U.A.H.C. Appeal to Eisenhower Against Submitting to Arab Bigotry

An appeal to the President and Secretary of State Dulles to end United States Government “collaboration” with Saudi Arabia in “denying religious freedom to Jews and Christians” and to end the “shocking and humiliating religious bigotry sanctioned by the U.S. as part of its agreement to lease the Dharhan air base from Saudi Arabia, was addressed today by the national executive board of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.

The appeal was contained in a resolution which scored “blacklists, blackmail and boycotts” practiced by Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries against “businessmen of the Jewish faith, firms with Jewish members and those who deal with the State of Israel. The U.S. Government was urged to insist on changing the status of Jews and of Christian clergymen and to demand an end to such boycotts as a condition for renewal of the Dharhan base agreement, which expires tomorrow.

Other resolutions reiterated the Union’s support of Israel, called for implementation of the Supreme Court’s decision on racial desegregation and determined upon an expansion of the temple youth movement as a “deterrent to juvenile delinquency.” The executive board adopted an administrative budget of $960,000 and approved the admission of 29 congregations in the UAHC.

Last night, addressing a dinner meeting of the executive board, UAHC president Dr. Maurice N. Eisendrath, urged the establishment of a social action office in the South to “give Jewish leadership encouragement, counsel and needed materials” and to provide evidence of the Union’s continued interest in the Jewish communities of the South. He coupled this plea with one to the Jews to take an active part in the fight in the South against segregation. He insisted that Jewish religious principles required Jewish groups to “join in this momentous effort” to establish racial equality.