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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
lubllshed weekly by Southern Newspaper Enterprises, 390 Court-
nd St., N. E., Atlanta, Georgia 30393, TR 6-8249, TR. 6-8240. Sec-
on class postage paid at Atlanta, Georgia. Yearly subscription $7.50.
e » outhrra Israelite invites literary contributions and correspond-
«noe but Ls not to be considered as sharing the views expressed by
Wr ' ters DEADLINE Ls 5 PM. FRIDAY, but material received earlier
will have a much better chance of publication.
Adolph Rosenberg, Editor and Publisher
Kathleen Nease, Vida Goldgar, Edward M. Kahn
Kathy Wood, Paul Warwick, Harry Rose
Betty Meyer, Gertrude Burnham
MEMBER
GEORGIA PRESS ASSN.
7 ARTS FEATURES
JEWISH TELEGRAPHIC
AGENCY [ WS/‘
WORLD UNION PRESS
1PNALM
*
Em
Milestone In Jewish Music
The traditional one-month observance of the annual
Je>»ush Music Festival will be extended to two months this
year — from February 1 to April 2 — to mark an important
milestone in the history of the National Jewish Music Council,
which is sponsored by the National Jewish Welfare Board.
As hundreds of Jewish organizations throughout the
United States conduct Festival programs in consonance with
its theme, “Celebrating a Quarter Century of Jewish Music in
America,” they will .also be paying tribute to the Jewish
Music Council on its Silver Jubilee.
A decisive force in making Jews aware of the wonderful
heritage of Jewish music, the Music Festival is one of the
many contributions of the Jewish Music Council to the enrich
ment of Jewish cultural life in America. While recognizing
the need to encourage the rendition of musical works that are
an integral part of the Jewish tradition, the Music Council
has stimulated the composition of more than 100 new Jewish
musical works. •> This represents a burgeoning of creativity
unheard of before the Music Council came onto the American
scene.
The wide range of program recources published by the
Music Council over the years has served as an invaluable
guide for concerts, lectures and recitals. Jewish Music Notes,
the Council’s contribution to The JWB Circle cultural supple
ment, has provided a unique service to musicologists, through
its chronicles and reviews of new and old Jewish music in
all its forms.
As the Jewish Music Council launches its Silver Jubilee,
it is most fitting that, in congratulating and commending this
cultural organization, we say4J- with music. That is just what
Jewish Community Centers, Hillel Foundations, orchestras,
universities, choral groups, musicologists and TV stations will
be doing as they present programs in celebration of the 25th
Annual Jewish Music Festival.
Moscow Radio
Say8 Executions
Were ‘Justified’
JERUSALEM (JTA)—A Mos
cow radio broadcast monitored
here ^aid that Iraq was “fully
justified” in hanging 14 alleged
spies, nine of them Jews, in
Baghdad and Basra.
In the first Soviet comment on
the hangings, the broadcast
charged that the executions were
being exploited by “imperialist
and Zionist propaganda mach
ines” and referred to “terrible
crimes” by Israeli occupation
forces in Arab territory.
A majority of the Arab world
appeared revolted by the brutal
public executions although not
necessarily with the motivation
for them. The chief concern in
Cairo, Beirut and other Arab
capitals seemed t»i be that the
Baghdad' spectacle had increased
world sympathy for Israel at a
time when world opinion was be
ginning to favor the Arabs as a
result of Israel’s Dec. 28 reprisal
raid on Beirut Airport.
The semi-official Cairo daily
A1 Ahram, which often reflects
the opinions of President Gamal
Abdel Nasser, commented: “The
hanging of 14 people in public
squares is certainly not a heart
warming sight, nor is it an oc
casion for organizing a festival
and issuing invitations.”
Says Extremists
Use Anti-Semitism
To Gain Following
WASHINGTON (JTA)— Rabbi
Jay Kaufman, executive vice
president of B’nai B’rith, has ac
cused Negro extremists of using
anti-Semitism as a “conscious and
cyniqal deceit” to win a following
in the black ghetto. He said “ef
fective counter-action” to the rise
in anti-Jewish sentiment “must
come from within the Negro
community itself,” adding, the
white community, while “offering
aid when requested or when mu
tually agreed upon, can only play
a secondary role.”
