Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, president of the American Jewish Congress, announced that the Department of Commerce will prohibit American companies doing business with Arab states from responding to questions about whether they are involved in pro-Israel activities, such as the United Jewish Appeal. Hertzberg said the Department acted in response to a letter on the subject from Lois Waldman, assistant director of the AJCongress Commission on Law and Social Action.
He made public a letter of April 5 from Rauer H. Mayer, director of the Commerce Department’s Office on Export Administration, declaring that “exporters and related service organizations would be prohibited from responding to such inquiries.” Hertzberg said, “We are gratified that our government has responded positively to our request and prohibited American exporters from replying to questions about Jewish meetings they attend or Jewish organizations they support.”
Hertzberg observed that Arab discrimination against Jews and their boycott of all who support Israel “poses a dangerous threat to the quality of citizenship of American Jews and, indeed, to all Americans.”
He warned that “If the Arab states are permitted to impose their anti-Jewish and anti-Israel policies on an American economy eager for Arab trade, the very principles of equality and religious liberty which have made our country great will be gravely imperiled.” Hertzberg said that was the reason President Ford promulgated his order last November barring exporters from taking any action that discriminates against American citizens on grounds of race, religion, sex or national origin.
Meanwhile, Rep. James Corman (D.Wash.) introduced a bill in the House Friday calling for the elimination of tax benefits for U.S. firms who participate in the Arab boycott. He said some 3000 American firms are believed to be cooperating in the boycott and those doing so would lose their eligibility for foreign tax credit, tax deferral on foreign source income and domestic international corporation benefits for one tax year if the bill becomes law.
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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.
