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Friday, April 18, 1958
THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
NO. 10
Israel Charges “American Express'” With
Leo Lania Guest of Women’s
Special Gifts Next 'Tuesday
Yeilding To Anti -
JERUSALEM, (JTA)—The Is
rael Government Tourist Office
charged this week that the
American Express Company had
surrendered to the pressure of
the Arab boycott in closing down
its operations in the State of Is
rael and had, more recently,
prevented the Hertz Drive-Ur-
Self Company from opening a
branch in Israel. This is the first
time that the State of Israel has
publicly voiced its indignation
against firms which give way
before Arab pressure, and may
be the beginning of a new pol
icy in this direction.
The Israeli statement said that
for the past two years Israel
has been negotiating, unsuccess
fully, with the American Express
Company for re-opening of its
branch in this country. (In New
York, a spokesman for Ameri
can Express said that “for the
time being” the company had no
comment on the Israel state
ment.) The text of the state
ment reads:
“The American Express Com
pany which is one of the largest
travel and tourist agencies in
the world has maintained an in
dependent office in Israel since
the time of the British Mandate
and up to the beginning of
1956. In March 1956 the com
pany closed its Israeli office,
claiming that there is no com
mercial justification for its exist
ence. The American Express
Company left the management of
its business in the hands of a
local agent.
"We have been convinced be
yond any doubt that the closing
of the offices of the American
Express Company was a result
of yielding to the threats of the
Arab boycott. During the last
two years, the Government Tour
ist Corporation was in constant
contact with the American Ex
press Company asking them to
re-open the offices, but with no
results.
“During the last months the
Government Tourist Corporation
has been in contact with vaiious
firms in the field of ‘renting
cars to tourist.’ Hertz Drivc-Ur-
Self was included iq this con
tract. This company agreed ten
tatively to open a branch in
Israel. We have been informed
that the new partnership of
American Express and the Hertz
Company was a factor in the
Israel Boy colt
cancellation of the negotations
with the Hertz Company This
shows that not only did the
American Express Company
cease to function in Israel, but
that it had kept another com
pany from functioning there.
“Let us assume for the mo
ment that the closing of the
American Express office in Is
rael was inded an outcome of a
purely commercial consideration
and that there was no commer
cial justification for its activi
ties in 1956. Then we have to
point out that since then other
companies have widened their
activties in Israel as a result of
the mounting number of tourists
in this country. The airlines
have added many flights to Tel-
Aviv and the shipping lines have
put in more or larger ships.
“The public should know that
in spite of all this American Ex
press Company not only did not
re-open its offices in Israel, but
is conducting a policy toward
Israel which is in contradiction
to every accepted commercial
consideration.”
KNOXVILLE —A little bit of
Ireland’s finery will be banner
ed in Knoxville for all to see.
Robert (Bob) Briscoe, former
Lord Mayor of the Irish Catho
lic City of Dublin, will be guest
speaker at a community dinner
in his honor on Tuesday, April
29 at Hillvate Club. The occa
sion is the city’s event marking
the celebration of Israel’s 10th
anniversary.
The program is being sponsor
ed by the local Bonds for Israel
committee headed by Sam Rosen
and I. Rosenblatt, co-chairmen.
The local leaders are being as
sisted by Milton Parsons of
Memphis, newly named district
Bond representative.
Reservations at $2.75 per per
son for a complete dinner can
be made through the Center of
fice.
Recently elected President of
the Ireland-American Society,
Leo Lania, veteran foreign
correspondent, who recently re
turned from an extended visit to
Europe and the Middle East, will
be the guest speaker at a brunch
to be sponsored by the Special
Gifts group of the Women’s Di
vision of the Atlanta Jewish Wel
fare Fund Campaign at the Pro
gressive Club, Tuesday, April
22, 11:30 a.m. Mrs. Henry L. Cap-
lan, Mrs. Bernard Facher, Mrs.
Haskell Harris, Mrs. Nathan Lip-
ton, and Mrs. W. B. Schwartz,
Jr. are chairmen of the group.
Mr. Lania, who has been de
scribed as a survivor of two
world wars, three revolutions,
four concentration camps, re
turned home recently following
a six month roving assignment
covering cold war developments
west and east of the Iron Cur
tain. His assignment took him in
to the Soviet Orbit, into the tur
moil-ridden countries of the
Moslem world and into the new
State of Israel.
