Jewish Council on Minorities Rights Submits Memorandum to League

A petition to the League of Nations setting forth what is described as the Jewish point of view in the question of changing the procedure with regard to the submission of national minorities’ petitions, now under advisement, was submitted by the Jewish Council on Minorities’ Rights, the organization created at the Zurich conference called under the auspices of the American Jewish Congress two years ago.

The memorandum describes the situation of the Jewish minorities in Eastern Europe and stresses the point that the minority rights have been made a part of the international peace treaties so that by virtue of these treaties the Jewish minorities in Eastern Europe have been placed under the protection of the League of Nations. The rights of the minorities guaranteed in these treaties are the safety of life and property, the promulgation of appropriate nationality laws, the guarantee of equal economic rights, an appropriate school system and the use of the native language. The minorities, experience has shown, must have recourse to the League of Nations in cases of extreme urgency only, a procedure adhered to hitherto by the Jewish Council on Minorities’s Rights. Unfortunately, the memorandum points out, the present procedure renders useless any application to the League of Nations because of delays and complications involved.

The memorandum submits the following suggestions for changes:

1. To give the right of petition to minorities who are represented by their deputies in the respective parliaments or by central organizations.

2. To give the right of petition in behalf of the minorities to large international organizations.

3. That the League of Nations makes public the replies of the respective governments and admits counter replies.