Alliance Leader Reports in U.S. on Position of Jews in North Africa

The present governments of Tunisia and Morocco are sincerely trying to install modern democratic regimes in these countries, it was declared today by Eugene Weill, secretary general of the Alliance Israelite Universelle, who has arrived in New York for a short visit from Paris. Mr. Weill reported that nothing done by North African nationalist government reflects even the slightest hostility toward the Jewish populations, and the fact that Jews have been included in these governments is reassuring.

He added, however, that the nationalist movement is not monolithic and that it is impossible to predict with certainty the effects of all the forces and pressures in North Africa. The Jews of North Africa must be left free to decide for them selves, but they will be able to do so only if all their civil, religious and political rights are secure. These rights must also include the right to emigrate now or at any time in the future, Mr. Weill said, emphasizing that “human rights are indivisible.”

Mr. Weill disclosed that there are now 52, 484 students attending the schools of the Alliance throughout the Mediterranean area. This figure represents a slight increase over last year. He explained that the emigration from North Africa has not reduced the number of Alliance students because there have always been in North Africa more children of school age than the schools have been able to accommodate. Thus, any student who leaves the area is immediately replaced in the school by another child. This “reserve” of school age children is certain to increase in coming years, thanks to the steady reduction in infant mortality among the Jewish population in North Africa since the war, Mr. Weill declared.