Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 10 September 1948 — Page 4

THE NATIONAL JEWISH POST

Friday, September 10 1948

FEDERATION ACCEPTABLE ONLY IF ARABS OK ISRAELr-EBAN NEW YORK—Aubrey S. Eban, Israeli representative to the United Nations, asserted this week that Israel is ready for a NearEastern League of Arabs and Jews but that first the Arab states must recognize the sovereign independence of the Jewish state. In his first magazine article in the U. S., Eban said in the September issue of COMMEN- — TARY that pro- upheaval.’* pos;ils for a uni Taking a crack at the bi-nation-■'ary or single a j s tate proposals offered until b 'leral state in 4HgP9 recently by the Ichud association i’fc ‘Stine are un- headed by Dr. Judah L. Magnes, workable and un- Kg Eban said that Arab leaders recacceptable. ognize only the doctrine of acHe warned the ce Pted fact. Arab world ei He cited conversations with Azther to seek a |9|Higgjgpp^^H zam Pasha in September of 1947, peaceful adjust- Ai MKm j n which the secretary general of ment with Israel EBAN the Arab League said "Unless you or sink even deeper “into the can resist the entire Arab world, mire of international discredit, you cannot even be entitled to dissocial disturbance and political cuss agreement."

Bevin Heads British At Paris UN Meet LONDON—Despite repeated rumors that Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin was mi his way out of the British Cabinet, It was announced this week that gation to the United Nations General Assembly meeting starting in Paris Sept. 2. It was believed likely that Bevin’s presence meant Great Britain would play a major role in any tight to deny UN membership to Israel. sorting that Leavitt’s "sorry attempt to dissociate the JDC from its Mexican branch office is contradicted by well-known facts cited in our reply to him."

MEXICAN JEWS HOLD JDC TO BLAME IN FUND COERCION

In a letter Aug. 11 to Leavitt, the Defense Committee repeated its charges that the Mexican JDC representative, a Mr. Glantz, took an active part in the trial.

(Continued from preceding page) that the "actions of your representative -here, which have by no means abated, and which have now been extended to an effective whispering campaign, are based on that very same totalitarian principle from which all Judaism has already so greatly suffered." The Defense Committee in the second letter asserted it had received no answer to its first complaint and that if no answ’er was received by Aug. 1, the committee would “reluctantly seek pustice by appealing to public opinion through the press and by using all legitimate means at our disposal." The Defense Committee received two letters from the New York office of the JDC. The first of these, signed by Philip Skomeck, secretary of the JDC Latin American Committee, said that the campaign was “completely the responsibility of the

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Jewish Community of Mexico and the JDC has absolutely nothing to do with the conduct of the campaign or with the fund-rais-ing methods which the community chooses to employ." Can’t Refuse Money The Skorneck letter, dated July 12, concluded with this statement: "Since we do not have responsibility for the fund-raising techniques which the Mexican Jewish community is employing, we cannot of course apologize, as you requested, for these techniques, nor does the JDC feel it can refuse to accept monies contributed by any Jewish community for our very vital works.” The second series of letters to the New York JDC office involved Moses A. Leavitt, executive vicechairman of the JDC. Leavitt said the Defense Committee was in error in speaking of JDC representatives in Mexico. “The campaign committee which was set up by the Mexican Jewish community is not appointed by us nor does it represent us officially or unofficially,” Leavitt wrote. Strictly Load Affair He said that the Mexican campaign was a local and autonomous effort and that JDC had no control over the actions of contributors. “Every community, both in Latin America or even in the United States, utilizes various fund-raising methods and techniques. Some are as drastic as the ones that you mentioned are now being invoked in Mexico. Others are not as drastic.” In the draft of a letter "to be written to prominent leaders heading the Joint Distribution Committee,” the protesting Mexican Jews called Leavitt a liar, asNa+ional China & Equipment Co. Restaurant Equipment Marion, Indiana

