“narrow-minded Nationalism” Blamed by Einstein for Lack of Arab-jewish Cooperation

More than 600 prominent men and women from all walks of life gathered tonight at a dinner in the Hotel Waldorf-Astoria given in honor of the 65th birthday of Prof. Albert Einstein by the American Fund for Palestinian Institutions. Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes was one of the principal speakers, while President Roosevelt sent a message of greetings stating that Prof. Einstein’s “great accomplishments not only in the field of science, but in support of social welfare and humanitarian activities, entitle him to the respect of all who work for the betterment of mankind.”

Prof. Einstein himself was unable to attend the dinner, but in a message sent from Princeton, in which he praised Jewish achievements in Palestine, and expressed confidence that the Jews there “will succeed in a good measure of cooperation with the Arab people, if only both our people and the Arabs succeed in conquering that childhood complaint of a narrow-minded nationalism, imported from Europe and aggravated by professional politicians.”

Remittance of $65,000 from the American Fund to the 52 educational, cultural and welfare institutions which are its beneficiaries in Palestine will serve as further commemoration of Prof. Einstein’s anniversary, it was announced by Julius Loeb, chairman of the New York Council of the American Fund.

ICKES LAUDS JEWISH CONTRIBUTIONS; HITS ANTI-SEMITISM IN AMERICA

Secretary Ickes called attention, in his address, to the scientific, educational and cultural contributions of the Jews and other minority groups in the United States. He said that Jewish institutions in Palestine are not serving only the Jews but also the Arabs and the Christians. He lauded the “unexampled rebuilding” of Palestine by Jewish efforts and predicted that “just as Palestine changed from a land of milk and honey to a barren waste after the expulsion of the Jews, so Hitler’s Germany, as a result of the massacre of the Jews, is on its way to becoming an impoverished country.”

Emphasizing the American Jewish participation in World War I and in the present war, the Secretary of Interior said. “Here in the United States we cannot ignore the stark, cold fact that we have a racial problem of significant proportions. After refreshing our spirits from the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, we sometimes wonder whether the America that was our fathers’ dream is the America that their sons and daughters are carrying on.”

Secretary Ickes pointed to the fact that “the Soviet Union has apparently solved its racial and ethnic problems after generations of conflict.” Stressing that this was done not on the basis of a mere negative idea of racial “tolerance,” he declared. “To talk of ‘tolerance’ for a man like Professor Einstein, or for the thousands of other outstanding Jews, Catholics, Negroes, and other minority peoples of this country, is to imply that we permit them to live and work and associate with us on sufferance; that they are a burden that we bear in as genteel and Christian a spirit as possible. That of course, is arrant nonsense.” He emphasized that “there are many instances where the newly naturalized immigrant has proved his Americanization by his deeds and has demonstrated it by his life in contrast with many another who could trace his ancestry to Plymouth Rock, to the James River, or to New Sweden on the Delaware.

Other speakers included Jan Masaryk, Csechoslovak Minister of Foreign Affairs; Dr. Joshua L. Liebman of Temple Israel, Boston; and Dr. Frank Aydelotte, Director of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, N. J.