British Jewry Expresses Concern over Fate of Jews in Soviet Union

A resolution expressing concern at the continued disabilities imposed on Jews in the Soviet Union was adopted here today at the closing session of the tenth biennial convention of the British section of the World Jewish Congress. The resolution underlined the concern of world Jewry with the fate of Russian Jewry.

A resolution on Germany stressed that the Bonn Government had not yet satisfied just demands for indemnification, particularly those advanced by persons wronged outside Germany itself. The convention also asked the Moroccan Government to withdraw its ban against the emigration of Israel-bound Jews.

The convention also adopted resolutions urging the major powers to halt arms shipments to the Arab countries and asking them to give guarantees of existing frontiers of Middle East states.

The resolution on arms pointed out the repeated declarations of the Arab states that they would use their weapons against Israel and underlined this as a source of great danger in the Middle East Instead of arms, the resolutions called for large-scale economic aid to the Middle East countries, unfettered by military alliances or similar conditions.

The Congress condemned the Arab boycott, expressing regret that a few British firms had given in to Arab pressure. It deplored the fact that a year after the Nasser regime drove tens of thousands of Egyptian Jews from home and country nothing had been done to compensate the victims. It expressed gratitude for the activities of the Red Cross and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in behalf of exiled Egyptian Jews.

Ambassador Eliahu Elath of Israel, a guest speaker at the convention, declared that Israel was ready to negotiate a peace settlement with its Arab neighbors but would resist an imposed settlement no matter who the self-appointed mediator might be. Nor, he added, would Israel consider negotiations based on preconditions before the opening of peace talks.