Zimbabwe Jewish Assembly Condemns Apartheid, Anti-semitism

Chief Rabbi Moses Rosen of Rumania, in the keynote speech before a national assembly of Zimbabwe Jewry, condemned all forms of racism and anti-Semitism and on behalf of the Jewish people expressed specific condemnation of apartheid in South Africa, the World Jewish Congress reported here.

Rosen, as a member of the WJC Governing Board, was the guest of honor at the 24th biennial congress of the Central African Jewish Board of Deputies, the representative body of Zimbabwe’s Jewish community and the WJC affiliate here. The Jewish community of Zimbabwe, the largest in Black Africa, numbers some 1,300 members.

Rosen explained at a press conference, carried by the national television network, the religious meaning of Zionism and the right of the Jewish people, having paid with the blood of six million martyrs, to return to their homelands as this was the elementary right of all people.

“At the same time,” he stated, “we recognize the rights of the Arabs and if the big powers did not interfere, peace might be realized for the benefit and progress of both sides.”

The Chief Rabbi and his wife, Amalia, were received in audience by the President of Zimbabwe, the Reverend Cannan Banana, where they were accompanied by the president and the secretary-general of the Jewish Board.

The President of Zimbabwe warmly welcomed the Chief Rabbi and his wife and underlined in his conversation the goodwill of the Zimbabwe government for the Jewish community and the assurance that the same policy of goodwill will be continued. He asked Rosen, who is also a member of the Rumanian Parliament, to transmit friendly greetings to President Nicolae Ceausescu of Rumania.

The Chief Rabbi met also with the Speaker of Parliament, Dne Mutasa, and the representatives of various churches of Zimbabwe. A reception was given in his and in Amalia Rosen’s honor by the Jewish community of Harare.