Newspaper Page Text
mX'*."
Vol. XLV
A Weekly Newspaper for Southern Jewry - Esta^ ,: ' L ' „ j
T Two Sections—12 Pages ~5
1*9 “~
Atlanta, Georgia, Friday, June 19, 1970
$o ® oT,n
Mrs. Meir Urges NRP Uneasy Quiet ih
Not to Quit Cabinet Guerrillas Have Upper Hand
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Pre
mier Golda Meir appealed to the
National Religious Party today
not to quit her coalition cabinet.
She warned that this is not the
time to take “such a grave
step.” The Orthodox party has
threatened to walk out over the
issue of conversion.
The Israeli Supreme Court
will render a decision next
Wednesday in the case of Mrs.
Helen Zeidman, an American-
born Israeli who is suing the
government for official recog
nition as a Jew. Her conversion
was performed by a Reform rab
bi in Tel Aviv whom the Ortho
dox Rabbinate refuses to recog
nize.
o The NRP, backed by the Chief
rabbi in Tel Aviv whom the
Rabbinate, has demanded that
the government initiate a new
law that will invalidate con
versions to Judaism performed
by non-Orthodox rabbis. The
government has refused and the
NRP executive is scheduled to
meet to decide on whether or
not to leave the Cabinet
The Cabinet also decided to
day to meet in extra-ordinary
session Wednesday following the
Supreme Court’s decision. It is
regarded as almost a foregone
conclusion that the Court will
rule in Mrs. Zeidman’s favor, es
pecially as the States Attorney
refused a week ago to contest
the case." The Chief Rabbinet
has banned the Orthodox poli
ticians from continuing to serve
in the coalition Cabinet unless
the government gives in to their
demands on the conversion is
sue.
The government apparently is
standing firm against Orthodox
pressure at home and from
abroad. Mrs. Meir met last
night with two NRP leaders,
Minister of Welfare Joseph Burg
and Minister of Religious Af
fairs, Zerach Warhaftig, but no
agreement was reached. Mrs.
Meir reportedly reiterated that
no new legislation in the matter
of conversions can be contem
plated.
Second Conversion Saves Government
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Israel’s
Orthodox religious establishment
scored an unexpected victory
when an American-born woman
who was converted to Judaism
by a Reform rabbi here, under
went a second conversion ac-
"SOTBlng to Orthodox rites. Mrs
Helen Zeidman also signed
papers withdrawing her petition
to the Israel Supreme Court to
be registered as Jewish, some
thing the Ministry of Interior
refused to allow because the
Israeli rabbinate does not rec
ognize non-Orthodox rabbis. The
court was to have acted on her
petition at which time the Orth
odox National Religious Party
threatened to quit the Cabinet
unless the government initiated
legislation banning non-Ortho
dox conversions. A Cabinet
crisis was .averted. But it was
obvious that Mrs. Ziedmann act
ed under the most severe person
al pressure from the highest
echelons of government.’ Presi
dent Zalman Shazar made two
appeals to her to undergo Orth
odox conversion, one by tele
phone call which she rejected
and another conveyed to her at
her home by a delegation con
sisting of Labor Party Knesset
member Itzhak Korn and other
prominent personalities.
The foreign-bom woman who
married an Israeli in a civil cere
mony abroad three years ago
and is now an Israeli citizen,
yielded and the second conver
sion was performed in the pres
ence of three Orthdox rabbis,
presided over by the Israeli chief
military chaplain, Rabbi Shlomo
Goren. The latter reportedly
took charge of the matter at the
request of Premier Golda Meir.
The Zeidman case became a
major issue here last month
when the States Attorney re
fused to contest the plaintiffs
petition to the Supreme Court
Conversions to Judaism by
Reform of Conservative rabbis
are not specifically ruled out by
Continued on page 4
LONDON (JTA) — Uneasy
quiet prevailed in Jordan this
week in the aftermath of a crisis
that almost toppled King Hus
sein and left the future of his
rule in the hands of the Pales
tinian commandos whom his
troops had been battling for five
days. The 34 ’ year-old Hashe
mite monarch was forced on
Friday to yield to commando de
mands for the dismissal of his
uncle, Maj. Gen. Nasser Ben
Jamil, commander in chief of the
Jordanian Army and Maj. Gen.
