The Governing Board of the World Jewish Congress ended a four-day meeting here during which it called on the Commission of the European Economic Community (EEC) to take effective measures against the application of the Arab boycott in the nine member countries of the Common Market.
Specifically, the Commission was urged to exercise its authority under the rules of competition of the Treaty of Rome and subsequent EEC regulations not to permit interference with free trade through boycott practices against individuals and companies that trade with Israel or as a form of racial, ethnic or religious discrimination which the Board described as “an especially reprehensible and abhorrent” manifestation of the Arab boycott.
The meeting of the Governing Board was held under the chairmanship of Philip M. Klutznick, of Chicago, a former U.S. Ambassador to the UN. The matter of Arab boycott practices as they affect the Common Market was raised by the WJC’s European Section. The WJC urged “the promulgation of such regulations, the issuance of such directives and the taking of such decisions as are appropriate to preclude the harmful effect of boycott practices.”
It proposed that all future EEC agreements with member states of the Arab League and all other countries should continue to insist on the inclusion of anti-discrimination provisions. It also asked for “full and unqualified acceptance” of this principle by all states wishing to make agreements with the EEC in accordance with the EEC’s publicly proclaimed opposition to “the measures of discrimination boycott” practiced by Arab countries.
The Governing Board meeting was addressed by WJC President Dr. Nahum Goldmann, who reminded the participants that the future of the Jewish community in the USSR is closely linked with strengthening the policy of detents and stabilization of the situation in the Middle East. The Governing Board approved the declaration of the second World Conference on Soviet Jewry held in Brussels last week and addressed a “solemn appeal” to the Soviet government asking it to respect fundamental human rights in order to promote international peace and understanding.
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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.
