American Council for Judaism Opens Conference in Dallas

The views of the late Defense Secretary James V. Forrestal on Palestine, as expressed in his diaries, as well as the re- commendations of the Maclver Report concerning the activities of American Jewish organizations engaged in fighting bigotry provide confirmation of the “soundness” of the principles advocated by the American Council for Judaism, Leasing J. Rosenwald declared here tonight.

Speaking at a dinner inaugurating a two-day regional conference of the American Council for Judaism, Mr. Rosenwald, who is the president of the organization, said the Palestine situation and “its ramifications in terms of domestic political pressures in the United States” commanded a considerable amount of the attention of the late Secretary of Defense. “Mr. Forrestal apparently agreed with our estimate of the critical nature of the problem,” he declared. “And in his profound concern, it is of vital interest to us to know that his positive and constructive suggestions paralleled our views.”

In the Maclver Report, Mr. Rosenwald continued, “Dr. Maclver presumably considers the ideology of the Council to be unassailably sound and consistent. This eminent scholar approves of the corrective measures we have taken, to the limits of our resources, such as education and opposition to separatist groups.”

Mr. Rosenwald expressed satisfaction, also, over the recent statement of the American Jewish Committee concerning the integration of Americans of Jewish faith into this country’s institutions. “This statement, ” Mr. Rosenwald said, “rep- resents a considerable advance over anything the Committee has said during the eight years of the Council’s existence. It admits the existence of a problem with many facets other than political–including cultural relations and economic subsidies for ‘Jewish nationalism collected under the guise of philanthropy.” American Jews will be subjected to an increasingly intense campaign of Israeli cultural indoctrination as a result of resolutions adopted by the recent World Zionist Congress, E. R. Kaufman, of Lake Charles, La., told the delegates. He described the work of the Congress as of the “deepest concern to Jews everywhere, but particularly to Americans of the Jewish faith.”

George L. Levison, of San Francisco, national vice-president of the American Council for Judaism, charged that “American favoritism to Israel was causing the United States and the United Nations to lose friends among the millions living from Morocco to Pakistan.” Mr. Levison was formerly Special Assistant in the Office of the Director General of UNRRA in London.