The National Education Association said today that it does not take any of its teacher tour groups into “countries which do not permit all the teachers in a group to enter.” The head of NEA’s travel service, Dr. Paul H. Kinsel, said that the organization’s policy has been consistent since 1956.
Dr. Kinsel said that NEA tour groups have gone to Egypt, but there has never been any understanding that Jewish teachers would be questioned about their religion or barred from entering the country. His remarks were made in response to questions raised yesterday by the Jewish Labor Committee.
In a letter to NEA executive secretary William G. Carr, the JLC said it had been its understanding that, on occasion, Jewish teachers were re-routed so as not to accompany the full group to an Arab country.
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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.