Zaid Ben-Shaker, commander
of the Third Armored Division,
who is Hussein’s cousin. The
two officers were close advisers
to the King and had sought to
exercise firmer control over
guerrilla operations against Is
rael from Jordanian soil. The
guerrillas accused them last
week of attacking commando
units and ordering the shelling
of refugee camps housing guer
rilla headquarters. Only their
ouster ended the fighting in
Amman and other Jordanian
towns which, according to esti
mates caused 500 fatalities on
both sides, wounded consider
ably more and left parts of the
Jordanian capital in shambles.
The events of the week left King
Hussein in a weaker position
than ever since he assumed the
throne on May 2, 1053, two years
after the assassination of his
grandfather,— King Abdullah,
Apart from the guerrillas he
faced dissident elements within
his own loyal Army.
A tank force advanced on Am
man Friday following the King’s
capitulation to guerrilla de
mands but was stopped by a
combination of troops loyal to
the King and commandos. Short
ly afterwards unidentified gun
men, believed to be dissident of
ficers, fired on a motorcade car
rying Maj. Gen. Mashur Ha-
ditha, the army chief of staff
who was a figure in negotiations
between the King and the guer
rillas. Yesterday King Hussein
appealed to his army to “exer
cise full discipline and obedi
ence.” Observers here believe
King Hussein would have been
Roach-Folk Hippies Drive
Thrift Shop to New Address
Chalk up the Council of Jew
ish Women among the latest
victims of the Tenth Street
Hippie Colony.
The Atlanta Section, as stead
fast an advocate of youth as any
organization in the city, has for
more than a decade maintained
a Thrift Shop in the area. This
outlet for discarded and out
grown clothing ! from some of
the most fashionable modistes
and sources in the area proved
a valuable source of bargains
for literaljy thousands of poor
persons, young and old, men and
women. /
Result was that the weekly
sale of items donated by families
of the Section amounted to a
pretty penny. In the main this
source of revenue financed the
special projects of the Jewish
women. Several of their projects
are geared specifically for youth.
But as the hippijs plague
spread its miasma of filth and
destruction over the area, the
Thrift Shop was affected in sev
eral different ways.
Number 1, the Thrift Shop
was badly damaged in the se
quence of accidental and arson
fires which heavily damaged
property on the disreputable
“Hippie Strip,” where the Sec
tion suddenly found its rented
premises were now located. At
least on two occasions, the Thrift
Shop was damaged by fire from
adjacent flame catastrophes. ,
More importantly, customers
stayed away in droves. They
did not wish to elbow their way
through the sea of filthy, youth
ful humanity that infest the
area. Women especially found
this frightening.
And the hippies, as potential
customers, showed a preference
for rags and bilhoualy faded
dresses and undershirts to
be worn as outer garments ra
ther than the good taste items
found in the Thrift Shop. They
even paid ten to fifteen times as
much for cfreepy clothes from
the gaudy hippie shops, which
cropped out in the area that
decades ago was probably At
lanta’s first neighborhood shop
ping center. Thus the hippies
managed to keep up the disting
uishing guise which makes them
appear as obvious freaks.
And to make matters worse
for the Thrift Shop, volunteer
attendants at the place were
afraid to venture in the area
which was known to be inhab
ited by hoods, thugs and addicts,
that found refuge under the
hippie umbrella. This is not to
mention the trash^talk from the
roach folk which would be a
credit to Tobacco Road slums
but hardly to the. Twentieth
Century.
So last week, volunteers
helped move the remaining
items after a half-price sale to
a hew Thrift Shop location —
,417 Peachtree St, N.E. This is
located close to the respectable
Cable Piano Co. The Nearly
New Shop, operated by the Jun
ior League, shares the same
building. — A R.
overthrown during last week’s
crisis had it not been' for El
Fatah, the ouster of Hussein’s
two senior officers and for a free
hand in its operations against
Israel, but it apparently has no
desire to see the government
overthrown at this time, an
event that could result in chaos
and precipitate action by Israel.
(Abu Lotuf,. an El Fatah leader, v
whose real name is Farouk El'
Kaddoumi, in an interview with
the Italian journalist Oriana
Fallaci in this week’s Look mag
azine, said his guerrilla group is
not Communist. “We. have no
gripe against oil wells, only
against Israel,” he was quoted
saying. “We are not trying to
destroy capitalism, we are trying
to destroy Zionism in all of its
social, military, economic, cul
tural and ideological forms.”)
