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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Friday, July 26, 1968
AS WE WERE SAYING
by Robert E. Segal
Arab Propaganda Line
—X- ■ .'V. W'- '
M. .■■$£., Mehdi, the moat vocal American newspapers, still de-
of Arab propagandists In the daring that Senator Kennedy
United States, now has his work was an indirect victim of Zion-
cut ouiior some time to come. ism and scolding the victim of
Mehdi, who sends his press re- the assassination with these
leasts to American newspapers shocking words: ‘It was morally
in his rple as Secretary-General wrong on the part of Senator
of the Action Committee On Kennedy to submit to the pres-
American-Arab Relations (a eu- sure of the Zionists and prom-
'phemism for an anti-Jewish ise sending 50 jet fighters to
front in this country), must first Israel so that more Israeli Jews
get his lines straight with the might kill more of Sirhan’s peo-
"Arabs he claims to represent and pie and occupy more of Sirhan’s
then he will have some explana- homeland.”
tidns to make in the more crit- Echoing the line set forth by
ieal . zone of American public the American Friends of the
opinion Middle East in earlier American
Shortly after Senator Robert prea idential campaigns, Mehdi
F. Kennedy was killed and a 24- wen t on to propose a morator-
year-oM. native of the Jerusalem ium on discussion of the Arab-
in the Palestine of 1944 was i srae U conflict by major presi-
captured with the assassination dential candidates. (Let Messrs,
gun, Mr. Mehdi told the press Nixon Humphrey, Rockefeller,
that young Sirhan Sirhan’s act McCarthy, et al, confine their
"reflects the frustrations of remarks to American civil dis-
many Arabs with American pol- orders and Mehdi would cover
iticans who have sold the Arabs
of Palestine to the American
Jewish voters.” He figured that
the alleged killer was inflamed
by Senator Kennedy’s “pro-Is
rael statements.’ Just about the
same time, Dr. Muhammad H.
el-Farra, Jordanian representa
tive to the United Nations,
property bowted his head and
stated: “The Jordan government
strongly condemns this criminal
act committed against an out
standing American and a leading
public servant.” And back in Jor
dan, Premier Bahjat al-Tal-
houny went over to the U. S.
Embassy and wrote in the book
of condolence: “On behalf of my
government, this is to condemn
the assassination that took the
life of Senator Kennedy.”
King Hussein himself, appar
ently without bothering to clear
it with Mr. Mehdi snug in his
propaganda factory, said he was
"horrified at the senseless
crime.”
. But perhaps the sagest reac
tion came from a simple Leb
anese workman who said: “If
this Palestinian (Sirhan) wanted
to help his country, why didn’t
he go back and join the Al Fatah
(ter roristic anti-Israel com
bine)?” And as if to underscore
this sentiment and at the same
time dramatize how stupid Mr.
Mahdi’s propaganda line was,
spokesmen for Al Fatah issued
their own statement condemning
Kennedy’s assassination and dis
associating the organization com
pletely from the vicious act.
But Mehdi, having learned
nothing from his gaffe, ploughed
right ahead. By mid-June, he
was blithely writing letters to
Mrs. Pousner
Heads Golda
Meir Chapter
Golda Meir Chapter, Pioneer
Women, held a tea for new and
prospective members on Wednes
day afternoon, July 17 a t the
home Mrs. Sam Cheslin, 3610
Buford Highway, N. E. Anyone
interested in joining this group
should contact Mrs. Melvin Silon,
1264 Vista Valley Drive, N. E.,
telephone number 634-2687.
Officers of /the group for the
coming year are Mrs. Seymour
PQnaner, president; Mrs. Alexan
der Block, vioe president, fund
raising; Mrs. Melvin Silon, vice
president, membership; Mrs. Sam
Cheslin, recording sec.; Mrs. Eli
Bobo, cor. sec.; Mrs. Rae
Schlossman, financial sec.; Mrs.
Morris Entin, trees.
Israel Contingent
In Four-Day March
THE HAGUE (JTA) — A
contingent of 54 Israeli soldiers
and officers has arrived in the
Netherlands to take part in the
nation’s four-day ronfe march
Representatives -\ from various
armies and thousands of Dutch
civilians participate in the an
nual event.
the Middle East for the Amer
ican voters.)
It’s fascinating now to find
Mehdi declaring himself an ex
pert on political assassinations.
Just a year ago, he was boast
ing of “Arab magnanimity ex
hibited toward the Crusaders (of
the Middle Ages)” and giving
assurances that a secure Arab
world would never bother to
crush Israel. Along about the
same time, he praised the Arabs
for their delightful use of
“peaceful pressure” (boycott)
instead of nasty guns and such.
