1

8,

1
1

achieve any formal rapprochement

between Communist and democratic
Socialist PartiesintheWest;but
most of us did seem t o believe that
thetimehad
come forindividuals
from both camps, instead of merely
or remaining
abusingoneanother
mtlrelyapart,to
begin discussing
our differences in anamicable way

and to Iook out for points of agreement. That was the spirit in which
ISSS - was
the new society
it lay a convicfounded:behind
tion that the changesnowgoing on
in the Soviet Union and in the entireCommunistmovementcannot
possibly stop short at the point they
so far, butarethe
havereached

beginrling of a Iong, and probably

checkered, course of re-thinking and
adaptation that will, in the long run,
react no less profoundly on the democratic socialism of the West than on
the communismwhich i s only now
beginning t o face thefundamental
challenge thrown out by its own
outstanding leaders.

ISRAELS DIRECT POLICY

First Talk with Golda Mverson
.r

by DAN WAKEFIELD

fied to play thepart of pawn for

anyone. Her qualification forthe
MRS. GOLDA MYERSON is a tall, foreign ministerspost atthisstage
sturdy woman of fifty-eightwhose
of Israels current
history
is not
appearance and speech bearlittle
based on an ability to adapt herself
resemblance t o the image that has
to any role - but on the fact that
been assigned her in the presssince
her beliefs and abilities makeher
shereplacedMoshe
Sharettas IS- especially fitted forthisparticular
raels foreignministerinmid-June.
role at this particular time.
The many reports and editorial analyses have made her either a shadow IT IS a time when, Israels original
or amirror
of DavidBen-Gurion,
approach to foreignaffairs
having
andpromoted
the impression that metwithfrustration,thenation
is
the shadow would follow or the mir- tryingout a new emphasis (rather
ror reflect a more war-like attitude than a basicchange)initsforeign
on the part of the PrimeMinister.
policy. The old approach, shaped by
Theinterpretationshaveleftlittle
Moshe Sharett, emphasized the hope
room for Mrs. Myerson as
a person of findingsalvationforIsrael
from
or a diplomat - andher own ap- thegreat powers
especially, the
proach to warand peace.
United States - and in subordinatThe popular
interpretation
of ing particular home-front security
Sharettsremoval for Mrs. Myerson
That
problems to that largerend.
has been thatSharett wasa block hopeforoutsidesalvation,in
the
to activereprisalagainst
theArabs
form of getting defensive arms t o
- a block that Ben-Gurionwas
balance off the Czech arms deal with
eager to remove.
Mrs.
Myerson,
Egypt, or getting a big-power securthen, was supposed to be a willing ity agreement, had
still
failed its
accomplice to any sort of moves - goal in mid-June,whenBen-Gurion
aggressive or otherwise-Ben-Gurion
engineered the cabinet shift,
might want to carry out.
But Ben-Gurion was quick t o rule
This tidy view of the cabinet shift outthe conclusion that many obhas neglected Mrs. Myersonsown
servers had drawn from
the cabinet
political historyandattitudes.The
change. In his speech to the Knesset
f m t and most strlking conclusion to {parliament) of June 19, following
be drawnfromhercareer
is that Sharetts resignation, he stated clearis totallyunqualiGoldaMyerson
ly: 66Preventivewar
is madness.
What,
then,
was the new apD A N WAKEFIELDS meeting with proach? Ben-Gurion probablycame
Golda Myerson is the first foreign- closest to theheart of it in saying
press interview she has granted s i m e in his June 19 speech that We
must strengthen ourselves in order
becoming foreign minister.

