August 23
— Elaine sails back from Israel on the “SS Israel.”
— Jewish War Veterans call for boycott of “Shell Oil”
— The Bahai Temple in Haifa
SS Israel docked in Haifa Port
August 23, 1957 Friday
Dear Mom, Dad and Alan,
It’s a few hours before Shabbas & I’m in a hotel in Haifa. Shabbas will be spent here & then Sunday morning is a tour of more of the industrial region of Haifa bay & a ride on a boat in Haifa Harbor. It should be most interesting.
Yesterday I said goodbye to Elaine on the boat SS Israel. It is beautiful.
As I told you before I met another American from the ZOA group who is staying in Israel for a little while after the regular group leaves & then is going to spend a week or so in Europe on the way back. We are going to do this together. He is very nice and it should be great. We are hiring a jeep here & an Israeli who works in the Heletz oil fields, but will be on vacation next week is going also.
I understand that Jewish War Veterans is organizing a boycott of “Shell Oil.” Is this true?
I also saw the Bahai Temple in HAIFA. Believe it or not the roof is made of 20,000 solid gold pieces of slate. I thought shuls were built nice but nothing compares to the fabulous churches & mosques & monasteries you see all over here.
Love Bob
P.S. I still don’t know my exact plans of travel but will let you know as soon a I do.
Regards to everyone
Comments:
August 23, 1957 Friday
“Yesterday I said goodbye to Elaine on the boat SS Israel. It is beautiful.”
Elaine traveled back to the U.S. with her Young Hadassah group on the luxury SS Israel ship which Israel obtained from Germany in 1955 as part of German reparations. The ship departed from the port of Haifa, stopped in Piraeus Greece, Naples Italy, Gibraltar, Funchal Portugal and finally arrived in New York. The trip took two weeks. As of 2020, there are no cruises or trips by boat from Israel to the U.S.
After Elaine left Israel my father continued his tour of Israel with his ZOA group and also toured alone. He returned to the U.S. by plane ten days later, stopping in Europe.
In 1957 there were no direct flights to or from Israel from North America. The first direct flight from the United States to Israel was in 1961 when EL AL acquired its first Boeing 707. However, the 707 was not able to make a direct flight back to the United States due the strong headwinds from the East. It was only when EL AL acquired the 747 in 1973 (twelve yrs. later) that direct flights began from Israel to North America.
“I understand that Jewish War Veterans is organizing a boycott of ‘Shell Oil’ Is this true?”
The Jewish War Veterans of the USA, was a group of Jewish Americans who had served in US Armed Forces and organized a protest against Shell’s boycott of Israel.
In 1957, Royal Dutch Shell Oil, a British owned company, closed its operations in Israel as a result of Saudi Arabian pressure. This fact is verified in the minutes of the British Cabinet on July 16, 1957: “Conclusions of a Meeting of the Cabinet, Harold Macmillan, M.P., Prime Minister: The Foreign Secretary said that the Shell Oil Company and the British Petroleum Company had decided to close down their distributing organization in Israel as the result of a threat by the Saudi Arabian Government that, if they continued to operate in Israel, they would be denied facilities in Saudi Arabia.”
In an article in the JTA archive dated August 15, 1957, the boycott of Shell Oil my father is referring to is headlined: “Jewish War Veterans” Discuss Boycotting Shell Oil Products in U.S.” The boycott of Israel by Shell continued from 1957 until 2019. In May 2019, Shell broke its boycott policy and invested in its first Israeli start-up company, “Ravin AI.”
“I also saw the Bahai Temple in Haifa. Believe it or not the roof is made of 20,000 solid gold pieces of slate. I thought shuls were built nice but nothing compares to the fabulous churches & mosques & monasteries you see all over here.”
I have no comments on my Dad’s description of the non-Jewish places of worship in Israel. I respect other religions, but try to only enter synagogues.
