The issue of the London Chamber of Commerce withdrawal of its offer of the organization’s presidency to Lord Mancroft, the Jewish financier, under alleged Arab boycott pressure, seemed to have been resolved today to the satisfaction of Jewish leaders as well as of officials of the Chamber.
After meeting separately with Jewish members of Parliament and with leaders of Jewish organizations, the Earl of Verulam, president of the Chamber, issued a statement which the Jewish representatives concurred, stating flatly that the Chamber has, “since 1951, been adamant in being opposed to any form of recognition of the Arab boycott and has always refused to sign any certificate which included any form of discrimination.”
The joint statement noted further that the Chamber’s official journal this year re-affirmed “support of resolutions deploring the intervention of political questions into the field of international trade by countries having recourse to commercial boycotts based on racial and religious criteria.”
“The president of the Chamber,” the joint statement continued, “is selected irrespective of his ethnic origin or creed. It is the normal practice for confidential approaches to be made to distinguished persons to allow their names to go forward. Occasionally, names are withdrawn. It is regretted that, in connection with a recent approach and withdrawal, a public misunderstanding has arisen which is jointly deplored.”
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.
