Hadassah Convention Asks U.S. to Encourage Direct Arab-israel Talks

A resolution urging the United States Government “to support all efforts designed to encourage direct Arab-Israel peace negotiations, especially those proposed by member nations of the United Nations,” was adopted here today at the 48th national convention of Hadassah.

The resolution also called upon the U.S. Government “to make unequivocally clear to the Arab nations that the United States will not permit any act of aggression in the Middle East area.” It asked the U. S. “to take such steps as are necessary to remedy the dangerous arms imbalance resulting from Egypt’s possession of the most modern military materiel, which constitutes an invitation to aggression.”

“Hadassah, representing 318,000 American Jewish women from every state of the United States in convention assembled, watches with anxiety and alarm the mounting military buildup of Israel’s Arab neighbors, especially Egypt,” the resolution said. “The President of Egypt publicly boasts that Egypt is now producing long-range rockets in large scale and loudly proclaims that they will be used to destroy Israel. This represents a clear and present danger to Israel’s security; to the stability of the Middle East, and, if unchecked, to world peace.”

In another resolution, Hadassah called upon the U.S. Government to “exert its influence, particularly in the forums of the United Nations, to impress upon the community of nations the necessity of taking such measures as are necessary to stop persecution wherever it exists.” The resolution stated that the world must be made “to understand that persecution of any group of people anywhere because of their color, race, or creed, threatens the freedom of people everywhere.”

STUDY LAUNCHED ON HOW TO STRENGTHEN AMERICAN ZIONIST MOVEMENT

Mrs. Herman Shulman of New York, former national president of Hadassah and now national chairman of Hadassah’s committee on Zionist affairs, told the convention that Hadassah has embarked upon a one-year study to determine how the American Zionist movement can be “strengthened and invigorated.”

“The Zionist movement is being challenged to demonstrate its validity for our day,” she said. “Indeed, the Zionist movement is challenging itself. Throughout the world, most serious thought is being given as to how the movement might be strengthened and invigorated. This is particularly true of the United States, the largest and most influential Jewish community in the world. “

At a different session, Mrs. J. Leonard Weiss of Irvington, N.J., Hadassah’s national chairman for the Jewish National Fund, announced that Hadassah is embarking upon a $2,100,000 Jewish National Fund project to create a new settlement in the Arava area of the Negev, south of the Dead Sea to be known as Hevel Hadassah.”

Moshe Kol, world director of Youth Aliyah, told the delegates that his agency is making preparations this year to absorb at least 6, 000 new children–between 12 and 17 years of age–in comparison with the 4,000 absorbed in the last 12 months. “The need to increase Youth Aliyah’s absorptive capacity became very urgent in view of the political and social upheavals in Jewish communities in countries experiencing very crucial periods,” Mr. Kol reported. “Jewish communities that have been secure for generations in North Africa and South America are living in tension and insecurity today. This is having a great impact upon the young generations for whom parents seek to insure a free and secure life in Israel.”