Mr. Mehdi will find out soon
whether Young Sirhan’s involve
ment in the Kennedy tragedy
proves good for the Arabs or
bad for the Arabs. Meanwhile,
he might want to go back and
note what the editor of Ad
Destore said in Amman, Jordan,
soon after Kennedy was struck
down: “What Arab in his right
mind would do a thing like this?
The only people to benefit from
such actions are the Jews.” He
might want also to have a close
look at the proposal of Congress-
Reform Leader Calls
For Gun Control
NEW YORK (JTA)—A leader
of Reform Judaism has called
upon churches and synagogues
throughout the United States to
campaign vigorously for strong
gun-control legislation.
Rabbi Maurice N. Eisendrath,
president of the Union of Amer
ican Hebrew Congregations, urged
an intensive and continuing edu
cational campaign which will
“put spine into a Congress which
seems incapable of matching the
critical need of the day with des
perately needed action.”
Cypriots Worried
About Tourists
TEL AVIV (JTA)—A group of
visiting Greek Cypriots pleaded
with Israelis this week to end
their tourist boycott of Cyprus
because the island’s economy was
suffering. The Cypriots, all farm
ers who spent several weeks at
an Israeli agricultural settlement
as guests of the Ministry of Agri
culture, acknowledged that the
boycott may have been justified
by the pro-Arab stand that Pres
ident Makarios of Cyprus took
after the Six-Day War when he
branded Israel an “aggressor” and
has never reversed himself.
Israeli Experts
Help Other Lands
JERUSALEM (WUP)—Marking
the tenth anniversary this year
of Israel’s vast technical aid to
developing countries through the
Foreign Ministry’s International
Cooperation Department, some
2,000 Israeli experts who had
taken part in the aid programs
have assembled here this month
in happy reunion.
The International Cooperation
Department was set up in 1958,
though Israeli aid to Burma and
Ghana preceded its establish
ment.
man Joel T. Broyhill of Vir
ginia, who has pointed out that
the Kennedy assassination “was
an obvious conformity with the
stated aims of the pro-Commun-
ist Arab terrorist organization,
Al Fatah.” Representative Broy
hill then called for a probe of
Arab activities in the U. S. and
suggested that visas of Arab agi
tators be revoked and deporta
tion orders issued.
Dutch Leader,
Eban Discuss
Middle East
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Dr. Jos
eph M. A. H. Luiis, The Nether
lands Foreign Minister, had meet
ings here with Prime Minister
Abba S. Eban during which Mid
dle East problems in general were
discussed and Nether lands-Israeli
relations reviewed.
Dr. Luns, accompanied by key
members of The Netherlands For
eign Ministry, is in Israel on an
official visit. The Netherlands
represent Israeli interests in a
number of East European coun
tries with whom Israel currently
has no diplomatic relations.
Among the issues discussed at
length by Dr. Luns and Mr. Eban
was the question of Israel’s re
lations with the European Com
mon Market. Israel seeks an as
sociate membership and its appli
cation has been warmly support
ed by The Netherlands but has
run afoul of French and Italian
objections.
According to the official com
munique, Prime Minister Eshkol
reiterated the Israel poetion on
peace to Dr. Lons and said that
while Israel desired a stable and
lasting peace, “we shall not agree
to any temporary and feeble ar
rangement, even if this would
seem to ease the pressure mom
entarily.”
He said that Israel was prepar
ed to enter into direct negotia
tions with the Arab states and
asserted that if the Arabs sin
cerely wanted peace they would
have to educate their people for
it and “seek, together with us,
a way of mutual coexistence in
this part of the world.”
In the Luns-Eban meeting at
the Foreign Ministry, Mr. Eban
outlined in detail Israel’s attempts
to advance peace in the Middle
East through Ambassador Gunnar
V. Jarring, the United Nations
special envoy, and in other ways.
Dr. Luns had denied, before
leaving The Hague, reports that
he would seek to act as a medi
ator in the Aralb-Israeli conflict.
Dr. Luns told Mr. Eshkol later
that he understood Israel’s pos
ition and he displayed a deep
knowledge of the history of the
land and people of Israel. “The
world will not again allow Mas
ada to fall,” he declared.
Family Outing
For Fulton Lodge
Fulton Masonic Lodge will
bold a family outing, rain or
6hine, at 1:00 pm., Sunday, July
28, at Zahan Park on Tilly Mill
Road.
The menu will include barbe
cue chicken, kosher hot dogs,
baked potatoes, corn on the cob,
ice cream, watermelon and soft
drinks.
Dressing rooms and showers
will be available for those who
wish to swim. Games are planned
for the children, with prizes for
winners.
