THE PEOPLE'S FORUM
THE PEOPLE'S FORUM Letter from Lebanon Dear Sirs: I would like to commend your editorial entitled "Our Finest Export" in the July issue. As you mentioned, U. S. support of the status quo is...
...I want American newspapers made free again to present all sides of truth, even unpopular truth...
...Most of the territory she occupies was given to her by the U.N...
...but since the Cypriots are all children of NATO, perhaps it would be wise if NATO took over the British role of tranquilizer...
...Irving H. Flamm Beverly Hills, Calif...
...They poured in millions of francs and made the country the healthy, prosperous community it is today...
...Algeria...
...at a summit level or any other level...
...Mrs...
...The greatest roadblock to peace is not the fear of Israeli expansionism but the continued existence of the unsettled Arab refugees, and the first step toward peace must be the solution of the Palestine Arab refugee problem...
...A great nation born in revolution and cradled in liberalism soon became a fearful jungle dominated by red-hunters on the prowl for "Communists," a label readily used to smear or intimidate sincere liberals and socialists...
...We democratic Socialists are not unmindful of Soviet Russia's treacherous role in the Middle East...
...Eisenhower compares to a pair of European egomaniacs, who were two of the most degraded specimens of inhumanity the world has ever known...
...L. O. Raasch North Bend, Wash...
...It is to be hoped that influential men like Mr...
...To anyone even cursorily informed in U.S...
...The President of the United States flaunts him publicly as a Hitler, a Stalin...
...France was having none of that...
...Instead of equality the Algerians were herded into ghettos...
...Just how does he propose that peace can be effected when every attempt on Israel's part toward negotiations is promptly rebuffed and the Arabs continue to openly proclaim their aim is to destroy the state of Israel...
...At first most Algerians were willing to accept the French as residents but they demanded equality in government...
...No one is excluded for lack of health, wealth, or skills...
...To keep "peace" the U.N...
...The extent of the antagonism will become known only when we stop spreading around our handouts...
...We favor any international discussions...
...On the contrary, the catering to one powerful economic interest strong in their home area seems to expand into a support of other such interests...
...Sayegh again repeats the often quoted claims of Arab spokesmen that "Israel is determined to expand into neighboring Arab territories...
...It, like all the other articles I've seen about the Fair, dealt only with the Russian and American exhibits...
...The Israeli parties that talk of expansion have never received more than 18 per cent of the popular vote—82 per cent of the electorate has rejected them...
...Sayegh is sliding from a declaration that the Arab fear of Israel is genuine to an insinuation that the actual danger from Israel is genuine...
...We seem to be ignorant of conditions obviously explosive until they explode in our faces, and then have a tendency to take action which, to say the least, is faulty and questionable...
...John J. Spadaro Cranbury, N.J...
...Withdrawal of American troops . . . support of the U.N...
...For example, only a minority of them opposed Wisconsin's new relief residency law, a cheap and cowardly economy at the expense of people who have no vote and cannot therefore "reward their friends and punish their enemies...
...And if we keep on dissipating our resources on militarization, they may succeed...
...Police Force such as exists in the Gaza strip to prevent incursions across national boundaries...
...Israel has repeatedly offered to conclude a formal peace settlement or a non-aggression pact with the Arab countries with which it is presently only in a state of armistice instead of the peace hoped for ten years ago...
...Sayegh and myself in The Progressive's special Middle East issue of last November...
...And so it goes, on and on, though the question still remains: will the battle for rights destroy the world...
...Leon Katzen Chicago, 111...
...The scant publicity which these two cases have received tends, unfortunately, to feed the impression that Smith Act trials are a thing of the past...
...Ethel Cohen Oakland, Calif...
...Labor's Liberalism Dear Sirs: I enjoyed reading the article by Al Toffler on Lyndon Johnson in the July Progressive...
...foreign policy must have as one of its cornerstones vigorous support of SUNFED and all like schemes for international mutual aid...
...C. E. Robel Lewiston, Idaho Charity Begins at Home Dear Sirs: A recent news dispatch from Bonn, Germany, told of the parole, by the U.S...
