The Southern Jewish weekly. [volume], April 11, 1952, Image 1

About The Southern Jewish weekly. [volume] (Jacksonville, Fla.) 1939-1992

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AN INDEPENDENT WEEKLY SERVING AMERICAN CITIZENS OF JEWISH FAITH
THE OLDEST AND MOST WIDELY CIRCULATED JEWISH PUBLICATION IN THIS TERRITORY
VOL. 29 NO. 12
PLAIN TALK
By Alfred Segal
FORGOTTEN MAN
My good friend Morris called
on me in jbl mood, as it seemed to
me. somewhat apologetic . . .
"Mow, mind you," he was saying,
"I mean no offense." Morris is the
most lovable of meek men.
“Oh,” I replied, “Speak right
up, Morris.”
"It's about the Jewish press,"
he began. "I thought you might
not like what I have to say about
that." He meant that some of the
Jewish press are customers of
mine; that is to say, they buy this
column to print every week.
I told Morris that publishers
are thankful to any one who
brings a fault to them; a critic
may help to improve the content
of the paper . . . “So go ahead,
Morris.”
Morris said that he has had op*
portunity lately to examine a lot
of the Jewish newspapers from
all around the country . . . "My
complaint is that they seem to
think of themselves as organs for
Israel as if the main news and
the mainstream of Jewish life
were in Israel; as if we Jews all
around the world cared more
about what's happening in and to
Israel than we do about our own
Jewish lives in the U. S."
Morris had brought along a
, sample of what he meant ....
“Here is an American Jewish
newspaper whose whole first
page is about the affairs of Is
rael. Not a line about us here.”
He explained, though Morris
whom I have known many years,
didn't have to tell me that he is
a devoted friend of Israel never
an anti-Zionist. His wife always
has a tree planted for him in Is
rael on his birthdays.
“Yes,” he went on, “this em
phasis on Israel is not alone in
the Jewish press; the Jewish
press but reflects the single
minded devotion to Israel that is
in most of the activities of most
Jewish agencies in the U. S.”
So Morris was asking: "Where
does that leave me, an American
Jaw who believes in the impor
tance of Jewish life wherever it
is lived, wherever it needs to be
lived better than it is. My Jewish
life is going to be lived here a
long time, I hope, and here will
be the Jewish life of my children
■wi grandchildren through the
years to come.
“When, as an American Jew, I
find our Jewish newspapers over
flowing with the news of Israel
and our American Jewish agen
cies applying themselves wholly
to the well-being of Israel I feel
slighted. As if I were only a step
child in Jewry and the only ones
worthy of attention are the chil
dren who live in Israel. Mind you,
I am not begrudging the Israeli
Jews a thing; I am only saying
it*s time to look at Jewish life
here and what’s to be done about
it”
Morris meant to say that he. a
Jew in the UJA is a Jewish
problem as vital and as urgent
as soma other Morris who resides
(Ceattaaed ea rage light)
ISRAEL BEAUTY QUEEN
GETS BIG CITY WELCOME
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Sp ' > , 9
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Mayor Vincent R. Impellitterl ot New York, left, shown with'lsrael's 1952
beauty queen, Miehal Harel of Jerusalem, as he extended the big city’s official
welcome to her on the eve of her American tour for the United Jewish Appeal.
Miss Israel, a veteran of the Israel-Arab war and a kindergarten teacher in an
immigrant camp, was presented to the mayor by UJA National Chairman
William Rosenwald, center. The 20 year old beauty shows Mr. Impellitteri the
model of a home which can be built for Israel’s immigrants on a large scale
If American Jews speed the raising of funds for the UJA. The Mayor expressed
the hope the young beauty would help communities raise many millions of dol
lars for this and other vital UJA programs. Miss Israel is now on a coast-to-coast
tour of Spring campaign communities to help the UJA raise $151,5000,000 for
support of immigration and settlement in her country, relief and rehabilitation
of distressed Jews in European and Moslem lands, and refugee aid and adjust
ment in the United States. Miss Israel's tour will last two months.
Fear Anti-Semitism in '52 Campaign May
Exceed All Past Presidential Smears
NEW YORK CITY (AJP) Early warnings on the political
horizon indicate that anti-Semitism may be injected into the 1952
campaign for the White House on a greater scale than ever before
attempted during a Presidential drive, a Jewish spokesman pre
dicted last week.
Behind the scenes, the Ameri
can Jewish Press learned, at least
one major U. S. Jewish group, the
American Jewish Committee, has
assigned a crew of trained spe
cialists to undertake scientific re
search into current attempts to
smear American Jewry in connec
tion with next November’s ballot
ing. The specialists are presently
engaged in sifting current and re
cent issues, of the nation’s hate
sheets, statistical background and
other data in an attempt to un
cover any developing anti-Jewish
trends in the political battle for
the Presidency.
Judging from the intensity of
anti-Semitic pamphleteering in
the New Hampshire primary sev
eral weeks ago, a spokesman for
the AJC told the American Jew
ish Press that the '52 race for the
Presidency was likely to see hate
artists and others inject a maxi
mum serving of anti-Semitism,
some of it openly, the rest by
innuendo.
“This year’s campaign,” he said,
“shows indications of surpassing
all previous political ballotings in
the extent of anti-Semitism
which some will attempt to inject
into the issues.”
