•OffKlAV STATISTICS 'PHOHY'-
Claim million less Palestinians
LONDON — I'm amazed to sec that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, an organization;main!y kept alive by the United States and to which most Arab States have been notorious non-contributors, is still pushing around its phoney statistics.
That Cgure of 1 1/2 million refugees quoted in newspapers recently is even ridiculed — in private — by Unrwa officials themselves.
But the facts are worth getting clear because obviously the refugee issue is going to bulk large in the propaganda war about to be fought out over the issue of "who are the Palestinians?"
The starting point must be that 25 years ago nearly 400,000 pre-1948 residents of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (both territories then under Arab administration) registered themselves' as refugees. By last year, through natural growth, their number had risen to 650,000, although, since deaths are not notified to the UN who would thereupon cancel the ration cards of the deceased, this figure must be considerably less.
But are the remainder all genuine refugees? What about those who have made permanent homes and established themselves quite comfortably in Amman, elsewhere in Jordan and the thousands of others holding down top jobs in Kuwait, the Gulf States and other countries in the Arab world?
In Lebanon, all refugees professing the Christian faith were granted citizenship more than 20 years ago and the Moslems remaining in camps total 90,000.
The Syrians, determined to lay their hands on every Unrwa benefit they can get, have insisted on counting all 174,000 Palestinians in their country as refugees, despite the fact that only 15 percent remain in camps ahd most of the others have regarded themselves as Syrian citizens for two decades.
The total figure of unsettled refugees in all four "host" ter-
BY BEN AZAI
ritories, as Unrwa insists on calling them, cannot be more than 600,000 — which is something like a million less than the "statistics" suggest.
Surely there can be no proper discussion of the refugee pro-
blem in the context either of resettlement or compensation until the real facts are properly established — and this cannot be done until Unrwa stops trying to pull the khaffiya over our eyes.
JCNS.
_Friday, August 30, 1974—THE BULLETIN—3
American Jewry lauds Rockefeller
Arafat to open offices in Moscow, Warsaw
MOSCOW — The Soviet Union has agreed to allow the Paiestine Liberation Organization (FLO) to open a mission in Moscow, the Tass news agency has reported. This followed talks with a FLO delegation led by Yasir Arafat. A communique issued at the end of talks said that the Soviet Union had also called for the FLO to be represented at the Geneva peace talks on the same basis as other participants. A recent Egyptian-Jordanian communique said the FLO was the Palestinians' representative everywhere except Jordan, a limitation which aroused the anger of the FLO. In a related action, Poland has given tacit approval to the establishment of a FLO mission in Warsaw. The approval came in a communique issued after talks in Poland with FLO leader Yasir Arafat.
sumr MVEAis rituNDS-
Holland most pro-Israel nation
A mojor Swedish institution has been surveying world opinion on the Arob-lsrael conflict. A correspondent reviews its findings.
NELSON ROCKEFELLER with Mrs. Golda Meir, Israeli Premier, on one of her visits to New York.
BY RICHARD YAFFE
the
former JCNS
AMSTERDAM JEWISH GIRL MURDERED
AMSTERDAM — the
daughter of a prominent Amsterdam Jewish businessman was recently found strangled to death. The body of 10-year-old Helene Isaac was discovered several kilometres from her home. No clue to the identity of the killer has yet been imcovered. Helene was the youngest daughter of Arthur Isaac, director of Amsterdam's largest department store, "De Bijenkorf." The Isaac family is connected with many charitable Jewish and Israeli causes.
HOLLAND was the most pro-Israel country during and after the Vom Kippur War, with Spain the least sympathetic.
These are the conclusions of a "poll of polls" prepared by the Swedish National Preparedness Commission for Psychological Defence which more usually concerns itself with as-sesing the social and defence attitudes of the Swedish public and their confidence in the mass media.
In examining world attitudes to the Middle East conflict and its aftermath, the Commission draws attention to the unsatisfactory basis of some of the polls conducted in other countries.
But having issued this caution, it finds that between 72 and 73 percent of the Dutch population were for Israel and against the Arabs, followed by Denmark (61 percent) and West Germany (57 percent). Pro-Israel opinion in the United States and Sweden was^ about equal at roughly 50 percent, followed by Britain (36 percent) and Canada (29 percent)*! Israel was least popular in Uruguay (18 percent) and Spain (13 percent.
By contrast, the Swedish Commission found pro-Arab sympathies everywhere much less marked.
Curiously, Denmark, which provided one of the strongest pro-Israel polls, also produced the largest segment of pro-Arab
sympathy, 28 percent.
Next came Uruguay and Spain with 16 percent and Sweden, 14 percent. In other countries, pro-Arab sympathies ranged between four and eight percent. The report did not list the "don"t knows" in any of the countries.
THE HIGHLY scientific poll conducted in Sweden asked specific questions about the attitude of the population to the behavior of either side. While 40 percent approved of Israel's behavior, 35 percent disapproved. But when it came to the Arab States and the Palestuiains, almostthree-quar-ters disliked their behavior and only 14 percent approved in any measure.
