The 350,000 members of the B’nai B’rith in the United States were warned today by their president, Philip M. Klutznick, not to “parochialize themselves” because such an attitude “is an invitation to disaster.” Mr. Klutznick spoke at the 103rd annual convention of B’nai B’rith’s District Grand Lodge No. 1 which includes 515 lodges with a membership of 100,000. More than 1,800 delegates are attending the convention.
Mr. Klutznick urged the United Nations to find adequate ways and means to give status to its own Declaration of Human Rights. This was necessary because racial and religious prejudice and discrimination are the greatest deterrent to a lasting peace. It is out of small beginnings of the abuse of human and civil rights that a conflagration flares and a world goes up in flames. The right of the individual to dignity and status is the cornerstone of the peace we seek in the world.
Reporting on a recent tour of Europe and the Middle East, Mr. Klutznick described the postwar growth of B’nai B’rith – its membership has expanded into 33 nations of the free world – as demonstrating “the urge of peoples of all languages and cultures to be of service to each other.”
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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.
