A spokesinan for the Hilton International Corporation said today that plans of the hotel chain to operate a hotel built in Tel Aviv would not be affected by a boycott threat from the American-Arab Association for Commerce and Industry made several days ago.
The threat was contained in a letter to Conrad Hilton, president of the corporation, from Alfred M. Lilienthal, secretary-counsel of the Association and former officer of the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism. Gordon W. Reed, chairman of Texas Gulf Producing Co., is president of the American-Arab Association.
In his letter, Mr. Lilienthal informed the hotel magnate that he had just returned from a meeting with the chairman of the Arab boycott Committee in Damascus. He told Mr. Hilton that if he proceeded with his plans in Israel, “it means the loss of Hilton holdings in Cairo and the end of any plans you might have in Tunis, Baghdad, Jerusalem or any Arab country. In addition, the Saudi royal family, Egyptian businessmen, Arabs and United States companies who service the Arab states, will not stop at your hotels in America, or any part of the world.”
The hotel leader replied: “As Americans, we consider Arabs and Jews our friends and hope that ultimately we can all live in peace. There was no threat from Israel when we opened our Cairo hotel. Does your committee also propose to boycott the United States Government because it maintains diplomatic relations with Israel?”
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.
