Purely Commentary

Massive U. S., USSR Aid for Arabs;
Falsified Propaganda for Israel
Amid threats to Israel and assurances in Washing-
ton that amity in the Middle East justifies the proferred
and increased financial assistance the U. S. is giving to
the very nations that are hurling warnings of destruction
to Israelis, the arms race is escalating. Now the Egyptians
are saying that they do not want or can not receive muni-
tions from Russia, and they therefore apply for military
hardware to the U. S. It becomes imperative, therefore,
to make some basic facts known regarding American aid
to the Arabs.
So much exaggeration is often expressed by anti-Israel
propagandists, in attempts to portray America as giving
all out aid to Israel to the exclusion of the Arab states,
that the following facts, made known by Congressman
Clarence Long of Maryland, demand special attention:
U.S. ASSISTANCE TO ARAB NATIONS
1. U.S. arms supplies, economic aid and U.S.
share of multilateral aid (28 per cent) in
fiscal years 1968-1973
$1927 million
2. U.S. "invisible foreign aid" to Arabs—
tax credits for Arab royalties
$7025 million
TOTAL U.S. ASSISTANCE TO ARABS $8952 million
SOVIET ASSISTANCE TO ARAB NATIONS
1. Soviet arms supplies—not including Soviet
arms resupply during and after Yom
Kippur War
$2603 million
2. Soviet economic aid—with estimated figure
for 1973.
$1104 million
TOTAL USSR ASSISTANCE TO ARABS $3707 million
Thus, total U.S. assistance to Arabs (1968-1973) was 2.4
times total- Soviet assistance to the Arabs over the same
period.
The report also included government figures for U.S. arms
supplies, economic and multilateral aid to Israel during the
comparable 1968-1973 period
Arms supplies
$1352.6 million
Economic aid
$ 420.5 million
U.S. share of multilateral aid
$ 34.4 million
(out of a total $122.7 million in foreign multilateral aid)
TOTAL $180'7.5 million
These staggering figures of massive support for the
Arab states by both the United States and the Soviet
Union points again to the dangers to Israel and the
threats to world peace. Instead of ending armaments the
war threats are increasing.
Even worse is the spread of propaganda which por-
trays Israel as the recipient of American benevolence and
military support, and the propagandists, in the process,
leave the impression that the Arabs are ignored. In the
same pattern of misleading the people of this country, the
impression often is given that many millions of Arabs
have been displaced by Jews as seekers of territorial ex-
pansion. The true figures -are overshadowed by falsified
propaganda, and little is said about Israel's need for self
protection.
These facts make the situation even worse than the
Kissinger struggles to attain disengagement. Falsified facts
create falsified backgrounds for the negotiations as well.
The situation certainly has not improved and the Middle
East continues to be a battleground, with Israel a major
victim.

Dr. Walter C. Lowdermilk: Noble
Christian and Eminent Zionist
They were unforgettable—both Dr. Walter C. Lowder-
milk and his wife Inez Marks Lowdermilk. Both had been
here on their missions in behalf of the Zionist cause, and
Dr. Lowdermilk inspired scientists, agriculturists, soil con-
servationists, as well as the supporters of the Zionist ideal
in the early years of struggle, during the Nazi period and
subsequently, when the dream for Jewish statehood be-
came a reality.
When the American Christian Palestine Committee
functioned here, for the support of the Zionist cause, in
the early 1930s, the Lowdermilks were among the most
impressive personalities at sessions aimed at enrolling
Christian support for the Jewish cause.
Some are here to attest to the inspirations that were
gained here at the Christian Zionist assemblies from both
Dr. Lowdermilk and his charming wife. George Pierrot,
Clara (Mrs. Howell) Van Auken, judges, members of the
clergy, educators and scientists will recall the Lowder-
milk visits here.
Dr. Lowdermilk's death, at 86, serves as a reminder
of an interesting era. His book, "Palestine—Land of Prom-
ise," was among the most effective instruments in bring-
ing many Christians to the Zionist platform. The late
Judge Frank Picard, who chaired the American Christian
Palestine Committee Michigan Chapter for many years,
kept the Lowdermilk book on his desk, repeating constant-
ly that it had influenced him the most in his support of
the Jewish hopes for the redemption of Zion.
Dr. Lowdermilk, the guiding genius in efforts for soil
conservation, proposed the establishment of the Jordan
Valley Authority Power and Irrigation Project. When
pumps started the flow of water from the Jordan to the
parched areas of Beersheba, as a result of Dr. Lowder-