The guerrilla forces them
selves are split. El Fatah leader
Yassir Arafat faces a challenge
from the more militant Popular
Front for the Liberation of Pal
estine, a guerrilla group that
specializes in terror acts against
Israeli civilians and Israeli
premises abroad. The Popular
Front is headed by Dr. George
Habash, a Palestinian Arab
Christian and a free-wheeling
Marxist described by some as a
fanatic. The Front’s declared aim
is not only the destruction of
Israel but the overthrow of all
Arab governments including that
of President Gamal Abdel Nas
ser of Egypt which Habash con
siders a “bourgeois regime.”
Commandos of the Popular
Front were the most active in
last week’s pitch battles with
Jordanian regulars.
The front denounced a cease
fire agreement concluded ear
lier between Arafat and Hussein.
Arafat is believed to have disap
proved of the Popular Front’s
actions but was reluctant to take
measures against them in the in
terests of guerrilla unity. . Ob
servers here say that the future
of King Hussein now depends
on Yassir Arafat. If he is forced
into solidarity with Habash’s
commandos, the deposing of
King Hussein is seen as only a
matter of time. But if Arafat
decides to cooperate with the
King, as he seems personally to
desire, an alliance of the Jordan
Army and El Fatah could sup
press the Popular Front. Mid
dle East experts say King Hus
sein has lost control of part of >
his army, much of his authority
in government, and most seri
ous, lost face with the masses
of the Arab world.
In Brief
TEL AVIV (JTA)—Sfeven black
American community leaders
are in Israel for a seven-week
look at irrigation methods, tech
nology and other aspects of Is
raeli communal life. Sponsored
by Histadrut, they are studying
the applicability , of Israeli meth
ods to their own communities in
Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi,
Tennessee and Georgia, where
they are active in the all-black
Southern Cooperative Develop
ment Program. A similar group
made a three-week study tour
last year. This year’s expedition
was coordinated by Ze’ev Ba
rash, assistant secretary general
of Histadrut.
Nasser Must Think
Israelis Stupid
NEW YORK (JTA)—Egyp
tian President Gamal Abdel
Nasser asserted in a filmed
interview that he would ac
cept a temporary cease-fire
of six months or less and
would promise to keep Arab
terrorists from using the
now-occupied territories as
anti-Israel bases if Israel
would agree immediately
to carry out the provisions
of the United Nations cease
fire resolution which in
cludes withdrawal from the
territories occupied since
1967. t \
“Our object,” he said,
“is the withdrawal of the
Israelis from the occupied
terrories” and the repatri
ation or compensation of the
Palestinian refugees.
BONN (JTA)—Munich police
are searching for vandals who
broke into a synagogue there
and destroyed a number of
sacred items including a Torah
scroll. Police said the act wad
non-political and had no connec
tion with the arson four months
ago when seven residents of the
Jewish home for the aged in
Munich perished in a fire. Dr.
Hans Lamm, chairman of the
Jewish community in Munich
said the synagogue desecration
was a new act of anti-Semitic
vandalism.
BONN (JTA)—The reputedly
neo-Nazi National Democratic
Party (NPD) that was posing
a serious political threat at this
time last year, appears to be on
the road to oblivion according
to the results of Sunday’s pro
vincial parliamentary elections.
Although the election outcome
showed a noticeable shift to the
right, the ultra-right-wing NPD
failed to win the minimum five
percent required for seats in
aily of the state leislatures. The
party polled only 3.4 percent in
the Saarland, 3.2 percent in
Lower Saxony, and 1.1 percent
in North Rh in e-Westphalia.
DUSSELDORF (JTA)—A City
Councilman from Vienna who
served in the Nazi Army in
World War II, gave an eye-wit
ness account here of how Aus
trian Jews were hustled into cat
tle cars for deportation to Treb-
linka death camp in 1942. Hu
bert Psoch testified at the trial
Continued on page 4
COMING IN AN EARLY ISSUE
The Disappearing Synagogue
Does inflation arid greedy budgets spell doom
for smaller congregations? ; '
Can loss of identity in "gargantuan” groups
create loyalties and fulfillment?