Newspaper Page Text
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Vol. XLIV
The Southern Israelite
A Weekly Newspaper for Southern Jewry - Establish 1
7 0 v$
Atlanta, Georgia, Fricfay, April 11, 1969 ® f rel —
Israeli Civilians and Fighters
Mark Passover at Seders
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NO. 15
JERUSALEM (JTA)—The Jews
of Israel celebrated still another
Passover at seders in locations
which symbolized the continuing
state of no-war and no-peace in
which Israel has lived from the
start of statehood. The Seders
were celebrated in homes, army
camps, communal settlements and
in the occupied Arab territories.
The main army Seder was held
for the first time at Sharm el
Sheikh in the occupied Sinai
Peninsula on the shores of the
Red Sea which was crossed by
the Children of Israel in their
exodus from ancient Egypt.
Sharm el Sheikh guards for Is
rael the Strait of Tiran between
the Gulf of Akaba and the Red
Sea. Gen. Moshe Dayan, the De
fense Minister, and Chief of Staff
Chaim Bariev attended the Seder
there at which Chief Chaplain
Shlomo Goren officiated.
Soldiers in forward positions
had a curtailed seder. Where the
blackout was in effect, the Hag-
gadah was read by lights from
small pencil flashlights. Soldiers
on duty on Seder Eve were given
another Seder with tourists and
guests from abroad also observ
ing the second Seder.
A festive Seder was held in the
Kibbutz Maoz Chaim in the
Beisan valley, target of frequent
shellings from Jordan. One ele
ment was a citation which does
not appear in the Haggadah—a
set of special instructions to
Seder participants in the settle
ment’s communal dining hall on
what to do if the Jordanians
started to shell the area. Shelters
were assigned to various groups
with special instructions for
women and children to leave the
Seder first but there was no
shooting at the settlement and the
ceremony was completed without
interruptions.
A memorial service was held
at the Motza rest home for Gen.
Eisenhower, which was attended
by veterans of Israel’s labor
movement. Simul taneously,
Christian pilgrims arriving from
all parts of the world to celebrate
Easter Week joined in a proces
sion along the Via Dolorosa in
East Jerusalem, retracing what is
believed to be the last walk of
Jesus before the orucifieation.
Orthodox Jews marched from
the teeming Meah Shearim quar
ter of West Jerusalem to the
Western Wall in the Old City to
offer prayers and hold an out
door seder. A new prayer was
added to the ritual observed by
Israelis this year. It was com
posed by Rabbi Isser Unterman,
the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi and
gave thanks for the victories of
Israel which secured freedom for
the Jewish, people. It also con
tained a reminder of the suffer
ing that many Jews endure in
foreign countries, specifically the
Arab lands, and of the lack of
religious freedom for Jews in
Russia. ,
Passover greetings were re
ceived here from Rabbi Yehuda
Leib Levin of Moscow’s Central
Synagogue and Chief Rabbi
Moses Rosen of Rumania. New
ly arrived immigrants were
guests at Seders held by the Jew
ish Agency, local organizations
and private families. Soldiers on
leave who have no families were
guests at a Seder conducted by
the Soldiers Welfare Fund at mil
itary hostels in Tel Aviv and
Beersheba.
Rogers Terms Big ho
Regrets Israels Opposition
Vital/
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Secre
tary of State William P. Rogers,
speaking at a press conference
Monday, criticized Israel for op
posing talks at the United Na
tions by the United States, France
and Britain in pursuit of a Mid
dle Eastern peace settlement. The
Secretary said the United States
Government “regrets the fact
that Israel is so firmly opopsed”
to the talks now in progress. He
said that the United States “has
made it perfectly clear that we do
not intend, and will not seek, to
impose” a solution. But he de
picted the talks as a vital in
strumentality for easing tensions
and finding a solution.