2—Friday, May 17, 1974

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Arabs Get Arms From U. S. and USSR While Israel's
Role is Blurred . . . Tributes to Lowdermilk and May .
Commendable Communal Program by Selected Leader

No Submission to Destruction

Guilt is mounting. Arabs keep talking about
"frustrations" to justify mass murders. The United
Nations
, remains ineffective and a tool of the ter
roes.
Only from the United States, Canada and the
Vatican came prompt re t i eat of
um anities
The world is on trial, as f bias
the (mess of ,su#

milk's program which led to soil conservation in Israel,
the Lowdermilks were there to see the blessings of their
teachings.
Dr. Lowdermilk became famous for what he had
termed the Eleventh Commandment he proposed for his
conservation program. It was while speaking over the
Jerusalem Radio 30 years ago that he uttered that Com-
mandment, as follows:
"Thou shalt inherit the holy earth as a faithful
steward, conserving its resources and productivity from
generation to generation. Thou shalt safeguard thy fields
from soil erosion, thy living waters from drying IT, thy
forests from desolation, and protect thy hills from over-
grazing by the herds, that thy descendants may have
abundance forever. If any shall fail in this stewardship of
the land, thy fruitful fields shall become sterile, stony
ground and wasting gullies, and thy descendants shall
decrease and live in poverty or perish from off the face
of the earth."
It was this Lowdermilk-phrased Eleventh Command-
ment that influenced the adoption of the Lowdermilk land
and soil conservation program in Israel, and it spread to
many lands.
In expressing sympathy to Mrs. Lowdermilk on the
passing of her eminent husband, those who shared the
blessings of the Lowdermilk spirit and scientific skills
also remember the share she had in his labors for Zionism
and for human values. He was a blessing to Jewry and to
mankind, and she remains among the great ladies who had
a major role in these labors.

The Remarkable Mortimer May
Mortimer May was such a lovable man! He was a
great Zionist—among the first Reform Jewish leaders to
enroll in the movement and to become one of its chief
advocates.
Throughout his life, adherence to Reform Jewish prin-
ciples and support of Zionism were his major ideals.
He 'was a kindly man, always dignified, never shirk-
ing responsibilities.
His good wife was also with him. At Zionist con-
ventions, at World Zionist Congresses, at sessions in Is-
rael—they were together to be inspired and to inspire.
Mortimer May enriched the Zionist ranks with his
dedication, and his name will live in American Zionist
history as a blessing.

Kissinger Wit, a Joke While
Shuttling; Possible Sarcasm
When Henry A. Kissinger last traveled to Riyadh, in
Saudi Arabia, he must have become apprehensive about
five members of the correspondents' corps who were
Jewish, since Jews had not been admitted to Faisal's coun-
try. He admonished the Jews who accompanied him, but
they challenged him, and they went along in an apparent
defiance. Bernard Gwertzman, one of this Jewish group,
reported on it at the time.
Last Friday's Gwertzman report to the New York
Times by Gwertzman from Cairo was "A Reporter's Note-
book" on a single day's activities, dated May 9, and it
included this portion:
"11:32 A.M.—Newsitan notes this is first time Mr.
Kissinger had not come back (to the newsmen's section
on the plane) to joke about an arrival in Riyadh. In past,

taking note of Saudi anti-Zionism, he had suggested that
WASPs on plane depart first."
It wasn't a joke originally: perhaps it developed into
sarcasm.
In any event, in an era when the newsman compels
respect for honor and honesty in politics and the White
House, the shuttling of diplomats also developed an hon-
orable approach to prejudice against Jews in an area in
the world being developed into oil-infested power. The
press can do more to compel human decencies than all
the other estates that rule mankind.