Schoenfein Elected
NEW YORK (JTA)—Benjamin
P. Schoenfein was elected presi
dent of First National Bank and
Trust Company of New York,
successor bank to the New York
branch of Bank Leumi. The new
bank is chartered and regulated
under the laws of New York
State and is a member of the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Praying At The Temple Wall
Brings On Some Argument
By DAVID SCHWARTZ
Copyright, 1968, Jewish
Telegraphic Agency, Inc,
• * • *
Quite a controversy has been
aroused by the denial of per
mission to delegates of a liberal
Judaism organization meeting in
Jerusalem to hold the customary
religious service at the Temple
Wall, with the men and women
praying together. The liberal or
Reform Jews may come to the
Temple Wall with their women
folk but if they want to hold reg
ular religious service, they must
do so in separate sections.
A member of the Israeli cab
inet recalled an old American
Jewish joke about the policeman
on Yom Kippur. A man came
along without a ticket. “You can’t
enter,” said the policeman. “But
I just want to see a friend for
a moment,” said the man. “All
right,” said the policeman, “but if
I catch you praying, I’ll put the
handcuffs on you.”
Israel has gone perhaps further
than any other country in giving
women full equality. She has. had
a woman as Minister of foreign
affairs and Mrs. Meir is even
being talked about for President
of Israel. In Israel, the women
are drafted along with the men
for military service. Yet there are
some unbridgable differences that
must in some ways always seg
regate the sexes. While Israeli
girls are drafted for the army
and taught to shoot, they are not
employed in the oombat forces.
Prayer to the orthodox Jew
was not simply a mumbling of
words. Prayer required a whole
sou led concentration, with “all
one’s heart, all of one’s soul, all
of one’s mind,” a kind of “turn
ing on” to use a modern phrase,
in which everything but the Di
vine was excluded.
It is told of a noted Hasidic
rabbi that while praying private
ly, the YETZER HARA (The
Evil Inclination) kept entering
his mind. “Go away,” he shout
ed, “you can come when I am
eating or doing something like
that, but when I am praying, I
would appreciate it if you kept
at a distance.”
Rabbi S. M. Lehrman, a res
ident of Israel, formerly the rab
bi of a London synagogue, states
the case, I think, sensibly. “Who
will be rash enough,” he asks,
“to gainsay that the company of
ladies especially if they are
young and pretty and garbed in
styles and designs to attract at
tention are not out of place be
fore the monumental relic of the
pride which was Israel, the Holy
Temple.”
Liberal Jews are inclined to do
much lees praying than the orth
odox and one does not wish to
discourage them. One would In
fact like to do everything possible
to encourage them in that direc
tion. However, they do have al
ternatives. They can pray sep
arately from their wives or they
can pray privately as the Hasidic
rabbi, we mentioned, was doing.
Praying is a form of study, bas
ically, searching out for the High
est, and there is northing better
for study than solitude.
The Baal Shem Tov held that
man required no fixed place of
worship. The SCHECHINA or Di
vine spirit was over all of God’s
works. The world itself is a tem
ple of God.
In Israel’s earliest days, the
outdoors seemed to be the great
inspiration of the religious. The
most devotional book of the Bible
is the Psalms, which is replate
with Nature. In one psalm, we
are told of mountains skipping
like rams and little hills like
lambs. Or take the famous Twen
ty Third psalm,
The Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not want
He maketh me to lie doton in
preen pastures
He leadeth me beside still
waters.
It was in the solitude of Na
ture, that David worshipped and
composed the psalms.
Special Hebron Home
For Orthodox Group
JERUSALEM (JTA)—The Min
ister for Religious Affairs has an
nounced that a special quarter
will be built in Hebron far a
group of Orthodox Jews who
went there last Passover and an
nounced their Intention of re
maining.
Dr. Zerah Waihaftig said the
plans included family housing,
dormitories for yeshiva students,
a dining hall, clinics and a chil
dren’s house. ''
The settlers said they were de
termined to revive the Jewish
community in Hebron which la
the site of the Patriarch’s tombs
and is considered holy by Orth
odox Jews.
Mrs. Robert Neiman
Mrs. Gertrude Waldman Nei
man, 50, of Savannah died Sun
day, July 14, while visiting in
Hollywood, Fla.
Funeral services were held
July 16 with Rev. Leon Radzig
officiating. Interment was in
Bona venture Cemetery.
Survivors include her husband,
Robert Neiman of Savannah;
two sons, Stewart Neiman of Sa
vannah and Howard Neiman of
Atlanta; her father, Joseph
Waldman of Savannah; two sis
ters, Mrs. Pauline Tenenbaum
and Mrs. Doris Gellins, both of
Savannah; two brothers, Edward
and Benjamin Waldman of Sa
vannah, and a grandson.
mm BY HENRY LEONARD
‘Pop — why do they hide the Choir?
Are they ashamed of them?"
Copr. 1961, Day600 Productions