Jewish Congress Complains to State Dept. on Aramco Boycott of Jews

Documents never before made public have been uncovered showing bow Saudi Arabia ordered the Arabian American Oil Co. (Aramco) to boycott a list of American business firms owned or managed by Jews, it was disclosed today by the American Jewish Congress.

The same documents–contained in the files of the New York State Commission Against Discrimination–also reveal that Aramco has been forbidden by the King of Saudi Arabia from employing Jews in the United States as well as in Saudi Arabia, the AJC charged in a letter to Acting Secretary of State Douglas Dillon.

The letter, signed by Dr. Joachim Prinz, national president of the American Jewish Congress, criticized the role of a State Department official–Assistant Secretary William M. Rountree–in securing an exemption for Aramco from the New York anti-discrimination law. The Jewish group asked for a meeting with Secretary Herter to discuss how best to “protect the rights of American citizens against foreign religious bigotry. “

Mr. Rountree, according to the AJC statement, had written to the New York State Commission Against Discrimination that if Aramco were required to comply with the state law this might “prejudice the company’s operations” and “probably adversely affect other United States interests in Saudi Arabia as well. “

Dr. Prinz’s letter declared: “By taking this position, the State Department has sanctioned nullification, by a foreign monarch, of American laws whose equalitarian concepts he finds unacceptable. We cannot believe that the Department will persist in a policy which so grossly subordinates the rights of citizens to the expediencies of international bargaining. “

In its complaint, the AJC charged that Aramco violated the New York anti-discrimination law by refusing to hire Jews. The case is now before the New York State Supreme Court on appeal. A hearing is scheduled for this Friday before Justice Samuel M. Gold in the State Supreme Court.