*** IWDEPEWDENT WEEKLY SERVING AMERICAN CITIZENS OF JEWISH
THE OLDEST AND MOST WIDELY CIRCULATED JEWISH PUBLICATION IN THIS TERRITORY
vol. 23 NO. 2
{Capital Spotlight j
by BEATRICE HEIMAN
j (Copyright, 1947, JTA, Inc.) j
WASHINGTON
Along with Germany, China and
South America, Palestine was one
of the topics of discussion by
President Truman with his new
Secretary of State, General George
C. Marshall, at their first reg
ular semi-weekly meeting after
the Secretary’s swearing-in.
Official circles here were in
terested in the unanimity with
which leading American news
papers expressed lack of hope for
any constructive outcome of the
London Conference on Palestine,
even before the conference start
ed. Whether the London corres
pondents of the papers were fed
the idea from government sources,
or had figured it out themselves
from talks with Arab and Jewish
representatives, is not known. Pos
sibly, persons concerned with the
question painted the picture in
its darkest colors. Then, if even
some slight achievement is marked
up, it will be more than was an
ticipated.
* * * *
If General Eisenhower had re
mained in Germany, he would have
asked for an even larger occu
pation force than the present one.
Talking, as he put it, straight
from the shoulder and from the
hip, the General told the Women’s
National Press Club that occu
pation is the most pressing of our
immediate post-war policies.
Those displaced persons in Ger
many and Austria who would like
to leave the occupied areas and
build a new life, in Palestine or
the United States, are still with
out any assurance as to the when
or how of it.
The draft of a law has been
approved by the Office of Military
Government in Berlin providing for
the use of heirless property to
resettle and rehabilitate displaced
persons. It further provides for an
international trustee body, which
would include representatives of
the Jewish Agency for Palestine
and the Joint Distribution Com
mittee. The law must now be
submitted to the German govern
ment bodies in the American
Zones.
In a surprise move, President
Truman recently asked Attorney
General Tom Clark to look into
possible uses, by displaced persons,
of unclaimed property in our zone
of Germany. At this juncture,
it is not quite clear how the At
torney General fits into a prob
lem which has been the concern
of the Secretaries of State and
of War.
Agencies interested in legis
lation to allow for admission to
the United States of “a fair share”
°f the approximately one million
DP’s in the American zones of
Germany and Austria, are channel
their efforts through the
Citizens Committee on Displaced
Persons. The Committee, headed
by Earl Harrison, former Com
missioner of Immigration and
(Continued on Page Three)
Observance of Jewish
Musical Festival Opens
Celebration Today
Jewish Music Festival, organized
by the Jewish Music Council and
sponsored by the National Jewish
Welfare Board, opens a month
long celebration today. It will
feature Jewish music programs
over CBS, the Mutual network and
100 local stations throughout the
nation. The Music Council's third
annual observance, which will
continue to March 6, will see
churches, inter-faith bodies join
ing the celebration, in which Jew
ish centers and educational org
i anizations will take part.
Reports already received at the
office of the National Jewish Wel
fare Board indicate, that the \t
terest and participation this year
"is overwhelming and far sur
passes the heartwarming response
to the Music Council-sponsored
Music Week last year,” according
to Mrs. Frank Cohen, chairman of
the Jewish Music Council’s ex
ecutive committee.
Mrs. Cohen said that the Music
Council, In response to the re
quests of the local chapters of the
national organizations affiliated
with iL-had distributed 3500 Music
Festival manuals, 2500 bibliogra
phies of articles on Jewish music,
and had made available 5000 Jew
ish Music posters.
JEWS AND ARABS WOUNDEP
IN CLASH OVER PLOUGHING
OF LAND OWNED BY J. N. F.
JERUSALEM (JTA)—A c!as v
in which a number of Jews ard
Arabs were wounded occurred this
week in the Emek Heffer district
when a group of Arab land-owners
attempted to drive off Jews who
were ploughing J. N. F. land which
had not been cultivated previously.
The land-owners secured the
assistance of neighboring peasants,
while residents of nearby Jewish
settlements came to the aid of the
ploughmen. The arrival of police
dispersed the Arabs.
President Truman Discusses Palestine and
Immigration Problems with J.W.V. Commander
1 - s .. '. f £•> j
President Truman was urged to continue his “diplomatic support” in
behalf of Palestine by Milton H, Richman, National Commander of the Jewish
War Veterans, on the occasion of a White House visit when he expressed the
J W V’« gratitude to the President for “his repeated advocacy of a just
solution Os the Palestine question.” Commander Richman also fjised *he
President’s efforts in behalf of displaced persons and urged tnat the U. b.
make “existing immigration quotas available for immediate use.
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1947
Honored By B’nai B’rith
" iffy' '/TV,*-’'
Congresswoman Edith Nourse
Rogers of Mass., will be honored
by the B'nai B’rith for her pio
neer work in Veterans’ legislation
at a testimonial dinner at the
Hotel Statler in Washington on
February 17th. The fete marks
Mrs. Rogers’ recent appointment
as Chairman of the House Com
mittee on Veterans Affairs of the
80th Congress. The New Eng
land Congresswoman, who helped
passage of the “GI Bill
of Rights” and other legislation
beneficial to veterans, will be join
ed in this gala affair by the most
prominent people concerned with
veterans affairs in official Wash
ington. Sponsor of the dinner is
the B’nai B’rith Veterans’ Advis
ory Committee.
