FROM OUR ARCHIVES

65 YEARS AGO

January 22, 1953 The National Zeitung, organ of the East German National Democratic Party, warned Jews that they would be punished if they allied themselves with “American warmongers.” “Whoever sinks so low as to disturb peaceful reconstruction in these lands on the orders of American warmongers will be punished according to the law regardless of race or creed.” The article said the US was giving dollar grants to Israel in return for the latter’s conversion into an American base, the conversion of its industry into an American monopoly and its inclusion into the US “war policy.” Meanwhile in Russia, Moscow’s New Times accused Zionists of being enemies of the Russian people, and the American Joint Distribution Committee as the lackeys of American imperialism.

The Organization of Free Lawyers in West Berlin said that official investigations were being made as to who was of Jewish descent, Jewish property was being registered, and with the help of the postal censor the contacts of East German Jews with West Berliners and Western Europeans were being checked.

50 YEARS AGO

January 22, 1968 The Israel Labor Party was born in united Jerusalem. The proceedings at Binyenei Ha’uma opened with the entrance of president Zalman Shazar to a trumpet fanfare. Years of dissension were ended as 2,250 delegates of Mapai, Ahdut Ha’avoda and Rafi sat in tiered rows at the foundation convention, applauding references to their newly acquired unity. The secretaries-general of the uniting parties, Golda Meir for Mapai, Israel Galili for Ahdut Ha’avoda and Shimon Peres for Rafi, each in turn declared that their union came to provide a strong leadership for a nation confronted by tremendous dangers.

“Peace Pilot” Abie Nathan was indicted in Tel Aviv for his two flights to Egypt. Nathan, owner of the California restaurant in Tel Aviv, was charged with leaving the country for Egypt illegally. The counts included flying over prohibited areas, flying without a pilot’s license and not giving notice of entering Israeli airspace.

25 YEARS AGO

January 22, 1993 Former Shas MK Yair Levy was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for embezzling funds from El Hama’ayan, Shas’s educational arm. His wife, Geula, was sentenced to six months in jail for playing a key part in the embezzlement of the funds. After the initial charges, Levy insisted that he was innocent and that the charges were the result of a witch-hunt against Sephardim and haredim and refused to cooperate with the police.

Abie Nathan met Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Tunis, two days after the Knesset lifted the ban on contacts with the PLO. Nathan had met Arafat several times in violation of the law, and was jailed three times, spending a total of almost 12 years in prison. “It is something I have dreamed for many, many years; to be able to come here as a free man and not be afraid,” he told reporters. He said he had told Arafat that those Israelis who wanted peace had worked very hard to get the Knesset to change the law, and asked him to help open the way for more meetings between Israelis and PLO members.