Addressing B’nai B’rith’s board
of governors, Rabbi Kaufman
charged that Negro extremists
are exploiting anti-Semitism to
“cloak the emptiness of their so
lutions to real ills and to gain
support” in black j^ettoes. “Un
able to offer any constructive
program to mitigate the suffering
among deprived Negroes, they
offer them the jobs Jews have
attained through training, labor,
proficiency and seniority,” he
said. “It is a cheap and larcen
ous scheme.”
Jewish
Calendar
♦FAST OF ESTHER
•SHAVUOT
March 3, Monday
May 23, Friday
♦PURIM
♦TISHA B’AV
March 4, Tuesday
•PASSOVER
July 24, Thursday
April 3, Thursday
(First Day)
April 10, Thursday
♦ROSH HASHANA
Sept. 13-14
Saturday-Sunday
(Eighth Day)
•LAG B’OMER
* YOM KIPPITR
May 6, Tuesday
Sept. 22, Monday
•Holiday Begins Sundown Previous Day
THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE ‘ Friday, Feb'"/, 1969
Ralph McGill - A Tribute
Ralph McGill a rabbi?
Well, that’s what he was say
ing during the intimacy of a pri
vate luncheon at the Atlanta
Press Club.
I did a quick take. Had I heard
correctly?
The colossus of American jour
nalism however had a glint in
his eye. Instantly I caught he
was spoofing.
He had just arrived back in
his home towp after a weekend
at Cincinnati where he had been
awarded an honorary degree of
the humanities for his champion
ing of human rights by Hebrew
Union College-Jewish Institute
of Religion.
“For a time,” he was explain
ing, “I had mulled over that
when it is all over, I’d emerge
some kind of rabbi and be able
to assist Jack Rothschild in his
Shabbos services.”
The degree from HUC-JTR
was one of many highlights of
recognition he had received from
Jewish organizations and legions
of others, nationally and locally,
for his superlative courage and
leadership in the field of human
rights and dignity.
He had a grand sense of humor
with colleagues which removed
him forever from the ranks of
stuff-shirtism and exalted ego
tism his many accolades could
well have created.
It was part of the warm rela
tionship he maintained for a
sense of balance as he trod the
length and width of the world
in search of the knowledge and
wisdom which made him such a
fearless champion of justice, an
inveterate fighter for the under
dog, for the downtrodden.
No wonder he early champ
ioned the cause of the young
State of Israel and c ontinued
consistently to plead her side in
moments of Mid-East stress and
tension.
He penned a volume of his
inimitable reactions on the State
of Israel.
His column in the wake of the
bombing of the Temple in
Atlanta was one of the master
pieces of editorial writing which
won for him a Pullitzer Prize.
His voice rang out loud and
clear in behalf of men, causes
and nations which cried aloud
and patent journalistic advocacy.
In the s trange free-wheeling
freedom granted him by the
Atlanta Constitution in the face
of fierce prejudicial pressure,
Ralph McGill endeared himself
to countless millions throughout
the South whose status he sought
ever to improve and throughout
the nation where his column
was a syndicated feature.
Generations of young journa
lists drew lessons of courage and
inspiration from his brilliant and
bold career.
Generations of politicians
winced when their red-necked
actions found criticism in his
writings.
Generations of young and old
alike followed his material with
regularity, savoring his sage
philosophy and counsel.
Within ,the Jewish community,
the Jewish War Veterans and the
Anti-Defamation League hon
ored him for his forthrightness.
He had also been given an hon
orary degree from Yeshiva Uni
versity.
Death came suddenly to* this
great man on Monday and on
Wednesday — on his 7lst birth
day, dignitaries and the near-
great gathered with family and
friends for a final tribute.
No more significant testimony
to his friendship and under
standing of Judaism could come
than in the fact that the same
week of his death the United
Jewish Appeal distributed a copy
of his column setting forth
Israel’s case in the recent con
frontation in Iraq, to leadership
in welfare funds throughout
America.
• • • •
I once worked on the Atlanta
Constitution under this personage,
briefly before entering service
during World War II.