Mr. Rogers stated that no mat
ter what formula the Four Pow
ers eventually adopt, the United
States will continue to believe
that there must eventually be
some direct negotiations between
Israel and the Arab states. Al
though he rejected an imposed
peace, the Secretary made clear
that if the Big Four did produce
Christian Silence Encourages
Negro Bias, Scientists Say
NEW YORK (JTA)—A Jewish
sociologist claims that “silence
and indifference by important
segments of the white Christian
community” has encouraged anti-
Semitic outbursts by Negro ex
tremists. Dr. Jerry Hochbaum,
assistant professor of sociology
at Yeshiva University, delivered
his charge in remarks at the midv
year alumni conference of Yesh
iva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elch-
anan Theological Seminary.
Dr. Hochbaum, a consultant to
the National Community Rela
tions Advisory Council, maintain
ed that the Jewish community
must mobilize the support of the
white Christian community to
ease Jewish-Negro tensions. But
he said that work among the
Negro community was most im
portant. “The Negro community
has greater potential control over
its own members than the Jew
ish community, although it has
not yet fully exercised these con
trols,” he said. “Working with
responsible leaders will strength
en our links with the Negro
community and not allow black
militants to occupy center stage
or upstage the moderate leaders
of the black community/’ Prof.
Hochbaum thought that Negro
anti-Semitism has not yet devel
oped a firm ideological base. He
warned, however, that such a
base was beginning to emerge in
the form of “the third world,
black militant, pro-Arab, anti-
Zionist form of anti-Semitism
which characterizes the “New
Left.”
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — The
only Negro candidate for Mayor
of Los Angeles told an audience
of Jewish community leaders
here that any “Negro leader who
is silent on black anti-Semitism
is not serving his people or the
rest of society.”
Continued on page 4
Precht To Join Leshem, Torczyner
On ZOA Public Affairs Forum
Henry Precht, a native of Savannah and grad
uate of Emory and George Washington Univer
sities, Who is currently serving on the Arab-Israel
desk of the U.S. State Department, will be spokes
man for government policy in the Middle East
on the ZOA Public Affairs Forum which will be
held in the Walter Hill Auditorium of the Atlanta
Memorial Arts Center this coming Sunday, April
13, at 3:00 p.m. _
Appearing with him will be Moshe Leshem,
a member of the permanent mission of Israel at
the U.N. with the rank of ambassador and Harry
Torczyner, well known international lawyer and
chairman of the ZOA Public Affairs Committee.
The conference, which is being sponsored as
a public information service and will be open to
the public at large, comes at a time when Four
Power consultations will explore the possibilities
of achieving a lasting peace in th€ Middle East.
Continuous Arab guerilla warfare has made a
mockery of the cease fire following the six day
war and invited Israeli retaliatory action. Soviet
deliveries of arms to the Arab states and naval
maneuvers in the Mediterranean using Egyptian
and Algerian bases, have added to the gravity of
the situation. Because of anti-Israel bias in the
United Nations, irresponsible and untruthful
statements by Arab diplomatic and press repre-
Leshem
Torczyner
Precht
sentatives, the public mind has become confused
on the issue. The conference will appraise every
aspect of the situation and clarify the issues so
that the truth might become known.
A distinguished panel of Atlanta TV and press
representatives will question the speakers before
the floor will be thrown open to general discus
sion.
Mr. Leshem and Mr. Torczyner will address
the African and Eastern section of the Emory
University Political Science class on Monday,
April 14, at 9:00 a.m.
a formula, world public opinion
would make it difficult for any
government in the Middle Tast to
turn it down.
The Four Power procedure was
sharply criticized in Jerusalem by
Deputy Prime Minister Yigal Al-
lon and Defense Minister Moshe
Dayan. Both expressed concern
that proposals would emerge that
might compromise Israel’s secur
ity and both affirmed Israel’s
refusal ‘ to accept any Big Power
proposals that might have this
effect.
Information received by the
Foreign Ministry indicated that
no controversial issues have come
up thus far in the Big Four
meetings at the United Nations
in New York. Only matters on
which there was general agree
ment were discussed at the Four
Power meeting last week: the
need for settlement of the Mid
dle East conflict, the continuation
of the Jarring peace-seeking mis
sion and the advisability of some
steps to break the present dead
lock.
The representatives of the Four
Powers, resuming their full-scale
meetings at the United Nations,
are expected to begin digging
deeper into the outstanding is
sues.
