A five-day conference of the Consultative Conference of Jewish Organizations opened here tonight with a dinner given for the more than 100 delegates of 19 communal and welfare organizations from Europe and North Africa by the American Jewish Committee, one of three sponsoring organizations of the parley. The other two groups are the Anglo-Jewish Association of Britain and the Alliance Israelite Universelle of France. The conference will consider the problems facing Jews living in Western Europe and North Africa.
President Eisenhower, in a message to the conference brought by Irving M. Engel, president of the AJC and a co-chairman of the parley, declared: “Please convey my greetings to those attending the special Consultative Conference of Jewish Organizations. In working for basic human rights and for religious toleration, these Jewish organizations make an important contribution to the development of understanding and respect between the peoples of differing persuasions. I congratulate the sponsors of this conference on their part in the reconstruction of the position of the Jews of Western Europe in the past decade. To all of you I express my hope that your future efforts will be equally productive.”
Ambassador Eliahu Elath of Israel, chief speaker at tonight’s dinner, told the guests that the years immediately before and immediately after the establishment of Israel, when he was Israel’s representative and then Ambassador to the United States, were “among the hardest of my life but also among the most rewarding.” He paid tribute to the “whole-hearted support” of American Jewry for the Zionist cause and Israel, singling out for special praise the American Jewish Committee which he underlined was the first of the Jewish organizations outside the Zionist movement to recognize the practical meaning of the establishment of Israel. He hailed Jacob Blaustein, honorary president of the AJC, who is co-head of the AJC delegation to this parley, for his role in the committee’s acceptance of Israel.
In a statement issued here before the parley began, Messrs, Engel and Blaustein said that the conference was dedicated to “enriching the religious and cultural life” of 1,400,000 Jews and to the promotion of “better understanding between them and their fellowmen of all religions.” The statement expressed admiration for the “courage and tenacity” of European Jews for rebuilding their communities in the decade since the Nazi regime was destroyed.
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