A three-day national conference of the National Women’s Division, American Friends of the Hebrew University, opened here today with a welcoming address by Mayor Kenneth Oka of Miami Beach and a greeting from Governor Farris Bryant delivered by Thomas D. Bailey, Superintendent of Public Instruction for Florida. The women’s organization is currently engaged in raising a $1,000,000 fund to complete a new central library of the University on its campus in Jerusalem.
The conference was addressed by Sen. Paul H. Douglas of Illinois on “World Amity Through Higher Education.” Other speakers included Dr. George S. Wise of Mexico, chairman of the Board of Governors of the University; Zeev Z. Dover, Israel’s Consul for southeastern United States and Mrs. Louis S. Gimbel, president of the national women’s group.
Dr. Wise reported that hundreds of technicians of Israel invited by the new nations of Africa and Asia were hard at work establishing teacher training schools and raising health and medical standards. In Israel, he said, the Hebrew University is providing teaching aid and guidance to students of these new nations.
He stressed that the people “of the new and aspiring countries have a choice of accepting the invitation and influence of countries behind the Iron Curtain or going to the West as represented by the Hebrew University for aid. Most choose Israel because they consider it a fellow nation with problems similar to their own which has progressed greatly towards securing its own economic and cultural independence.”
He urged support for the Hebrew University “to provide a source of enlightenment and a strong link between the new nations and those of the Western world.”
Senator Douglas praised Israel for realizing that an investment in people and youth was more productive than similar investments in machinery and physical comfort. He expressed the hope that the Hebrew University will soon attract Arab students from outside areas and become a great influence in reconciling Israel and the Arab world.
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