THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Authors of Anti-Semitic Volume Lose Libel Suit Against Maariv JERUSALEM — Former by Maariv's London corre- British Member of Parlia- spondent, Joe Finkelstein, ment Christopher Mayhew published in August 1975. and British journalist Both men, leading Michael Adams have lost an IL500,000 ($20,000). libel members of the Council suit that they brought for the Advancement of against the Maariv news- Arab-British Under- standing (CAABU), paper in IsraeL claimed that the article Maariv had described had severely damaged their book, "Publish It Not their reputations in — The Middle East Cover- England. up," as anti-Semitic and In a detailed 28-page i-type propaganda. judgment in the Jerusalem The two British writers District court, Judge Yit- brought their suit following zhak Bazak quoted at the extremely critical arti- length from the testimony cle about their book written of historian Dina Goren of Tel Aviv University, who said the book expressed anti-Semitic ideas found in the classic documents of anti-Semitism. The judgment itself con- tains tabulated compari- sons of statements taken from the book itself, with Hitler's "Mein Kampf' and from "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion." The judge found that the newspaper was justified in publishing the article. He rejected the plaintiffs' as- sertion that the book was anti-Zionist without being anti-Semitic. Friday, August 24, 1919 13 Annual Dinner of DETROIT FRIENDS OF BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY Tuesday, September 18 - 6 p.m. at Congregation Shaarey Zedek Israeli Architects Look to Mud As Alternative Building Method BEERSHEBA — Ar- chitects at Ben-Gurion University's Desert Re- search Institute (Sde Boker campus) are posing an al- ternative building tech- nique for the country which is as durable, natural and basic as the earth beneath one's feet. In fact, the pri- mary construction material used is the earth beneath one's feet; in other words, mud. In recent years, the con- cept of mudbuilding has bobbed to the surface periodically, but it never really became widespread among the architectural es- tablishment. Nonetheless, mud structures have been designed and built in such diverse places as the Soviet Union, Mexico, Great Brit- ain and the United States. According to Sde Boker architect Michael Kaplan, the project's head, one of the reasons for mudbuilding's lack of acceptance among designers is that it is ver- nacular architecture. Kap- lan, a Harvard-trained ar- chitect who came to the Negev six years ago and has beren working at Sde Boker for the last year, describes this type of architecture as "what people build when left to their own devices." In ancient Egypt, most of the official buildings, such as the Pyramids and the temples at Karnak, were made from stone, which Kaplan readily admits will last forever. Ordinary dwellings, however, were usually ted from just the bination of mud bricks with protective mud mortar covering which Kaplan and his two assistants, Brian Sa Auto Teller OKd JERUSALEM — Finance Minister Simha Ehrlich has turned down the proposal by Agudat Yisrael MK Shlomo Lorincz, chairman of the Knesset Finance Commit- tee, that automatic bank tellers be closed on the Sab- bath. Ehrlich said the auto- matic tellers are entirely automatic and do not viol- ate the law. Meyerson and Peter Kiczles, are proposing for modern-day Israel. It may not stand as long and requires more mainte- nance, but adobe structures built in Egypt hundreds of years ago can still be lo- cated. Also, in our era of in- creasingly limited re- sources, mud buildings have distinct advantages over reinforced concrete and are far from being unattrac- tive. "Adobe is not energy in- tensive, like concrete, which requires sophisti- cated and expensive technology for manufac- ture, transportation and construction," explains Kaplan. "And, from the aesthetic standpoint, there are some limitations. One can't, for example, build high-rise structures from mud. But, by using the earth surrounding the building itself as a vernacu- lar material, the designer frees himself from the dic- tates of modern architec- ture. Some call is post- modernism." By no coincidence, a lead- ing authority on mudbuild- ing happens to be Egyptian architect Hassan Fathi. In the 1930s, he saw that the traditional, "correct" hous- ing