Hadassah wound up its four-day national convention today by adopting a budget of $9,335,000 for its 1958-59 program in Israel and the United States, and re-electing Dr. Miriam K. Freund to a third term as national president. Last year’s budget was $9,000,000.
The delegates adopted a resolution supporting the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court on racial integration and condemning the bombing of Jewish institutions by terrorists. The resolution hailed President Eisenhower for his “forthright statements of indignation and condemnation” of the terroristic acts.
A resolution adopted on the Middle East “notes with satisfaction the growing and constructive efforts by the United States to promote peace and stability in all the states of the Middle East, including the offer of our government to give generous economic and technical assistance to this important area.” The resolution urges the State Department to consider the following in further formulating American Middle East policy:
“1. That the economic aid extended by the United States and by the United Nations to the Arab states should be conditioned on a guarantee that such aid will indeed be used for economic development and not for armed aggression, and in full compliance with the Charter of the United Nations.
“2. That the bilateral program of the United States assistance to Israel be continued in order to strengthen the economy of that country.
“3. That full cognizance be taken of the threat represented by the resurgence of the Arab League to the security of Israel, the only stable country in that region, and that measures to strengthen Israel be correspondingly realistic.
“4. That the United States delegation urge the United Nations to take appropriate measures to implement the United Nations General Assembly resolution of August 21, which called for all member states in that region to act strictly in accordance with the principles of mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, of non-aggression, of strict non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, and of equal and mutual benefit, and to insure that their conduct by word and deed conforms to these principles.
“5. That inherent in the intent of the above mentioned resolution and essential to its effectiveness is the guarantee that the assurances of mutual respect set forth be extended to all nations including the State of Israel.”
The resolution expresses the hope that the Arab states will develop their nationalist aspirations in cooperation and in full respect for the nationalist aspirations it all peoples in the Near East, rejecting the extreme and expansionist imperialism advocated by President Nasser; to the end that the Arab nations may live in peace with each other, with Israel, and with other non-Arab states in the region, working together for the development of the free institutions of self-government.
“Hadassah will continue to support measures initiated and sponsored by our government to help all the peoples of the Middle East to defend their independence, to improve their living standards, to strengthen the development of democracy and to preserve peace, ” the resolution says.
EXPRESSES “DEEP ANXIETY” OVER THE SITUATION OF JEWS IN RUSSIA
The convention expressed “its deep anxiety” at the situation of the Jews in the Soviet Union” who are denied the facilities essential for maintaining and perpetuating their distinctive religious and cultural life.” The resolution viewed “with grave concern the continued denial of free emigration for these Jews, a right embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
The delegates protested against discrimination by Arab countries against American citizens of the Jewish faith, and urged the United States Government to resist all efforts made by other nations to discriminate against American citizens on racial or religious grounds, and to refrain from entering into any treaties or executive agreements which sanction these discriminatory practices.
Mrs. Golda Meir, Israel’s Foreign Minister, told the delegates that Israel needed mass immigration of Jews to develop the country’s economic structure. She also emphasized the nation’s desire for peace with Israel’s Arab neighbors.
“We want peace,” she said, adding that she was prepared to challenge any people in the world–in the West, in the Communist countries, in the neutralist bloc–on whether there is one people more anxious for peace than the State of Israel and the people of Israel.
The Convention reaffirmed the view that resettlement of the Arab refugees in Arab countries “is the practicable and equitable solution” of the Arab refugee problem in the Middle East, as demonstrated by precedents established in dealing with other refugee problems.
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.
