Mrs. Rita Hauser. United States representative on the UN Human Rights Commission, asserted yesterday that Americans were doing the right thing in speaking out against any injustices by the Soviet government against its Jewish citizens. Americans should continue to speak out, she said, because their criticisms are productive, and are a factor in the increased emigration of Jews from the Soviet Union.
Mrs. Hauser spoke at a session of the National Social Action Conference of the National Women’s League of the United Synagogue attended by 600 delegates from 17 states. She acknowledged that anti-Semitism and discrimination continue to exist in the United States, but drew a distinction between “the official anti-Semitism of the Soviet government and the personal variety which still abounds in some circles in our country.”
Having recently returned from a visit to Israel where she studied the absorption of recent Russian Jewish immigrants. Mrs. Hauser said that some of the emigres were finding difficulty in adjusting to Israeli society. “They are just not accustomed to anything but the Russian system,” she said, ” and coming from a totally different society find it difficult to fend for themselves. Consequently, some tend to blame the Israeli government for any difficulties they encounter. Most of them will eventually adjust; however, regrettably, some will probably never make the full adjustment.”
Discussing the recent voting in the UN on admitting the People’s Republic of China and expelling the Nationalist Chinese delegation, Mrs. Hauser said that once the “important question” resolution had failed (Israel had voted for that resolution) Israel–mindful of its own interests–had no recourse but to vote for the resolution giving the China seat to Peking and for the expulsion of Taiwan. She pointed out that in the past Israel did not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and that “Israel recognized that China would rapidly become a Mediterranean power.”
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.
