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Friday, July 25, 1975

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Purely Commentary

The Arms Race, the American Arsenal for Arab Po-
tentates and the Denigration of Israel's Needs .. .
The Saga of Zionist Statesman Nahum Sokolow

Nahum Sokolow, Who Elevated Zionist Statesmanship

Biographical literature on
the most eminent Jews of
this century is notably en-
riched by the life story of
Dr. Nahum Sokolow
(1859-1936) by his son, Flo-
rian Sokolow, published by
the Jewish Chronicle of
London.
One of the most distin-
guished leaders in Zionism,
who served for three years
as president of the World
Zionist Organization, Dr.
Sokolow was equally famed
as an historian and journal-
ist., who had made many
contributions to Jewish lit-
erature. As editor of Hatzfi-
rah he was a molder of
public opinion. As author of
the encyclopedic two-vol-
ume "History of Zionism"
he left an important legacy
in Zionist literature.
Florian Sokolow, who was
not active in the movement
in which his father was
among the most distin-
guished personalities, nev-
ertheless treated his fath-
er's great devotion to the
Zionist ideal with respect
and admiration. The biogra-
pher, who was a leader in
the Polish press and an edi-
tor of important. Polish
newspapers before the
tragic era of the Holocaust,
markedly retained the
memories, the records and
the important documenta-
ries of his father and has
therefore contributed valua-
bly to the retention of the
data about one of the most
distinguished leaders in Je-
wry.
The biography has
added significance in the
prefatory chapter in the
book by Dr. Sokolow's
daughter, Florian's sister,
Dr. Celina Sokolow. The
deeply moving addendum
to the story of her father's
life by Dr. Celina Sokolow
has the supplementary
significance in making the
biography a sort of family
chronicle. Dr. Celina So-
kolow traveled with her
father when he visited all
of the major world Jewish
communities. As his per-

DR. CELINA SOKOLOW

sonal physician, Celina,
who continues to live in
the Sokolow home in Lon-
don, serves here as a mark
of affection for a man of
charm, dignity, genuine
leadership.
Interestingly, the Florian
Sokolow biography of Dr.
Nahum Sokolov; was edited

DR. NAHUM SOKOLOW FLORIAN SOKOLOW

by one of British Jewry's
most distinguished writers,
Joseph Leftwich. The after-
word by Leftwich is in itself
an essay of immense histor-
ical value, as an analysis of
the Sokolow image and as a
valuable hiStorical review of

Sokolow had gained
French support for the
cause of a Jewish Common-
wealth after the issuance of
the Balfour Declaration. He
did not gain Papal support
but he established friendly
Vatican connections. He
was the statesman par ex-
cellence and the son's review-
of his life's work indicates
his diplomatic skills.
Leftwich edited this biog-
raphy posthumously, Flo-
rian Sokolow having died in
1967. The recollections of
personal close relationships
with the Sokolow's, the
(Continued on Page 5)

The Hatred for Israel That
Unites Constantly Feuding Arabs

They are constantly feuding. Egypt hates Libya and
Qaddafi . hates Sadat. Amin conspires against everybody.
But the moment there is a move to harm Israel, they unite
in a common hatred for the cousins of Bible times.
A rift between Syria and Iraq is growing into a fratrici-
dal dimension. A Syrian troop movement had been reported
while the Iraqi military attache was ousted from Syria. Yet,
in the midst of such brotherly love between two Arab coun-
tries there was a reminder that Iraq had sent 60,000 of her
troops to help Syria in the battles against Israel during the
Yom Kippur War. Such is.the atmosphere in which Israel,
in a struggle against all the Arab states — and now with all
of Islam having declared war on Israel and Jewry — has to
subsist under very trying conditions.

The True Facts Regarding Massive
Arms Supplies for Arab States

JOSEPH LEFTWICH
Jewish experiences during
the lifetime of Dr. Sokolow.
As a highly talented au-
thor, Florian Sokolow, who
followed his father's career
very closely and who had ac-
cess to all his writings and
correspondence, incorpo-
rated in his account the
Zionist experiences over a
40-year period and related
the relationships of Sokolow
with his many associates
and leaders in the Zionist
movement.
Florian Sokolow's story
of his father combines his-
torical facts with recollec-
tions of closely knit family
interests. It is as much a
family portrait as it is an
evaluation of an eminent
father's inerasable contri-
butions to Jewish and
world literature.
Dr. Sokolow's many Zion-
ist endeavors are recalled
here. It provides a record of
meetings with the world's
statesmen, of an hour ses-
sion with Pope Benedict XV.
Not only the Vatican con-
nections which were estab-
lished for Sokolow by the
British statesman, Mark
Sykes, a devoted friend of
Zionism, but numerous
other vital activities with
world leaders are empha-
sized in this important biog-
raphy.
The complete record of
the Sokolow-Benedict XV
conversations, retained for
this volume by Florian
Sokolow, lend immense
historical significance to
this volume.

By Philip
Slomovitz

judge the letters for truthfulness or to correct the deluded
writers with a presentation of the truth. By ignoring the
truth many of the American newspapers have become col-
laborators in the lie-spreading that stems from the Arab
propaganda m lls.

