Secretary of State Edmund Muskie warned today that “it is important that we will speak out against what has happened in Paris. ” This was in response to Rabbi Arthur Schneier’s call “against indifference to ever-increasing, perverted neo-Nazi and fascist activities.”
Schneier, spiritual leader of the Park East Synagogue in New York City, was speaking on behalf of a World Jewish Congress- American Section leadership delegation visiting Washington for policy discussions at the White House, State Department and the Organization of American States.
Muskie, addressing a luncheon for the delegation at the State Department, said: “I am not sure if we are just speaking about incidents — and I use that word deliberately — or an outcropping of something deeper. Hatred and prejudice never really die and we must be constantly vigilant.”
Earlier in the day, National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski told the delegation at a meeting in the White House: “These outrages remind us of extremely ugly historical events that are a terrible stain on mankind. They show that anti-Semitism is deeply rooted and not easily erased. One would have thought that World War II had put an end to anti-Semitism. But we must remain vigilant for some have not learned history’s tragic lesson.”
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.
