Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

The Southern Israelite A Weekly Newspaper for Southern Jewry — Established 1925 Vol. XLIV Atlanta, Georgia, Friday, January 31, 1969 No. 5 Atlanta Raises Fund Goal to $3,000,000 The Atlanta Jewish Welfare Federation has set a campaign goal of $3,000,000 for 1969. This was unanimously approved at the second annual mem bership meeting of Federation held last Sunday following the recommendations of the 23-men Mission to Israel who had re turned from a one-week fact-finding “Operation Israel.” The campaign goal included $1,250,000 for the Regular Cam paign for the support of 56 beneficiary agencies, and $1,750,000 for the Israel Emergency Fund. Meyer Balser and David Goldwasser, general co-chairmen of the 1969 drive, who led the special one-week study, reported together with other members of the Mission that Israel is facing a “most- serious economic problem.” They added, “This is due to the fact that the people of Israel must spend more for defense purposes as a result of the wn- tinuing threats of the Arab countries. World Jewry, and especially American Jewry, must therefore extend increasing support for the health, welfare and educational programs. These programs are especially designed for the immigrants who are coming into Israel in greater numbers, as well as for those who have not yet been absorbed.” Balser and Goldwasser pointed out that the Atlanta com munity raised last year $2,005,000. They confidently predicted that the community would respond to the increased goal of one- third more. “W^ started our campaign in Israel when Our group pledged $444,250 as compared with $267,000 which they contri buted in 1968.” Premiership Again Eshkol Aim; Likes Dayan In His Present Job JERUSALEM (JTA) — Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, 74, has de clared he intends to seek the Premier»hip again after the gen- ral election next October and has no intention of stepping down. He also had kind words for his potentially chief rival for the top Government post, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan. He said he would not consider anyone but Gen. Dayan for the post of Defense Minister and that there was no reason to replace him. Mr. Eshkol held both theh Pre miership and the defense port folio until the May, 1967 crisis when he relinquished the latter to Gen. Dayan under popular and political pressure. He said that while he formerly believed that the Prime Minister and Defense Minister should be the same person he had changed his mind. “The Premiership is a full time job and the ,defense post requires a special man to fulfill it.” Mr. Eshkol said. The election will be for seats ays Sirhan's Lawyers Ponder ial as Propaganda Forum WASHINGTON (JTA) — De fense lawyers for Sirhan B. Sir- han, accused assassin of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, are ponder ing how far to push the “Zionist” angle in the trial of the 24-year- old immigrant from Jordan, Washington Post correspondent George Lardner Jr. reported from Los Angeles. “So far the lawyers have said they intend to make Sirhan’s experiences as a youth in Palestine a key issue in their effort to save Sirhan from the gas chamber,” Mr. Lardner wrote. “They plan to argue that the young Jordanian immigrant was so scarred and so obsessed by the Arab-Israeli conflict that he was incapable of premeditated, first degree murder when he shot down Sen. Kennedy,” Mr. Lard ner said. He noted further that “not a few Arabs and Arab-Amerioans have expressed the view that the trial would be an ideal forum for ‘the Arab position’ in the Middle East.” One of these is Mrs. Mary Sirhan, the defend ant’s mother. Mr. Lardner said that Sirhan’s defense lawyers, among them Emile Zola Berman, who is Jew ish, “insist they will be able to stop short of trying the rights and wrongs of the Arab-Israeli conflict.” Chief defense counsel Grant B. Cooper has said, “It might never become an issue” in the case. “Mary Sirhan caught him during a recess. 