Rabbi Arthur J. Lelyveld, president of the American Jewish Congress, deplored today the action of the National Black Political Convention’s steering committee in condemning Israel for her alleged “expansionist policy and forceful occupation of the sovereign territory of another state.” The AJ Congress leader said “we denounce and reject the ignorance and bigotry” (that permeates) “this slanderous resolution.”
The resolution, adopted by the steering committee late last month, was, according to a committee spokesman, a “rectified” and “softened” version of the resolution adopted by the NBPC in Gary, Indiana on March 12 which called for the dismantling of Israel. Rabbi Lelyveld noted that contrary to the contention of the Black organization, Israel has conducted a “long and vigorous search for peace, only to be rejected by her Arab neighbors who have sought unremittingly to destroy the Jewish State.”
He added that the steering committee’s so-called rectified and softened resolution “mouthed the propaganda of terrorist groups….” On March 21, the 13 members of the Congressional Black Caucus issued a unanimous statement in defense of Israel’s existence and vigorously opposed “efforts of any group that would seek to weaken or undermine Israel’s right to existence.” Rabbi Lelyveld said this was an encouraging sign that the NBPC and the steering committee’s views do not represent the “thinking of the overwhelming majority of Black Americans.”
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