A warning against “over-optimism” regarding the dangers of the “increasing anti-Semitism” in various parts of the world was voiced here last night by Dr. Nahum Goldmann, president of the World Jewish Congress. He was the principal speaker at a dinner here climaxing the week-long plenary session of the WJC’s executive committee, which had been attended by 100 delegates from 30 countries.
Dr. Goldmann pointed out that optimism in the face of anti-Semitism is dangerous, noting that such an attitude at the beginning of the Hitler regime had proven “catastrophic for the Jewish nation.”
Unification of the Jewish people and “maintaining the uniqueness of the Jewish nation, lest it assimilate, ” he told the assemblage, is another difficulty facing the World Jewish Congress today. Assimilation of the Jewish nation today, he cautioned, “could mean the end of Israel, ” adding that “that is only one reason for maintaining this uniqueness. ” He also emphasized the need for WJC activities “to safeguard Jewish rights everywhere. “
Other speakers at the event included Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Abba Eban, and Tel Aviv Mayor Mordechai Namir. Among those attending the dinner were ambassadors and other leading diplomats from 24 countries.
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