A Soviet attempt to deprive the Coordinating Board of Jewish Organizations (COJO) of accredited status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council failed today. A resolution introduced by the Soviet Union in the Council’s Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations that COJO be given no status at all was defeated by a vote of five to four with two abstentions. Bulgaria, Libya, and Indonesia supported the Soviet resolution which was opposed by Britain, France, the United States, Uruguay and Tanzania. India and Turkey abstained.
A resolution to assign the organization to Category II, on which a tentative decision had been taken last year, failed of passage by a vote of four-to-four with Tanzania joining the abstainers. A third resolution, by Libya, assigning the organization to the roster, failed by the same vote. It was consequently decided to record that the committee had been unable to take action on the Jewish organization at this time.
COJO represents B’nai B’rith, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the South African Jewish Board of Deputies. The Russians have been extremely critical of the Jewish non-governmental organizations which have spoken out against the Soviet treatment of the Jewish minority in Russia. They are being supported by the Arab states in their efforts to bar the Jewish organizations from speaking before UN bodies.
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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.