...For example, President Nasser seems to me to be the messenger of Arab unity, as Mohammed was the messenger of Islam...
...What is the policy of our government toward American citizens who are classified as prisoners of the current "cold war...
...No matter what our feelings may be on the subject as to which government is more "friendly" to the West, and which is not, it is generally agreed that all free nations, no matter how tiny, have the right to run their own elections...
...Israel has undertaken a Herculean task of integrating people from more than 70 countries...
...Instead of supporting the just aspirations of the Middle Eastern people and helping them to find a peaceful means for their realization, we have supported unpopular feudal rulers and powerful oil interests...
...It is this man, whose private life is as simple and religious as his own, that Mr...
...In practice, these were implicitly "conspiracy" trials in which evidence against any member of the Communist Party was admissible as evidence against the defendant...
...for the second time), and John Hellman in Butte, Mont...
...The bi-partisan cold war policy brought its logical follow-up in a witch-hunting executive order designed to silence opposition by intellectuals and radicals...
...What Israel needs is peaceful development of its industry and trade so that she may earn her living in the markets of the world...
...Mayer's Usual Style Dear Sirs: "The Iron Horse Dies" by Milton Mayer in your August issue was in Mayer's usual style...
...I think the best illustration of how well Israel is succeeding is that her Arab Druze population of close to 200,000 are happy and feel themselves a vital part of this democratic oasis called Israel...
...Our popular newspapers and magazines taunt him, and caricature him as a mob gangster...
...William E. Gohlman American University of Beirut Beirut, Lebanon Lebanon Dissent Dear Sirs: The Eisenhower Administration's Lebanese adventure has won for our country neither respect nor support in substantial sections of the non-Communist world...
...Hoffman's complaint that the Arab's dislike of the modern customs make for resentment, I would like to call attention to the fact that in Israel, the health of the Arab and his education and general welfare are given more attention than in most of the countries where his kinsmen live...
...Mayer and the Railroads Dear Sirs: I was happy to note in your August issue that Milton Mayer likes railroads...
...No support of colonial policies nor of feudal powers...
...Dorothy Rice Sims New York, N. Y. Serious Deficiency Dear Sirs: The Dulles-Eisenhower action in the Middle East is the symptom of a serious deficiency of information available to the American public regarding the most numerous people in the Middle East, the Arabs...
...David M. MacAlpine Stillwater, Okla...
...Habitual truckling to any economic interest, even an ex-underdog, is not conducive to the making of thoughtful and independent legislators...
...Hoffman is not so uninformed as to think Israel would not eagerly welcome the opportunity...
...I read The Progressive because I try (with admittedly limited ability) to engage in a little constructive and serious thought...
...Milly Hellman, Box 113, Butte, Montana, and to Mrs...
...I consider it time for a change in our foreign policy...
...Thanks to skillful maneuvering by the Justice Department, the "membership" prosecutions are still with us, and two men have recently been convicted under its provisions—Junius Scales in Greensboro, N.C...
...Observer team . . . and formation of a mobile U.N...
...Given the conditioned reflex of Milwaukee's Democrats to any whisper of labor pressure, their votes against the public interest on these issues follow immediately...
...Rev...
...And in Time for June 23, where the Prime Minister of Israel speaks of his hopes for further large scale immigration into Israel, it is made clear that the program is "to expand scientifically, not territorially...
...Three rights can touch off quite a conflagration...
...Their advances in science, education, sports, and cultural entertainment are now recognized...
...I'm sick and tired of the Fair being treated only as a contest between Russia and the United States as the Olympics and other international exhibitions have come to be treated...
...By massing huge forces we may keep the lid on for a time, but, unless we realize we must be on the side of the masses, we soon will find we cannot continue to prevent rebellion in the backward regions...
...Israel...
...As an example, I would like to call the attention of your many Wisconsin readers with former Progressive traditions to the record of the Democratic state assemblymen from Milwaukee County...
...They may be obtained by writing to the Socialist Party-Social Democratic Federation, 303 Fourth Avenue, New York 10, New York...
