The House Foreign Affairs and Banking Committees have undertaken separate investigations into the Arab, boycott and discrimination against some 1,500 American companies and against Saudi Arabia’s general prohibition against American Jews, even those engaged in U.S. official business.
The Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Multinational Corporations, led by Sen. Frank Church (D., Idaho) which made public the American firms being boycotted for having dealings with Israeli enterprises or including Jews in their management, is already deeply engaged in probing the Arabs’ world-wide discriminatory and anti-Jewish tactics as they affect the United States.
Four government departments — State, Defense, Treasury and Commerce — are involved in the probing within the Administration. President Ford has called for reports and recommendations to eliminate the boycott effects. Testimony thus far elicited by the Church subcommittee shows that the U.S. Army gave Saudi Arabia options to eliminate American contractors and bar Jewish personnel from entering the country. The State Department was disclosed as making the agreements which the army carried out.
BOYCOTT TERMED ANTI-SEMITIC
The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on international Trade and Commerce headed by Rep. Jonathan Bingham (D.,NY) expects to hold a hearing this week with government and private witnesses testifying on aspects involving manufacturers and distributors of commodities, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency was informed. The House Banking Subcommittee on international Trade, investment and Monetary Policy, led by Rep. Thomas Rees (D., Calif) will explore the boycott as it affects banking and investment, including Arab purchases of stock in American companies.
Saying that his panel will seek facts before it schedules a hearing, Rees described the boycott as “terribly serious” The boycott, he told the JTA, is dealing with public policy of the United States that “has very little relationship to, Israel. it affects American citizens who happen to be Jewish. It is anti-Semitic and goes way beyond the bounds of reason.” Rees observed his subcommittee has jurisdiction over all foreign investments in the United States and indicated it would examine them.
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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.
