After more than five years of litigation before the New York State Commission Against Discrimination and through all of the State’s courts, up to the highest tribunal, the New York State Court of Appeals, a public hearing will be opened here tomorrow on charges that the Arabian-American Oil Company discriminates against Jews. Aramco conducts all extraction and refining operations in Saudi Arabia, which bars Jews from entering that country.
The action was first brought before the SCAD by the American Jewish Congress in August of 1956. In successive steps, the commission ruled against the Congress petition, seeking a SCAD order to prevent Aramco “from serving as the agent for Saudi Arabia in screening Jews from its staff.” The AJC won its case in the State Supreme Court, later in the Appellate Division, and was finally upheld by the Court of Appeals, which ruled that SCAD either “eliminate the unlawful practice complained of” or conduct a full public hearing on the charges. Last September, SCAD announced that “conciliation attempts having failed,” the commission will hold a public hearing on the issue.
Ogden Reid, chairman of SCAD, and former United States Ambassador to Israel, ordered the hearing to open tomorrow. Three SCAD commissioners will conduct the hearing: J. Edward Conway, presiding, Mrs. Mary Louise Nice and Bernard Katzen.
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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.
