The first attack on Soviet anti-Semitism was launched at the United Nations General Assembly today by Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., head of the American delegation to the U.N., in the course of his first address to the Assembly.
“The United States,” he said, “observed with indignation the persecution of Christians, Moslems and Jews that has been taking place in the Soviet Union for some time. That discrimination is not only wicked; it will also in the end prove to be totally ineffective because there is an undefeatable quality in human nature which will always resist totalitarian attempts to destroy religious and ethnic freedom.”
Ambassador Abba Eban, head of the Israel delegation at the UN, today made an attempt to secure the earliest possible discussion at the Assembly of the anti-Jewish campaign in the Iron Curtain countries by voting with the Soviet bloc to put a Polish proposal on “measures to implement peace” third on the list of the agenda of the UN Political Committee, after the items on Korea and Greece. However, the motion was defeated by eight votes in favor, 33 against and 18 abstentions.
Explaining his vote, Mr. Eban said “there were certain recent measures and movements” behind the Iron Curtain which he wished to bring to the attention of the United Nations. He was, of course, referring to the Soviet anti-Jewish campaign. He pointed out that since he wished to do this as soon as possible he was supporting moving the Polish proposal forward on the agenda. The item under which Israel will raise the issue of anti-Semitism remains in sixth place on the agenda.
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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.
