Jewish Delegations Confer with State Dept. Officials on Arab Boycott

Delegations of two different Jewish organizations today held separate meetings with high officials of the State Department in connection with recent statements indicating acquiescence by the State Department with Arab boycott and blockade tactics.

Rabbi Philip S. Bernstein, president of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, and I. L. Kenen, its executive director, called on Phillips Talbot, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, and voiced criticism of a recent expression on the Arab boycott by Brooks Hays, Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Affairs. The Hays expression was in the form of an official letter to Senator Kenneth Keating of New York that sought to minimize the Arab boycott and blockade and provide an apologia for such tactics.

Another delegation, this one representing the American Jewish Congress, met with Assistant Secretary Hays; John S. Hoghland 2nd, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Affairs; and Armin H. Meyer, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. The meeting was described as an outgrowth of Mr. Hays’ rebuttal of a New York State Legislature resolution that urged the Government to move against Arab blockades and boycotts affecting “American citizens of Jewish faith and American companies controlled or managed by such citizens.”

The American Jewish Congress delegation urged Mr. Hays to protect the rights of American Jewish travelers and businessmen from religious discrimination by Arab governments. Representing the AJC were Julian Freeman, of Indianapolis, chairman of its Commission on International Affairs; Louis B. Shector, of Baltimore, co-chairman of the Commission; and Philip Baum of New York, the Commissions director.