54 Friday, January 19, 1919 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Two Detroi tersVisit a Hate-Filled Damascus By LUCILLE MILLER (Editor's note: Mr. and Mrs. Marshall M. Miller just completed a Middle East tour. The following account describes their visit to Damascus, Syria. Mrs. Miller is a member of the board of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and a past president of the Sister- hood of Temple Beth El.) Syria is the least likely place in the world today to be rated a "tourist mecca"; at least not yet for Ameri- cans, and certainly not for Jews. Nevertheless, the prospect of seeing Damas- cus captured our imagina- tion and it was for this rea- son we joined with a group on a Middle East tour. We flew into Damascus on Syrian Airways from Cairo and this, in itself, trepidation. er members of all non-Jews, the .ying a Syrian plane ,iot represent the tin eatening appearance it did to us. Egyptian Air no longer could fly into Syria, but for some unexplained reason, Syrian Air could fly out of Cairo. We had been forewarned that schedules on this air line were erratic and this proved to be only too true. What should have been a short flight of only 357 miles, or 90 minutes, turned into an exhausting nine hour ordeal. r If we had any misgiv- ings before, we were sure this was a misadventure when we arrived at the modern Hotel Meridien and discovered that our visit coincided with the infamous Arab Congress which had been in the planning for a year. We were greeted with a huge banner which an- nounced in English and Arabic: "The Arab Peoples Conference is an embodiment of the Arab Nations' Unity and its struggles." Inside the hotel a few people were still up. It was very late and we were grateful to be assigned our rooms which proved to be surprisingly clean and com- fortable. We were told the next day that the guards had forgotten the usual se- curity check at which time they open and inspect all the baggage. We had an as- tute tour director who con- vinced them not to call us all back down as it was so late. That would have been the fourth security check if it had transpired. In the morning from our balcony we faced a military installation and watched Syrian soldiers drilling. We watched with heavy hearts thinking of them in combat with Israeli boys. When went we downstairs we found the elevators and the lobby crammed with Arabs (al 1 To: The Jewish News 17515 W. 9 Mile Rd. Suite 865 Southfield, Mich. 48075 WEI JUST From Paste in old label TO: Effective date NAME Please Allow Two Weeks men of course) and the con- ference was busily under- way. There were represen- tatives from all the Arab states, the non-aligned na- tions of Africa, and the Mus- lims from every corner of the world. Pakistan, India, etc. There were two obser- vers from the United States, both black lawyers who had been invited to attend. In true Arab fashion, no one could agree on the size of the conference. Estimates _ ranged from 400 to 700 delegates, representing 30-40 nations. The atmosphere was not jovial as in most con- ventions outside the con- ference rooms. Instead it was grim and intense and charged with the hatred it was promulgating. This congress was called primarily to issue severe indictments against Anwar El Sadat and the detested "Zionist entity." Tables were laden with propaganda written in Arabic, French and English, and we helped our- selves to the English ver- sions, all vicious attacks on Sadat and Israel. One had to push against a wall of men to move around the lobby or to get to the elevators and everywhere were signs and posters, flags, and banners proclaiming Arab unity. We were used to seeing "floor men" who patrolled each floor of our Cairo hotel and who greeted us cor- dially everytime we walked by, but in Damascus two or more men patrolled the floors of our hotel, hard faced and grim, certainly never friendly, and — al- ways armed. We were very much aware of our own iso- lation, the only Jews in this hostile environment- and it was an awesome thought. In spite of this we enjoyed seeing Damascus. It is a fas- cinating city, the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world, 6,000 years old; layered by one civiliza- tion after another. It is an exciting city of exotic mos- ques and souks and bazaars with all the odor and noise and flavor unique to the Arab world. It was surprising to us that we were able to question several Syrians about the Jews in their country. Each one gave us a "canned recitation" on the brotherhood of all Syrians; Jews, Chris- tians, and. Arabs, and painted glowing pictures of them living together in beautiful harmony. No problems, we were as- sured. Jews can go everywhere. Yes, of course, they can be in the government. They have money and shops. We were assured over and over, there is no problem!! We asked Mohamed, our guide, whether Syrians' identity cards indicate their religion. We were told that hEid been abolished a long time ago. Of course, he added, identity cards for Jews labeled them as Sy- rian Jews. We went with Mohamed to the famed Hamadiyah Bazaar and while there he pointed to a shop and said "This is a Jewish store." We went in and saw two men inside. Semitic features being what they are it is dif- ficult in this part of the world to recognize a "Jewish face." The younger of the two men spoke a cultured English which he informed us he had learned at the American University, in Be- irut. I asked him if he was Jewish and there was a moment of frozen silence. Both men seemed stunned. Then the younger man's face turned red and he bagan to shout: "Who told you I was a Jew? I'm not a Jew! I'm nothing! I