It was a make-shift night-
trick set-up for I held at the
time a fulltime job with The
Southern Israelite. The staff of
the daily however was rapidly
being decimated by staffers en
tering uniform and I felt obliged
to help.
Each evening there came a
personal call from McGill. I was
rather awed that the already
great editor would take time out
to check with the city desk to
see “what was going on."
When a story was breaking,
McGill listened to whatever
progress I could report in per
son, sometimes dropping suggest
ions about sources for back
ground or details. Never did I
get the feeling of coercion to
write or handle a story in any
particular way. Alvyays it
seemed he was saying he was
around for advice if ever needed.
I grew more aftd. more to appre
ciate his backstopping, so to
speak. •*
Somewhere along the line, I
am sure the staff grew in such
size that such personal contact
probably had to go by the way-
side. And somewhere along the
line, his duties heightened and
his horizons broadened until he
had to devote his energies to
other channels.
This special warmth and
friendship for his associates now
remain a part of the legend of
Ralph McGill.
It is just a small part of the
multi-faceted personality which
made him probably the greatest
Southern editor of this cen
tury. — A.R.
El Fatah Members
Said in U.S., Canada
To Propagandize
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Two
members of El Fatah, the Pales
tinian commando organization,
are touring the United States and
Canada in an effort to raise mon
ey from Arab-Americans and
sympathy for their cause among
the general population, Washing
ton Post oorraapondent George
Gardner Jr. reported from Los
Angeles.
They are having scant success
obtaining funds from sympath
etic but generally tight-fisted
Arab-Americans, most of whom
are-of Lebanese or Syrian des
cent, Mr. Lardner wrote. Arab-
Americans are intensely anti-Is
rael but they are fragmented,
some attracted to the far right
and white racist organizations,
others to the extreme left wing.
Mr. Lardner described a re
cent fund-raising meeting at the
headquarters of the Lebanese-
Syrian-American Society in Los
Angeles. It was addressed by two
El Fatah emissaries, Akram Ab
dul Majeed and Yousef Hanafi,
both Palestinians and both 28.
Their audience consisted of
doctors, students, priests and as
sorted businessmen. Their theme
was that guerilla warfare was
the only way to wrest Palestine
from the Israelis. Donations were
solicited by George E. Shibley,
general counsel for the United
American Arab Congress. “At
length, between $400 and $500
is raised frqm an audience of
some 75 of the Arabic commun
ity’s biggest spenders,” Mr.
Lardner reported.
Treatment Of Jewry
Condemned In Report
STRASSBOURGA France (JTA)
—The treatment of Jews in ! Rus
sia and Poland was strongly con
demned in a report adopted by
the Council of Europe which is
meeting here. The council’s plen
ary labeled the report an inter
mediate assessment of the situa
tion and agreed to return to the
subject of Eastern European Jews
at a future session.
The report was presented to
a special committee on the prob
lems of non-member groups by
Bruno Piterman, a Socialist
leader and former vice-chancel
lor of Austria. It noted that dis
criminatory treatment of Jews
has become official policy in Rus
sia and Poland “in crass contra
diction of the principles and dec
larations on human rights of the
United Nations.”
JNF Plans Grove
In McGill's Memory
The memory of Ralph E. McGill, late publisher of the Atlanta
Constitution, will be honored by the Jewish National Fund Council
of Atlanta with the planting of a grove of trees in Israel.
Dr. Daniel Weiner, JNF Council president, said the grove will
be part of the City of Atlanta Woodland near Jerusalem. An approp
riate permanent marker will be placed at the site of the Grove and
the JNF Council will present Mrs. McGill with a framed certificate
acknowledging the planting.
Dr. Weiner said, “We invite Atlantans, Georgians and all Ameri
cans to participate in this event.’ Individuals, families, organizations
and businesses may participate by sending checks payable to Jewish
National .Fund to Room 26, 3158 Maple Dr., N.E., Atlanta 30305,
marked for trees to be planted in memory of Ralph McGill.
*7he heaviest cross / have to bear
is the cross of Lorraitte M
(\*hh apologies io Sir Winston Churchill)