The State Department has intervened with the Spanish Government over the restrictions imposed on Jewish religious worship in Madrid during the High Holy Days last month, it was revealed in a letter to Dr. Israel Goldstein, president of the American Jewish Congress, which the AJC made public here today.
In reply to a telegram from the AJC asking the State Department to use its “good offices” with the Spanish authorities in this matter, the State Department said that “on behalf of a group of Americans of Jewish faith” the U.S. Embassy in Madrid had questioned the restrictions, and had been told that the Spanish authorities felt if they granted this request they must accede to similar pleas from other religions.
Noting the difficulty of intervention, the State Department nevertheless pledged that “our government will continue to exercise its good offices at every possible opportunity to the end that all persons may enjoy full freedom of religious worship in Spain.”
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