don't be- lieve in anything! Just to be good! He was obviously ter- rified and I told him his friend Mohamed had told us they were Jews. When he saw Mohamed he calmed down and said: "Yes, he is a friend." After that he admitted his Jewishness, but we were unnerved by his agitation and obvious fear. We asked how things were for Syrian Jews and with that we were given the same can- ned speech we had heard before. No problems — all is well — we live together with Moslems. "I have joy" he said loudly but there was no joy in his voice. His eyes were wild and begged us not to believe his words. His agitation and his frantic assurances that everything was fine with the Jews haunted us long after we left him and, in fact, still does. When we finally walked away, Mohamed smiled and said, "You see, I told you the Jews have no problem here." Back at the hotel we again met the full impact of Arab hatred as we read fresh propaganda on the ta- bles in the lobby. Offensive cartoons were mixed in with written material, all attack- ing Sadat and the "Zionist Entity" in the most scurril- ous manner. Outside a military band alternately drummed or played their National An- them over and over monotonously for hours. The atmosphere was milit- ant and the delegates seemed consumed by their hatred for their enemies and their zeal for revenge. Dr. M. Kellman . Dr. Milton Kellman, an osteopathic physician with offices in Livonia, died Jan. 13 at age 53. A native Detroiter, Dr. Kellman was graduated from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1949. He was a member of Cong. Shomrey Emunah. He leaves his wife, Sandra; three sons, Gary, Adam and Edward; a daughter, Lisa; and a sister, Mrs. George (Billie) Stal- lings of Florida. Sara Herzog, Envoy's Kin, Religious Women's Leader TEL AVIV (JTA) — Sara Herzog, the widow of Is- rael's late former Chief Rabbi, Isaac Halevy Her- zog, and the mother of former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, Chaim Herzog, died Jan. 13. She was 82. The founder and president of the National Religious Women's Organ- ization, Mrs. Herzog, who was also the mother of the late Mr. Jacob Herzog, who held various senior gov- ernment posts including that of minister to Wash- ington between 1957 and 1960, was active in charita- ble organizations and a mental hospital in Jerusalem. She also was active in establishing schools and kindergartens. She re- ceived honorary docto- rates in philosophy from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan. In 1966, she received the Mother of the Year Award from the Council SARA HERZOG of Women's Organiza- tions. Born in Latvia, she moved to Britain in 1908 when her father, Rabbi Shmuel Hillman, was named to head a Glasgow congregation. Married in 1917, she moved with her husband to Jerusalem in 1937, the year he was elected chief rabbi of Israel. He died in 1959. Salomon Friederich Dies, Led Alliance France-Israel PARIS (JTA) — Salomon Friederich, founder and di- rector of the Alliance France-Israel, died Jan. 11. He was 58. Burial was in Jerusalem. Mr. Friederich helped set up the de facto Alliance be- fore the 1956 Sinai cam- paign and had been active since in both France and Is- rael in advocating close ties between the two countries. A few days before his death, Jacques Chaban-Delmas, National Assembly president and former pre- mier, visited Mr. Friederich in the hospital to personally present him with the French Legion of Honor. Born in Rymanow, Po- land, Mr. Friederich was drafted in the Polish army, managing to cross the Rus- sian lines after the fall of Warsaw in World War II. Soviet officials deported him to Siberia. He settled in France in 1947 and became head of the local Betar group. In that post, he helped pro- vide the Irgun with funds and weapons and de- veloped a personal friendship with Irgun leader Menahem Begin, which lasted to his death. In 1957, he organized the Alliance committee which at one time had 11 French cabinet ministers and do- zens' of senior officials among its members. After the Likud victory in Israel in May 1977, he chose to stay in France and had been active recently in trying to organize Begin's official visit to France. American Who Aided Israel Buried With Military Honors TEL AVIV (JTA) — A hero of Israel's war for inde- pendence was buried with full honors at the Haifa military cemetery last week. He was Wayne Peake, an American non- Jew who was one of the first combat pilots in Israel's fledgling air force in 1948. Mr. Peake died in Los Angeles at age 55 after a long battle with cancer. In compliance with his wishes, his body was flown to Israel for burial. Mr. Peake, who was a U.S. Air Force pilot during World War II, was one of the many American, British and South African pilots, Jewish and non-Jewish, who volunteered to fight for Israel. After the war, Peake returned to the U.S. and joined the Flying Tiger Air- lines, an • international cargo carrier. He visited Israel again in 1967, after the Six-Day War. When he first fell ill he asked Flying Tiger boss William Gelford to arrange for burial in Is- rael. Gelford passed on his request to Mordechai Hod, director general of El Al, who, like Defense Minister Ezer Weizman, is a former commander of the Israel Air For It was decided to give Mr. Peake a military funeral of the kind reserved for Is- rael's war heroes. Each of the major reli- gious communities in Israel has its own i ■ eligious court of first instance and of ap- peal. They decide on mat- ters of personal status of their members according to their respective religious law — Rabbinical (Jewish), Shari'a (Moslem), Druze, or one of the Christian codes.