Although organized anti-Semitism has declined somewhat in the United States, anti-Jewish prejudice has won a following among “respectable” sections of the community which previously were relatively free of bias, the national executive committee of the Joint Defense Appeal was warned this week-end by John Slawson, executive vice-president of the American Jewish Committee, and Benjamin Epstein, acting national director of the B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation League.
Both civic defense leaders stressed the many hidden forms of prejudice, which currently find expression in job bias, educational quotas and housing restriction. They declared that American Jews cannot relax the fight against discrimination, pointing out that among other factors, the relief efforts for Jews abroad depend on the existence of a strong and secure American Jewish community. Other speakers included Donald Oberdorfer, national chairman of the JDA, Charles W. Morris, chairman of the JDA’s national council, and Edmund Waterman, treasurer.
The committee announced that the second national conference of the JDA, which is the fund-raising agency for the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation league, will be held in Philadelphia on Jan. 10-12.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
