Newspaper Page Text
The Southern Israelite
A Weekly Newspaper for Southern Jewry — Established 1925
Vol. XLIII
Atlanta, Georgia, Friday, January 5, 1968
Gives First-Hand Account
Of Oppression by Soviets
NEW YORK (JTA) — A New
York rabbi, who returned re
cently from a visit to the Soviet
Union, reported here that there
was only one synagogue left in
Leningrad to serve 300,000 Jews.
Rabbi Jacob Goldberg of the
Fort Tryon Jewish Center, also
told a mass Hanuka rally that the
last known minyan, held as a
consequence of synagogue.shut-
c owns in the Soviet Union, was
forcibly halted by Soviet of
ficials in Leningrad a few
months ago.
The rally followed a Hanuka
torchlight parade through New
York City streets in protest
Gen. Bar-Lev
Not Expecting
Soviet Action
TEL AVIV (JTA)—The possi
bility that Israel may same day
. y ave 10 fi&ht "foreign armies”
from outside the Middle East —
Soviet foroes by implication—was
raised by the new Chief of Staff
of Israel’s armed forces, Maj. Gen.
Chaim Bar-Lev, in his first press
interview since assuming his new
post.
But the veteran of last June’s
Six Day War declared that, while
Israel’s army is sufficiently train
ed and experienced to meet the
most modem armies in the world,
he did not “envisage any inter
vention—physical and active
by a foreign power against us ”
Such power, he said, will con
tinue to train and equip the Arab
nations, “but there is a long way
from this to an actual fighting
force.’’
Gen. Bar-Lev met the press
following a morning of military
parades at army posts all over
Israel, which marked his take
over of command from Maj. Gen.
Yitzhak Rabin, retiring Chief of
Staff. Both military leaders is
sued orders of the day to their
troops. Gen. Rabin, in his final
order, warned that “it cannot be
• said with certainty that the June
war was the last war.” He cau
tioned further that security can
not be achieved “simply by of
fering a hand of peace, but first
and foremost by being prepared
for war at all times.” Gen. Bar-
Lev, in his first order of the day,
noted that, while the Arab states
are “still licking their wounds,
they are already talking of a
new round, apparently having not
given up their ambition to des 7
troy Israel.”
The new Chief of Staff elab-’
orated on this subject at his press
conference. He also discussed
the problem of increasing Arab
terrorist activity, and said that
it was “certainly a possibility”
that Israel would retaliate, against
such acts by taking countermea
sures “across the borders.” He
disclosed that some 700 terrorists
have boon captured by Israeli se
curity forces since the June war.
Governor# to Make
Good Will Tour
WASHINGTON.. (JTA)—Gov.
John Vol pc of Massachusetts will
lead a delegation of governors of
various states on a goodwill trip
to Israel in January. Gov. . Volpe
is chairman. The others are Gov
ernors Warren P. Knowles, Re
publican of Wisconsin; Calvin
Rampton, Democrat of Utah; Tim
M. Babcock, Republican of Mon
tana; Ralph M. Paiewonsky,
Democrat of the Virgin Islands;
James A. Rhodes, Republican of
Ohio, and Hu left C. Smith, Dem
ocrat of West Virginia. They will
tour Israel from January 25 to
31.
against the abuse of Jews in the
Soviet Union. The parade and
rally, one of 18 such demonstra
tions in American cities on
Hanuka eve, was sponsored here
by the New York Jewish Com
munity Relations Council’s co
ordinating committee on Soviet
Jewry, and the American ^Jew
ish Conference on Soviet Jewry.
Rabbi Goldberg’s report bore
out an earlier charge by the
Conference that more than 450
synagogues in Russia have been
systematically closed by Soviet
officials over the last 10 years.
Only 60 synagogues remain in
the entire country to serve the
Soviet Union’s 3,000,000 Jews.
The closing of the synagogues
compelled the growth of private
prayer gatherings which are
now being systematically re
pressed, the Conference said.
Rabbi Israel Miller, chairman
of the Conference, said that the
mass rallies and demonstrations
demanded that “the USSR re
move the disabilities and in
equities which block religious
and cultural development of
-Russian Jewry, and accord them
the necessary communal facili
ties available to other religious
and cultural groups; to permit
thd reunion of families split by
the holocaust of World War II;
and halt the virulent anti-
Semitic campaign of initimida-
Jion carried on since the Six-
Day War.”
Outside New York, rallies
and torchlight parades in which
thousands participated were held
in Newark, N.J. San Jose and
San Francisco, California, Balti
more, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati,
Atlanta, Norfolk, Milwaukee,
Philadelphia, Boston, St. Louis,
Trenton, N.J., Waterbury, Conn.,
Miami, and Minneapolis and St.
Paul.
Meet Justice Douglas
JERUSALEM (JTA) — United
States Supreme Court Justice
William O. Douglas was received
here by the president of Israel’s
Supreme Court, Justice Simon
Agranat. Justice Douglas also met
with Aharon Becker, secretary
general of Histadrut, Israel’s fed
eration of labor; and David Hor
owitz, Governor of the Bank of
Israel.
Extremist Threats
To Heavy Guard
No. 1
*9
1-5
nkol
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Prime
Minister Levi Eshkol has a
heavy itinerary for his eight day
visit to the United States which
he is making at the invitation of
President Johnson. Mr. and Mrs.
Eshkol will spend the January
7-8 weekend" as house guests ait
the LBJ ranch in Texas.
It was reported in Jerusalem
that Mr. Eshkol will visit Prime
Minister Harold Wilson in Lon
don after his talks with Presi
dent Johnson. There was no of
ficial confirmation of that re
port.
Mr. Eshkol was due to arrive
in New York on January 4. He
will be feted at the United Na
tions at a luncheon given by
Secretary-General U Thant and
will be tendered a dinner by
major Jewish organizations in
New York City on January 11.