lerzcsdem

August 4, 2956

to beable t o say no to the greatest powers in the world and t o stick

to it. Salvationfrom
the outside
world had proved illusory, and in
a
sense, Sharetts forced resignation
was Israels acceptance of that reality. As Moshe Sharett was eminently
fitted to carry out the old approach,
GoldaMyersoniseminentlyfitted
to carry out the new one.
The new foreign minister of Israel
is a woman with a proven ability a t
sayingno to great-powergovernments. In the Jays when the British
mandatorygovernmenthad
cut off
large-scale Jewish immigration to
Palestine,GoldaMyersonwas
one
of the foremost workers in conducting the illegal immigration of Jews,
reand in promotingactivearmed
sistance against the mandate government. Her simplephilosophy of the
problem became the byword of Jewish actionagainst the government:
We have no alternative.
When the British arrested the top
leaders of Zionism in Palestinein
1946 they excludedMrs.Myerson,
evidently in deference to her sex,
and sheimmediatelytookover
as
the leader and spokesman of the
Jewlsh community - a job which
involved many nos, both in words
andaction, to the British.
Israels dislllusionmentwith
Outside salvation brings it automatically
to a greater emphasis on pressing for
d m c t negotlationswith the Arabs.
Mrs. Myerson is almost a symbol of
this ho,pe, for her famous talks with
thelate King Abdullah of Jordan

93

were the , last high-level attempts

fot pearr between Jewish and Arab
kaders, and approachedareal possaility of co-operationbefore
the
outsidepressure of the Arab world,
and Abdullahs failing power, doomed them.
3

FROM apersonal standpoint, Mrs.

Myersons appointment was an answer tothe much publicized conflict in temperament
between
Sharett and Ben-Gurion. Mrs. Myerson has known and worked with BenGurionforforty
years. Her views
may be close to those of the Prime
Minister on thecurrent problem of
Israel - butthey aremorethan
merereflectionsofhis
views. She
has opposed him on occasions in the
past,andeven
won out over him
- as in 1948 when hewanted to
go to America to try to raise money
for arms that Israel neededfor survival. Mrs. Myerson felt that i t was
vital for him to remaininhis
own
country,
and
felt
that
she
could
carryoutthe
fund-raising mission
herself. WhenBen-Gurionstill
insisted on going, she had the question
a vote of the government
putto
executive. Theyvotedforher
to
make
the
trip,
and
Ben-Gurion
stayed at home.
If the
time
comes when Mrs.
Myersons views seriously
conflict
with those of Ben-Gurion, it seems
more likely that she will change her
jobthan
her views. Butforthe
momenther
views arethosethat
mark Israels new approach to foreign
affairs.
Mrs. Myersonexpressed some of
them to me when I talked with her
on July 17 in Jerusalem, after she
had been in office as foreign minister
just short of a month.
Thewayto
peace is through
direct negotiation, she told me. If
the Arabs would onlybe willing t o
sit down with us indirectnegotiations, an agreement can and could be
reached.
I askedwhetherIsrael
would be
willing to discuss concessions in territory or in repatriation or compensation for the refugees.
We will notsit
down toany
talks if we areexpected to agree t o
certain conditions beforehand, Mrs.
94

W e are prepared to
sit down ta a clean table. Anybody
cantalk about anything he likes.

Myewan said.

She emphasized Israels willingness to talkwith the Arableaders

by recalling Ben-Gurions statement
to Ibrahim
Izzat,
the
Enptian
journalist who visitedIsrael.
BenGurion relayed a message to Mr.
Izzatthat he would be willing to
meet
with
Abdul
Nasser
at
any
time, at any place.
She mentioned that Mr. Izzat had
visited with her at her home, and
said he would invite her t o Cairo.
To the bad name of Arab hospitality,
as well as the hopes for peace, Mr.
Izzat has
not
yet extended the
promised invitation.
The directapproach
in foreign
policy, which stresses the wlllingness
of Israels leaders t o meet in negotiationswiththeArabs,alsohas
its
war-like
aspect.
Israels policy of
large-scale militaryraidsin
retaliationagainstborderharassments
is
its plainestandmostdirectmethod
of quieting a hot border. The reprisalraids
have discouraged infiltration andshooting on the border,
but have also seriouslydamaged I s rael in outside opinion. Even in Jewish communities, Zionist fund-raising
regularlydropsafterone
of the Israeliraids.
This wasreportedlyone
of the
main points of conflict between BenGurionandSharett.The
raid on a
Syrian army installation last December, in retaliationforSyrianfiring
on Israeli fishing boats in the Sea
of Galilee, was reported to be a
majorstrainintheir
relations. The
raidwasmade
just when Sharett
thought he had gotten his foot in the
door for a U. S. consideration of
Israels arms request. The door
banged shut, and Sharett supposedly
wasnt informed of the timing of the
raid.

