The Detroit Federation of Teachers protested today against the National Education Association’s barring Jewish public school teachers from organized tours to the Middle East which include visits to Arab countries. In a wire to the president of the Detroit Education Association, the local teachers federation said:
“It has come to our attention that the NEA is sponsoring tours which require affidavits as to religious affiliation because certain Arabic states covered by the tour refuse to admit Jews within their borders. The Detroit Federation of Teachers believes that the dignity and welfare of the entire teaching profession is jeopardized by imposing conditions which bar teachers from participation because of their religion.
“Dedication to democracy does not stop at the shoreline of the United States. How can we in good conscience teach democracy and equality to our school children and at the same time engage in such discriminatory practice? The Detroit Federation of Teachers urges the DEA to use its good offices to secure a reversal of this degrading and un American policy in the sponsorship of NEA foreign tours.”
(In Boston, the Massachusetts Labor Committee for Human Rights, joint civil rights agency of the AFL and CIO, has voiced its opposition to NEA sponsored world tours which cooperate with countries that discriminate against Jewish travelers because of their religion.)
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