Newspaper Page Text
The Southern Israelite
A Weekly Newspa per for Southern Jewry — Estah 1 '
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VOL. XXXI
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 1956
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NO. 24
AN AJP ROUND-UP OF WORLD NEWS q\ ,. r\ •
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By David Horowitz
Difficult Test” in Cabinet
Former UN correspondent for
the N.Y. Herald Tribune, Arch
Parsons, Jr., presently assigned
to the Near East, opens his first
story from Tel Aviv a follows:
‘‘The 625-mile frontier between
Israel and its Afab neighbors is
a lure to violence. To the Israelis,
it represents survival; to the
Arabs injustice. The border is a
constant reminder to the Israelis
that not one inch of territory in
this country lies more than 40
miles from the possibility of
armed attack. Dotted along the
frontier, on the Arab side, are
the overcrowded, poverty-strick
en camps of 900,000 Arab refu
gees who left Palestine during the
1948 war, fully expecting they
would return to victory. To these
refugees, the border is a constant
reminder of defeat and humilia
tion, of a wrong to be righted.”
Parsons discovered upon his ar
rival in Israel that there has been
shootings from the Arab side al
most every single day and night
since the Hammarskjold cease
fire agreements.
While in London the British
Government rejected Yemen’s
claim to the Protectorate of Aden
on the heel of the Arabian boot
—a most strategic point at the
entrance of the Red Sea — in
Moscow Russians were hailing
the visiting Crown Prince of Ye
men. Pravda described his arrival
as “proof of the growing ties
and cooperation between the So
viet Union and countries of the
Arab East.” Note also: two days
before the British endeft their
74-year occupation of the Suez
Canal base several new Soviet-
labeled naval units arrived in
Alexandria harbor to strengthen
the Egyptian navy. The last tok
en force of 11 British officers
and 80 men sailed out of Port
That the Soviet Union is work
ing on some “Master-Plan” in
which the entire Middle East
figures importantly is now be
coming clear to many Western
diplomats residing in the area.
They see in Foreign Minister
Shepilov’s current visit to Cairo,
Damascus and Beirut a move to
draw the Arab world further in
to the Soviet order versus the
West and Israel. Ilaboker in Tel
Aviv reports that Chinese offi
cers are training hundreds of
Egyptians for guerilla warfare.
Dr. Nahum Goldmann’s charge
in Paris last week that Moroc
can leaders had violated assur
ances to permit mass emigration
of Jews from Morocco has great
ly shocked delegates of the World
Parliament of Religions who re
ceived the following assurances
from the Sultan during a recent
private interview: “Independent
Morocco will remain faithful to
the principles of tolerance and
non-discrimination, and you can
count on us to apply and respect
them. Islam, Judaism and Christ
ianity are all revealed religions,”
the Sultan told the delegates,
‘‘and the practitioners of these
three religions must cooperate for
welfare and justice.” Among the
U.S. delegates who received this
promise were Dr. Richard Evans,
the dynamic leader of New York’s
Labor Temple, the Rev. James
Spence, Miss Sarah E. Dickson
and Dr. Sholom Shakin.
The International Travel De
partment of the American Auto
mobile Association has released
two stories on “Israel — a Re
vival of History” and on “Tel
Aviv” as among the interesting
cities of the world. “There is
hardly a city in the world that
can consider itself as purely 20th
century as Tel Aviv — and yet
claim roots as far back as the
distant, Biblical past,” says one
of the articles. “Springing from
the city of Jaffa in 1909, Tel
Aviv has grown from virtually
nothing to its position today as
the most modern metropolis of
the Middle East.”
JERUSALEM, (JTA) — Moshe
Sharett, who held the post of
Israel’s Foreign Minister since the
establishment of the Jewish State,
today submitted his resignation
at a special meeting of the Cab
inet on June 18. He took leave
of his colleagues and left before
the Cabinet meeting was over. He
walked home on foot, refusing
to use the official car which was
assigned to him during his ser
vice as Foreign Minister.
Later in the day, Premier Ben
Gurion announced Mr. Sharett’s
resignation at a session of Par
liament and said that Mrs. Golda
Myerson would take over the
post of Foreign Minister. He as
sured Parliament that the gov
ernment’s basic policy will re
main the same as hitherto, par
ticularly in the field of security
and foreign affairs.
Mr. Ben Gurion referred to his
Belgian Diamond
Dealers in Protest
BRUSSELS, (JTA) — The
Belgian Government has prom
ised to take into consideration a
protest against its Ministry of
Overseas Trade circulating among
diamond dealers a Saudi Arabian
statement to the effect that all
diamonds sold to the Arab coun
try would have to be accompan
ied by a certificate that the sell
er was not a Jew.
