Arab Anti-israel Propaganda in U.S. Making Headway, Aj Committee Reports

Arab propaganda efforts in America have become more professional and sophisticated since the June, 1967 Arab-Israeli war and have made “substantial headway” especially among some Protestant church leaders, the American Jewish Committee reported today. The report, titled “Arab Appeals to American Public Opinion Today” said that since June, 1967 Arab propagandists have replaced their former “unselective” approach with more sophisticated techniques aimed at particular audiences such as church groups, the student left and disaffected blacks.

The report said the theme of Arab propaganda has shifted from Biblical and legal arguments against a Jewish State to moral arguments focusing on alleged Israeli mistreatment of Arabs within their borders and the Arab refugee problem. A major target of the Arab propaganda effort has been the churches where anti-Zionism and religious anti-Semitism are employed to sway opinion. Many welfare groups established to alleviate the plight of Arab refugees are susceptible, and accompany their humanistic aims with hostility toward Israel, the report said. Another major Arab effort is being made to establish ties with the Black Muslim movement and other extreme Negro groups. According to the report official Arab propaganda is disseminated through offices of the Arab Information Center in New York, Chicago, Dallas, Ottawa, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Additional propaganda activities have been undertaken by the Action Committee on American-Arab Relations, the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestine Arab Delegation. On American campuses the main source of Arab propaganda is the Organization of Arab Students which claims more than 8,000 members in 100 chapters in the U.S. and Canada.