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THE CANADIAN JEWISH REVIEW
JULY 8, 1966
King Faisal Seeks Aid In Washington
1 The London Times says: King Faisal of Saudi Arabia set out tor Madrid, and -Washington, on a journey which would keep him out of the Middle Mast for a fortnight. Preserving the diplomatic courtesies, he sent a good-will message to President Nasser as he flew over Egypt, but he leaves the Arab world in a mood of frenzied suspicion aiid recrimination, unmatched for some time, even in this volatile part of the globe.
There may be many explanations for this, but one of them is that outside powers have Ix'gnn to play again on the areas chronic susceptibility to foreign pressure. The prime mover has been the Soviet Union,'which .has attached the new Syrian regime firmly to its bandwagon and seems to have inspired efforts to form a front of so-called progressive Arab countries.
King Faisal, though he may admit a theoretical difference, has difficulty in drawing a practical distinction between the ]x>licic$ of some of these regimes and those of communism, and he has takett a theological stand against atheist systems in general. Indeed, his advocacy of Islamic solidarity may have brought on the new Soviet initiative.
In this context, he can "presumably expect theoretical nourishment front General Franco attd theological support front' tltc Pope, with whom he is at present trying to arrange a meeting. How much practical help he will ask � or get � from President Johnson, who is so heavily preoccupied in Vietnam, is not certain, but he is said to have two sjxreific points to make. In the first place, he is likely to. complain about American arms deliveries to Israel which have been an embarrassment to hint as a known friend of the. United States and a recipient himself of American arms.
More subtly, he would like to persuade President Johnson that the United States is adopting too permissive an attitude towards President Nasser's foreign adventures and should, especially in the light of Soviet moves, be tougher. This is not to say that he would like supplies of wheat cut off, but rather that lie might like the sanction which it implies applied 'more, vigorously.
His anxiety to make certain of the American position can only have been increased by Britain's impending withdrawal from South Arabia and suggestions that the United States'might .be.' to some extent, "farming-out" its responsibilities in the Middle East because of overriding .-commitments elsewhere.
The Cairo and Damascus press have pounced upon a report
from.the New York Times corrcs-}x)iident iii Israel which has been interpreted as meaning that the United States is now relying on the strength of its allies in certain areas, including the Middle Mast, where it cannot intervene directly itself. Israel is seen to be the main beneficiary, although Al Alirain, the Mgyptian newspaper, has commented that direct intervention by the .United States would not be ruled out in the case of an emergency.
Al Haath in Damascus has attacked what it calls'an attempt to strike a balance of power between "one hundred million Arabs and a gang of Zionist outlaws who usurped part of our sacred land". � Doubtless King .Faisal would hope to be reassured on this point � especially as, for Britain, Sue/ is now only the place where its defence, policy is cast of, a distinction soon to be taken over by Aden. Sonic Saudi officials believe that the Soviet Union, may wish to stage a limited confrontation in Arabia as a bargaining'counter in the international power struggle and they are therefore anxious to secure their position.
�They have derived some satisfaction front the remarks of Mr. Ahmed Shukairy, the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, whose threat to send elements of his Army to fight,with the Viet-cong ' is thought unlikely to improve Cairo's relations with Washington or make Mr. Johnson forget the Middle East.
The State Department's insistence that the United Nations relief and works agency should not feed the Palestine Army has been greeted with universal ire in the Arab press, although at least one newspaper seemed to blame primarily the Kennedy brothers, who, it said, were Zionists trying to gain the White House by liquidating the Palestine problem. Mr. Shukairy himself is quoted as saying: "If the United States deprives us of food, we should then know-how to retaliate in the Arab cast."
King Husain, of Jordan, meanwhile, has declared that all hope for cooperation between hint and the Palestine Liberation Organization at present constituted,; has gone because the organization has fallen into the hands of those trying to use it to blow up Arab unity. He said Marxism was trying to' infiltrate and there were many opportunities for communism to exploit in the Arab world.
"Wc arc not so naive as to allow ourselves to be exploited and to believe that the Soviet Union and communist China arc the only-two allies sincerely wanting to help to end the Palestine question in our interest", he said.
Seventy French Jewish Communities Exist Where There Were None Five Years Ago
During the twentv vears since Ihe end of World War II, the French Jewish community has risen from a population of 150,000 to more than 500,000, and has become the fourth largest Jewish community in the world. The make-up of this community has changed from one predominately
Rabbi Interests Pope In Top-Level Inter-Faith Meeting
Pope Paul VI. was reported to have received with great interest a proposal presented by an American rabbi for a conference of world religious leaders of all faiths.