’This pledge was made by the
Minister for Overseas Trade af
ter M. Marinower, a member of
the World Jewish Congress ex
ecutive, had formally protested
circularization of the Saudi Ara
bian statement by the Ministry.
When the matter was brought to
the attention of A. Rotti, presi
dent of the Belgian Diamond
Dealers Federation, he immedi
ately sent a letter of protest to
the Ministry, swelling the already
large chorus of protests.
address before Parliament on No
vember 2nd of last year, which
he delivered following the fight
ing in the Nitzana demilitarized
zone. At that time, he emphasiz
ed that the Israel Government
would stand up vigorously for
its rights and would not shrink
from using force if force were
used to infringe upon these rights
or to violate Israel territory.
Mr. Sharett, who followed Pre
mier Ben Gurion to the rostrum,
thanked Parliament for the trust
it had shown in him and reveal
ed that when Mr. Gurion formed
his Cabinet last August, Mr. Sha
rett had asked the Premier not
to include him in the Cabinet
because he had reason to believe
that their cooperation would not
be {successful. “I felt that it
would be best to free the new
government of superfluous com
plications,” Mr. Sharett told Par
liament.
The former Foreign Minister
disclosed that his request at that
time was rejected by Premier
Ben Gurion. During the period
of his office in the present gov
ernment, he continued, relations
between the Premier and himself
hdd been subjected several times
to “difficult tests.” “We over
came these tests by efforts to
preserve the cooperation which
had existed between us for two
decades and in view of the emer
gency through which the country
was passing,” Mr. Sharett report
ed to th§ Parliament.
A tense House heard the Pre
mier pay tribute to Mr. Sharett
and stress that not only the mem
bers of the Cabinet and Knesset
and Mr. Sharett’s colleagues but
a large number of Jews and non-
Jews throughout the world had
received the news of his resigna
tion “with regret.” He insisted
that no other member of the Cab
inet was as well fitted for his task
as Mr. Sharett by virture of his
“work for the state, wide culture,
extensive knowledge, thorough
understanding of Internationa
affairs, natural talents, tact, tem
perament and agreeable manner,
loyalty to duty and tremendous
diligence.” ...
He further lauded Mr. Sharett s
accomplishments as Premier and
enumerated a long list of accom
plishments, including the forging
of strong bonds between Israel
and other countries. The Premier
underlined that he had worked
with Mr. Sharett'for 40 years,
“generally in agreement, always
in confidence and mutual respect.”
He then announced Mrs. Myer-
son’s appointment to succeed Mr.
Sharett and Mordecai Namir’s ap
pointment to the Ministry of La
bor post left vacant by Mrs.
Myerson’s change.
(Israel Ambassador Abba Eban,
who in connection with Mr. Sha
rett’s resignation is mentioned
for a post of special adviser to
Israel’s newly named Foreign
Minister Golda Myerson, left the
United States today by plane for
Israel.)
Prior to the Knesset session,
some members of the government
held the view that the Cabinet
as a body must submit its resig
nation to Parliament, and then
be reorganized after agreeing on
matters of foreign policy and the
naming of a new Foreign Min
ister. However, the Mapai mem
bers of the Cabinet, headed by
Premier Ben Gurion, opposed
this view. They maintained that
the Foreign Minister’s portfolio
is a prerogative of the Mapai
party under an existing coalition
agreement. A formal announce
ment in Parliament of Mr. Shar-
rett’s resignation and of Mapai’s
naming Mrs. Golda Myerson as
his successor is sufficient, they
claimed.
Mr. Sharett will remain a mem
ber of Parliament. Later he
was elected to the Mapai’s collec
tive secretariat.
Leaders Ponder Changes in
by EDWIN A. BELLER
World Jewish
NEW YORK, (JTA)—Signs and port
ents of a "new look” for Soviet Jewry,
coupled with a startling omission, formed
the basis this week for speculation in
Jewish circles about the position of Jewry
in the U.S.S.R., its contacts with the Jews
of the world, and the Soviet Govern
ment’s policy toward Israel and the Mid
dle East.
In contrast to the situation of the past
few years, there was no dearth of clues
for the augers to interpret. It was the
very multiplicity of such clues and the
very different tendencies they seemed to
foreshadow which aroused the cautious
speculation.
The omission which caused the most
vigirous comment occured in the text of
Nikita S. Kruschev’s non-famous “secret”
speech to the 20th Congress of the Com
munist Party of the Soviet Union. Amid
the confessional tone of that address, with
its spelling out of crimes committed un
der the regime of Joseph Stalin, there
was no mention—in the text released by
the U. S. State Department last week—
of the anti-Semitism which marked the
last decade of the old dictator’s rule.
