The American Council for Judaism, the strongly anti-Zionist organization, concluded its four-day national conference here today after bitter attacks against the Zionist movement in the United States and a request by its president, Clarence L. Coleman Jr., that the U.S. Government “conduct an examination of the relationship between the State of Israel and certain Zionist mechanisms operating in the lives of American Jews.”
The ACJ president referred specifically to the Jewish Agency, the United Jewish Appeal and a number of other organizations in the United States. Fie said that Jews in this country who consider themselves “uncommitted” to Zionism are “primarily responsible” for contributing money that supports Zionist activities. At the same time, he said that the Council “is not opposed to the existence of the State of Israel.”
In requesting a government investigation, Mr. Coleman said: “This is important so that American Jews may know if, and to what extent, agencies and institutions which they support as voluntary American agencies are legally and technically performing services as agencies of a foreign country. “He also urged the creations of reorganized charitable agencies which, in their operation, implement the ideology Jews who repudiate “Jewish” nationalism.
Mr. Coleman’s views were supported at today’s session by Harry Snellenburg Jr., president of the American Council for Judaism Philanthropic Fund, who claimed that “American Jews give millions of dollars each year in response to philanthropic appeals, and then permit their own educational, cultural and social institutions to suffer while the lion’s share of those millions is exported to satisfy Israel’s demands for money and manpower.”
Congressman Omar Burleson, of Texas, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that he was “struck” at hearings of his committee by testimony that “funds sent to Israel from the United States for ostensibly charitable and humanitarian purposes” are allegedly finding their way into Israeli defense expenditure. He named the Israeli bond sales and the UJA collections. Another anti-Zionist address was delivered at the conference today by Rabbi Elmer Berger, executive vice-president of the Council for Judaism.
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.