The rabbi. Dr. Abraham M. Ilershherg,. president of the Union of ' Rabbis' of- Latin America, and vice president of the similar body for the United States and Canada, has just spent two months consulting religious leaders in Eu. jpe and the .Middle East.
He was received for forty-five minutes by Pope Paul to present his idea for a top-level inlerfaith meeting as a potentially powerful instrument for world peace, says the Xew York Times. He also described trie limitations he found on religious freedom, particularly for Jews, in the Soviet Union.
Speaking to reporters, Rabbi Hershberg said the. Pope had. expressed interest in the conference idea and had promised to consider it seriously. He would certainly be represented, he said, if the meeting was held at other than top level.
The rabbi reported similar expressions of interest, without formal commitment, from Dr. Arthur M. Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury; the Ecumenical Patriarch, Athenagoras I, senior Eastern Orthodox prelate; the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rachmin Nissim; and Orthodox and Jewish leaders in the Soviet Union.
"The purpose of the summit meeting would be to publicize the cause of religious freedom and international goodwill, religion to religion," Rabbi Hershberg said. "When diplomacy fails, perhaps religion can help in the cause of peace."
JEWISH AMATEUR POLITICIAN IS DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE FOR GOVERNOR OF PA.; JUST LIKE THAT
An amateur, who could not get the professionals to listen has become the Democratic nominee for Governor of Pennsylvania. Milton Shapp. a 53-year-old Philadelphia industrialist, freciy spent his self-made fortune and managed to get the attention of about 50.000 more voters in primary, says Joseph A. I.oflus, in the New York Times, than his organization-picked opponent, Rolx?rt P. Casey, a Scran-ton lawyer and state Senator.
The Republican organization, on the other hand, maintained close order discipline. It nominated all its state-wide candidates and beat back four threats from the right wing, two of them in Congressional races.
Ihe Republican nominee for Governor is Raymond P. Shafcr, who was elected lieutenant governor four years ago on the ticket with Gov. William W. Scranton.
The Republicans had expected Senator Casey to be the man to beat in November and now must reorient their strategy to go after an industrialist who says the state can provide a college education free to evcrv qualified student without raising tax rates. - Mr. Shapp is distinctive on several grounds. He h believed to be
the first Jew to run for Governor of Pennsylvania on a major party ticket. He has a collection of 15 awards, including organized labor's Good Citizenship Award of 1963. Unions representing his employes endorsed his candidacy. He says he suggested the idea of the Peace Corps to President Kennedy.
Since this is the second time in a row that Democratic organization leaders have lost their candidate in the primary, some changes arc likely to be made.
'1 wo years ago, the party leaders recommended Justice Michael A. Musmanno of the State Supreme Court for Senator. Mr. Shapp had announced his candidacy but withdrew. Miss Cienevieve Blatt did run, however. In fact, she outran Justice Musmanno in a close race, but then lost to the Republican candidate, Senator Hugh Scott.
Mr. Shapp has made it clear that he wants his own man in as Democratic state chairman. The term of the current chairman, Jo!m S. Rice, ends June I, and Mr. Shapp <aid he expected Mr. Rice to recognize the date. *a\s Mie New York Times. Mr. Rice is a former Ambassador to the Netherlands.
The weakness of the organization in the cities was Mr. Shapp'*
strength. Francis R. Smith, Philadelphia .chairman,- had forecast a 75,000-vote margin for Mr. Casey. He produced a 7,000-vote margin, whereupon he and Mayor James II. J. Tate, also a Democrat, resumed their public brawling, blaming each other for the outcome.
Mr. Shapp had expected to lose Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) bv 20,000 to 25,000 votes. lie lost it by only 2,000.
His statewide margin exceeds �6,000, but he said he expected the remaining unreported precincts and the votes of servicemen and other absentees would raise that to 50,000.
Mr. Shapp started out alone. Along the way he was joined by James R. Kcllcy, of Western-Pennsylvania, as candidate for lieutenant governor. Mr. Shapp was unable to carry Mr. Kclley with him. The winner was State Senator Leonard Staiscy, Mr. Casey's running mate.
During the campaign, Mr. Shapp opened 62 headquarters offices and operated without an overall manager.
His spending for a saturation campaign on television, radio, newspapers, and pamphlets is estimated to range from SS00.000 to S2-million- Aides say the latter figure is absurdly high and Mr. Shapp says he will report the accurate figure in due time.
