Pro-arab Group Head Says Oil Firms Support His Organization

The head of a pro-Arab organization has disclosed that oil companies support his group but declined to specify how much money was being contributed or to identify the firms. The disclosure was made by John P. Richardson, president of the American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) during a hearing before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee which began holding a series of hearings last fall on the international protection of human rights and U.S. policy toward countries where gross violations have occurred.

Richardson, long identified with pro-Arab activities here, was among four witnesses last Thursday who charged that the Israeli occupation authorities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were violating Arab civilian rights. The other three witnesses, who made similar charges, were Dr. Israel Shahk, professor of organic chemistry at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and chairman of the Israel League for Human and Civil Rights; M. Cherif Bessiouni, professor of law at De Paul University in Chicago; and Dr. W.T. Mallison Jr., an international law specialist at George Washington University Law School.

Under questioning by Rep. Lester Wolff (D. NY), Richardson said ANERA, of which he stated he is a full-time employe, emerged as a result of the Six-Day War mainly to meet the needs of Palestinian refugees. “We seek funds from the general public and corporations,” he testified, “corporations primarily dealing in the Middle East.” “Oil companies?” Wolff asked. “Yes, indeed,” Richardson replied, adding that he is seeking to “broaden his support.” Wolff suggested that Richardson also broaden his activities in an apparent reference to the cruelties inflicted on Jews in Syria and Iraq. None of the witnesses, however, offered to discuss this problem.

CONGRESSMEN CHALLENGE PRO-ARABISTS

Dr. Shahk charged that the Israeli military destroyed homes of Arabs in the administered territories who were suspected of anti-Israel activity. However, in replying to Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman (R.NY), he indicated doubt that Syria would hold a fair trial of two Jews the government has charged with the murder of four Syrian Jewish women. Dr. Shahk said that the Israeli government has not prevented him from making the same charges in Israel. He stated that friends in the U.S. financed his trip here and identified one of them as Prof. Norton Mezvinsky of Connecticut State College.

Both Bessiouni and Mallison charged Israel with violations of the Geneva Convention regarding obligations toward civilians in occupied territory. Rep. Robert Wilson (R.Calif.) expressed skepticism about a Syrian complaint that Israelis killed 30 Syrians, noting that the Syrians did not produce any evidence to substantiate this charge. On the other hand. Wilson declared, Israel “had no trouble providing the bodies” of Israeli soldiers who were beheaded.

Rep. Jonathan Bingham (D.NY) suggested that another hearing be held to give the Israeli point of view regarding the occupation. He stated that the “quality of the Israeli occupation is extraordinarily high in the history of occupations” granting, however, that “the picture is not perfect.” He noted, too, that the Israeli borders are open and that Arabs are permitted to enter and leave.

Committee sources told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that this hearing about the role of Israel’s occupation policy was scheduled because “Arabs had demanded to be heard” after the parents of three Israeli soldiers who were captured during the Yom Kippur War and are still held prisoners, had urged Congress several weeks ago to help identify the POWs and bring about their release. Until last month, the Syrians refused to permit Red Cross visits in violation of the Geneva Convention. (By Joseph Polakoff)