J. W. V. Denies Any Plans to Drop Boycott Consideration

A Shell Oil Company statement that the Jewish War Veterans of America had dropped consideration of a boycott against the firm was vigorously denied today by a JWV official.

A Shell spokesman said that the JWV had accepted the company’s explanation of the projected withdrawal of the British-owned parent company from sales operations in Israel as based entirely on “economic considerations.” Abraham Kraditor of New York, past national commander and chairman of the JWV Foreign Affairs committee, said that the JWV had not accepted the Shell explanation and that there has been no change in the status of the boycott issue.

He said Benjamin H. Chasin of Brooklyn, newly-elected national commander, left today for the JWV national headquarters in Washington, D.C., for a staff meeting tomorrow at which the date and place will be decided for the regular meeting of the JWV policy committee. The JWV 62nd annual convention in Boston last week gave the policy committee full authority to decide on whether a boycott should be organized against the American company, in retaliation for the Israeli withdrawal decision. A JWV counter-boycott also would be in protest against alleged oil firm concessions to Arab efforts to extend the Arab boycott to American firms either owned by or employing Jews.

Kraditor said the JWV was still holding to the position that there would be no action on the boycott issue until the organization was satisfied as to the “real reasons” for the withdrawal decision in Israel. Kraditor also said the JWV hoped that other Jewish organizations would join in a boycott, if one was approved, because the JWV did not want to “go it alone” and risk an ineffective action. It was understood that such a boycott would involve primarily return of Shell credit cards to the company by JWV members.

The policy committee meeting will be held within a month and probably in New York City, it was understood.