Celebrities and MPs rally to Israel’s cause
SUPPORT FOR Israel during the SixDay War was not restricted to Jewish communities of the diaspora.
Dwarfed by the scale of the forces ranged against it, Israel inspired sympathy and action from waves of nonJewish volunteers in Britain.
Nearly 100 intellectuals, writers, artists and performers aligned themselves with the cause. Among those who wrote letters and appeals to national newspapers were Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Bob Monkhouse and Roger Moore. Perhaps surprisingly, actress Vanessa Redgrave was also among them. Subsequently she became a supporter of the Palestinian cause
A Gallup poll at the time showed that half of Britons sympathised with Israel and almost one in five wanted the UK to support her in the con-
Vanessa Redgrave flict. Only five per cent of people were in favour of the Arab aggression. Nearly 6,000 Britons volunteered to work in Israel as doctors, nurses and on kibbutzim — around a quarter of them were non-Jews. According to reports in the JC, 1,230 non-Jewish people travelled to Israel, including a significant number of African Muslims, many of whom had served in the British army during the Palestine mandate. Meanwhile Jews and Muslims prayed together for peace in the Middle East at a united service in Bradford Unitarian Chapel.
Politicians spoke out publicly about Israel’s right to exist in peace. John Biggs-Davison, MP for Chigwell, gave a speech to York University Conservative Association in which he attacked Egypt and its leader Gamal Abdel Nasser. He said: “I am against the Nasserist dictatorship, with its Communist subsidies and Nazi advisers.” He added: “This time Nasser must not be saved from defeat — unless it is to sign a peace settlement with Israel as a last political act.”
Jeremy Thorpe, the leader of the Liberal Party, addressed a 10,000-strong show of solidarity at the Royal Albert Hall during the week of the conflict.
Smaller gestures came from every walk of life. Pupils at Henrietta Barnett School Hampstead Garden Suburb raised more than £150 with class to class canvassing involving pupils from all backgrounds .
When one Jewish schoolgirl visited the Wentworth Golf Club she unexpectedly met Bing Cosby and Bob Hope who were playing there. She told them of her school’s fundraising efforts. “Both immediately showed their support by handing over a bunch of notes,” the JC reported.
More than 30 London taxi drivers offered to drive volunteers to the airport from the Israeli embassy or from their homes for free, while several nonJewish companies arranged for consignments of blankets to be dropped at the Jewish Welfare Board.
Marks & Spencer granted employees paid leave of absence if they chose to volunteer in Israel. A non-Jewish firm of East London turf accountants, Bert Garrot Limited, collected 200 guineas for Israel from the staff at its seven shops.
Farmers from aEssex and Scotland put themselves forward to travel to Israel to offer their help with the harvest.
Other nations reacted similarly to Israel’s plight. In Holland, churches spent a day collecting donations from the public. Hundreds of Costa Ricans volunteered to form a battalion to fight in Israel. Blood donor sessions were set up in Hamburg, where around 4,000 people also turned out for a rally in support of the country.
Film director Federico Fellini wase among dozens of prominent Italians to express support, while in Australia the annual conference of the Labour Party passed a resolution praising Israel for her magnificent victory “which derived from Arab aggression and the illegal blockade”.