A proposal that a draft United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, being debated here now by the Commission on Human Rights, expand its protections to include ethnic groups that are denied equal rights was presented to the Commission today by Label A. Katz, international president of B’nai B’rith. Mr. Katz made the proposal on behalf of the Coordinating Board of Jewish Organizations, which represents both B’nai B’rith and the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and has consultative status before the Commission.
The CBJO proposal indicated clearly that its aim is to extend the draft convention’s rights to Soviet Jewry, but did not name the USSR. It noted that the draft now under discussion failed to refer “to the right of ethnic groups to conduct educational activities, including the maintenance of schools and the teaching of their own language,” thus pointing directly to the suppression of Yiddish and Hebrew cultural activities in the Soviet Union. The document, referring to the Soviet Union obliquely, pointed out “the need to guard against sad experiences in the contemporary world where an ethnic group in a multi-national society is deprived of means of cultural expression, including the use of its own educational institutions and language.”
Another proposal made by the CBJO requested that the draft convention’s articles of implementation give the right of filing complaints not only to member-governments of the United Nations but also to individuals, groups or non-governmental organizations that have UN consultative status. The draft against racism is expected to be adopted by the Commission within the next 10 days. The next item on the agenda is one banning religious discrimination.
Several non-governmental Jewish organizations are expected to present memoranda and ask for the floor when the religious item comes up for debate. Israel, represented by Dr. Meir Rosenne, as an observer, may also intervene in the debate.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
