Black, Italian, Polish and Jewish leaders in the Philadelphia area have joined a statement urging the U.S. government to resist Arab demands that governmental agencies and American business firms comply with their discriminatory boycott of Jews and American companies that do business with Israel. A statement calling on the President and Congress to consider legislation banning foreign investments that require American firms to practice discrimination or maintain third party boycotts based on principles “clearly contrary to American law and foreign policy” was inserted into the Congressional Record yesterday by Rep. Joshua Eilberg (D. Pa).
It was issued by Solomon Fisher, of the American Jewish Committee; Andrew Freedman, of the National Urban League; Judge Frank J. Montemuro, of the Sons of Italy; Philadelphia City Councilman Joseph Zazczyny, of the Polish-American Citizens League of Pennsylvania; and The Rev. William L. Bentley, of the Interfaith-Interracial Council of the Clergy.
In another statement entered into the Record, Rep. William Lehman (D. Fla) said “It is vitally important” that the President’s condemnation of the discriminatory practices “be followed up with action by the Executive branch and by the Congress if necessary to insure that our government never again agrees to participate in or close its eyes to discrimination against its citizens by foreign nations.”
BLACK NEWSPAPER DENOUNCES BOYCOTT
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Tribune, one of the oldest and largest Black newspapers in the U.S., published an editorial this week sharply denouncing the recently disclosed “pressure from Arab countries, particularly Saudi Arabia” that “has caused our federal government and several large corporations to impose a pattern of anti-Semitism on their policies” which is “a disgusting development that is diametrically opposed to everything this country is supposed to stand for.”
The editorial declared that “If some of our leaders are so morally bankrupt that they will throw away the U.S. Constitution for fear of losing some oil money, then they should be immediately fired and prosecuted for breaking the law.” The Philadelphia Tribune said it condemned discrimination against minorities because it is immoral and illegal and also because, “from a purely practical point of view, we should keep in mind that if discriminatory practices against other minorities are successful, it won’t be long before Blacks are similarly victimized.”
As a possible example, the editorial asked “What would happen… if the Sudan, which has been waging a particularly vicious campaign against its Black Christian minority for almost 15 years, told U.S. firms doing business with them that they must refuse to hire Black Christians? If they see that Saudi Arabia is successful in its campaign against U.S. Jews, there’s no reason why the Sudanese government should not think it could wage a similarly successful campaign against U.S. Blacks.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
