The Anglo-Jewish Association and the British section of the World Jewish Congress indicated last night readiness to continue negotiations for coordination among major British Jewish organizations on approaches to the British Government on foreign affairs issues. Dr. Abraham Cohen, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said this week-end that such negotiations had broken down after a year, and held the AJA chiefly responsible for the failure.
At a meeting of the AJA council last night, president R.N. Carvalho announced that a special meeting of the Council would be held to consider the latest developments in this matter. Mr. Carvalho told the meeting that the coordination proposals put forth by the Board of Deputies were in fact “based on subordination not coordination.” He rejected the assertion that the AJA was responsible for the collapse of the negotiations and offered documentary proof that the AJA had taken a conciliatory position.
He added that he felt that “in the minds of the Board’s representatives no solution stood a chance of acceptance which did not exact the Board above other participants in the negotiations.” He welcomed the fact that the Board had left the door open for further negotiations, stating; “We shall not be reluctant to participate in them whenever they are arranged and whoever calls them.”
The executive of the British section of the WJC, which also met last night issued a statement expressing regret at the breaking down of negotiations among the organizations “owing to the fact that certain organizations had rejected the underlying principle of the proposed coordination, namely the central position of the Board of Deputies in action in behalf of British Jewry.”
The statement added that the executive wished “to reaffirm that the British section accepted unreservedly the Board’s final proposals for coordination and remains willing to do so. The British section wishes to emphasize that the Board’s proposals implied only coordination in behalf of British Jewry and in consequence only British organizations.”
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.
