The head of the largest Orthodox rabbinic body today expressed grave concern over a concerted effort by Arab students in various American colleges and universities to launch a campaign of propaganda and vilification against Israel and American Jews.
Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld, president of the Rabbinical Council of America, urged the American Jewish community to take steps to counter the impact of this propaganda campaign. “The effort to combat this new danger must be a united one,” he stressed. “No one Jewish group can possibly cope with all the dimensions that this problem poses. The number of Arab students is constantly increasing and they are now present, in force, on practically every campus in the country. The parameters of the situation will require the participation of the total Jewish community.”
He noted further, “Thousands of students are the guests of the American government and are studying in American universities under scholarships and grants by the United States. It is inconceivable that guests should be sowing the seeds of dissension and hatred against American citizens whose taxes are paying for their scholarships. It is the responsibility of our Department of State which handles these scholarships to review and correct this situation.”
Rabbi Schonfeld proposed that the Jewish community tackle this problem on three levels, namely: “a series of lectures and educational programs dealing with the Arab-Israeli problems; to institute in depth seminars throughout the colleges and universities in the country and, finally, the publication of relevant material and literature.”
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