Charging that the Syrian Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Farid Zeineddine, has “grossly violated his obligations as a diplomatic representative of a foreign nation,” the American Jewish Congress today urged the State Department to demand the Syrian envoy’s immediate recall.
In a letter to Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, the president of the American Jewish Congress, Dr. Israel Goldstein, declared that the Syrian Ambassador’s latest breach of diplomatic protocol was contained in a speech made last June 26 at the Illinois State Normal University. Dr. Zeineddine said: “The American Jew is not an American emotionally or even ultimately. A Zionist cannot have real allegiance to the country in which he lives.”
“This outrageous statement was not an isolated indiscretion,” Dr Goldstein stated. “It is but the latest in a series of outbursts by Ambassador Zeineddine attacking the loyalty of American Jews and arousing antagonism toward them.” Among the numerous instances cited by Dr. Goldstein was a speech made last November before the Women’s National Democratic Club in Washington, D.C., in which the Syrian diplomat characterized Jews throughout the world as “mongrelized Russians” who can never claim to be an integral part of the country in which they live.
In Washington, Dr. Zeineddine yesterday demanded that the United States cut off all military, economic and political aid to Israel. The Syrian Ambassador made the request at a conference with Assistant Secretary of State George E. Allen.
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.