BRITAIN MAY ISSUE
STATEMENT ON PALES
TINE WITHIN TEN DAYS
JERUSALEM (JTA)—The Brit
ish Government will issue a state
ment on Palestine within the nex*
few days independently of the
course of the Conference on Pal
estine, it was learned here.
The statement will indicate that
Britain is inclined to adopt a par
tition plan for Palestine, it is be
’ieved in informed circles. The
partitioning of Palestine into sep
arate Jewish and Arab states is
firmly advocated in editorials by
the Manchester Guardian and the
Times.
U. S. Urged To Hasten
U. N. Action On Nazi Loot
NEW YORK (JTA)—The Unit
ed States Government is urged u
make representations hastening
United Nations action for the re
storation of Nazi-looted property
to Jewish victims, in an eight
point program made public by the
American Jewish Committee. In
cases where the looted property
has disappeared, the Committee
program urges compensation to
the victims. The Committee’s pro
gram is as follows:
1. Immediate and full restitu
tion of all property rights and in
terests should be made to the
Jewish victims of Axis persecu
tion.
2. Administrative obstacles to
immediate effective restitution
should be removed and appropriate
administrative measures should be
enacted to facilitate such restitu
tion.
3. The Economic and Social
Council of the United Nations
should include among its respon
sibilities such restitution to vic
tims of the Axis Powers.
4. Just compensation should be
made for property rights and in
terests which cannot be restored.
5. Unclaimed or heirless prop
erty..rights and inteiests of ewJ
ish victims of the Axis, including
organizations and communities
should be transferred to appropri
ate Jewish organizations for use
in relief, rehabilitation, emigra
tion and resettlement.
6. Effective. measures should
(Continued on Page Three)
RACE HATRED IS BLASPHEMY
A MESSAGE ON RACE RELATIONS
Issued by the Commission on Justice and Peace of the Central Con
ference of American Rabbis in Observance of RACE RELATIONS
WEEK Commencing February 9, 1947
At this season, hallowed by memories of Abraham Lincoln, the
| Commission on Justice and Peace of the Central Conference of
American Rabbis reaffirms its faith in the brotherhood of all men
and urges th’e removal of all barriers to the achievement of one
Humanity under one God.
To maintain that God has placed any race or class of men in
I a state of permanent inferiority is to blaspheme His name. Such
j an idea, w hether based upon a misinterpretation of Scripture or a
| misreading of nature, is but the rationalization of groundless bias
I and contemporary prejudice. A hundred years ago the same ideas
. were used to condone the institution of slavery. Our current preju
dices are surely no more tenable or durable. In the years to come,
our prevailing attitudes toward colored peoples will be repudiated
as neither normal nor moral, and will have been outgrown by a
humanity become more humane.
Every Jew who believes in Judaism, every man who believes
that God is the Father of all, must take up the struggle against
discrimination. Man, we believe, is created in the image of God.
Therefore, no man may say of another man, created in that same
image, that he should “keep his place.” We who believe that to love
our neighbor as ourselves is life’s highest aim must lead in efforts
i to ameliorate the condition of our colored brothers.
We applaud the strides made in recent years in the direction of
inter-racial brotherhood: the opening of American shores to the citi
zens of several, if not yet all, Oriental countries; the recognition
accorded the heroism of Negro troops in our Armed Forces; the pro
visions embodied in the federal aid bills guaranteeing greater edu
cational opportunities for Negroes; the U. S. Supreme Court rulings
requiring equal treatment for Negroes in cases involving the fran
chise, education and union membership; the increasirg recognition
of Negroes in sports; and the inter-racial activities of many religious
and labor organizations.
, (Continued on Page Four)
Brotherhood Week
Radio Program Is
Slated, Feb. 16th
As its contribution to the nat
ion-wide observance of American
Brotherhood Week, the radio ser
ies, “David Harding Counter
spy”, will feature a program aimed
at subversive organizations on
Sunday, February 16, 1947, at
5:30 P. M. (EST) over the nation
wide hookup of the American
Broadcasting Company. Designed
to promote better understanding
and good will the story will deal
with three young Americans and
what happens to them as a result
of their involvement with an un-
American organization and its
demagogic leaders.
The “David Harding—Counter
spy” series has been on the air
for four years and has high rat
ing as a program that combines
entertainment with a message of
unity and the meaning of democ
racy. The “Counterspies” are a
composite of all law enforcement
agencies. They handle all types
of cases and have exposed swind
lers, racketeers, international
spies, and subversive individuals
and groups. The series is written
and produced by Phillips H. Lord.
Local radio stations should be
commended for the public service
they are performing in the in
terests of democracy in presenting
“David Harding—Counterspy”.
$3.00 A YEAR