He will confer in New York
with Gov. Rockefeller and will
be a guest of Mayor John Lind
say at a performance of th<
Metropolitan opera. He also will
Premier to Follow
Cabinet Guidelines
JERUSALEM (JTA)— Israel’s
insistence on direct peace nego
tiations with the Arabs, and her
refusal to withdraw from occu
pied Arab territories until a peace
treaty is signed, will be convey
ed by Prime Minister Eshkol to
President Johnson when they
nv’et. in Texas January*? and 8.
These were the guidelines laid
down for the Prime Minister’s
American visit at a Cabinet ses
sion here and announced in a
communique signed by all Cab
inet members.
The communique also express
ed hopes for improved relations
between Israel and the United
States and Canada. Great Britain
was not mentioned in the com
munique because there has been
no official announcement of the
Prime Minister’s intention to visit
there on his way home from the
U.S.A. Finance Minister Sapir
will be acting Prime R^inister dur-
ingf Mr. Eshkol’s absence.
address a meeting of the Over
seas Press Club.
The dinner honoring the
Prime Minister will be held at
the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and
invitations have been extended
by Edward Ginsberg, chairman
of the United Jewish Appeal;
Max M. Fisher, UJA president;
Abraham A. Feinberg, president
of the Israel Bonds Organiza
tion, and Samuel Rothberg, cam
paign chairman.
The Prime Minister will have
much heavier police and Secret
Service protection than he re
ceived for his 1964 visit because
of indicationstof possible violence
by Black Power extremists. The
Federal Bureau of Investigation
nas opened a probe of new state
ments by the Student Non-Vio
lent Coordinating Committee
which advocates attacks on Pres
ident Johnson “to make him
afraid to leave the White House.”
33 of 46 Meetings
Of Security Council
Considered Mideast
UNITED NATIONS, N. Y.
(JTA) — The Middle East crisis
dominated the deliberations of
the Security Council in 1967, with —
33 of its 46 sessions during the jfmder de Gaulle
year devoted to events in that . „ .
part, of the world, the United Na- Sees Self in Hole
tions reported. The busiest months
were June and November, when
the Security Council held 17 and
12 meetings respectively on the
Middle East. In 1966, the Coun
cil held a total of 70 meetings,
of which 28 were concerned with
the Middle East.
The composition of the Secur
ity Council charged, as a new
slate of non-permanent members
began a two-year term. They are
Algeria, Hungary’. Pakistan, Par
aguay and .Senegal, which re
placed Argentina, Bulgaria, Ja
pan, Mali and Nigeria. The pres
ident of the Council for January
is Ambassador Agha Shahi, of
Pakistan who replaced Chief
Adebo, head of the Nigerian del
egation. The presidency rotates
each month among all members
of the 15-nation body.
The first foreign official guest
of the President since emergence
of the new SNCC extremist line,
is Mr. Eshkol. In the issue of
the SNCC publication urging
violence against President John
son the Black Power Group re
affirmed its “political opposition
to Zionism.”
The FBI has cautioned the
New York City Police Depart
ment and other local security
agencies to guard against pos
sible SNCC attempts to embarass
President Johnson by extremist
demonstrations against Mr. Esh
kol, who makes a convenient
target as the head of a nation
now under heavy fire from left
ist supporters of Arab extremism
in the United States. Additional
security measures have been set
up both in New York and at t!
LBJ ranch in Texas.
White House, sources said it
was possible that officials of such
executive agencies as the De
partments of State and Defense,
might go to the U3J ranch dur
ing the Eshkol visit. The visit is
taking place a month earlier
than scheduled, at the request
of the President. The talks are
expected to cover a wide range
of such matters as arms sales to
Israel, economic questions and
political matters. •
Police Parade Through Old City
Of Peacemaker
PARIS (JTA) — President de
Gaulle asserted here in his tra
ditional year-end address to the
naltion that, on the strength of his
past policies, he would ultimately
be able to bring peace to the Mid
dle East as well as to'Viet Nam.
Without menltaoning either Is
rael or the United States by name,
but referring to his policies of op
posing Israel’s role in the Middle
East and the American role in
Southeast Asia, he declared that
the warnings he had issued to
both .Israel and the USA had
proved justified by events. All
sides are now coming around to
his views, he stated, and “all
signs indicate, therefore, that we
shall be in a position to contri
bute moslt effectively to interna
tional solutions.”
In his address to the nation,
which was televised, Gen. de
Gaulle avoided all the harsh terms
he had previously employed, eith
er against Israel and the Jews
or against the U. S. role regard
ing Viet Nam.
POLICE HONOR—For the first time in celebra
tion of “Israel Policemen’s Day,” Arab and Jew
marched together through the Old City of Jeru
salem. Also taking part were all those policemen
who once worked under Jordanian rule and now
serve in the Israeli Police Force.
- Arab Terror Stalks
Wide Israel Area
TEL AVIV (JTA)—A mortar
attack from across the Jordan
River, aimed at Kfar Ruppin in
, the Beisan Valley, and a two-
< hour exchange of fire later be
tween Jordanians and Israeli
forcep on the West Bank, about
10 miles north of Damiyah Bridge,
ended a New Year wekend in
whiah terrorists activities were
otherwise centered on the Gaza
Strip and the town of Gaza. Ac
cording to a military spokesman,
there were no casualties on the
Israeli side of the latest incidents.
In the Gaza Strip^ the military
governor imposed a curfew, later
lifted, after two persons wbre in
jured by hand grenades thrown
near a movie and a coffee house
in the town of Gaza. One person
was fatally injured when police
were forced to fire into a mob
that was beginning to riot out
side the labor exchange at Ral-
fash, in the southern Gaza Strip.