...Yet crouched on her borders are the penniless million of destitute Arabs whose homes have been confiscated...
...But much more important and reassuring than any declarations by Israeli statesmen or any past votes by the Israel electorate can ever be are the economic facts of the situation...
...If we are to beat our way back to world prestige and respect, Senator Lehman's program must be taken seriously as an outline that should be filled in with greater detail and implemented without too much delay...
...The main cause is the abysmal, grinding poverty of the masses—in contrast to the luxury of the sheiks and their retainers, and the high standard of living of the oil company employes...
...Marines into Lebanon...
...In the current round of "membership" cases, something new has been added by the Justice Department which bears out, even more than the earlier cases, the ACLU's characterization...
...Mayer said anything about disliking same...
...Hugh Y. Orgel Press Attache Embassy of Israel Washington, D. C. Israel: Democratic Oasis Dear Sirs: Isidor B. Hoffman's article on hope for Arabs and Jews in the July Progressive attempts to list mistakes made by both peoples but definitely sidesteps the important issue— that the Arab rulers continue to reject any attempt at negotiations, or even a discussion of mutual problems, proposed by the state of Israel...
...The masses believe (and, I think, with reason) that they should also share in the wealth of their country's oil...
...Wisconsin's Lyndon Johnson, Robert Huber, the Democratic floor leader in the assembly, is as eager an advocate of Milwaukee brewery interests as the Senator from Texas is of the chief liquid product of his constituency...
...Abba P. Lerner Professor of Economics Michigan State University East Lansing, Mich...
...has been forced to install a sizable army along all frontiers...
...Franklin D. Roosevelt's death must have produced some gleeful hand-rubbing in reactionary circles...
...Copies of the full Resolution are available free...
...railroad history and facts, Mayer's writing is so full of the above that his humor and smart aleck method of stating things make the article of a type which a reasonably informed reader of The Progressive must surely dislike...
...By such a policy we hand the Communists the most effective propaganda possible, and they are certainly exploiting it to the limit...
...Sayegh would help to assuage instead of aggravating the fears that imperil it...
...A Tokyo news story describes the release of the last 18 Japanese war criminals held by the United States...
...It is precisely because of this ever-present menace that we oppose America's present policy and sincerely offer the following constructive suggestions...
...In speaking thus as if Israeli aggressive intentions were an unquestionable fact, Mr...
...In particular, I am thinking of a former Chi-cagoan, Gilbert Green, who faces five more years of confinement in Leavenworth Penitentiary for violation of the Smith Act...
...The Russians are gaining on us quite rapidly...
...Nasser is a leader from the Arab people, dedicated to achieving dignity and well-being for his people, of whom there are so many, so poor...
...We believe that a constructive U.S...
...John Peter Zenger's resolute determination to publish the whole truth is as vital to America's future today as it was in 1734, when this nation was a-borning...
...What is not yet realized is that they are quietly shifting from the military to the industrial front, planning to surpass us in living standards within a decade or so...
...Green will be eligible for parole this fall...
...Any adjacent territory that Israel might conceivably seize would not significantly help her serious economic problems...
...To illustrate let us take a few troubled spots...
...Fortunately the danger is imaginary, no matter how genuine the fear may be...
...But this does not predispose them to support liberal causes...
...The fact that the Arab states have refused such a peace treaty which would guarantee their borders against attack from Israel, just as it would guarantee Israel borders against Arab attack, surely means that the Arab leaders do not really fear Israeli attacks but use this alleged fear as a propaganda gimmick for their own aims...
...Indeed, I am informed by upstate Democratic legislators that the support by Milwaukee Democrats of such bills as the increase of the truck weight limit and the licensing of fourteen year old children to drive motor scooters was due to the fact that some union locals organized in firms that would benefit from such legislation worked for it...
...Arab Fear, Israeli Danger Dear Sirs: In the June People's Forum, Fayez A. Sayegh, counsellor of the Arab States Delegation Office, in challenging an assertion that "the chief fear of the Arab leaders is 'the example' of Israel and not its [expansionary] intention," explains the Arab fear of Israel by declaring that the Arabs "realize the determination of Israel to expand into neighboring territories...
