Governors Abstain from African Day Celebration Which Snubbed Israel

Three Governors and the Mayor of New York absented themselves today from the diplomatic reception celebrating African Freedom Day, from which Israel, alone among the members of the United Nations, had been excluded at the insistence of the Arab bloc.

The prominent absentees were New York Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller, Connecticut Governor Abraham Ribicoff, Michigan Governor G. Mennen Williams, and New York Mayor Robert F. Wagner. The diplomatic reception without Israel and minus these four prominent Americans was held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

Israel, however, was invited to, and was represented at the second important event celebrating Africa Freedom Day, observed at Carnegie Hall tonight. The evening event, conducted by the American Committee on Africa, had invited all Asian and African member states as guests of honor.

A number of United Nations delegates from non-Arab African states today showed embarrassment over Israel’s exclusion from the diplomatic list for the afternoon reception. The committee of nine delegations in charge of the afternoon event consisted of representatives from the United Arab Republic, Sudan, Morocco, Tunis, Libya, Ghana, Ethiopia, Guinea and Liberia. Israel has excellent relations with the four non-Arab states in this group.

In answer to a question about the afternoon event, a spokesman for the Israel delegation stated here today:

“Israel has not been invited for the simple reason that five of the nine countries concerned are members of the Arab League. The Arab League has always pursued an intransigent policy of boycotting Israel. The exclusion of Israel comes from the undue pressure which these five states have brought to bear on the others.

“It is regrettable that the others should have found themselves, however unwillingly, constrained to yield to these pressures, resulting in an act of discrimination which violates the accepted traditions of courtesy between nations.”