The American Jewish Committee sent a telegram today to Elliot L. Richardson, Secretary of Defense-designate, expressing shock and dismay “that the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service has made its 492 station network available for broadcast by Gerald L.K. Smith, for more than 30 years a notorious racist and bigot.”
The telegram, signed by Bertram H. Gold, AJ Committee executive vice-president, stated that it is “incomprehensible to us that an instrumentality of the United States government would allow its facilities to be utilized for the promotion of a private venture offensive to Jews and other Americans” Gold stated that a “full explanation to the American public is in order as to how this misuse of the American services network was possible.” He urged-Richardson to take ” immediate steps to insure that a similar travesty does not reoccur.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.