...Events of the past year have surely shown conclusively that it is not Israel which seeks expansion into neighboring territories, but certain of its neighbors which are trying, by subversion, to take over other countries in the area...
...Sayegh apparently thinks that your readers have a short memory and have by now forgotten the facts presented in the November articles...
...Before we realized what hit us, he got rid of the idealistic liberals that had kept his predecessor's regime clean and progressive and surrounded himself instead by big brass, big business, Dulles, and a variety of political hacks...
...In his latest letter, Dr...
...A hundred or so years ago, thousands of French settled in that then undeveloped territory...
...but if the danger is genuine it would be impossible and indeed undesirable to remove the fear...
...Territorial expansion would not make sense for Israel...
...Here at home some dissenting voices were raised, but far too few...
...Security for all in the region can be advanced only if men like Mr...
...Cyprus has no legal voice in the U.N...
...Fayez Sayegh to previous letters on the Middle East issue...
...To preserve "law and order" she sent for her armies...
...The difference between the two—between a genuine fear and a genuine danger—is of the utmost importance...
...Such discussions should aim to achieve the neutralization and disarmament of the Middle East...
...I am fed up with the bulk of national news sources interpreting the Arabs to the American public...
...Challenge to Freedom Dear Sirs: In its 1956 Annual Report, the American Civil Liberties Union said of the "membership" clause of the Smith Act: "It would be difficult to conceive of a more basic issue in civil liberties, or a more direct challenge to the freedom of association guaranteed by the First Amendment...
...Israel has made a garden bloom in a desert...
...As you mentioned, U. S. support of the status quo is doomed to failure here in the Middle East, as well as in Latin America, as recent events in Iraq show...
...What legal right the U.N...
...Embassy, of four Nazi war criminals...
...One such voice was that of the Socialist Party, which came up with a Resolution which said in part: "The Socialist Party—Social Democratic Federation regrets and opposes the decision of the Eisenhower Administration to send U.S...
...Despite the lack of evidence establishing anything more than mere membership in the Communist Party, both men were found guilty...
...If the danger is imaginary it may be possible to cure even a genuine fear of it...
...He has not ceased his ambitious scheme to bring the entire area under his domain...
...Jane Bowers Duquesne University Pittsburgh, Pa...
...point with pride to Israel's contribution to democracy...
...At present our nation has not seen fit to support the great masses but has catered to the present rulers and the nobility...
...The Nuri es Said regime in Iraq was not overly corrupt, judging by Middle Eastern standards, but it fell for the same reasons that the ruling families of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrein, Yemen, and even Jordan and Iran will fall: a growing elite of educated civil servants and army officers who are denied an expression of the views which they learn (often at government expense) in colleges and universities in Britain and the United States...
...It is not only the voices and the votes of Israel that declare her peaceful intentions, but the nature of her vital needs...
...We advocate a plan for the control and distribution of oil, wherever it is found, which will guarantee the just interests of the people of the producer nations and assure a steady distribution to the consumer nations...
...William T. Baird Essex Community Church Chicago, 111...
...Irwin Suall National Secretary, SP-SDF New York, N. Y. 'Time for a Change' Dear Sirs: Once again it has been demonstrated in the Middle East how we get off on the wrong foot in affairs relating to the common people...
...had to allot real estate is beside the point...
...Mayer had better stick with his moral generalizations...
...As a former Army chaplain who served with combat troops in World War II, I accept such mercy and forgiveness by our government even toward former enemies guilty of the most atrocious crimes...
...In the latter case, the crime seems to have consisted mainly of expressing opinions contrary to those of our governmental leaders...
...Three of them were commanders of extermination squads who had received death sentences in 1948...
...Both the French and Algerians have rights but the war goes on...
...I am doubtful, however, about the view expressed towards the end of the article that the growing' political strength of organized labor in Texas will allow or force Senator Johnson to make a betUi record...
...Or does the moral judgment of our government base itself upon the shifting winds of political expediency...