Etymological Barbarism

Writing from Cairo, whence he has been reporting on
his experiences in the New York Times, columnist William
Safire defines the roles of Egyptian President Anwar el
Sadat and his Foreign Minister Ismail Fahmy. The title r
his essay, "Nice Guy, Tough Guy," sums up the delinc.,_
lions. One, Sadat, seeks a role of world acceptance, and gen;
iality, the other is the mouthpiece for what turned out to be
an evil deal for Israel. The eventual outcome of political ma-
neuvering by these two nice and tough guys is speculated by
Safire as follows:
As matters now stand, a foreign businessman
could go crazy in Cairo. The telephones don't
work; hotel rooms are not available; the banking is
archaic. Mr. Sadat's top men know this, and talk
earnestly of creating an "infrastructure" to facili-
tate the doing of business.
Mr. Sadat might be able to bring it off. United
States policy is to bet on the hopes that he can,
with our management help and Arab oil capital,
substitute the need to prosper for the need to hate.
If We're right, and he really turns out to be Mr.
Nice Guy, we will have helped turn Arab leader-
ship toward free and peaceful development. If
we're wrong, and he turns out to be Mr. Tough
Guy, we will have helped build a nation capable of
providing what Mr. Fahmy might sensitively de-
scribe as a "final solution" to the Mideast prob-
lem.

But the essay apparently was stimulated by Fahmy's
resort to an etymological term that was quite evidently
drawn upon as another stab at Israel. And it happens to be
a term that denoted tragedy. He used the phrase "Holo-
caust of statements" and Safire exposed the tough guy
Fahmy, thus:
When it began to appear that steady progress
toward an interim agreement with Israel was im-
minent and that Israel would not be made to look
like the heavily pressured loser in the deal, it fell to
Mr. Tough Guy to call a press conference to
threaten that Egypt would no longer permit the
mandate for United Nations peace-keeping troops.
Before he made the announcement to reporters
seated at a long table in the Foreign Ministry, Mr.
Fahmy used what he must have considered a clever
play on words. In English, and choosing his word
carefully, he charged that delays in the negotia-
tions were proven by "a holocaust of statements"
by Israeli Premier Rabin.
To most people, a holocaust is an infernal
storm; to etymologists, it is a sacrificial destruc-
tion by fire; but to Jews, and capitalized, the Holo-
caust was the murder of six million people. That
crime on the human conscience led to the creation
of the State of Israel and was poignantly commem-
orated by Mr. Rabin in last week's visit to the site
of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Ger-
many.
After making his little joke, the Foreign Min-
ister of Egypt delivered a delicately hedged ultima-
tum to the U.N.: either put pressure on Israel to
agree quickly to give up Sinai land, or else Egypt
will not permit foreign troops in the buffer zone.
Curious, how easily Arab leaders move
through the corridors of importance that make up
the U.S., and how frequently they invoke their in-
terpretation of the Mideast resolutions. We tend to
forget that it was the Arab world, a generatio ► '
ago, which refused to accept the U.N.'s creation
Israel and launched the first in a series of five wars
to deny the Jewish state's existence. Now the U.N.
is being used to castigate and weaken its creation.
Somewhere in this scenario we can expect Mr.
Nice Guy to reappear, and in return for his even
weaker pledge not to resort to war, arrange for the
concessions of land that would make an Arab at-
tack easier.

Why the denigration of Israel's protective needs in so
many quarters where the facts are available?
So many are under the distorted impression that Israel
is invincible, that Israel gets all the arms, that the poor Ar-
abs are under suppression, that when the truth is stated it
must be kept in emphasis.
The Free Press Washington correspondent, McCart-
ney, rendered a great service by presenting the truth re-
garding the armaments and the comparative supplying of
aid to the Middle East by the U.S.
In an analysis of the immense business deals in arma-
ments conducted by Americans with the approval of the U..
S. government, to the tune of $9 billion dollars, James Mc-
Cartney, Free Press Washington correspondent, listed the
massive aid given through the arms sales to Arab countries.
He listed the figures in these excepts from his Washington
report:
About $4.2 billion of the $9.045 billion total in
Pentagon-sponsored arms sales were for three
Middle Eastern countries — Iran, Saudi Arabia
and Kuwait.
The record figure was achieved in spite of the
fact that arms sales to Israel during the fiscal year
which ended July 30 were down sharply compared
to 1974, a result of the Ford administration's Mid-
dle East policy "reassessment."
Israel was sold only $868 million during the
year compared to $2.1 billion in 1974.
This imbalance is expected to be corrected in
the weeks ahead. Israel has requested an addi-
tional $1.8 billion in arms but has not gotten an
official answer from the Ford administration.
The sharpest increases in the 1975 figures were
for Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, both rolling in
money as a result of higher oil prices.
Saudi Arabia's purchases were listed as
nearly $1.4 billion, compared to $588 million last
year.
This brought Saudi purchases in the last two
years to about $2 billion — in sharp official refuta-
tion of State Department denials last year that the
Saudis had embarked on a multi-billion new arms
program, sponsored by the U.S.
It is not surprising that Safire should have referred to
Kuwait's purchases in 1975 were $366 million
"the man President Sadat chooses to use as Mr. Tough Guy
— about 20 times its figure of $18 million for a year
when the purpose of peace requires bellicosity . . ."
earlier.
Was it Fahmy arrogance or an attempt to be funny? Is
Other correspondents also were provided with these the resort to the term Holocaust in a statement made so
facts and figures which dispute the exaggerated view that close to the Nazi era akin to others made by Arabian mon-
Israel was the favorite of the American munitions makers archs who had resorted to the ritual murder charge in their
and of the government that approves such deals with deadly attacks on Jews? Is the tough guy's barbarism deliberately
weapons.
chosen by the nice guy as a means of negating whatever
The McCartney facts refute accusations leveled at Is- leads to peace with Israel?
rael as if she were the chief militarist in the Middle East.
Israel remains in a tough way when dealing with the
There is another indisputable fact in relation to these sta- double standards of diplomacy. It may result in a bad way
tistical figures. Whenever haters of Israel spout lies in let- for all mankind which now suffers from submission to the
ters to the editor, the editor himself does not stop either to oil wealth of the nice-tough combine.