-known consultant
for theater management, joined me both times in Hollywood for the Oscar
awards, in 1966 for the film award and in 1967 for the Best Actress nomination.
Erika was grieved that I was passed over for the Best Actress award in favor
of Elizabeth Taylor, but I told her: 'I've had my satisfaction, my darling. I am
a Jewish actress, and all my life the most important thing has been the stage,
and I consider the nomination an honor for me personally as well as one for
the Yiddish theater.'"

This is a notable credo, yet Ida Kaminska also had acted in other
languages, she excelled in Polish and in Russian, she knew the German
art, etc.

Her story is of herself and her family, the theater, the wanderings,
the persecutions, the escapes, making her "My Life, My Theater" a
most interesting story.