Associate Justice of the Supreme Court William O. Douglas said last night that America’s greatest achievement was not material wealth but the demonstration to the world of the success of a “multi-racial” community. Speaking before 500 people at a dinner of American Red Mogen Dovid for Israel Justice Douglas linked Israel’s problem in absorbing immigrants from many lands with the traditional “melting pot” role of the United States in assimilating people of many races and cultures.
“Israel,” he said, “has the same problems we have. Its people are our friends; they have our ideology, our concepts of social justice.” The jurist described a session of the Israel Supreme Court which he had attended while visiting the country in which the civil liberties of an Arab were unanimously upheld. The decision, he said, demonstrated the country’s belief in equal justice before the law, regardless of race or color.
Another speaker, Rep. Emanuel Celler, national chairman of the sponsoring organization, promised that he would do his utmost to prevent American arms from reaching the Arab States. Morris Morgenstern and S. Ralph Lazrus were honored at the dinner for donating an ambulance to the Red Mogen David, the equivalent of the Red Cross in Israel.
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.
