Anti-Jewish remarks made by S. A. Dodge, president of Lions International, were retracted by him today in a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Pointing out that a JTA dispatch quoting those remarks–which he made in Los Angeles–“has given the impression that I harbor ill feeling toward people of the Jewish faith, ” Mr. Dodge said:
“The statements which you quoted were made by me, under great stress, shortly after I had returned from a trip during which I had witnessed the shocking plight of the Arab refugees and felt that possible Communist inroads in the Middle East could lead to a conflict involving the use of American troops. Unfortunately, I had only partial knowledge of the reasons for these conditions and did not realize the full implications of my statement. I regret exceedingly that the reporting of my statements seemed to reflect an anti-Semitic attitude on my part because this, of course, is diametrically opposed to my own viewpoint as it is to that of Lions International. I could not condone such thinking either personally or as representative of the Association.”
Mr. Dodge declared that he had since conferred with representatives of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith and “information has been made available to me on the problems of Israel, the origins of the Arab-Israel conflict, the Arab refugee problem and the American program of aid to the Arab States as well as to Israel. This has given me a broader perspective of the complex problems in this troubled area. I am the more deeply impressed with the necessity for renewed efforts to establish peace between Israel and the Arab States which would provide the conditions for justice for all the peoples of that area. “
“I earnestly hope and pray to God, ” Mr. Dodge concluded, “that our Lions organization, with its basic emphasis on service to all men, regardless of race or creed, may become an agency through which the peoples of all nations meet in an atmosphere of friendship and mutual understanding to solve, according to the will of our Creator, the many problems that vex the human family, that the world may be, as planned in the beginning, a place of peace. “
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