Jewish Organizations Continue to Express Outrage at Hijackers

Jewish and non-Jewish groups continued to express outrage at the Arab terrorist hijackings. Rabbi Arthur Lelyveld, president of the American Jewish Congress, called upon King Hussein of Jordan to warn Arab hijackers that their own lives will be forfeited if anything happens to the passengers. “Every step must be taken to deter the terrorists from the ultimate insanity of their acts,” he said. The Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith called upon Pres. Nixon to react to the hijackings “in the manner the U.S. acted when it refused to submit to the Barbary pirates who threatened international shipping early in the history of our nation.” In a letter to the President, Seymour Graubard, national chairman of the ADL urged the U.S. to take a leadership role in a boycott of Arab states which have supported guerrilla air outlawry and terrorism.” Leaders of Agudath Israel of America urged the government to take firm action to secure the immediate release of American citizens held by the terrorists. Mrs. Faye Schenk, president of Hadassah, urged Pres. Nixon to “use every means available to your high office to secure the release of the hostages, many of them Americans held by the Arab terrorists.” Mrs. Schenk was aboard the El Al airliner that foiled a terrorist hijacking attempt over Britain on Sunday. Lloyd S. Schwenger, president of the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, said, “Unless these international desperadoes are brought to justice, no one will be able to travel in safety anywhere in the world…The depraved moral stature of these gangsters of the air is further revealed by their subjecting innocent passengers to the burning heat of the desert and singling out women and children because they are Jewish.”