A veteran Socialist leader and former secretary of the Socialist International, Dr. J. Braunthal, today chided Socialists for standing on the sidelines during the Israel-Arab struggle and for criticizing Israel’s role in the Sinai campaign.
In a May Day speech heard by representatives of the British Labor Party and trade unionists, Dr. Braunthal pointed out that Israel was battling for its survival as a state, for the lives of hundreds of thousands of its citizens and for democracy. He asserted that many critics of Israel had lost sight of the Socialist principles involved in the struggle and the fact that Israel struck first to defeat a carefully prepared assault by a superior forces.
The conflict between Israel and the Arab states, Dr. Braunthal insisted, was “between reactionary feudal and semi-fascist autocracies on one side on a free democracy with unique Socialist achievements on the other.”
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