The United States Government was urged today “to mobilize every effort to eradicate anti-Semitism wherever it exists. ” The appeal was voiced by Mrs. Siegfried Kramarsky, national president of Hadassah, at the opening session of a four-day conference of the organization attended by 200 delegates from all parts of the country representing 318,000 members.
Characterizing anti-Semitism as “a vicious and dangerous aspect of prejudice and bigotry which the world cannot afford to tolerate any longer, ” Mrs. Kramarsky denounced the continued persecution of the Jews in the Soviet Union and asserted that the United States must take the lead in the United Nations in exposing anti-Semitism.
Pointing out that one of the goals of education is to develop a respect for human rights, she said: “The adoption of a set of principles by the United Nations Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, guaranteeing to all persons everywhere the fullest rights of religious freedom and practice is a step in this direction. Another is the adoption of principles guaranteeing the right of any national to leave his country to seek and enjoy asylum elsewhere, free of political persecution.”
Mrs, Kramarsky also urged Congress to enact legislation that will correct the “old discriminations” in the Walter-McCarran Immigration Act, She called for the elimination of the national origins quota system and the adoption of a new method that would make permanent provision in the law for the admission of refugees. “American leadership in the free world, ” she said, “is not enhanced by an immigration policy which implies that some nationalities and some races are less desirable than other members of the family of man.”
Mrs. Kramarsky stressed that “by eliminating the old discriminations from our immigration laws, we can take a big step in putting into practice the great concept of the indivisibility of freedom, which President Kennedy has described as one of America’s basic principles.”
Calling on Congress to provide for federal aid to education in line with proposals by the Kennedy Administration, she said: “Our public schools today need some 130, 000 class rooms to accommodate our constantly increasing student population and these classrooms cannot be acquired unless the various states receive financial aid from the Federal Government. Furthermore, adequate school facilities are urgently needed if ours is to be the country where every child can have guaranteed to him an opportunity for maximum education within the capacity to absorb knowledge.”
AMBASSADOR COMAY DISCUSSES ISRAEL’S POSITION IN UNITED NATIONS
Ambassador Michael Comay, permanent representative of Israel to the United Nations, addressing the delegates, discussed the position of Israel in the international body. The conference will concern itself with evaluating Hadassah’s programs in Israel and the United States. Various aspects of American Jewish life will also be discussed at the parley. Reports submitted to the conference emphasize the following facts:
1. Hadassah spends more than $9,000,000 a year on its undertakings. In Israel, Hadassah conducts a comprehensive health, education and social welfare program, which includes diagnostic, curative and preventive medical services, health stations, rehabilitation and education of underprivileged children and youth and land redemption programs.
2. Hadassah now has consolidated most of its medical facilities in the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem, At present, it includes a 500-bed teaching hospital with service laboratories; an outpatient department, capable of handling more than 200, 000 patient visits annually; the Henrietta Szold School of Nursing and Residence; and a synagogue.
3. Hadassah is the official representative of Youth Aliyah in the United States and the agency’s largest supporter. Since its inception in 1934, Youth Aliyah has ministered to the needs of more than 110, 000 children who have come to Israel from 72 countries. Hadassah also conducts a vocational education program in Israel, which includes the Alice L. Celigsberg Vocational High School, the Brandeis Vocational Workshops and a Vocational Guidance Bureau.
In the United States, Hadassah conducts an intensive American Affairs program, through which Hadassah members are kept informed on vital community, state, national and international developments. In addition, Hadassah interprets Israel and its people to the American public, helps foster creative Jewish living through education, and encourages and supports Jewish youth activities.
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.
