State Dept. to Study Arab Supply of Anti-jewish Propaganda to Negroes

The State Department has been asked to determine whether officials of any of the Arab embassies in Washington acted improperly in supplying anti-Jewish propaganda to Black Power advocates, the Department of Justice disclosed today. If the State Department found such action, it would have to determine whether any of the diplomats involved should be declared persona non grata.

Rep. Joel T. Broyhill, Virginia Republican, who had raised the question with the Department of Justice, was informed by the Department that it had asked the State Department to determine whether the Arabs had violated protocol in supplying the anti-Jewish propaganda to the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNIC). He was told that the State Department would advise him of the results of the inquiry.

Assistant Attorney General J. Walter Yeager wrote Rep. Broyhill that under existing statutes it did not appear that SNIC could be required to register under the Foreign Agents’ Registration Act. He said, however, that “the Department will be alert to any information which would establish an agency relationship and, if such information is received, the Department will take appropriate action.”