Mr. Lania, who speaks four
languages and reads three more,
the former Lord Mayor’s deci
sion to revisit America has been
inspired by a steady flow of
“come back” requests from many
organizations, friends and ad
mirers here. He has appeared on
several popular TV shows, in
cluding “Jack Paar” and “What’s
My Line.” He is also completing
final plans for the publication of
his biography, “Messenger of the
People.”
As a member of the Sinn Fein,
the Nationalist Party that
brought about Ireland’s inde
pendence, he undertook several
secret missions to this country
to raise funds and arms for the
rebels. As a Zionist, he has been
actively interested in the crea
tion and development of the
State of Israel. He is also closely
identified with many phases of
Jewish communal work in his
native Ireland.
was one of the first newspaper
men ever to interview and for
ten days actually to live with a
man named Adolf Hitler. That
was in 1923 and was followed
by his best-selling book entitled
“Hitler: The Grave-Digger of
Germany.” The Nazi dictator
later described Mr. Lania as
“the most dangerous enemy of
National Socialist Germany.”
In 1940, when the Nazis over
ran France, Hitler handed the
Vichy Government a list of 140
most wanted “criminals.” Mr.
Lania’s name was near the top.
Although captured and imprison
ed in a Vichy concentration
camp, Mr. Lania escaped before
he could be turned over to the
Nazis, and finally reached the
United States in 1941.
Mr. Lania was also the last
known newspaperman to inter
view the late Czech President
Edward Benes. His newest book,
“The Foreign Minister,” describ
ing the Communist coup in
Czechoslovakia, has received
wide critical acclaim and stage
rights to the work have been
acquired by the Theatre Guild.
In addition to his newspaper
role, Mr. Lania is a playwright
and lecturer. He wrote the first
screen play that starred Hedy
Lamarr and is credited wdh her
discovery in a Berlin dramatic
school.
As a lecturer for the extension
programs for the Universities of
Minnestota, Wisconsin and Kan-
Under the direction of Mrs.
Sidney Janus as chairman, the
Speakers Bureau of the Wom
en’s Division of the 1958 Atlanta
Jewish Welfare Fund Campaign
has been covering the organiza
tion front.
“These speakers have been do
ing an excellent job in halping
us tell the story of the 1958
campaign,” Mrs. Janus said. “It
is the kind of a story that is
best told in person and the pur
pose of the Speakers Bureau is
to expand the person-to-person
approach.
“To date, the record for the
number of talks made to date is
held by Mrs. I. F. Sterne. Mrs.
Sterne, a member of the board
LEO LANIA
sas, Mr. Lania toured the mid
west speaking on foreign affairs
to over 150,000 students in more
than 300 schools.
His books have been trans
lated into more than a dozen
languages. Among his best-
known works are “Land of Prom
ise,” “The Darkest Hour,” “To
day We Are Brothers” and “Nine
Lives of Europe.”
Mr. Lania will speak in be
half of the Atlanta Jewish Wel
fare Fund which is currently
conducting a two-fold campaign.
The Welfare Fund includes 82
appeals in the one campaign
and has set a goal of $705,000
for continuation of vital over
seas and home services. Includ-
(Continued on Page 4)
of the National Women’s Divi
sion of the UJA has spoken at
nine campaign meetings. Other
speakers, and the number of
meetings they have, addressed
are: Mrs. Bernard Facher, 1;
Mrs. Bernard Howard, 1; Mrs.
Sam Alterman, 2; Dr. and Mrs.
Edward Reisman, 1 each; Mrs.
Robert Goldsmith, 2; Mrs. Ed
Krick, 2; Mrs. Sydney Mossman,
2; Mrs. I. D. Shapiro, 2. The
chairman has addressed 3 meet
ings.
“The Speakers Bureau will
welcome any opportunity to
speak to organizations on the
Welfare Fund. For additional in
formation, call the office of the
Welfare Fund, Jackson 5-4825.”
South African Jewry Also
Rabbi Friedman Here Sunday Night
Former Mayor of Dublin
Guest of Honor April 29
Welfare Fund Speakers Cover
Organization Meets
Facing Racial Problems
JOHANNESBURG, (JTA)-Ten
Jews are candidates for Parlia
ment in the national elections
to be held in the Union of South
Africa next week. Seven are
members of the United Party,
one is on the Labor ticket, an
other has been nominated by the
Liberals, and one is running on
the list of the South African
Bond Party, a new, moderate
conservative group.
Meanwhile, tw r o Jewish can
didates were elected by over
whelming majorities in last
week’s special balloting for four
seats to represent the colored
population of the Cape district,
in Parliament. Under a recent
law, white men must be elected
by the colored people— those of
mixed parentage — to represent
them.
