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Israel's Geller Seen As Latter Day HoudiniBy Carl AlpertHaifa — It is good that Israelis can sometimes concentrate their attention on matters less disturbing than missiles along the Suez, hostile resolutions in the United Nations, or border incursions by Arab terrorists. One such opportunity for distraction has been provided in recent weeks by the alignment of forces favoring or opposing the controversial figure of one Uri Geller.Geller first came to attention as an entertainer at private parties. He commanded wider audiences through his radio programs, and then conquered new worlds as one of the country’s most popular stage entertainers. Thousands, tens of thousands, who have seen him perform hail his genius.To his fans, Uri Geller is the exponent of a new science whichGerman Shocks Ex-ServicemenLONDON, Nov. (JTA-A letter protesting the attitude of the Foreign Minister of the German Federal Republic, Walter Scheel, during his visit to Auschwitz last Sunday, was handed to the German Ambassador here by the Association of Polish-Jewish Former Servicemen.When Mr. Scheel visited the site of the former concentration camp at Ozwiecim, Poland, he appeared visibly moved and wrote in the memorial book following his tour of the camp: “In the face of these horrors, this inhumanity, it must be our task to preserve these highest values: the dignity of man and peace between nations.’’Shocked and outraged at Mr. Scheel’s failure to mention the millions of Jews exterminated there, the Association’s letter states: “The German Foreign Minister failed to mention the millions of Jews who perished in Auschwitz merely because they had been Jews. It is the attitude of the Polish government, as part of its aggressive anti-Semitic policy, to present Auschwitz as a place of Polish martyrdom and to ignore the Jewish martyrs of Auschwitz completely. The German Foreign Minister has chosen to copy this attitude.”embraces telepathy, parapsychology and telekinesis. He maintains that the human mind can transmit and receive thought waves by appropriate concentration.In his programs he reads minds; he identifies hidden numbers; he describes the contents of unopened purses; he drives a car through traffic while fully blindfolded; he makes distant objects move. In short, he displays acts of “magic” and ascribes them to supernatural causes.Devotees of Geller fully believe that he is a phenomenon, not to be explained by normai laws of science or logic. Some people believe in Einstein, they say; well, others believe in Geller, though they cannot explain him.Intelligent and educated people, who have seen his performances, subscribe to the theory that there are indeed some matters which may transcend man’s present knowledge of the laws of nature. Geller is exploring a little known area, they say. Natural scientists who challenge him are in effect transforming science into a dogmatic religion, and its “laws” into holy writings. We must not be afraid to explore the unknown, with open minds and without prejudice.The scientists launched a frontal attack on Geller. His feats, they say, are tricks, deception, slight-of-hand, fraud, optical illusions, presented with a flare of showmanship. A group of psychologists and physicists staged their own demonstration of Geller’s typical achievements, and then revealed the hocus-pocus and trickery by which they were perpetrated. The exposure was most convincing, and a leading newspaper like Davar was led to publish an editorial on “the wane of Geller’s glory” and “the decline of a pleasant national delusion.”Geller is earnest, soft-spoken, personable, extremely convincing. He cannot explain how his supernatural powers work; he knows only that they do. He agreed to appear before television cameras to vindicate his claims. The studio program was to be taped and recorded, but things did not go well. Critics challenged the stage arrangements.
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Seattle Jewish Transcript
Seattle, Washington, US
Wed, Nov 25, 1970
Page 6
Full Page
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