Morris Abram Calls on Arabs to Reconcile Their Problems with Israel

A call to the Arab nations to reconcile their problems with Israel and to promote coexistence between Israel and the Arab countries was issued here today by Morris B. Abram, president of the American Jewish Committee, at the conclusion of a two-day session here of the annual meeting of the AJ Committee’s national executive board.

Referring to Israel Prime Minister Levi Eshkol’s recent order to liberalize the restrictions on the Arabs in the country residing in areas close to the frontiers of the neighboring Arab countries, Mr. Abram said that the Arabs, who always talk about coexistence in the United Nations as members of the non-aligned bloc, actually have been “purveyors of racism” in Latin America and elsewhere, where they continuously appeal to the most violent elements.

“They have been deliberately fomenting trouble between citizens of peaceful countries such as Argentina and Brazil, simply because of their anti-Jewish feelings,” he declared. Mr. Abram, who is U.S. representative on the Human Rights Commission at the United Nations, reported that, when the Convention condemning racial and ethnic discrimination was introduced at the United Nations, the Arab countries inserted an attack on Zionism, linking it with anti-Semitism and Nazism.

Jacob Blaustein, honorary president of the Committee and a former U.S. delegate to the United Nations, presented the organization’s American Liberties Medalion to Ambassador Arthur J. Goldberg, U.S. representative at the United Nations. The award was accepted for Ambassador Goldberg, who has been bed-ridden for a week with a virus, by Dr. James M. Nabrit, Jr., his deputy.

A.J.C. STUDY SHOWS ANTI-SEMITISM WAS NO FACTOR IN NEGRO RIOTS

A study presented to the American Jewish Committee at its concluding session today establishes that anti-Semitism was not a primary factor in the North Philadelphia rioting of August 28-30, 1964, even though the overwhelming majority of the white businessmen in the riot zone were Jewish.

The study analyzes the violence that shook North Philadelphia in the late summer of 1964. “Not one eye-witness to the riot recalls the mobs shouting anti-Semitic slogans although anti-white slogans abounded,” the report says. “Nor is there anything to suggest that the results would have been appreciably different had the majority of the white merchants been of Italian, Swedish or German background.”

On the other hand, the report does point out “the residents of the area are very much aware of ethnic and religious differences, and there is, in fact, some anti-Jewish sentiment which grows in part out of the economic facts of life.”

The prevalence of Jewish merchants in North Philadelphia, the report relates, stems from the history of the area. Once a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, North Philadelphia changed its ethnic character as the Jewish community climbed the economic ladder and moved to other neighborhoods. But, the report adds, “it is likely that many, if not most, of North Philadelphia’s residents are treated by Jewish doctors, advised by Jewish lawyers and served by Jewish community agencies.”