THE JEWISH NEWS ,USPS 275-520) Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20, 1951 The Jewish News Publishing Co. Copyright Member of American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers and National Editorial Association and Affiliate Member of National Newspaper Association and Capital Club. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 Postmaster: Send address changes to The Jewish News, 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 Second-Class Postage Paid at Southfield, Michigan and Additional Mailing Offices. Subscription $15 a year. CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ Business Manager PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor and Publisher ALAN HITSKY News Editor HEIDI PRESS Associate News Editor DREW LIEBERWITZ Advertising Manager Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the 19th day of Tevet, 5741, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: - Pentateuchal portion; Exodus 1:1-6:1. Prophetical portion, Isaiah. 27•6-28:13; 29:22-23. Candle lighting, Friday, December 26, 4:48 p.m. VOL. LXXVIII, No. 17 Page Four Friday, December 26, 1980 PERMISSIVENESS IN THE UN For nearly three decades, the United Nations provided a platform for hatred steeped in lies. The spreading venom has been exposed numer- ous times, by many. It has never been a secret that anything could be perpetrated in the world organization if it was aimed at Israel and at the Jewish people. In exposing the lies resorted to in attacks on Israel and on Zionism, public opinion has been asked to realize that when the enemies of Israel spoke against Zionism while maintaining that they really were not attacking Jews, their anti-Zionism was anti-Semitism. More than once, Arab spokesmen resorted to such vile lies about Jews and Judaism that their anti-Semitic utterances were fully evident, al- though they are themselves Semites. The most recent anti-Semitic outbursts in the UN General Assembly induced a New York Times editorial writer to utilize an old defini- tion of anti-Semitism, "Socialism of Fools," as the title of this editorial: "Stereotypes are like hand grenades; they often explode on you before they're thrown. Arabs rightly protest terms like tAbscam' and the stereotyping that paints them as rapacious sheiks turning OPEC spigots and banking in Zurich. "Well, maybe that reminder will bring home our disgust with the diplomats who have been resorting to even uglier forms of another anti- Semitism at the UN. It is a well-known fact that the Zionists are the richest people in the world and control much of its destiny,' said Jor- dan's ambassador the other day, claiming as evidence that Lord Rothschild secretly controls the price of gold and South Africa's Harry Op- penheimer manipulates -diamonds and uranium. (Need one 'disprove' this claptrap by noting that Mr. Oppenheimer, recorded in Jewish records at birth, is a member of the Ang- lican church?) That such hateful lies should be spoken anywhere is bad enough. That diplomats could speak them in the General Assembly without immediate censure is appalling. And Jordan's anti-Semitic bilge was merely the worst of sev- eral recent outbursts there. Having promoted the reckless theory that 'Zionism' is the equal of 'racism,' the members of the UN seem ready to tolerate the most explicit racism, provided only that it comes in an anti-Israeli context. "Truth may be too much to expect in a world organization that prides itself on hearing every point of view and letting the most extreme ket- tles vent their steam. But is this the level of argument that Jordanian, or Palestinian, or anti-Israeli policies now generate? The Israelis, even as they finally rose in justified outrage, must have had cause for quiet satisfaction at the paucity of reason among their adversaries. "August Bebel, a German Marxist, observed long ago that anti-Semitism can be the 'socialism of fools.' He said it lets racist de- magogues masquerade as leftists, ensnaring peoples while pretending to oppose power and privilege. That some monarchies can be foolish is hardly news. But when, even falsely, they summon the mobs against power and wealth they only volunteer to become the first victims of their venom." The shame that spells United Nations has turned into an inhuman outrage in the years of Arab-Soviet organized hatreds of Israel and Jewry. Why did it take the "Socialism of Fools" to inspire the expose of. the disgraceful acts permitted by the statesmen of the world in the movement that was formed to make peace and is instead mobilizing to make war on the small Jewish state? It is a question that has demanded an answer for many years. Yet, when the guilty nations that permit the permissiveness of anti- Semitism meet in the UN General Assembly, they always subscribe to the hatred of Jews and Israel. That'S the shame spelled UN! American aid to the UN is major and has been a subject of controversy in legislative quarters. The ADL protest against such assistance cannot be ignored. The mere fact that it was necessi- tated is in itself a rebuke to irresponsibility, to the factors which have led the world organiza- tion along roads of indignity, prejudice and com- fort to anti-Semites. A recent Gallup poll shows: The public's rating of the United Nations performance has declined to a 35-year low point. Currently, only three Americans in 10 feel that the UN is doing a good. job. Only 31 percent of those questioned approved of the work of the United