Egypt’s recent policy of expropriating property of “reactionaries” under President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s program of “Arab Socialism” is aimed almost entirely at Jews, the European office of the American Jewish Committee reported here today. Of the latest 171 “sequestrations” ordered in Egypt, the report stated, 169 of those named are Jews.
Jews affected by the latest “sequestration” orders, the AJC office said, have not only had their property confiscated but have also been barred from membership in various clubs and societies, and banned from serving on any business or cultural board. The latest list of 171 was seen by the AJC here as part of the general policy of Egyptian property “nationalization” which has struck so far at 593 persons, “a large part of whom are Jews or of Jewish origin.”
A complete list of property owners affected was published in the Beirut newspaper, Al Hayat, received here today. The test of the Nasser decree, printed in the newspaper, states: “All Jews included in the list of sequestrations are deprived of their civic rights and cannot serve as guardians, caretakers, or proxies in any business association or club, nor can they be members of clubs or societies.”
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