Aj Committee Spokesman Defends Organization After Attacks by Argentine Zionists

A spokesman for the American Jewish Committee, which came under attack here by several Zionist youth movements, defended the organization today against charges that it was “imperialistic and antiquated.” Dr. Richard Maas, a member of the United States delegation that attended a three-day seminar on human relations, said the AJ Committee’s business was to develop Jewish identity activities in the U.S. At the same time, Capt. Carlos J. Korinblum. president of the Argentine Jewish Institute for Culture and Information, the AJ Committee’s sister organization here, denied that his group was either assimilationist or anti-Zionist.

The two spoke at a press conference following the close of the seminar that had been attended also by delegates from Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Chile. The press was banned from the seminar because, as Capt. Korinblum, an Argentine Navy officer explained, the sponsors wanted an open, frank discussion which might have been inhibited by the presence of journalists. It was at one of the sessions that several youths scattered leaflets from the gallery attacking the AJ Committee.