An Impressive Community Council
Platform by the New President
Less than a week before he was elected president of
the Jewish Community Council, Lewis S. Grossman in-
formed the delegates to the movement's assembly that he
had accepted the nomination for the high office, offered
to him by the unanimous decision of the nominating corn-

By Philip
Slot olitz

mittee, to be in position to put into action a program which
he formulated as follows:
The Council Delegate Assemblies must become the
major forum for the discussion and resolution of the im-
portant issues affecting the Jewish community;
We must improve our internal mechanism for com-
municating with our local Jewish groups and refine our
procedures for reacting to potential crisis situations;
The Jewish Community Council should be innovative
and creative in reaching the growing population of non-
affiliated Jews;
Our leadership role with groups outside the Jewish
community must be re-established in the solution of com-
mon problems;
Jews face a crisis in propaganda as a result of a "new
era" of Arab propaganda and political machination. We
must intensify our activities in maintaining popularand
governmental support for Israel, and we must into -
those activities responsive to the problems of our
Jews in the Soviet Union, and throughout the world;
We must be far more effective in establishing com-
munication and rapport with Jewish Welfare Federation
agencies; and equally important, to expose Federation to
additional community input and constructive criticism,
as necessary. Reasoned discourse, active participation by
all groups, can only help us all to achieve what should be
our common goal—a vigorous, vital Jewish community.
This is the set of rules which now will guide the
JCCouncil to be administered by newly-elected President
Grossman.
The dignity with which he offered his objectives must
have especially impressed the assembly delegates to give
the mandate to Grossman. His outlined proposals suggest
valuable means of attaining continuity in the stature of a
movement aimed at advancing interest in civic protective
aims, raising communal cultural standards, assuring re-
spect for human rights for all in our community, and
never forgetting the duties to Israel.
Grossman was the successful campaigner (with Wil-
liam Davidson as his co-chairman) in the great 1974 Israel
Emergency Fund-Allied Jewish Campaign. Now he em-
barks on another task in assuring a forum for communal
services. He will surely have similar cooperation from
all his fellow citizens in attaining goals for highest stand-
ards in Greater Detroit community affairs.

In Search of Correspondent
With Late Justice Brandeis
Purely Commentary, Oct. 24, 1941, carried this item
regarding a young man who corresponded with Mr.
Justice Louis D. Brandeis:
Brandeis and Jewish Lawyers: A Story
Related for First Time
Now it can be told.
Justice Louis D. Brandeis was not a defeatist. He
rejected the attitude of those who desired that Jews
should stay in the background and should not aspire
to rise in the professions.
In 1936, a young Detroit boy wrote to both Jewish
Justices of the United States Supreme Court—Beh-
jamin Nathan Cardozo and Louis D. Brandeis—asking
for their advice whether a Jew ought to go in for the
study of the law. Cardozo replied: "In my experience
young men who give themselves faithfully to the daily
task, year after year, attain a fair measure of suc-
cess. There is, I am sure, some other formula."
Mr. Justice Brandeis wrote back to the young
man. In his first letter he stated:
" 'Poor Jewish boys' have a great inheritance
— the ability to pursue courageously a high ideal,
patiently and unswervingly bearing the incidental
hardships with confidence and resourcefulness.
"Of course, 'if your heart fails, you do not climb
at all.' But that would be unworthy of your inherit-
ance."
And a few weeks later he wrote the same boy:
"The need of good lawyers—learned, diligent, de-
voted to their clients and to the public, was never
greater than it is today. The fact that one is a Jew
and 'without connections' is no bar to success. Be
scrupulously honest; live simply and worthily; work
hard; have patience and persistence; and 't
measure success by the number of dollars coil, .1,
waste neither time nor money."
Here's a credo which sums up the genius of one
of the greatest Jews and Americans in many genera-
tions. It gives briefly a set of rules worthy of the role
in which he has been pictured—that of a modern
prophet.
At this juncture, it is difficult to explain why the
young man's name was omitted from the comment.
Now Prof. Melvin I. Urofsky of the State University
of New York at Albany, together with Prof. David W.
Levy of the University of Oklahoma, are in the process
of completing another volume of the "Letters of Louis D.
Brandeis." The referred to letter of more than 30 years
ago would be valuable for that collection. If the young
man whose letter Purely Commentary quoted can be
reached, an important service in protecting historical
records would be served by securing a copy of the inter-
esting exchange of correspondence. Young man of 1941,
please respond!