A FOREIGN policy emphasizing salvationfromtheoutside

would naturally be opposed t o such
raids.
But anindependent
policy geared
to Israels daily security needs would
bemore likely to use the raidsas
for discouraging the hameans
a
bitualincidents
on the borders.
I qsked Mrs. Myerson if she thought

Golda Myersort
thatthere
was anyalternativeto
these reprisal raids.
We see this(the reprisal raid)
of self-defense, Mrs.
asmeans
a
Myersonsaid.Certainly
we do it
very reluctantly. But it is the policy
of the government thatthe life of
the people of Israel - the fate of
the people of Israel - cannot be in
the hands of Arab leaders or chiefs
of staff who have shown that they
dont vahethe life of our people.
We have been elected to this government to defend the life of our people.
Each reprisalraid
is clearlyan
instance of saying (no to big-power
authority. I mentioned Ben-Gurions
statement
that
Israel
had
to
strengthen itself to be able t o opposethe big powers, and asked Mrs.
Myersonhowshe
felt Israel could
say no to the great powers when
it still hadnt received the requested
defensive arms from them.
There are certain things so basic
to the existence of anation, Mrs.
Myersonsaid - honestyand selfrespect,and the necessity to defend
the life of the people-that the nation
must be able t o say no to suggestions which aredangerous
t o the
preservation of these things, no matterwhatthe
circumstances.
beOne of the mainarguments
hind the U. S. rejection of Israels request for arms is thatthe United
States would become too clearly identlfied with Israel and the Arab countrieswith
Russia, thereby danger-

The NATIQN

#.

9
.

<

>II

ously increasing rhk;&ane~da world

war starting i n ,the IididdleEast. I
asked Mrs. Myerson if this was a
valid argument and she said:
We have never been able to understand why the danger of war should
be less when Israel is weak and
the Arabs are encouragedby
arms
from Czechoslovakia and Britain in
Egypt, and from the United States in
I r a q and Saudi Arabia -why a weak
Isfael open to attack does not create
a danger of war. We feel that the
way to avoid war is to put Israel
in possession of enough defensive
arms that she will notbe vulnerable. It is the same principle the
East-West bloc works under keeping each side so strong that
neither side can see victory.

It had seemed to me that a logical

conclusion of the argumentthat
selllng arms to Israel wouldbe dangerous on grounds of U. S. identificationwith Israel and Russian identificationwith
theArabs,
was that
Israel could relievesuch a situation
by becomingmoreidentified
with
Russia. I asked Mrs. Myerson if she
thought that closer ties with Russia
would be beneficial t o Israel.
Israel is an independent country,
Mrs.Myerson
answered. She has
among which
some basic principles
are
democracy
and
freedom. According to these principles, we form
our society,
and
after
that were
prepared to be friendswithanyone.
These basicprinciples
of ourway
of life are not dependent on particullarsituatlons.Wearetrueto
ourselves.
The day before I talked with Mrs.
Myerson,thepapershadreported
that Bulganinhadsaidhe
would
give serious consideration toany
Israel1 requestfortechnical
assistance. When I asked her if she would
be in favor of Israel accepting techthat
nical aid fromRussia,shesaid
Israelwould be prepared t o accept
technrcal aid from anycountry.
In v ~ e wof Mrs. Myersons statementthatthe
besthope for peace
was in dlrect dealings with the Arab
countnes, I asked if she would be
In favor of attempting dlrect dealings
on the regional plan for development
o l theJordanRiverIsraelstopped
work on the Jordan Rlver dlversion
canal In 1953 a t Syrlas complaint
t h a t the canal entered part of the