theories did not take into account the functional and spiritual needs of Egypt's fellahin. During that decade, he built his first adobe villas; by the 1940s, he was designing entire communities from mud which are inhabited to this day. Pictures of them show sturdy, handsome buildings which blend or- ganically into the desert environment, yet still re- tain the typical Middle Eastern flair for archways, domes and intricate design. Mudbuilding in Israel, as well, has something of a past, albeit on a smaller scale. In addition to the Arab constructions dts- .covered in Gaza, Jericho and the recently returned El Arish, the Jewish Agency and Keren Kayemet L'Yisrael ap- proved a few mudbuild- ing projects in the '50s. Mostly, they are located in the Negev where the drier climate and lack of adequate building stones make it a natural site. But in the coastal plain city of Rehovot, Kaplan has also found a large collection of mud buildings. "It's an entire neighborhood made of adobe which has stood for 80 years," says Kaplan enthusiastically, "while nearby concrete houses are in a state of collapse." Ultimately, the Sde Boker architects hope to publish information which will be available to the Is- raeli laymen, including both basic technological know-how on adobe build- ings and its application to the local scene. Kaplan realizes that the vast majority of Israelis do not have the time and pa- tience for such an undertak- ing. Nonetheless, with its dramatic savings in con- struction, heating and cool- ing costs and its ecological appeal (and the danger of a cement shortage such as the one after the Yom Kippur War), the idea, he believes, will catch in the coming years. He has already re- ceived mail from Israelis asking for advice. And all governmental agencies he has dealt with regarding the pioject have also been encouraging. "Taking another look at this old-new technology is a form of insurance, like money in the bank," sums up Kaplan. And that, in- deed, is exactly what the re- sults may be for many Is- raelis, with .a beautiful, sturdy, ecologically-sound house thrown into the bar- gain. Seek Monument to Nazi Victims LOS ANGELES, Calif. — With the acquisition of the Pan Pacific property by pub- lic agencies and its de- velopment as a 28-acre regional park, the Ameri- can Congress of Jews from Poland and Survivors of Concentration Camps has proposed the erection in this park of a monument to the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. ROBERT NAFTALY EMERY KLEIN Co-Chairmen Detroit Friends, Bar-Ilan University Guest Speaker: DR. EMANUEL RACKMAN President Bar Ilan University Ramat Gan, Israel MISCHA RAITZIN Guest Artist: Metropolitan Opera star BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY DINNER COMMITTEE General Dinner Chairmen Emery I. Klein Robert H. Naftaly Max M. Fisher Irwin I. Cohn Joseph H. Jackier Honorary Chairmen Paul Zuckerman Honorary Co-Chairmen Samuel Frankel Irwin Green Edward C. Levy Irving Nusbaum David B. Hermelin Max Stollman Honorary Treasurer - A.J. Cutler President Women's Division - Mrs. Max Stollman Detroit Regional Chairman - Dr. Leon Fill Dinner Committee Paul Baker Gustav Berenholz Allen Charlupski Susan Citrin Norman J. Cohen Avern Cohn Louis Cooper Milton Duchan Alexander Ehrmann Gary Eisenberg Leonard R. Farber Aaron Ginsberg Gordon Ginsberg Norman Gordon Moshe Grossbard Daniel Honigman Lawrence Jackier Robert Kasle Rabbi Joseph Katz Judge Ira G. Kaufman Judge Nathan Kaufman Bernard Klein Sol Lessman Milton J. Miller David Muskovitz Mrs. Ben Nosan Jacob Nosanchuk Graham Orley Jerome Pershin Samuel W. Platt David Pollack Harold Provizer Abraham Ran Dave Sakwa Saul Saulson Mark E. Schlussel Jane Sherman Minnie Slobasky Philip Slomovitz Harold Soble 0 Jack Solway Bernard Stollman Dr. Gerald Stollman • Dr. Samuel S. Stollman Harry Zekelman Scholarship Committee Dr. Martin Hart Mrs. Morris Adler Norman Allan Morris J. Brandwine Henry Dorfman Joseph Fetter Nathan I. Goldin Merrill Gordon Abe Green Co-Chairmen Henry P. Lee Samuel Hechtman Mrs. Morris Karbal Thomas Klein Stephen Lanyi Max Nosanchuk I. William Sherr Peter Weisberg Phillip Stollman, Chairman Global Board of Trustees, Bar-Ilan University Leslie M. Goldstein Midwest Executive Director, Bar-Ilan University For Reservations Please Call Detroit Friends, Bar-Ilan University 23125.Coolidge, Oak Park, Mich. 48237 398-7180