The significance of that omission was
being carefully weighed in the light of
the signs given of a more liberal attitude
toward Soviet Jewry. And support for
the obvious question as to why the mat
ter was not mentioned came from an un
expected quarter. “The Daily Worker” ed
itorially complained that “in the long list
of crimes mentioned in the speech, there
was silence on those committed against
Jewish culture and Jewish cultural lead
ers. To date, this series of outrages has
not been publicized in the socialist coun
tries except in the columns of the Jew-
ish-language paper of Warsaw (Folkss-
thimme).” Next day, the Yiddish-lang-
uage Communist newspaper “Freiheit” de
voted a story to "The Daily Worker” edi
torial, and followed up with an editorial
of its own.
The failure to mention what was past
might be significant, it was agreed. But
the signs of what might yet be were no
less a matter for careful deliberation, it
was felt. Two groups of American rabbis
have been granted visas to visit the So
viet Union and to travel to cities where
there are Jewish communities. The Chief
Rabbi of Moscow announced that kosher
meat would soon be available again in
the Soviet capital, and there was an an
nouncement of the publication in the near
future of prayerbooks.
Then, at week’s end, Dr. Nathum Gold-
mann, speaking at a press conference in
Israel, in his capacity as president of the
World Jewish Congress, confirmed again
that a World Jewish Congress delegation
would visit the U.S.S.R. on the invitation
of Moscow’s Rabbi Schleifer—an invita
tion that quite obviously could not have
been extended without prior Government
approval. The exact composition of the
WJC delegation was not yet decided and
the question of whether Dr. Goldmann
himself would head the group was left
open pending talks with Soviet envoys in
Paris and London. Presumably Dr. Gold
mann would want to know whether he
would be allowed to make contact on a
governmental level to discuss questions
which are of the utmost significance to
the future of Russian Jewry.
Nor was there reason to probe the back
ground of Soviet policy in these matters
alone. Israel, too, was a subject on which
the signs and portents presented an em
barrassment of riches. Clearly, it had been
thought, the Soviets had adopted a policy
of unlimited support of the Arab cause
aimed at winning their allegiance. That
strategy had culminated in the heavy arm
ing of Egypt and her allies—arming which
presented an immediate threat to the Jew
ish State.
Then, last Spring, a statement issued
on Moscow, called for a peaceful settle
ment of outstanding Middle East issues.
The soviets also supported, through their
delegation at the United Nations, the re
solution which sent Secretary General
Dag Hammarskjold off on his quest to
shore up the shaky armistice agreements.
Finally, in London, the Soviet leaders
Bulganin and Khruschev joined Prime
Minister Sir Anthony Eden in urging “Mu
tually acceptable” settlement of the Pal
estine issue.
The new pattern, therefore, seemed to
be set. But the Security Council witnesses
a startling Soviet switch at the last min
ute. The Soviet delegate, Arkady A. So
bolev, suddenly announced that he sup
ported the Arab objection to the “mu
tually acceptable” idea embodied in a
British resolution. The fact that very
words came from a joint Anglo-Soviet
statement evidently meant nothing. The
switch forced the withdrawal of the words
—and handed the Arabs a tremendous
victory.
Added to this was a New York Times
Soviet Policy
report from Paris to the effect that Andre
Philip, member of a French Socialist del
egation that visited Moscow last month,
said in an interview that Mr. Khruschev,
during two conferences with the 12 mem
bers of the French delegation, also had
discussed the status of the Jews in the
Soviet Union.
At their first meeting, the French del
egate went on, Mr. Khruschev treated
the Jewish question as a topic of small
general interest. However, at the second
conference, the Soviet leader seemed to
be impressed by the visitors’ insistence on
the world importance of it and went to
great lengths to assure his listeners that
he was not anti-Semitic, M. Philip said.
He told the French that the Jews were
considered to be like any other minority
nationality, such as the Ukrainians or
Geojgians. The Jews, Mr. Khrushchev de
clared, have the same rights as other So
viet citizens, but no more.
The Yiddish language is fading away
and the majority of the Jews in the So
viet Union are learning Russian as the
best way to obtain a livelihood in the
modern Soviet state, M. Philip quoted
Mr. Khruschev as having said, with re
gard to Soviet-Israel relations, the Soviet
leader told the French delegation that
there "still is a cold war between us and
Israel, but we expect to get it over quick
ly.” M. Philip reported that Mr. Khrus
chev had charged that Israel was being
used “as an instrument of Anglo-Saxon
imperialism,” and that this had brought
about the poor relations between Israel
and the Soviet Union.