Jewish Newsletter, Volume 8, Number 11, May 26, 1952 Page: 2 of 4
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Harris and Eliza Kempner and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Rosenberg Library.
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fight for liberal immigration laws. Why should Sena-
tor MacCarran be better than Ben Gurion? Why should
Lehman, young Roosevelt and Celler get from the Am-
erican Congress what Israel does not .do in its own
country?
NEWS IN BRIEF
Rabbi Irving Miller has thrown his hat into the
ring and has declared himself a candidate for the
presidency of the ZOA at the next convention taking
place on New York on June12. He is backed by the
"National Committee for Zionist Action", a group which,
includes most of the leading American General Zion-
ists of the so-called Silver-Newman faction which
has lately been outspoken in its opposition to the
Ben Gurion government and the Histadrut in Israel.
At the press conference at which he announced his
candidacy, Rabbi Irving Miller delivered a program
address which was, primarily, a strong indictment of
the present leadership of the ZOA and read partly:
"The 55th National Convention will determine whether
the Zionist Organization of America is again to be
an effective force on behalf of Zionism and Israel
in the American Jewish community. Unless the situa-
tion obtaining now is radically changed, the outlook
for the year ahead is bleak indeed. Membership has
fallen off in alarming proportions and income-is at
its lowest point. Many projects are blue-printed but
most of them remain on paper. Everywhere one observes
apathy and confusion... The ZOA has abdicated its
position of leadership in the World Zionist Movement
and is now relinquishing its moral and intellectual
position in the American Jewish Community. Nowonder,
then, that Zionists are dispirited and discouraged."
Following immediately Rabbi Miller's declaration,
another Zionist leader, Mr. Ezra Shapiro of Cleve-
land, announced his candidacy for the Zionist pres-
idency. Mr. Shapiro is backed by the "Committee for
the Revitalization of the ZOA" which represents the
section of the ZOA led by Dr. Nahum Goldman, Rudolf
Sonnenborn, Louis Lipsky and others who have been
supporting the Ben Gurion government in all its
actions and fought the Silver-Newman group. Mr. Sha-
piro's program differs from Rabbi Miller's in that
it stresses complete collaboration with the present
government in Israel. It does not call for a larger
Halutzioth movement from America to Israel, but en-
courages American technicians to emigrate to Israel
for a short period. It calls for private investments
of American capital in Israel and invites American
non-Zionists to participate in the aid to Israel
through the UJA, bond drives and other fund-raising
efforts.
The announcement of the two candidacies for the
Zionist presidency clears the stage for a clear-cut
fight at the next convention of the ZOA between the
followers of Silver and those of Ben Gurion. The
fight will evidently be decisive and will determine
once and for all whether the ZOA will be taken over
entirely by the Israelis or not.
The bill granting special status to the Jewish
Agency which was-introduced in Knesset last week by
the Ben Gurion government has met with considerable
opposition and criticism by the die-hard Zionists
both in Israel and outside it. The chief criticism of
the measure is A) that it does not provide enough
special privileges for the Jewish Agency as the Zio-
nists demanded, B) that the measure is based on the
assumption that the Jewish Agency is to be extended
to include non-Zionists as well. The critics, whoare
mostly extreme nationalists, want the Jewish Agency
to be given the same status outside Israel as the
Israeli government has in Israel itself.The West German government has offered to paZ
half a billion dollars in reparations to Israel,
exactly half of what the Israeli government demanded.
The Israelis have not rejected the German counter-
offer outright and a second phase of the negotiat-
ions is sure to open-
The famous Jewish novelist, Sholom Asch, has
come back from a visit to Israel where he had a very
mixed reception. Although officially received by Ben
Gurion and Dr. Weitzmann, he was partly ignored and
partly bitterly attacked by the Israeli press and
people. Inan interview with the London Jewish Chron-
icle upon his return, Mr. Asch said that one of the
major problems of Israel now is "how to preserve the
unity of the Jewish people in order that it should
develop into two different nations, Israelis and
Jews. This is, of course, not a political problem--
politically, this division has to be made--but it is
in the cultural and religious sphere that a breach
between Israel and outside Jewry must not be erected
and maintained." Mr. Asch was high in praise of
Israel and its achievements and was particularly
full of admiration for the parade of the Israeli
defense forces which he attended, "For the first
time in my life I was afraid of Jews," he told
Ben Gurion.
A report on the rise of anti semi ti sm in the
United States during 1951 was issued by the American
Jewish Congress in conjunction with the National As-
sociation for the Advancement of Colored People. The
report states that the last year was a bad year for
the promotion of civil rights. Attacks of violence,
designed to maintain existing unter-group inequality
had increased and "The Federal, State and local gov-
ernments have shown either no willingness or abil-
ity to cope with it." The report enumerates the
following factors which have contributed to this
state of affairs: A) the fact that the United States
was busy preparing to repel external aggression;
B) the excesses of loyalty investigations; C) the
1950 elections which reduced the number of officials
who favor civil rights legislation.
The official opening of the Atran Center of Jew-
ish Culture was a gala affair of national and even
international significance. Messages of congratula -
tions were recieved by the Jewish Labor Committee from
Labor and socialist parties in France, Norway,
Belgium, Italy, Canada and other foreign countries.
On the domestic scene, the new Center was greeted by
President Truman, Secretary of Labor Morris -obin,
William Green, President of the American Federation
of Labor, Philip Murray, President of the CIO, Bo-
rough President Robert F. Wagner, City Council Pres-
ident Rudolph Halley, David Dubinsky, President of
the International Ladies Garment Workers Union,
Louis Hollander, Chairman of the New York State CIO
and of the Amalgamated Clothing Wirkers Union, Nathan
Chanin, Educational Director of Workmen's Circle,
Jacob Pat, Secretary of the Jewish Labor Committee,
and others. A sad note of the celebration was the
fact that Mr. Frank Atran, the former Bundist worker
whose generosity made possible the opening of the
Center, could not be present because of a serious
illness. (See "A New Chapter in the Jewish Labor
Movement", p.1.)
Dr. Uriel Weinreich, the son of Max Weinreich,
founder of the YIWO KYiddish Scientific Institute),
has been appointed professor of the Yiddish Depart-
ment of Columbia University which is to be opened in
the fall and was endowed by Mr. Frank Atran. The an-
nouncement was made at the opening of the new Atran
Center of Jewish Culture and the first art exhibit-
ion of the Center in which fifty-six Jewish artists
and sculptors were represented.
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Zuckerman, William. Jewish Newsletter, Volume 8, Number 11, May 26, 1952, periodical, May 26, 1952; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1490817/m1/2/: accessed June 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rosenberg Library.