The negative attitude of. the Swedes was most marked as regards the behavior of the Palestinian organizations, such as Fatah. Fifty-seven percent were completely opposed.
Other findings in the Swedish poll were that men were more pro-Israel than women but there were also more men among the, pro-Arabs. A positive attitude towards Israel was more common among the over-40s than among the younger people. A trend toward increased sympathy with the Arab States and the Pales-inians was discerned as education increased but among the higher social group ttie number of those positive to Israel and negative to the Arabs was growing.
THE SWEDISH pollsters found that attitudes tb Israel varied greatly with political sympathies. The most sympathetic to Israel-77 percent-were among the moderates. Social Democrats were almost equally divided for and against while only 22 percent of Communists were positively inclined toward the Jewish State, reflecting the Moscow line.
NEW YORK—Universal satisfaction is being expressed over the nomination of Nelson Rockefeller as Vice-President of the United States, but in no circles as warmly as among the American Jewish community.
It can truthfully be said that it would be: political suicide for any New York State politician not to be nice to the almost three million Jews in his constituency. However, Rockefeller, throughout his 15 years as Governor of New York State, went "above and t)eyond the call of duty" in his efforts on behalf of Israel, Soviet Jewrj- and any and all causes dear to Jewish hearts.
All Jewish organizations, national and local, have issued statements of warm praise for him. Rabbi Israel Miller, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish American Org-anizationsr said in behalf of his organization  that Rockefeller's activities had been "of a very positive nature" and that he had uitervened with the White House "when  we  needed such intervention.",
Israel Bond and United Jewish Appeal dinners have never seemed entirely complete without a stirring plea for aid to Israel from Rockefeller, nor have demonstrations on behalf of Soviet and Syrian Jewry.
On Israel and the Middle East he has said: "The United States must make it clear beyond doubt to the nations of the world that we will not permit Israel to be vanquished. We shall be at her side as long as we are needed."
During the October War he declared that "the cause of lasting peace-not only in the Middle East but throughout the world-requires that die United States continue to stand firm and fast with Israel in this hour of peril."
Traditionally, a Vice-Presideiit is merely the fifth-and useless-wheel in an American Administration unless and until there is an emergency. However, Rockefeller - who  "discovered" Dr. Henry Kissinger, had him as the head of his foreign policy study group and recommended him to Nixon-is expected to play a bigger role in Ford's Administration than a  Vice-President usually does. JCNS.
IN AW Of BUIIDING FUHD-
Gamblers arrested in N.Y. synagogue
SECOND LIEUTENANT Youssef, a Druse (left), after passing a course in armored fighting held by the Israeli Army. With him is his father and brother. JCNS
ELEa 3 JEWS TO RHODESIA GOVT
SALISBURY — Three Jewish members of the ruling Rhodesian Front Party, E. Broomberg, J. A. Landau and J. M. Lowenthal, won their parliamentary seats by substantial majorities in the Rhodesian general election. E. Broomberg has been appointed Minister of Commerce and Industry in Ian Smith's new Cabinet.
JCNS
NEW YORK-New York police raided a "Las Vegas Nite" gambling session at the Hebrew Alliance aynagogue in Brooklyn recently and arrested 10 alleged promoters.
Between 250 and 300 people were in the synagogue hall where poker and blackjack were being played at 30 tables, the police said. They added that they had received "numerous complaints from spouses of the persons losing money" at the gambling sessions at this synagogue.
A high-ranking officer of the police morals division said that religious organizations had been warned that the division would step in if the gambling sessions did not stop.
The well publicized murder of an alleged member of an organized crime ring at a fund-raising gambling session in the basement of a Brooklyn synagogue has caused clergy and police to reassess their attitudes.
Steve Cirillo, 31, believed to be a member of the so-called Joey Gallo group, was killed apparently by a shot fired from outside the Orthodox synagogue B'nai Israel of Sheepshead Bay in Ocean Avenue, Brooklyn.
The gambUng session in aid gf the synagogue's building fund was organized by the synagogue's men's club and a spokesman said
that the club ran such functions alone in reply to reports that professional gamblers were attempting to participate in such activities.
In spite of the anti-gambling laws, a number of churches, synagogues and other religious organizations jin Brooklyn and Queens had organzied gambling sessions during the last few years for fund-raising and the police had looked the other way.
Now the police are cracking down on the functions suspected of being sponsored by mob-af-iliated promoters and Jewish and Catholic clergymen are being forced to weigh the financial benefits of charitable gaming against the risks of trouble with criminal gambling elements.
Rabbi Wolfe Kelman, the executive vice-president of the Rabbinical Assembly of America (Conservative), said: "Jewish law is ambiguous on the question of gambling. Jewish tradition encourages spinning the 'dreidle' on Chanuka for money.
"But I would not like to see a synagogue become a gambling casino. No synagogue or rabbi should be placed above the law."
Many clergmen emphasize that gambling sessions for fund-raising are the only means of keeping their houses of worship open and solvent.