The Philadelphia Anti-Defamation Council and the Board of Jewish Ministers of this city today issued statements condemning the injection of racial and religious issues into the present mayoralty campaign, and denying that either of the two major candidates, William C. Bullit, former American ambassador to France, or the incumbent, Mayor Bernard Samuel, have indicated anti-Semitic tendencies.
“This Council is not and never has engaged in politics,” the statement by the Anti-Defamation group reads. “It takes no stand either for or against the election of Mayor Bernard Samuel, Mr. William C. Bullitt or any other candidate for Mayor. But it has a definite obligation to the community to do everything possible to prevent the unwarranted injection of racial and religious issues into political life in violation of the fundamental principles of American democracy.
“An examination made by the Council reveals nothing in the writings or record of either candidate of the two major parties to warrant charges of religious or racial bias or prejudice on the part of either of them. In our opinion all such charges and rumors have been thoroughly discredited and should be totally ignored.”
The statement issued by the rabbis reads: “We view with alarm the injection of anti-Semitism as an issue into the current Philadelphia Mayoralty campaign. After careful investigation, we have yet to find evidence proving any of the candidates in the Mayoralty campaign to be guilty of anti-Semitism or religious and racial bias.
“We deplore all false and unfounded accusations of anti-Semitism and religious and racial prejudice against a political party or candidate and we regard them as dangerous and inimical to the welfare of the community. We believe such unwarranted accusations to be as vicious and un-American as the actual fomenting of religious and racial hatreds. We call upon the political parties to help put a stop to this dangerous and undemocratic misuse of campaign privileges and we ask the voters of Philadelphia to disregard all such unwarranted charges as are being leveled against the candidates.”
Simultaneously, the Anti-Defamation Council released letters from both Mr. Samuel and Mr. Bullitt denying any racial or religious bias.
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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.