A u p s t 4, 1956

1
8

demnitarieed zone markedof in the

Israel-Syrian armistice
agreement.
[See Waters of Jordan by Dan
Wakefield; The Nation, July 211
Mrs. Myersonsaid thatalthough
Israel would like toenter indirect
negotiations with the Arab countries
River, We have no
ontheJordan
means of direct negotiation. Mr. Eric
Johnstonhasdonehisworkwitha
great deal of effortandability,and
it is not his fault that he didnt get
anagreement. I am sure he uo.uId
affirm that we have been co-operago alongwith
tiveandpreparedto
the regional plan.
This May, the Americanengineer
Abel Wolrnan,who
is chairman of
the Board of Water Consultants to
krael, said thatstrictly
from an
eogineesing standpoint, Israel would
have to go ahead with the diversion
eanal in the next
six
months to
avoidserious permanentdamage t o
Israels watersupply. I asked Mrs.
Myerson if she took this engineering deadline as apoliticaldeadline.
Weve waited close to three years
on this
project,
she
said.
The
government has t o consider seriously
the expertsopinions,
andthe dire
need forwaterand
power in our
countryandinneighboringcountries. But Israel cannot
beasked to
regulateits
desirefor
development
to the desire, or lack of it, on the
part of its neighbors. Weare anxious to go on with the Johnston plan.
In the light of the non-desire of our
nelghbors to go ahead with the plan,
Israel feels it has the right to take
the decision on when t o go ahead
with the work.

THE recent Israel foreign

policy has
already shown an emphasisongetting back totheheart
of matters
which have been at a longstanding
stalemate. In the last week of June
Mrs. MyersonandDavid
Ben-&
rion requested UN Chief of Staff
M.
Burns
to
ask
General E. L.
Jordans comphance in observing
arttcle
eight
of the Israel-Jordan
arrnlsticeagreement,whichassures
Israel free access to Jerusalems Mt.
Scopus (wheretheHadassah
hospital and the Hebrew University Libraryarelocated).Free
use of the

ama,. provided tar. in article eight,

has not beengrantedsinceshortly
after the armistice was signed. This,
and the blockade of Israel
ships
through the Suez Canal, which violates
section
a
of the
Israel-Egyptian
armisticeagreement, are two of the
of the
mostpermanentviolations
Israel armistice. I asked Mrs. Myerson whether, if other methods failed,
Israel would eventually use force to
tryto assurecompliance.
We dont like t o use force in
anything, she said. Egypt and Jordan are violating the armistice agreements,Egypt,forexample,bythe
blockade of the Suez Canal and Jordanbythe
denial of free access
t o Mt. Scopus. We aredemanding
that the UN enforce these conditions
applygreatpressure
in making
up tothe
EgyptandJordanlive
armistice
agreements.
We consider
each armisticeagreementanentity
in itself. The participants cannot just
choosewhicharticles
theywantto
live upto.Eachsidemustliveup
to the agreements in thelr entirety.
Golda Myerson has spenther life
a
living up to - andbeyond
number of difficult commitments,
and shespeakswithanaturalas
well asan official authority in asking otherstodothe
same. Marie
Syrkin wrote In a blography of Mrs.
MyersonthatThe
sense of outraged
Jewish
dignitymadehera
Zionist;thesense
of outragedhuman dignity
made
her
a Socialist.
These, are commitmentsso easy to
talk of, SO d~fficultto follow, and
it is possible perhaps to appraise this
woman by considerrng that shefollowed thecommitmentsof
Zionism
and socialism t o a conclusion
as
Foreign Minister in the Socialist Iabor-partygovernment of the State
of Israel.
T h e course of commitment led
Golda Mabovitz Myerson from Kiev
to Milwaukee toDenver to a collectwe farm in Palestine in 1921. In
1924 she
went
to
work for the
Histadrut,
the
General
Federation
of JewshLabor
in Palestine,and
became
one
of Zionisms leading
figures.
When the f m t Israelcabinetwas
formed. Mrs. Myerson was named as
Mlnister of Labor, and held the post

