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The Southern Israelite A Weekly Newspa per for Southern Jewry — Estah 1 ' b'f VOL. XXXI ATLANTA, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 1956 oA 0 ^ & NO. 24 AN AJP ROUND-UP OF WORLD NEWS q\ ,. r\ • rwii j\t rh» g onarerr Kssions. Ine iSews Picture ^ rr ■. -p .// ^ . j i\nesset of 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.