The President, President-elect and former President of Colombia attended the dedication here of a technical school presented as a gift to the government by the B’nai B’rith Women of Bogota. President Misael Pastrana Borrero, President-elect Alfonso Lopez Michelsen and former President Carlos Lieras Restrepo were present when Mrs. Lia Ganitsky made the presentation.
President Pastrana praised the group’s generosity in building the school in a poor neighborhood. It has seats for 15,00 students and a health center. The President stressed the critical importance of education to Colombia. Also participating in the ceremony were delegates to the fourth convention of B’nai B’rith District 23, which includes Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Venezuela and the Caribbean islands. The delegates presented the district’s Human Rights Award to former President Lleras Restrepo in recognition of his efforts as a champion of human rights in Colombia and in the international community.
In his acceptance speech, the former President deplored the fact that the world has achieved great technical progress while permitting gross violations of human rights to continue. He lauded Israel and condemned terrorist acts against Israel as the “law of the jungle.”
Leon Krajmalnik of Mexico told the convention that the Children of God sect was distributing anti-Semitic material in almost every country of the B’nai B’rith district. He also reported Arab threats to destroy an oil refinery in Curacao, as well as the appearance of anti-Semitic editorials in major news papers in Mexico City and Caracas.
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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.
