A three-day World Assembly for Peace and Independence for the Indo-Chinese Peoples was, for a while, the scene of a bitter clash between Israeli and Arab delegates. Six Israelis attended the international symposium, four of them members of the Israel Peace Movement. The Israeli delegation included one member of the Labor Party, two members of Mapam and two members of Rakach, the pro-Moscow Communist Party. None of the participants represented their parties.
The clash developed at a session of the political committee when an Algerian delegate defied the chairman’s injunction that only matters relating to Vietnam be considered and launched a violent attack on Israel. The Algerian sought to establish a parallel between events in Vietnam and the Middle East and was Joined by the Moroccan and Syrian delegates. He was answered by Dov Pouder of Mapam who called the Algerian’s speech “racist in content and hysterically war-mongering in form.”
During the three day sessions, Ben Gal met twice in the lobby with Yashef Ossman, the delegate from the new state of Bangladesh and informed him of the activities of the Israeli Committee for Solidarity with Bangladesh. They also spoke of the work done by the French-Jewish Committee for Bangladesh. The Bangladesh delegate expressed his appreciation for the work done by both groups. The French committee has collected about $20,000 for Bangladesh relief.
Israel’s Magen David Adom will celebrate its 40th anniversary on Monday. Emanuel Celler (D.N.Y.), board of directors chairman of the American Red Magen David, urged US Jews to give aid.
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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.