Mr. Shapp is the founder and chairman of the Jcrrold Electronics Corjxnation. (Jcrrold is his middle name, which he dropped for the campaign.) W ith S5(J0 and two cinplou^ he started a company whose net worth is now about S10-million.
He employs 2.000 in Philadelphia, Plaimicw, L. I., and Shcr-bonrnc, N. Y. He makes television cable and Harman Kardon high fidelity equipment, says the New l ork linns. He has vigorously fought the merger of the Pennsvl-vania and New York Central rail-roads, and s.ns he will personally carry that fight to the United States Supreme Court if the Commonwealth does not.
Ashkenazi (East European) to at least fifty per cent Sephardic (Spanish and Portuguese) as a result of the influx of Jewish emigrants from North Africa. This shift has had a dramatic effect in the Jewish identity of-the community, which has become more aware of Judaism and Jewish tradition than at any time in recent history, says a report on French Jewry, with special emphasis on the impact of North African immigration, prepared by the Paris Office of the American Jewish Committee.
The Paris office is headquarters for the 'Community Service Program, which was established in En-rope in 1958 by the A.J.C.; the Alliance Israelite Univcrscllc; and the Anglo-Jewish Association; to spur a waning sense of Jewish identity among Europe's surviving Jews. During the past seven years Community Service books, traveling exhibitions, tajx?s, and films, and many aspects of Judaism have served as Ihe basis for nearly 4,000 community events in West-cm Europe.
The report stales that North African Jews who have come to France arc integrating well into the general life of that country because they speak French and have been educated in French schools; many have had business tics With metropolitan France; a large number arc well-educated and come front the upper-socio-economic levels.
The general official and public altitude toward the newcomers has been one of understanding, marked by efforts to help all of them. The report adds: "In the general French community,, such grumbling as was heard when newcomers started competing for jobs and housing was directed against all 'les picds noirs' (the black feet), the French popular term for North'- African colonists."
Turning to the general attitude of the .French community, toward its Jewish citizens, the report asserts that the French press, literature, and theatre have all reflected a largely positive interest in the Jew. It continues:
"The most prestige-laden pf the French literary prizes, the Gon-court, has on three occasions gone to Jewish authors writing on Jewish subjects. Almost any book on Israel chalks up excellent sales. Events such as the Eichmann Trial; the production of Rolf Hochhuth's play .The Deputy; the Ecumenical Council's Declaration on the Jews, all make for renewed resonance."
This interest is also expressed in small, everyday ways. Leading newspapers such as Le Monde and Lc Figaro, treat Jewish community news as general news, standard practice in the United States but new in France. For example, the last annual meeting of the Fonds Social Juif Unifie was used as the basis for-a newspaper article on French Jewry as well as feature
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stories on Jewish high holidays and olher related subjects.
�The" report points out that in the past native French Jewry has tended toward assimilation. Tltc pervasiveness and appeal of French culture, emphasized by. the national homogeneity of the French educational system, often went hand in hand with a loss of Jewish knowledge and the withdrawal from Jewish, tradition. However, the new infusion of more Jewish-conscious Jews has caused the French Jewish community structure to improve, Jewish voluntary agencies have grown, and the Jewish communities, which were mainly centered in Paris and Alsacc-lxtrrainc, have spread throughout France.
The report states: , "Physically, therefore, French Judaism is more present, more visible, than ever before, in terms of numbers and structure. When Community Service drew up its Guide To France in 1961, it listed eighty cities and towns With some Jewish community structure. In the same area today there are more than 130 Jewish communities. If one were to include the Paris suburbs, then
there now exist about seventy Jewish'communities'that did not exist five or six years ago."
Presently, according to the report, there is about one rabbi for every 5,000 Jews in France, but rabbis arc quite unequally distributed. Another fifty or so are required, it is estimated by the Central Consistory.
The report concludes: "French Judaism is unique in being the only Diaspora (Dispersion) community in which Ashkenazi and Sephardic cultures are now melded on relatively equal terms. However, it .still has to prove that it can develop a viable Jewish culture and tradition of its own, one that will assure meaningful Jewish continuity. The goal of its leadership is building poles of Jewish attraction that can hold their rising generations. Whether they will succeed is very much an open question."
Founded in 1966, the American Jewish Committee is the pioneer human relations agency in the U.S. combating bigotry, protecting the civil and religious rights of Jews, and advancing the cause of human rights for all.
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