Reds Over Nazareth

Holy Week pilgrims to Nazareth must have thought at first that they were in the wrong town. Crimson banners bearing the hammer & sickle and Picasso peace doves hung from street lights, and Marxist slogans were plastered on the centuries-old walls of the Church of the Annunciation. Turbaned Communist orators belabored street-corner crowds. Nazareth, the boyhood home of Jesus Christ, was electing 15 city councilmen.

Since 1948, the 21,000 inhabitants of Nazareth, the only all-Arab town in the state of Israel, have lived under the rule of a Jewish military governor. In that time, they have worked up a full head of resentment against Israel. When Israel decided last month to lift military rule and permit Nazareth to choose its own city council, the town's Communist leaders got to work among the city's Moslems and Christian Arabs. The Communists had the most money to spend, and outdid all others in the stridency of their attack on the Jews.

Despite the strong opposition of their churches to Communism, 447 Roman and Greek Catholics--along with 1,586 other Christians--deserted to the Communist ticket. The Communists got 38% of the vote, more than either of the two other parties, and elected six councilmen. Moslems and Christians on the council would have to work together if the followers of Marx were not to run the city of Christ.

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