U.S. Information Agency Orders Deletion of Rabbi from Johnson Film

The United States Information Agency was disclosed today to have ordered deletion of a rabbi from a documentary film on President Johnson scheduled to be shown throughout the world. The deletion was ordered because of possible Arab objections.

The 30-minute film, based mainly on newsreels made by Hearst Metrotone News, is entitled “Let Us Continue.” The documentary film is designed to explain President Johnson’s position on several crucial issues. To show the harmonious relationships of different religions in the United States, a shot originally was included showing Roman Catholic, Protestant and Jewish clergymen. However, the rabbi was ordered deleted.

The deletion was denounced by Rabbis Leon I. Feuer, president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, who said the action was “a disgrace to the United States.”

“In an attempt to placate the Arab nations whose loyalty to the United States is doubtful, the U. S. Information Agency has not only offended the Jews of this country but has violated the trust that all Americans have in their government by letting the pressure of foreign governments influence American democratic ideals,” the CCAR president said in a statement. He termed the deletion a “new and abhorrent concession to Arab blackmail.”

(In Washington, a spokesman for the United States Information Agency said today that no censorship was exerted by the USIA in the documentary film about the new Johnson Administration nor was a religious scene eliminated from the film. According to the USIA, a panoramic scene showing American houses of worship of various faiths was considered for inclusion in the film but the idea was dropped.)