A number of delegations at the United Nations today queried UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskiold as to whether he had received detailed information on the situation of the Jews in Egypt; and what he intends to do about anti-Jewish developments there.
The Egyptian Minister of the Interior, Zakaria Mohieddin, in a statement issued here, denied as “groundless accusations” the reports of mass arrests, deportations and terrorization of Egyptian Jews, but admitted at the same time that there have been arrests and deportations. He charged that the accusations are being made to cover up. “brutal atrocities and mass murder” perpetrated by Israelis in the Gaza Strip and other occupied areas. although UN observers have found nothing to support this.
Despite the fact that he said no “discrimination whatsoever is practiced against Egyptian Jews, “he declared at the same time that it had been “found necessary” to “detain a number of Egyptian Jews–not more than 120. He defined the purpose of the arrests as “protective custody,” and declared that deportations were being conducted “within the scope” of Egyptian sovereignty and within the law. Mohieddin denied that any of Egyptian Jewish nationals had been deported, but only those of “undefined nationality.” He did not mention confiscation of Jewish funds.
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