Mr. Rogers was questioned
during his press conference about
the difference between an im
posed peace and a “recommend
ed” peace. He said that “there
are Tots of ways to Influence peo
ple” without forcing them to
comply. He pointed out that the
international community exer
cises influences so powerful that
Middle Eastern governments can
not ignore them.
The Secretary said that direct
Arab-Israeli negotiations might
be necessary “somewhere down
the road.” He said, however, that
the Big Four talks were impor
tant and useful in helping the
parties reconcile differences. Be
voiced regret that Israel was op
posed to the Big Four efforts.
Defending the concept of
“guarantees” in a Big Four so-,
lution, Mr. Rogers said that Just
because they did not work in the
past was no reason that a new
version might not operate effec
tively in the future. The United
States, however, has no precise
idea on guarantees and is looking
to the United Nations for a de
termination of the form guaran
tees would take, he said. He
voiced assuranoe that such guar
antees would prove “more satis
factory and more lasting than
previous ones.”
Once there Is agreement that
all Middle Eastern governments
have a right to live in peace,
guarantees are less important, he
pointed out. The Secretary said
that “the most important factor”
was the willingness of the parties
to the dispute to declare Bn in
tention to live in peace and to
recognize each other’s sovereign
ty.
The statements by lb. Rogers
■* hia ^ ~ssl
ence, ms cm cmr loiuw
States Is proc«j«*StiiJf to thK
great stock in the Blfc Four un
dertaking at the United Nations.
His remarks made it apparent
that a gap is widening in IsraeH-
American understanding on the
peace issue.
Workmen’s Circle Asks ‘Fifth
Question’ To United Nations
NEW YORK (JTA) — A fifth
question addressed to the United
Nations was added to the tradi
tional four questions asked at the
Workmen’s Circle’s “third seder,”
at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
Addressed to the “Peoples of the
World, United Nations, N. Y.,”
the question focussed its atten
tion on resurgent anti-Semitism
in Poland.
After an historical recounting
of the decimation of the Jewish
community in Poland by the
Nazis, the question was posed:
“Why, on this anniversary of the
Human Rights Declaration —
while the last tragic chapter of
Polish Jewry unfolds before our
eyes — are the peoples of the
world silent? Why do you not
speak out, where is your voice,
your conscience?” More than 2.-
000 persons attended the
ice.
The Israel Histadrut Campai&i
sponsored “third seders” Borosa
the country. In New York, the
event sponsored by the Greater
New York Histadrut Oounafl
heard Minister Shlomo Argov. An
empty chair on the dais was res
erved for the “absent Russian
Jews: as a symbolic reference to
the Soviet Union’s Jewish com
munity which is not free to cele
brate religious festival*. The 60th
anniversary of the founding of
Hashomer (the Guard) was ob
served; Hasbomer was the first
modem self-defense organization
in Palestine.
Guest of honor at the Provi
dence, R. I. “third seder” was the
newly-elected Governor, Frank
Licht, a Jew.
Professor Calls For End
Of Campus Madness
CHICAGO (JTA) — A Jewish
faculty member at Southern Illi
nois University in Carbondale
has rebutted the anti-Semitic
allegations of a Negro student
published in the university news
paper and has urged an end to
the “racist madness” on the cam
pus.
Prof. Mordecai Gorelik, re
search professor of theater, wrote
to the paper, The Daily Egyptian,
which published the interview
with a Negro student, John Wil
liams. The latter charged that
“Whitey, the Jew, has his foot
on our neck and the only way to
get it off is to burn it off, tear
it off or cut it off.”
Prof. Gorelik wrote, “You can
not enter into rational discourse
with a racist, whether white,
black or yellow; you can only
speak to peope who are capable
of listening. I . . . address my
self to those people, especially to
our Negro students.”
“Mr. Williams,” he said, ‘"sing
led out the Jew as his chief ene
my, as if it is the Jews who run
the American Establishment or
who sold his people into slavery
or thrust them into ghettos. One
of the more significant reasons,
unstated by Mr, Williams, is that
the Jews, as a very small minor
ity in this country, and as a tra
ditional scapegoat, are a section
of the white race that is especi
ally vulnerable to attack.”