The successful candidates, Abe
Bloomberg and Charles Barnett,
were members of the last Parlia
ment. Mr. Bloomberg is also a
former mayor of Capetown while
Mr. Barnett once served as a
Capetown provincial councillor.
Two Jewish candidates who were
identified with the Nationalist
Party were defeated.
It is generally pointed out
throughout the country, how
ever, that there is no general
Jewish communal attitude to
ward the elections, since there
are no issues involved affecting
Jews as such. On other issues,
such as the matter of apartheid
(segregation of the colored peo
ple) there are many differences
of opinion among Jews as there
are among the country’s popula
tion in general.
Advice reaching here from
abroad to the effect that Jews
should “take a stand against
apartheid” is viewed as reflec
tive of ignorance regarding basic
conditions and attitudes in this
country. There are 110,000 Jews
in the Union. They are part of
the white population and, by
and large, have always subscrib
ed to basic social, political and
economic differentiation between
the Union’s 3,000,000 whites and
12,000,000 non-whites.
Some Jews support Prime
Minister Strijdom’s formulation
regarding separation of the races,
while others support the prin
ciple of apartheid but desire a
less rigid approach to the prob
lem. Some Jews feel that the
formulation should be more
closely akin to that evolved by
the late Marshal Jan Smuts
whose United Party is now the
principal opposition grouping in
the country.
There are Jews who adopt a
non-party attitude toward apar
theid, going along with Adolph
Shauder, former Mayor of Port
Elizabeth whose work in de
veloping housing projects for
non-whites has drawn wide
praise, including the applause of
the Strijdjom government.
Jews are also found in the
Labor Party which has a Social
istic outlook in general but
shares the government’s “white
leadership” approach. A few
Jews belong also to the Liberal
Party and to similar groups
which urge equal political rights
for whites and colored people.
Many South African Jews
support the opposition United
Party, preferring that group to
the Strijdom Conservatives. That
line-up however, is due not so
much to differences on the issue
of apartheid than to the personal
loyalty to the memory of the
war-time leadership by the late
Marshall Smuts. It is believed
that, in recent years, more Jews
have been veering from the Lib
eral Party to the conservative
camp.
Rabbi Herbert A. Friedman,
former Army chaplain and only
Jewish religious advisor in Ber
lin when that city was liberated
in 1945, now executive vice chair
man of the United Jewish Ap
peal, will be the featured speak
er Sunday, April 20, at the din
ner of the Advance Gifts I of
the Men’s Division of the 1958
Atlanta Jewish Welfare Fund
Campaign to be held at the
Standard Town and Country
Club. A reception in his honor
will precede the dinner, accord
ing to Bernard Howard and Max
Kuniansky, co-chairmen of the
Advance Gifts I group of the
Men’s Division.
A graduate of Yale and the
Hebrew Union College-Jewish
Institute of Religion, Rabbi
Mrs. Joseph Cuba, chairman of
the School Council Committee of
the Atlanta Bureau of Jewish
Education, has announced plans
for the Inter-School Israel In
dependence Day Assembly to be
held at the Atlanta Jewish Com
munity Center from 3:15 to 5:00
p.m. Thursday, April 24.
Representatives from the fol
lowing schools and congrega
tions will praticipate in the pro
gram: Ahavath Achim, Beth
Friedman served as spiritual
leader of Temple B’nai Jeshuron
in Milwaukee and Temple Em
manuel in Denver before he as
sumed his present post in 1955.
Rabbi Friedman will speak in
behalf of the Atlanta Jewish
Welfare Fund which, this year,
includes 82 appeals in one and
is conducting a two-fold cam
paign. A goal of $705,000 has
been set for continuation of vital
overseas and home services. The
campaign also includes a $750,
000 special Rescue Fund, over
and above the regular contribu
tions, so that the flow of migra
tion from Poland and elsewhere
may continue unabated. Atlanta
has accepted a commitment of
750 lives to be saved at a cost
of $1,000 each.
Jacob, Beth El, Hebrew Academy
of Atlanta, Hebrew Institute,
High School Departm. it of the
Institute of Jewish S udies, Or
V’Shalom, Shearith Israel and
the Temple.
The program will feature a
movie on Israel, Junior Choir
groups, candle lighting ceremony,
presentation of a Hebrew play
by students, presentation of
(Continued on Page 8)
Atlanta School Pupils To Mark
Israel’s 10th On April 24