◆ SpookStack

Rata al he a Wiltiam-Zukerman, Edffer * Post Office Box 117 Washington Bridge Station, New York 33, N. ¥. Subscription Rates: ee ES a te ee ei ee her ae te ae ne a a a <n OT TE ee PO OM ee Protocols of the A.D. L., * Téalitarian Trends EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD t H $5.00 per year; $3.00 half year ; — . Entered as second cfass matter, Dee j x i "me Post Office, New York Herman ? Maray 4. B.aaMordman Biweekly except for fhe month of Aag. \ MorriD Seren Loatedetson edge acobtcakes ; ee APRIL 9, 1956 ' VOL. XH No. 8 . “NEW YORK, N.Y af PAnTi-DeFamaTion Lee ve *, £ Hy ao f sot ‘ Arms or Peace ee As antitipated in our last issue, public opinion in the Western. world has veered in favor of granting some arms to Israel for self defense purposes. France has already delivered twelve Mys- tere jet interceptor planes. England and Canada have also changed their former negative attitude and have announced - that they, too, would sell arms to Israel in greater quantity. The position of the American government on the issue has not changed officially: the State Department still is of the opinion that arms cannot settle the problem in the Middle East and that other measures, such as the UN Mission to the Middle East are better suited to the achievement of peace in that area. But the United - States has abandoned its previous objection to the sale of arms to Israel by France, England, Canada and other Western powers. Thus, the urgency of the issue has been relieved and the arms question now ocrter date 5 were pisg, whea it can be seen in s calmer atmosphere and discussed without bysteria. It is appropriate at this point to place on reeord the little- mown fact that the clamor for arms as the solution of the Mid- dle East crisis is not as unanimous among Jews as it is presented to be. Both in Israel and in this country, many voices have been heard in opposition to the iron-clad formuls that if Israel only had enough arms from the United States to counteract the arms to Egypt from Communist countries, this would not only serve #8 8 deterrent to Arab aggression, but would do away with the threat of an Arab-Israeli war entirely. To be sure, theirs are not official, or even majority voices, but they reflect the views of organizations of historic significance and of individuals of great prestige and deserve consideration, or at least a hearing. In this and in forthcoming issues, the Jewish Newsletter proposes to present the views of these opponents to the general clamor for force as 4 settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.. Exaggerating the Arms Issue The first and most important of these voices is“that of the Jewish Labor Bund, » Labor-Socialist body with a great record of more than two generations of achievements for Jewish Iabor. The Bund arose at the same time as the Zionist movement, but while the latter reflected the national awakening of the Jewish middle class and its aspiration to national independence tal on eseape and separation from the Non-—Jewish world, the 3 expressed the hopes of Jewish labor and liberals that interna~ tionalism and social justice for all will solve the Jewish problem. During the last quarter of this century, the Jewish group as a whole, has tended to follow the nationalist ideology, but the Bund has remained true to its ideals and is the outstanding opponent to nationalism. hy Lebensfragen, organ of the Bund in Israel, published current issue an article entitled Arms or Peace in which opposition to the Israeli-Zionist clamor for arms is stated clearly * ©, . not for real peace. B" and dispassionately. The article begins with a strong yritiasm__ © e Arab-Israeli ten- & Western countries fear a sharpening of x sions. They are afraid of an- Arab- i war because they fear bec*s that this would enable Russia to penetrate into the Middle East. $* ¥- They are therefore sincerely interested in bringing about a pesce- ; ful colution of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Why should the Israeli F=* government not use this opportunity to obtain peace rather than |: arms? Lebensfragen asks, and concludes that Israel, or at least } = the Ben Gurion government, does not really want peace. It ig toe. maceuvering for peace negotiations “from a position of atrength",_ fa -: i. ra c Terms of Peace~” A. similar position is taken by the American section of the ES Jewish Labor Bund. Writing in Unser Tacit (April), organ of fF. the American Bund, editor Dr. Emanvel-Scherer says that he is not opposed in principle to the sending of American arms to f+." Jemel, expecially. cinor the Arab states are reeeiving artas from |: the Communist countries. But arms ean at best bnng only tem) porary relief and serve as a palliative. What is necessary — while there is still time — is pot an arms race but a permanent peace settlement between Araba and Israelis. How is this to be | accomplished? Unser Tsait publishes the following peace pro- pesals submitted by the Bund to the Council of the Socialist International which met in Zurich, Switzerland (March 2-4), as a basis for negotiations: a c ~~ An Arab-leraeli peace can be reached only through far- reaching concessions by both sides. On the side of [sreel, peace depends primarily on her attitude tosard the frontier and the drab refugees problems, . . 4. To reach a permanent peace, negotiations must be con-. fs ducted on the basis of readiness to make, frontier ad just- ments. 2. The State of Terael_ must recognise the moral right of the Arab refugees ta repatriation and compensation, and nurst make effective concessions i the question, Our attitude toward the Arab refugee problem ig in agreement with the general principles of democracy. For the Jewish people Fre which in the course of its long murtyrdom experienced more TMP than once the bitter fate of the refugee, ond has, on more than one occasion, demanded the” rights of Jewish refugees for their home and property—the of Israel in the Arab refugee problem is a test of political morality. ; cessions, They must stop the boycott, the blockade and other. rey nm amas i short, the Bund holds that Zionists ond Ieraelis are over- emphasizing the importance of arms and underestimating the importance of peace. Real peace can now be obtained more easily than at any other time before, bus only by conosevrh Lee S3O— 34FO Ne ee f of tke Israeli government and of the. Zionists forexaggerat “as ef , —_ - t . . a : f OT HDR RDsent, byt to permit ¥ countries to do ne arms issue out of ail proportions, and for concctethnr Wt ce tas eaeitend ‘by Uhq. Ziontas Ad proZivetst press os “Op