'Don’t say it won’t be come an issue,’ sh^ is said to have told him. ‘It has to be’,” M r. Lardner reported. The jury accepted for the trial includes persons from several mi nority groups. One is Jewish. Iraq Hangings Action Demandt C< >vx° alt UN NEW YORK (JTA)—American Jews this week reached with out rage to t'hb" execution Monday of nine Iraqi Jews, and five non- Jews, by the Baghdad Govern ment on charges of spying for Israel. The Jewish Nazi Victims Organization scheduled a mass rally and memorial service, ex pected to be attended by over have been hela since June, 1967, ^een sub jected to close eillance and have been absoli..ely limited in movement and communication. The fact, that it was clearly im possible for Jews in Iraq to have engaged in the alleged subversive plot has in no way deterred the savagery and barbarism of the 1,000 in front of the Iraqi Mis- blood-thirsty court.” in the Knesset (Parliament). Un der the Israeli system, the party which polls the most votes forms a Government which must win a vote of confidence before taking office. Gen. Dayan, hero of the 1956 Sinai campaign, is credited by many Israelis for the light ning victory in the Six-Day War and is considered to be the most popular political figure in Israel today. Mr. Eshkol and his older colleagues of the Labor Party and former Mapai Party control the political machinery. Many observers have seen a contest looming between the two. The Labor Party, now in political alignment with Mapam, controls 63 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, an absolute majority for one party for the first time in Israel’s history. If it retains that proportion* after the October elections it would be able to form Israel’s first non-coalition government. Some Labor Party leaders, however, have recom mended retaining a coalition in the interests of national unity. sion to the United Nations. Arthur J. Goldberg, American Jewish Committee presid e n t, urged the United States Govern ment, the UN and a!' membei- states, together with non-govern mental agencies, to condemn the executions so that “hopefully fur ther executions may be avoided.” . Expressing “horror and grief,” ihe American Jewish Congress urged the State Department to use “every available diplomatic means” to prevent the executions of 65 persons still to be tried for allegedly spying for Israel. AJCongress president Rabbi Ar thur J. Lelyveld in a telegram to Secretary of State William P. Rogers said that the executions were “all the more monstrous be cause Iraq’s 3,900 to 4,000 Jews Eshkol Outraged; Denies Spy Charges JERUSALEM (JTA1 — Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, shaking with anger, appeared before a grim Parliament to denounce the pre-dawn hanging of nine Jews as “genocide” that will be stopp ed by Israel if it is not halted from outside. Mr. Eshkol, whose face reflect ed the rage felt by Israelis when they learned of the hangings from their newspapers and radios, quoted scripture in what some interpreted as a threat of reprisal against Iraq. “Oh, daughter Bab ylon, that are to be destroyed, happy shall he be that- repayeth thee as thou has served us. The I,ord shall avenge their blood,” Mr. Eshkol said. He declared further, “Between the design of genocide and its perpetration, there stands the State of Israel alone—Israel and its strength.” .The scriptural ref erence was appropriate since Iraq is located on the site of Babylon, an enemy of Israel in ancient times. (Reports from Baghdad said that Iraq has placed its armed forces on the alert in anticipation of an Israeli repri sal.) The Prime Minister said the Jews who were executed were not spies for Israel. “Their only crime was that they were Jews.” He described the hangings as part of a scheme by the Iraqi Gov ernment to direct attention from its internal troubles. “It was a criminal plot,” he said, “and de mands for the ‘liberation of Pal estine’ are part and parcel of the same design,” he said. “The land of Iraq has become one great prison for its Jewish remnant, a gallows for its Jewish citizens.” State Department Expresses ‘Concern’ WASHINGTON (JTA) — The executions are a matter of “gen uine concern” to the United States Government, State Depart ment sources said. They added that the U. S. did not have the facts of the case at first hand because America has no func- toning embassy in Iraq. Diplo matic relatioiTS'" Wcre severed by the Iraqis in June, 1967, as a insult of the Six-Day War. Offic ials said the prevailing Iraqi at titude toward the U. S. was suoh that it might do other persons facing execution more harm than good for Washington to attempt overt diplomatic pressures in their behalf. The AJCongress addbd that everyone with concern for jus tice—Jew and non-Jews—should communicate immediately with President Nixon and Secretary Rogers imploring that every step be taken to prevent the murder of those still to be tried.” Dr. Emanuel Neumann, chair man of the Jewish Agency-Amer- ican Section, urged in a telegram to President Nixon that Washing ton intervene through diplomatic channels to forestall further litical assassinations.” He “If Iraq wants to be ‘Juden it should permit its Jews to leave peacefully for Israel and other lands. Only thus can Iraq pre serve whatever it may still pos sess of humanity and decency.” From The Four Arabs Hire Help To Im^ove Image Among Britons LONDON (JTA) — The Arab League has retained a British public relations firm to improve the Arab image in this country and counteract the unpopularity of the Arab countries since the June, 1967 war. The firm, Michael Rioe and Co., numbers several prominent public figures on its board of directors, among them Patrick McNair Wilson, a Conservative Member of Parliament, and Sir George Middleton, a former British Ambassador to Cairo, who is chairman of its overseas sub sidiary. Mr. Rice refused to disclose the fee his company is being paid. He said, “The Arabs feel there has been a very definite shift of opinion in Britain in favor of Israel’s position because of the failure in communications between themselves and the West.” British WJC Launches Drive For Arab-Held Jews LONDON (JTA)—The British section of the World Jewish Con gress, joined by other Jewish bodies, has launched an interna tional campaign to arouse world opinion on behalf of Jews im prisoned, harassed or on trial for their lives in various Arab coun tries. A pamphlet has already been distributed likening the per secution of Jews in some Arab states to Jewish suffering under Hitler. The WJCongress noted that 18 months after the June, 1967 war, hundreds of Jews are still de tained in Egyptian prisons and concentration camps without formal charges having been brought against them. They have been denied aeoess to legal as sistance and many have been subjected to cruel indignities by their' jailers, the WJCongress said. Yiddish Theater Sets Plans for Poland PARIS (JTA) — Two Polish Jews associated with the Yiddish theater told the Jewish Telegra phic Agency that they intended to return to Poland following their vocations in Paris. Jacob RottbaurrvJL.producer of the Wroclaw State T’heiTtpr, said he was producing a play based on the works of Sholom Aleichem with a group of Jewish actors. He said he had been giving Yid dish recitals in his city and, al though the audience was steadily diminishing, he had not been bothered by Polish authorities. Ruth Taru Kowalska, a well known Yiddish actress of the Jewish State Theater in Poland, said she was returning to War saw next week where the theater is playing a full season. Corners ORT Adopts Record Budget Of $17 Million NEW YORK (JTA)—More than 500 delegates to the 47th nation al conference of the American ORT Federation (Organization for Rehabilitation Through Training) approved a record $17 million budget here which will aid over 50,000 persons in 23 countries. The new budget rep resents a $1.8 million increase over last year’s budget. Dr. William Haber, Federation president, said that one of the principal beneficiaries would be the network of ORT schools in Israel. He said that with a small population and surrounded by enemies, Israel could not afford “to close one-fifth of its young generation, for lack of training for the places they will hold.” He said ORT planned to establish Is rael’s first institution of practical engineering in Jerusalem. Delegates heard Dr. Vladimir Halperin, World ORT Union di rector, report that “successive waves of refugee immigration in the last 15 years have more than doubled the Jewish population of France to over 550,000.” He noted that almost 25,000 North African Jews had come to France since the Six-Day War and announced plans to open additional ORT schools and training facilities for them. The conference received a mes sage from President Richard M. Nixon who hailed the interna tional endeavors of ORT as “an important contribution to better ing the lot of fellow men.” Sen. Jacob K. Javits, New York Re publican, who delivered the prin cipal address, urged a “joint U.S.- USSR initiative” to bring about meaningful Israel-Arab negotia tions. The Senator was honored for 20 years of service on ORT’s advisory committee and board of directors. Israel Asks Speed-Up Of Ford Production JERUSALEM "t JTA) — Israeli officials reported that the man agement of Ford in Israel had been asked to speed up assembly of cars to meet local needs. The request was made at a meeting between Transport Minister Moshe Carmel and Dr. Shaul Lifshitz, a Ford representative. The locally-assembled Fords, which contain several Israeli- made components, sells for about $425 less than the imported ver sion. There is currently a 12- month hide. waiting list for the ve-