“During the trial of which we wrote, he took the floor twice as (he JDC representative, helping to incite the crowd to a lynching spirit, and urging the imposing of sanctions. He wrote in the Jewish press an article defending the trial and its methods.” A letter dated July 21, signed by Harry L. Shapiro, executive director in the N. Y. office of the American Zionist Emergency Council, said that the accusation against AZEC was not valid. No AZEC Branch He wrote that the Council has “no branch whatsoever in Mexico and has carried on no activity at all there." The Defense Committee quoted a July 31 editorial from "Der Weg,” a Mexican Yiddish papqr, to back its charges of intimidation: “In this era of renascent Jewish statehood, an organized Jewish community cannot pass in silence an attitude which borders on dissociating oneself from the Jewish collective. The Jewish community must react against such phenomena and bring to account all such as still remain secluded in their blind comers of self-being and self-living, with no thought to the national existence of the Jewish collective of the entire world. "We are of the opinion that the Jew who is really proud of his name will think the matter over and will contribute the amount requested of him. Not farthings nor pennies do the Jewish people need today, but effective assistance in hundreds of millions, and eve nmore. We cannot even estimate the extent of Jewish needs in this historic hour. The United Campaign must stand guard over Jewish national interests, and there is no doubt that the second trial against Jewish renegades from the collective will be carried out with the same effectiveness as the first one.”

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ZOA MUST STABT EDUCATION OF ITS MEMBERS RIGHT NOW By M. Z. FRANK ■TiHE Silver-Neumann regime of the Zionist Organization of X America has been eminently right on issues which mattered most in the past few years; it has been less right on secondary issues. But these secondary issues are now assuming greater importance and the longer tney are mishandled, the more wrong are those responsible for the mishandling.

MjmgHenag’

Silver and Neumann were right about President Roosevelt

and the policy of seeking support from either party; they were

right in opposing a Jewish offer of partition; in opposing going to London without a previous commitment from England; they were right j in pressing for proclamation of the Jewish state on

May 15.

Not only were they right in theory but in practice, they managed to form a dynamic organization which pressed the political fight against heavy odds and in the face of several factors before which men of lesser courage would have sum-

cumbed.

From the very beginning, when the issues were drawn Silver and Neumann had the support of most American Zionists of the rank-and-file. As time went on, most Zionist leaders in America who originally opposed them, fell in line, though many of them hate to admit that Silver and Neumann were right, and the bulk of non-Zionists also followed suit. The Silver-Neumann policy of militant Zionism has been largely vindicated.

But militant Zionism has by now almost ceased to be an issue and the questions on which the present leadership has been at fault are coming to the surface.

These questions have some bearing also on the relation between American Zionist leadership and the Government of Israel.

THE PIVOT OF ALL these, questions is — Education. By education I never meant, and do not now mean, a highclass intellectual bull-session for a restricted clientele on the meaning of Judaism. Nor do I mean a vague promise for the future about a glorious cultural revival in America but without any indication as to the^ first step to fulfill that promise. By education I mean Zionist Education. I mean that the 250,000 members of the ZOA should know the score. If they don’t know the sebre, then the right of the ZOA leaders to speak in the name of 250,000 members is purely technical and then the leaders on the other ride have a right to claim (which they do) that 250,000 American Zionists don’t mean as much as 10,000 European Zionists because the American Zionists don’t know what it is all about and the Europeans do. It is as simple as that. I don’t mean to say that the Zionist leaders across the ocean were or are always right. They were dead wrong three years ago. They are not so wrong now. When the question was to trust or not to trust President Roosevelt, you could leave It to American citizens to be better judges than Ben-Gurion or Eliezer Kaplan or Berl Locker or Bernard Joseph. On questions which do not require any intimate knowledge of Palestine and Zionism, the average American Zionist is a pretty good judge. He lives In a democracy, he understands politics and he has the proper instinct and intelligence. • BUT NOW AMERICAN ZIONISTS are called upon to decide on such matters as the relation between the World Zionist Organization and the State of Israel, or the support they are to give groupings in Israel. How many of the 250,000 American Zionists know anything about these matters? What has the ZOA leadership done to familiarize them with such questions? When did they have the chance to discuss, intelligently, the merits of one policy as against another? When did they instruct or authorize their representatives to take sides one way or another? Here is where drastic reforms are needed without delay. • THE ZOA WILL NOT be able to play an important part in the upbuilding of Israel if it does not contain an intelligent, well-in-formed membership which has had the opportunity to make up its mind on policy. Remember that the ZOA became strong under Silver, not only because it was Silver but also because Silver was voted into power after a thorough and lively public discussion on Silver’s policy! And by a thorough discussion on policy I don’t mean a discussion on Morris Margulies’ telegram.

»Ja

I

DP Camps Empty Soon MUNICH, Germany—(JWNS) —Most Jewish DPs will have left European camps by the end of this year, Jacob Olsiski, director of ORT here, predicted this week.

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