Jewish Leaders Respond to Black Leadership Conference Statements

Leaders of major Jewish organizations declared today in response to statements issued yesterday by a Black leadership conference here on the impact of Andrew Young’s resignation on Black-Jewish relations, that the Jewish agencies “cannot work with those who resort to half-truths, lies and bigotry in any guise or from any source.”

Today’s statement emerged from a meeting of representatives of the 11 major national Jewish agencies affiliated with the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council, which also represents 107 Jewish Com- munity Relations Councils throughout the United States.

The affiliated agencies are the American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Congress, Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, Hadassah, Jewish Labor Committee, Jewish War Veterans, National Council of Jewish Women, Union of American Hebrew Congregations (Reform), United Synagogue of America (Conservative), Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, and Women’s American ORT.

The subject of the Jewish statement was a meeting attended by some 200 leaders of the NAACP, the National Urban League and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference which criticized the Carter Administration and the Jewish organizations in the resignation of Young as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

EXPRESSION OF SORROW AND ANGER

The statement by the major Jewish organizations declared:

“As agencies which have been deeply involved for many decodes in achieving civil rights and which have contributed our manpower finances and lives to that struggle, we take pride in our continued commitment to those goals that grow out of our Jewish heritage.

“Thus it is with sorrow and anger that we note the Aug. 22 statements issued by a group of Black leaders on Black-Jewish relations. We know that many Black leaders feel as we do. They are and will continue to be our allies. We join hands with them in the struggle against injustice.

“We cannot work with those who resort to half-truths, lies and bigotry in any guise or from any source. We cannot work with those, who in failing to differentiate between the Palestinian Arabs and the PLO, give support to terrorism by legitimizing the PLO. We cannot work with those who would succumb to Arab blackmail an the energy crisis. We will continue to cooperate with those in the Black community who fight for peace and justice in the Middle East.

“We will continue to fight racism–be it white against Black or Black against white–with all the strength we can muster. We will continue to cooperate with the Black community in the campaign for full employment. We will continue to cooperate with those in the Black community who fight for fair housing, integrated quality education, health care and equitable solutions to inflation and the energy crisis.”