95

in .each .succeeding -government

,un-

til hershift to the foreign ministry

thisJune. The new position makes
her the second woman foreign minister history,
in
after
Communist
Rumanias Ana
Pauker,
who
was
ousted in 1952.
It wasdifficult to associate this
heavyhistory
with the woman in
the Foreign Ministers office in Jeru-

salem, p e r h a p because her enormous

dignity is so much a part of her that
it doesnt protrude in the obvious
air of the official woman. When I
walked in to the long, green-carpeted
room she rose from behind the desk
at one end andcameforwardwith
her hand outstretched. She was wearing a grey and white polka-dot dress,
andwithher
greying hair pulled

back frern- her.h e d .and the. at

smile on her long, sharp-featured
face, she seemed more like a sympathetic high-school principal than
alady
foreign minister.And
this
was the womanwho putonArab
dresses and veils in 1948 and crossed
the borderforasecretmeeting
to
try to negotiate peace with Abdul]ah.

CHAPLIN first arrived in the United

States in 1910, atwenty-one-yearold music-hall comedian. He left
September 17, 1952, probably for
good and amid much acrid publicity,
the oneuniversalman
of modern
the
times-or,
atthe
veryleast,
worlds most famous comedian and
one of the screens few great men.
The interveningyearswereyears
of triumph
for
Chaplin
in many
ways;butthey
were also years of
turbulence and struggle to a greater
extentthanmany
people rernembered during the last uproar.
Relativelyrecentwere
the sensasional
headlines
and
legal hocuspocus of the Joan Berry case in
1943-44. Some readers
may
recall
the courtbattleswithLita
Grey ia
1926-27. But there was much more,
too, which provides the material for
a study in the curiously bad public
relations between the brilliant, controversialcelebrity
andthenation
he lived in,
Many Hollywood figuree flouted
moralconventionwithoutarousing
thesame concerted hostility-John
Barrymore,
Wallace
Beery, Errol
Flynn, Robert Mitchum and
others.
Many have held irregularpolitical
views as well. Apparently Chaplins
Jeftish but naive
political
outlook
earned
him
enemies who joined
forces withdomestic
puritansand
patriots;andthus
sexual and subversivethemesbecamecoupledin
the publicimage of Chaplin which
his detractorspromoted.The
presentstory, in a way, is more about
America than about Chaplin.
-

ERNEST CALLENBACH wrote

Our Modern Art, the Movies.

96

Chaplincame from Englandwith

unique individual creator in an artby extreme
avaudeville company in which he industrycharacterized
learned much of the pantomime skill division of creative labor.
After a year at Keystone, making
he later perfected in his films. H e
one comedy a week, Chaplins growsigned his first
picture
contract
ing popularity enabled him to switch
(8150 per week) with many doubts.
At the Keystone
studio
he had to Essanay at a salary of 81,250 per
troubleadapting his slower, subtler week. In May, 1915, came the first
style to the fast-and-rough tradition of the headlinesannouncinglegal
of the Keystone Cops, Fatty Ar- combat over the Chaplin name and
fame.Enterprisingindividualshad
buckle, Mack Swain andtheother
begunmanufacturing TrampstatuSennett clowns. With his thirteenth
ettes, infringing
(Chaplins
suit
picture, however, Sennettgavehim
afreehand,andfromthen
on he charged) on the costume to which
wrote and directed all his own work. Chaplin claimed exclusive rights.
Later he was also to produce andThe
comedians famegrewsteadiScore his own films, becoming a ly. He appeared a t benefits; fantaetic

The NATION