The action of the General Assembly of the National Council of Churches in rejecting as “one-sided” a resolution on the Middle East was described today by a Jewish “fraternal 1 delegate,” Rabbi March H. Tanenbaum, as “an important contribution to reconciliation between Christians and Jews.”
Rabbi Tanenbaum, director of the inter-religious affairs department of the American Jewish Committee, said the Assembly’s decision to return a draft resolution on “displaced Palestinians” to committee for revision in more balanced terms was “a genuine act of statesmanship which deserves the appreciation of all men of good will who seek to reduce polarization and extremism in the Middle East and who are committed to trying to build a middle ground on which Christians, Jews and Moslems who seek the welfare of all the people in the area can work together.”
The resolution was introduced from the floor by a spokesman for the Arab-American Congress for Palestine, a Detroit-based group which raises funds for the El Fatah terrorist movement, recruits guerrilla candidates and publishes the Voice of Freedom, a pro-Fatah newsletter.
The resolution urged the delegates to assist “the displaced Palestinians…by all possible means to return to their homes” and also asked that “the department of information services of the National Council of Churches help interpret to the American churches the concern of the Middle East Christian community, especially the demand for justice by the Palestinian people.” Despite a strong appeal by Norman Assad, the Arab speaker, for support of the Palestinian cause and for an anti-Israel stand by Protestant churches, the National Council voted Thursday for a re-drafting of the statement to accord with the Council’s May 2, 1969 policy statement on the Mideast crisis. That statement expressed concern for the human needs of the Palestinian Arabs but also for the Jews in the Arab countries…and the Jews of Israel (who) must be assured of safety and their rights.”
In response to the Arab presentation, Rabbi Tanenbaum prepared a memorandum which was distributed to key members of every major Protestant and Orthodox denomination at the assembly. It said that the resolution reflected only one side of the Mid East situation and that “no statement of any other view was heard.” It held that “to take a position based on a limited, patently slanted presentation would…be unfair and hardly responsible.”
The memorandum also declared that “Arab information programs have frequently exploited anti-Jewish as well as anti-Israel themes and rhetoric. American churches ought not to allow their structures and publications to become manipulated in information programs that will feed either directly or indirectly anti-Semitism, already far too greatly exacerbated by tensions in this country and abroad.”
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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.