Nations, 16 percent expressed no opinion and 53 percent disapproved. Things were quite different in Gal- lup's 1956 survey. Then 51 percent said that the United Nations was doing a good job, 37 percent a poor job, and 12 percent had no opinion. In 1956 the United States and its allies dominated the world organization and the great rush of the Third World nations was still to come." It is true that in the last anti-Israel resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly theile was a drop in support for the would-be Israel de- stroyers, but the opposition voices were mainly silent. It is this that is to be regretted and the hope must be entertained that eventually there will be an awakening of humanism in the world organization. While this now appears hopeless, there is never an end to hopes, difficult as the obstacles for obtaining them may be. NEED MAJORITY Regardless of the result of the forthcoming election in Israel, whether it is to be held as scheduled next November or earlier if the oppo- sition triumphs in securing a no-confidence vote rebuking Prime Minister Menahem Begin, one thing is accepted as a certainty: unless there is a majority vote for the voters' choice of a ruling party, Israel's agonies will remain endless. The present coalition is subservient to the ultra-Orthodox elements who reject com- promises, who make demands which hold the elected officials in check, who impose restric- tions which make the Conservative and Reform Jews the only religious element under restric- tions in a country where there is otherwise com- plete religious freedom for all other faiths. It is difficult to anticipate a majority for any party in a country where there are 20 competing parties. If it can be achieved, as David Ben- Gurion always hoped it would, Israel will attain a new opportunity for domestic glory. A F? in. Rescuing Danish Jewry Danish Jewry's escape from the Hitler threat of mass incarcera- tion in the Theresienstadt concentration camp and eventual extermi- nation remains among the most - impressive tales of heroism on the part of the people of Denmark who assisted in the rescue operations. The October 1943 organized escape of 8,000 Danish Jews into neutral Sweden has been described in a score of books. The factual experience was detailed by Harold Flender in his "Rescue in De- nmark," published in 1963. It has just been re-issued as a paperback by Schocken Books. Flender's detailed account of the occurrences provides an historic record of a tragedy averted. It gives all the details of the German plans and how they were frustrated. It gives full credit to the role of Georg Ferdinand Duckwitt, a member of the German ambassadorial staff in Copenhagen, who was outraged by the Hitler plans and warned of the plot by giving the details of the impending danger on Sept. 25, 1943 to Per Albin Hansson, the Swedish prime minister. The Swedish diplomat said he wanted German consent to welcome Danish Jews. This inquiry was ignored. Then there were developments which called for action and the Jewish leaders were alerted to the approaching danger. It led to Denmark's Chief Rabbi Marcus Melchior's admonition to Jews, on the eve of Rosh Hashana, to escape immediately. Then the dramatic operation began, Danish fishermen taking the escapees on the two-hour boat rides . to Sweden. The German boats ws:ef4Depthark to the death that were readied t4::tratiggpri,"*.:Je • - • camps remained empty. The Christians of Denmark, theli6noilible German official, Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz, the people of Sweden, share in the glory of having averted a massacre of an entire community of Jews. Harold Flender mentions many names of the heroes who were with Duckwitz in the ranks of the rescuers. In his preface to "Rescue in Denmark" he makes this comment: "I have not been able to include all of the names that should be included. To do so would require a volume of smaller print and larger size than the Manhattan telephone directory, for virtually the entire Danish population participated in the rescue of the Jews. "On the outskirts of Jerusalem stands a large building known as Yad Vashem. It is a monument to the atrocities perpetrated against the, Jews during World War II. It is a necessary reminder, as was the Eichmann trial, of the depths of depravity to which mankind is capa- ble of sinking. Perhaps now is the time of another type of monument — one dedicated not to despair but to hope, not to death but to life. This monument would be a reminder of those who risked and oft sacrificed their lives that others might have their alloted time c earth. "Not all monuments need be of stone or marble. Perhaps the longest-lasting monuments are those in the minds and hearts of men. To that purpose this story of the Danish rescue of the Jews is de0: cated." - Hanuka Novelized "Heroes of Hanuka" is a novel. Therefore, a review of the story is as suitable after Hanuka as during the festival. Donald Lieberman, the author of "Heroes of Hanuka" (Ktav) is a California doctor who has made a deep study of the Hellenistic period. Dr. Lieberman drew upon all the characters in the Hanuka story. He has drawn his cast of characters based on historical records, and his masterful style has transformed the historical into suspenseful modern storytelling. "Heroes of Hanuka" does not deviate from fact. This makes the historical novel suitable for all occasions, while it primarily em- phasizes the heroes of the Festival of Lights.