Friday, August 3, 1951
The Southern Jewish Weekly
An Independent Paper Serving American Citizens of Jewish Faith
This ntfcwspaper seeks to serve the Jewish communities of the South with
an ORTHODOX conscience, a CONSERVATIVE tone, and a REFORM outlook.
Edited and Published by ISADORE MOSCOVITZ, B.S.J.
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M/jr, VIEWPOINT
PROBLEMS OF AN ASSASSINATION
So* ' vBPF'-" . • .
anged to write an equal distasteful termination. It is a fore
gone conduson that if Britain bows out of Arabia the U. S.
must step in or else permit Russia to do so.
Britain’s policy of playing off one Arab leader against
another in order to prohibit the formation of an Arab League
which would ultimately challenge her supremacy in the Mid
dle East worked to the advantage of the Colonial pQwer as
long as there was no rival in world affairs who threatened to
move in and take a hand in settling the matter to their own
advantage. France was too weak to prove an overwhelming
competitor in the imperialistic field. Italy was completely
eased out of the running.
However, now with a large portion of her manpower dis
sipated in World War 11, and with the need of maintaining a
huge standing army that might ultimately serve as a protec
tion against the Islands themselves, Britain faces the ambition
of Russia in the Arab world, and appreciates the facts that
here is a formidable enemy.
The AP report says that Britain is now willing to set
aside her mistrust of American interest in the Middle East
and to agree to unified military command of the area. It
seems that if the military pact is contracted, a unity of politi
cal direction must also be agreed upon.
Os course what our State Department policy might be is
another matter for conjecture. To date their wooing of Ibn
Saud, the dollar-hungry ruler of Saudi Arabia, has been no
great battle for democracy, and the reluctance of the Arab
States to accept Marashall Plan money or assistance to afford j
stability in their own area shows little love of the Arab rulers
for democracy.
However, at the end of the two weeks since the violent
demise of Jordan’s King, it would seem that his assassination i
may have served to awaken the Western powers to the fire ,
with which they have permitted Britain to play in the Middle
East, and some unity of purpose might ensue.
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Two weeks have passed since the
assassination of King Abdullah. The
most significant outcome of the mur
der of the former monarch of Jordan
has been Britain's move (as reported
in an Associated Press story) to turn
to the United States for help in cop
ing with the tense situation in the
Middle East. If the story as told by
"informed diplomats" is true, and it
would seem that there is substance
in the report, it heralds the begin
ning of the end of a chapter in Mid
dle Eastern affairs in which Britain's
ugly dealings there have boomer-
THE SOUTHERN JEWISH WEEKLY
U. N. Pact On
Protection of
Refugees
\
BY DAVID NUSSBAUM
(Copyright, 1951, Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, Inc.)
—UNITED NATIONS, N. Y.
A new international conven
tion on the protection of refugees
replacing those of the past will
come into being as a result of the
special conference of plenipoten
tiaries held last month in Geneva
under the sponsorship of the Uni
ted Nations.
So far as the text of this con
vention goes, the legal protections
it affords to the dispossessed are
considerable, and refugees and
stateless persons in the countries
who become signatories to the
pact will be better off than they
were. They will be assured equal
treatment in such rights as access
to the courts, social security bene
fits and relief, employment and
self-employment and many other
basic domestic rights.
Unfortunately, however, and
due chiefly to the exigencies of
the cold war, there will be two
grave drawbacks to this conven
tion. How seriously they will
weaken its general application
will be seen only with time.
One of these drawbacks is the
prevalence of loopholes for the
sake of “national security,” a fear
that dominated much of the Ge
neva discussion and sprung, of
course, from the suspicions and
distrusts that have been engend
ered by cold-war diplomacy.
Hence, under the new pact, refu
gees will not have real freedom of
movement, for example, and their
documents will be subject to the
same limitations of aliens gener
ally. These limitations are grow
ing more and more severe in all
countries as the cold war intensi
fies.
The meeting in Geneva, in fact,
became dominated by fears for
"national security" and this form
of qualifying clause crept into a
number of the provisions of the
convention.
The second weakness is far
greater. This is the apparent un
willingness of the most important
nations involved in the refugee
problem to become signatories of
the convention. The United States
has let it be known bluntly that
it does not consider such a treaty
to apply in its own case on the
ground that refugees are already
treated here on the same basis as
aliens in general. It became ap
parent at Geneva from the re
servations injected by the Ameri
can representative that fear for
“national security” played an im
portant role in the American de
cision to stay outside the terms
of the convention.
It is expected that other na
tions, including France and Brit
ain, may follow the American
lead, and this is a discouraging
prospect, because the fact is that
the legal status of many refugees
is not clear in these countries. For
example, one of the most impor
tant provisions of the new con
vention is that which prohibits
penalties to be imposed against a
refugee who may have entered
the country of asylum illegally
but who may not find asylum
elsewhere and presents himself
promptly to the authorities. There '
is no automatic protection for
such persons in the United States,
as recent deportation cases show.
Another significant provision is
one permitting the . unfettered
transfer of assets by a refugee
either into or out of a signatory
state. Again, only this convention
would give full legal status to
such cases. *
It remains true however, that
fCoMffmred on Page Six)
The Jewish
Quiz Box
BY RABBI SAMUEL J. FOX
(Copyright, 1951, Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, Inc.)
QUESTION: What are the "Nine Days?" (Occuring this year
from August 3-12). T. R.. Chicago, Illinois.
ANSWER: The ‘.‘nine days” is the name given to the annual
period of nine days between the first and ninth days of the Hebrew
month of Ab. These nine days are observed as a period of solemn
mourning. Traditionalists do not swim on these days, neither is meat
consumed on these days; nor new clothes worn.
***** i
QUESTION: Why are these days so mournfully observed?
ANSWER: The month of Ab is the month during which the
destruction of the Temple occurred—on the ninth day of the month
both the first and second temples were destroyed. Thus from the
beginning of the month until the fast of the ninth of Ab the people
of Israel demonstrate their mourning for the Temple.
*****
QUESTION: Why are meat and wine particularly prohibited?
(Y. U., New York City.)
ANSWER: Generally, meat and wine are the two items that
are featured at a feast. Excluding them from our diet these nine days
indicates that we are in no mood for feasting. The traditional sources
have a much better explanation, however. It must be remembered
that originally, as is still the case in some isolated localities today,
the full three weeks between the fast of Tammuz and the Fast of
Ab were observed in this fashion. Most of the prevalent traditions
only provide these restrictions for the nine days.
It happened that in this three-week period the daily sacrifices
and the ritual of pouring the wine and water were stopped during
the destruction of the Temple. In certain sacrifices at the Temple the
meat was eaten by the priests and the owners of the animal. Since
the sacrifices were halted, no meat of sacrifice was consumed either
at the altar or by humans. Refraining from eating meat is thus a sym
bol of the fact that the consumption of the meat of the sacrifices was
stopped during this period. The same, of course, applies to wine.
*****
QUESTION: Why is swimming prohibited during the nine days?
ANSWER: Swimming is generally regarded as a pleasurable ex
perience and we abstain from this pleasure as a symbol of being in
a state of mourning. A mourner in the seven days of mourning does
not bathe. It should also be recalled that bathing in days of old was
considered a luxury—much the same as swimming is considered
today.
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