...railroads is sufficiently damning and corrupt without applying the above methods to its discussion...
...Cyprus...
...The history of U.S...
...As to Mr...
...Many think that our Sixth Fleet fishes too much in troubled waters...
...Junius Scales, 90 La-Salle St., New York 27, N.Y...
...With such devastating details of passenger life on the railroads, woe to readers and railroads alike had Mr...
...the feeling that with "that man" out of the way, the little guy catapulted into the big saddle could be handled...
...He stated how his company was obliged to have a plane constantly readied to evacuate personnel in case of outbreak of violence...
...These legislators are careful to chalk up a completely pro-labor voting record in view of the enormous political power of organized labor in their county...
...Will the authorities show a comparable kindness of heart toward this prisoner, against whom no physical overt act has ever been charged...
...I'd like to hear more about what Belgium, India, and Mexico are offering to visitors in Brussels...
...This claim and the official Israel response to it categorically denying any such aggressive intentions was fully discussed in the debate between Dr...
...International guarantees for mutual non-aggression could be developed in the better atmosphere that would follow...
...If we are to restore good will towards us, we will have to stop supporting reactionary regimes and brutal dictators throughout the world...
...Anyone wishing to contribute toward carrying the appeals to higher courts may write to: Mrs...
...Return to Liberalism Dear Sirs: In his "The Challenge to American Liberals," (The Progressive, July) Senator Lehman gives sound advice to the Democrats for the recovery of ground lost in the catastrophe that put Harry Truman into office...
...I do not enjoy discussion of a serious economic subject in a vein of flippant humor, obvious exaggeration, economic and historical generalization, and manifest inaccuracy...
...Until 1945 we enjoyed the respect and admiration of the entire world...
...This is the sort of stereotyped liberal thinking that is completely out of date...
...Thus, in the Hellman trial more than half the testimony in the government case, and a large part of the "documentary" evidence, i.e., Marxist books, were introduced by witnesses who had never seen the defendant before the trial...
...Surely, Mr...
...It took but a few years of our militaristic new policy to turn the world against us...
...That is the question, for in our overcrowded world, our rights are so often someone else's wrongs...
...Our nephew was with a large contracting firm in the Middle East for several years, and he related how dangerous the situation was over there...
...Sayegh will turn to more positive action by working toward a solution of the Palestine Arab refugee problem such as that currently being put forward by the Institute of Mediterranean Affairs...
...Witness what is now happening in Lebanon...
...She has given a haven to cruelly persecuted people...
...The driving force behind this law was the fear of Negro immigration endemic in the Milwaukee area...
...The government has sought to buttress its evidence by introducing floods of pure hearsay, in two forms: (1) as "expert" testimony and (2) as evidence relating to the character of the Communist Party...
...It would consist of land that is already carrying all the population it can support agriculturally, or of desert—of which Israel already has enough...
...As long as the "membership" clause of the Smith Act is alive, it gives legal sanction to the most pernicious form of the McCarthyite doctrine of guilt-by-association...
...This type of threat comes not only from opportunists of lower stature but from Nasser himself...
...Several of these were medical students accused of using American prisoners as guinea pigs for medical experimentation...
...A return to genuine liberalism is the best way to meet this challenge...
...If the United States continues to back these feudal or semi-feudal rulers against their people, I see no hope for the interests of the United States in this part of the world...
...Israeli Expansion Dear Sirs: Your June issue carries a reply by Dr...
...Factual discussion is not his forte...
...Wrongs from Rights Dear Sirs: When are our "rights" right...
...John R. Meyer Wisconsin State Assemblyman 18th District, Milwaukee County Disappointed Dear Sirs: Your article about the World Fair in Brussels, in the July Progressive, disappointed me greatly...
...As Justice Black observed in his separate opinion in the Yates case (concurred in by Justice Douglas): "When the propriety of obnoxious or unorthodox views about government is in reality made the crucial issue, as it must be in cases of this kind, prejudice makes conviction inevitable except in the rarest circumstances...
...Her delegates at the U.N...
Vol. 22 • September 1958 • No. 9
