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ftfl# Four 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)