The United Nations General Assembly, which resumes its seventh regular session here tomorrow, will hear much criticism from delegates of many countries of the Soviet anti-Jewish campaign, it was indicated here today in U.N. circles. Israel Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett may come to New York to participate in the session, it was predicted.
Lester B. Pearson, president of the Assembly, said that the question of Soviet anti-Semitism has not yet been placed on the agenda. He pointed out that other items on the agenda present ample opportunity for discussion of the anti-Jewish drive in the countries behind the Iron Curtain. However, he did not exclude the possibility that there may be a request to place the anti-Jewish policy of the Communist countries on the agenda as a special item.
There are nine items on the agenda–all left over from the first part of the session which recessed last December 22. Some of them definitely provide a basis for launching a debate on the Soviet action against Jews and on the rupture of relations with Israel, without the need of adding a special item on this subject. One of them is the item submitted by Poland calling for “measures to avert the threat of a new world war and to strengthen peace and friendship among nations.”
COMMUNIST CHARGES MAY BOOMERANG; VISHINSKY TO DEFEND RUSSIA
The condemnation of Moscow and the Communist countries where the anti-Jewish campaign has assumed unprecedented proportions since the U.N. Assembly recessed, is expected to come during a debate on the Czechoslovak-sponsored item charging the United States with “interference in the internal affairs of other states,” and with the “organization by the United States of subversive and espionage activities” against the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and other Communist countries.
The debate on these charges may boomerang against Moscow and Prague inasmuch as the anti-Jewish drive is especially strong in these two Communist capitals where Jews are charged with being “American spies” and where the campaign against Israel is being utilized to slander the democratic countries of the West.
The fact that the Soviet delegation to the Assembly is headed by Andrei Vishinsky, Moscow’s Foreign Minister, is seen in United Nations circles as an indication that the Soviet Government expects strong attacks on its anti-Jewish policy during the U.N. session. It is pointed out that other large countries will be represented at this Assembly session by minor delegates since the items on the agenda are only “left overs.”
Strong addresses against Communist anti-Semitism are expected not only from the Israel delegation, but also from the American, British, French delegations and from the delegates of a number of Latin American countries.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
