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Jewish War Veterans to Meet with Shell Oil Co. on Boycott Issue

August 15, 1957
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Officials of the Jewish War Veterans of America, meeting here on the eve of the opening of the JWV 62nd annual national convention, indicated to delegates today that no action would be taken on a proposal to boycott the Shell Oil Company without full deliberations by the organization and a hearing of all parties. The proposal was developed for JWV consideration in retaliation for the British-owned parent firm’s decision to withdraw from Israel under Arab pressure.

Abraham Kraditor of New York, past national commander and chairman of the JWV foreign affairs committee, revealed that Shell representatives and JWV officials will meet Thursday evening to discuss the issue. He added that such a serious step as a boycott “cannot and will not be taken” by the JWV without “careful and judicious study of all the facts.”

The issue was raised at the national executive committee meeting yesterday and referred to a special committee to report to the full convention. Behind JWV consideration of the proposal was the fact that for some time extreme pressure has been exerted by Arab nations against businessmen all over the world to put into effect an economic boycott against Israel and against all firms either owned by or employing American Jews, JWV officials said.

They added that this campaign has created a serious problem both in the United States and Israel, adding that until the present time, responsible representatives of the American Jewish community had refrained from any counter-action but the deteriorating situation as exemplified by the action of the British oil company in Israel, has brought the matter to the forefront.

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