State Dept. Promises to Act on Anti-jewish Speech by Arab Envoy

State Department sources today said that a formal request from a member of Congress to Secretary of State Herter to consider ousting Ambassador Mostafa Kamel of the United Arab Republic for injecting an anti-Jewish issue and other involvement in the United States election activity would be given “appropriate study and consideration.”

The Department has requested the full text of the ambassador’s speech which was delivered at a convention of Arab students in this country. The demand to oust the Arab envoy came from Rep. Seymour Halpern, New York Republican, Citing the ambassador’s attack on “The Jewish minority” and the candidates. Rep. Halpern said; “There has been enough difficulty with native bigots injecting religious issues into the current election without we ambassador of the UAR entering the fray.”

Dr. Kamel, in his address to Arab students in this country at their recent convention, said it was their “duty” to enter election activity here to propagandize against Israel and the American Jewish community. Rep. Halpern asked Mr. Herter if the ambassador was to be permitted to instruct Arab nationals in this country on temporary student visas to become “anti-religious agitators as well as political campaign workers in our internal election.”

Rep. Halpern also asked the Secretary to investigate possible cases of visa abuse by Arab students as a result of the ambassador’s political instructions to them. Halpern said the Arab ambassador “openly defamed a section of the American public, our citizens of Jewish faith” as well as injecting himself directly into domestic American political affairs involving the position taken on the Middle East issue by various candidates. He termed the ambassador’s activity “an apparent breach of protocol.”