The spokesman of an outlawed right-wing student organization said Monday that Austria should get rid of all Jews living in the country, Hermann Plessl, chairman of the banned fascist League of National Democrat Students (BNS) said that “Austria is a German country. Jews are not wanted here,” he said in an interview published in the tabloid “Kronenzeitung.” of Israel’s 27th Independence Day sponsored by the American Zionist Federation.
Declaring that the forces that opposed Israel’s independence more than a quarter of a century ago and those who were indifferent to its fate then, are still trying to undermine its existence today, the Israeli envoy said, “For Israel there can be only one way–to defend itself, resist, strike back until the Arab states abandon their gruesome designs on Israel’s existence and become ready to make peace with us.”
He stated that the negotiations with Egypt last month broke down because “Egypt was not ready to make the first step in the direction of peace, Egypt wanted territory but was not prepared to abandon the path of war and to begin to construct peace together with Israel.”
INDEPENDENCE DAY THEME: STRENGTH IN UNITY
“Strength in Unity” is the theme of this year’s celebration of Israel’s Independence Day in which Jews in the U.S. and other countries are joining Israelis, Mrs., Faye Schenk, president of the AZF sounded that theme when she told the audience at Hunter College, “We, the Zionists of the United States, pledge our continued support to the State of Israel.”
She observed that “Israel needs all the help she can get in combating Arab propaganda and we will do whatever is in our means to present to the American public the truth about the conflict in the Middle East, We will use all our resourcefulness to enable the public to discern facts from fiction, and in this way, develop an appreciation of the need for a strong and secure Israel,” Mrs., Schenk said.
ISRAEL IS NOT CAMBODIA, CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Tekoah called on American and world Jewry to “unite in one great national endeavor to see Israel through these crucial times.” He observed: “We live in a world in which weakness has brought mortal disaster to nations. In recent years, mankind has watched Czechoslovakia succumb to a powerful neighbor, Pakistan torn apart by the force of arms, and now Cambodia and South Vietnam overrun and shattered. Israel is not Czechoslovakia or Cambodia. Israel is one of the few countries in the democratic world determined to stand up for its rights, prepared to safeguard, at all costs, its independence and ideals.”
The Israeli envoy said that since Israel’s inception, had Jews done what others wanted them to do, a Jewish State would not have been founded; Israel would not have resisted the Arab onslaughts; Israel would not have opened its gates to oppressed Jews all over the world. “Israel is the expression of the Jewish resolve to live by what is good and just for the Jewish people and not by what finds favor in the eyes of others,” Tekoah declared.
He said that Israel “will not be swayed by charges that determination to attain peace is intransigence, It will not be impressed by the misguided view that Egypt’s refusal to end war constitutes moderation. Israel will not bow to pressure from whatever quarter it may come, Israel will continue its struggle, steadfast and resolute, until its rights are fully vindicated.”
FACE THE FUTURE WITH HOPE, CONFIDENCE
Tekoah stated that “Those who support peace in the Middle East will support Israel. Those who seek peace in the Israel-Arab conflict will strengthen Israel. A strong Israel means stronger prospects of peace. Reducing support for Israel would mean reducing the chances for peace.”
The Ambassador declared: “The Jewish people’s history is measured in thousands of years, The present is a mere prelude to the future. Though Israel’s re-established independence has not solved all the problems confronting the Jewish people, it has provided us with the instrument for their solution. That is why we face the future with hope and confidence. The difficulties of today should not be more than transitory. There is enough dedication and strength within the Jewish people to overcome these difficulties,”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
