A heated exchange between an Arab speaker and Rabbi A. M. Babb, spiritual leader of the Peterborough Jewish community, threatened for a time to disrupt a United Nations Association branch meeting here last night.
The incident occurred after Khalid Babaa, acting director of the Arab Information Center here, spoke on the history of the Arab people and the circumstances surrounding the creation of the State of Israel. In his speech, Mr. Babaa criticized Zionism as a political force and blamed intrigue on the part of the Soviet Union, Britain, France and the United States for the present state of unrest in Palestine.
As soon as the speech was finished, Rabbi Babb, who had been at a “Brotherhood Week” dinner a few hours earlier, stood up and denounced part of Mr. Babaa’s speech as propaganda. “I think that it is not right to introduce propaganda into a United Nations Association meeting,” he said. He suggested that an Israeli speaker be invited to speak at the club to reply to the allegations the Arab speaker had made. Club president L. H. Coneybeare said the club would try to arrange a talk by an Israeli speaker.
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