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Friday, May 18, 1984
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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* 1 0 y Ifoy uo rue'r x e ist m inogvi d nrg ap w ee rie c s an torf e itm aa nk oe tha en rd wr in e d -io nw sta ol r l
LETTERS
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that the name implies."
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Continued from. Page 5
agreement now that it is in
the public domain.
A minor correction is in
order on a statement in the
article. You cite John Loftus
for the proposition that
"U.S. law prohibits a person
from being deported to a
country where he could be
persecuted." With respect to
Nazis that is simply not so.
As a matter of law Nazis
cannot claim the threat of
persecution to avoid depor-
tation. Section 243(h) of the
Immigration and National-
ity Act was amended in
1978 to deprive Nazis (as de-
fined in Section 241(a)(19)
in the same Act) of that pro-
tection.
Martin Mendelsohn
Former Director,
Office of Special Investigations,
U.S. Justice Department
The NY Times
Wolf Blitzer's piece (May
4) about the New York
Times and its attitude on
coverage of Israel by Jewish
correspondents interested
me greatly.
I can't agree that Tom
Friedman's appointment as
Israel correspondent
"suggests that the profes-
sional American Jewish
journalist has finally come
of age." That happened a
long time ago. What the ap-
pointment does signify is
that the New York Times
has probably at long last
overcome a psychological
hang-up from which it suf-
fered for generations.
That hang-up was evi-
dent in its extreme caution
in handling stories in which
there were elements of
Jewish-Gentile conflict. It
was evident to me during
the years in New York when
I had to deal with the Times
management for the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency.
Gay Talese noted it in his
history of the Times, re-
marking that "there was a
feeling among the Jewish
reporters in the Thirties .. .
that Ochs and Sulzberger,
sensitive men, did not want
the Times to appear 'too
Jewish' in public."
The Times always had a
defensive attitude in Jewish
news. In the 1920s, Adolph
Ochs at first refused to use
the Jewish Telegraphic
Agency service because of
the- name but finally con-
cluded it was a legitimate
news service.
Ed James, who was the
managing editor in the
1930s before I went abroad,
was reluctant to use the
JTA report in any controv-
ersial development. The
fact that "Jewish" was part
of its name made the agency
a biased source. I argued
that point, fruitlessly, with
him on several occasions.
In Berlin, in 1938, Otto
Tolishus, then the Times
correspondent, complained
to me that he was tired of
having his nights disturbed
by calls quoting JTA dis-
patches. James didn't want
to use the JTA slug on copy
from Berlin and wanted To-
lishus to file the story back
over his signature. The
Times used the JTA copy —
even from Berlin — when it
came to them in AP dis-
patches quoting JTA as the
source.
I suppose there was al-
ways an exaggerated con-
cern among the top brass at
the Times lest the paper be
identified as "Jewish."
There used to be a bit of
doggerel going around
which described the Times
as a Jewish-owned news-
paper edited by Irishmen for
a readership of Jewish gar-
ment manufacturers.
Back in the 1920s,
American Zionists were
constantly in arms against
the Times because of its
Jerusalem correspondent.
He was Joseph M. Levy, an
Egyptian Jew and a bitter
anti-Zionist. I recall his te-
nure vividly because he
filed a dispatch during the
1929 riots that got
hopelessly mangled some-
where along the line. It ap-
peared in the Times under a
one-column, 12-point head
— one line reading:
50,000 ARABS KILLED
By Joseph M. Levy
It duly appeared on our
bulletin-board at the New
York World under a 36-
point head: Levy Wins The
War!
For many years the Times
was ably served by a group
of first-class newsmen in
Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Among them, I recall Julian
Meltzer, a one-man news
agency and, next to Quentin
Reynolds, the fastest re-
write man I ever saw.
Meltzer was an editor of
the Palestine Post, corre-
spondent for the Times, for
Exchange Telegraph of
London and a London daily,
for Palcor News Agency and
London Jewish
the
Chronicle and free-lanced
on the side. In the 1940s, he
was called upon for a lot of
stuff for the Times maga-
zine. -
Moshe Brilliant, whom
you mentioned, filed to the
Times over many years. At
one stage, I recall, he was
very critical of the Labor
government and the Times
would run him for weeks on
end without a by-line.
During the War of Liber-
ation in 1948, the Times had
Sydney Gruson on the job.
Gruson was a Dublin-born
Jewish boy — the first Jew I
ever met who had a brogue.
He was also fluent in Yid-
dish, which came in very
handy when we tried to
interview the Stern Gan' ,
occupants of the Tel A
jail when they revolted
took command of the lock-
Up. Flora Lewis, then Mrs.
Gruson, was there writing
features for the Sunday
Magazine and the Week in
Review.
Gruson was also in Israel
in 1967 directing the Times
coverage of the Six-Day
War. Saul Bellow, who was
there as a correspondent,
writes of Syd with admira-
tion. Cy Sulzberger, of
course, was never posted to
Jerusalem but covered it on
frequent visits while he was
roving correspondent-
columnist.
I suppose the Washington
Post suffers from the same
hang-up that afflicted the
Times. Its management
can't forget that a Jewish
banker, Eugene Meyer,
picked the Post up off the
junkpile and commenced its
resurrection.
Victor Bienstock
Boca Raton, Fla.
Winners' thanks
We want to thank The
Jewish News and staff for
an unforgettable evening,
making it possible for us to
feel like "Queen for a Day"
(as winners of the contest
for new subscribers to The
Jewish News).
It was just beautiful hav-
ing a ride in a limousine.
We've never ridden in one
before. It was a marvelous
time and our daughters
went with us.
This is a time we will al-
ways remember. The limo,
dinner at Carl's Chop
House, the chauffeur, the
waitress, the Israel Ballet
were fantastic. Thank you
for a wonderful evening.
Mrs. Ethel Greenberg
Mrs. Gertrude Snider
Real wages down in Israel
Tel Aviv (JTA) — Israeli
workers now earn less in
real wages than they did
two years ago, according to
figures released by the Cen-
tral Bureau of Statistics.
The real income of govern-
ment employees declined by
14 percent over the last 12
months, the bureau said.
The income is adjusted for
inflation which increased
by 20.6 percent in April
compared to the previous
month. Inflation is now
running at an annual rate of
over 400 percent.
Against that backgrourlil
of grim economic neN
representatives of Histait-
rut and the Joint Commit-
tee of Employers and the
Manufacturers Association
met Wednesday to discuss a
new wage contract. They
reportedly reached agree-
ment on an advance cost-of-
living allowance to be paid
with May salaries which are
due on June 1. This has been
demanded by Histadrut to
cushion the impact of soar-
ing inflation. The size of the
advance remains to be de-
cided.