Among recent events of interest
to the specialists is a move by
former Yorkville, N. Y- bundists
and Coughlinites to smear the
Eisenhower campaign on the basis
of the General's "Jewish back
ground."
Taking a hint—or direction—
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 1952
from at least one of the nation’s
major hate sheets, the former
bundists are publicizing excerpts
from a West Point Yearbook
which jestingly referred to Eisen
hower as “The Swedish Jew.”
The humorous reference by the
General’s classmates is made to
appear as an indication of Eisen
hower’s Jewish ancestory.
During the New Hampshire pri
mary fight, the researchers noted.
HAZI IMPUDENCE
BY NATHAN ZIPRIN
The sentence was so light that it was tantamount to for
giveness alongside the gravity of the crime.
But to Franz Rademacher, one-time secretary to Hitler
and Nazi Foreign Office official, the prospect of serving a
three-year prison term for the crime of having a hand in the
slaying of 1,500 Jews is so unsavory that he decided to appeal
to the mercy of higher German justice. Rademacher was con
victed some weeks ago by a German court in Nuremberg.
During the trial he perjured himself, for which he was later
castigated by the court. Before sentence was pronounced he
threw himself on the mercy of the court, declaring there were
extenuating circumstances to be considered —he had been
merely dancing to Nazi music and was obeying higher orders
to kill. ' '
No one has been able io establish what standards of jus
tice the court applied when it imposed on the admitted killer
so light a sentence as three years. To Rademacher however
the punishment is seemingly out of proportion to the crime,
and he has now applied to a higher court for a review and
leniency.
In the light of the merciful trend of German courts tow
ard war criminals, we would hesitate to make a substantial
wager against Rademacher.
Knesset Adopts
Nationality Bill
JERUSALEM Jews in Israel will be able to hold dual nation
ality, according to a decision of the Knesset during the voting on the
Citizenship Act. The principle of dual nationality has been the most
controversial point in dispute since the Nationality Bill was first
introduced in July. 1950. Mr. Eliezer Peri (Mapam) proposed a
clause making the acquisition of Israeli citizenship conditional upon
the relinquishment of previous nationality.
Southeast Synagogues
To Meet in Miami,
May 18th
Mr. Philip Belz, of Memphis,
Tennessee, announced that the
Seventh Annual Convention of
the Southeastern Synagogue Con
ference will take place in Miami
Beach, Florida, during the week
end of May 18, 1952. The confer
ence is composed of Orthodox
Rabbis, Congregations, Organiza
tions, and Lay Leadership of the
states of North Carolina, South
Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Ten
nessee, Florida, Mississippi, Loui
siana and Arkansas.
The Conference, an affiliate of
the Union of Orthodox Jewish
Congregations of America, serves
as a clearing house for Southern
Orthodoxy, providing facilities
for discussing common problems
and coordinated planning for the
strengthening and expansion of
Torah Judaism throughout the
region.
The Mizrachi Education Com
mittee will cooperate in planning
the organization of day-schools,
and the further development of
existing educational institutions.
Thirty-five congregations, their
affiliated sisterhoods, and men’s
clubs are members of the Confer
ence.
postcards attacking Eisenhower's
candidacy on the basis of his
being "a tool of the Jews' were
widely circulated. The hate cards
bore Philadelphia cancelation
marks.
PASSOVER ISSUE $3.00 A YEAR
The law provides that all per
sons in the country under the
Law of the Return, which notes
the historic right of Jews to re
turn to Israel, shall be citizens.
This means in effect that all Jews
in Israel with residents status
will become citizens automatical
ly. Others, non-Jews, may qualify
for automatic citizenship if they
fulfill three requirements:
1. They must have been citizens
of Palestine;
2. They must be included in t]he
official register of citizens before
March 1, 1952;
3. They must prove continuous
residence in Israel or in territory
acquired by Israel since the estab
lishment of the State.
There was a keen debate on this
aspect of the legislation. Mr. Peri
argued that only about 10% of
the Arabs in Israel would meet
the'conditions for automatic citi
zenship. Mr. Mashould Kassis
(Arab Democrats) proposed that
Arabs who are now legally in the
country should get citizenship.
None of these amendments
passed. *
Children born in Israel can ac
quire citizenship only if one par
ent is a citizen. An adopted child
of citizens is not automatically a
citizen, nor can citizenship be
acquired through marriage.
No Florida Action Yet,
But —
25 KKKers Hit With
45 N. C. Indictments
(By the American Jewish Press)
The long drawn out legal battle
against the hooded hoodlums of
the Ku Klux Klan began last
week in North Carolina where 45
bills of indictment were returned
against 25 persons in connection
with four flogging cases attri
buted to members of the hate
order.
Meanwhile, there were no new
developments by Federal authori
ties in the six-month-old Florida
bombings. Not a single indictment
has been returned there despite
active investigations undertaken
by agents of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation and state and
local police authorities.
The North Carolina indictments
returned here last week charged
the KKK with kidnapping, con
spiracy to kidnap and assault. The
bills were drawn following a
series of sweeping raids staged
sarly in February by state au
thorities.
A number of those indicted on
the evidence uncovered by state
police also face charges of kid
napping filed by the Federal Bu
reau of investigation.