Arab pickets marched today in front of the national headquarters of the American Jewish Congress and the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith. They carried signs denouncing “Zionist totalitarianism” and accusing both organizations of bias.
Arab officials in New York said earlier this week that they would picket the Jewish organizations it there was any picketing of the Jordan Pavilion at the World’s Fair. Twelve American Jewish Congress officials, including President Joachim Prinz, were arrested at the Fair yesterday for picketing the Jordan Pavilion without a permit which had been refused them by Robert Moses, World’s Fair president. They were protesting a mural in the Jordan Pavilion which the AJCongress and many other Jewish organizations have denounced as anti-Israel and anti-Semitic.
One sign carried by the Arab pickets this morning had the word “Emet” in Hebrew and “Truth” in English. Another bore the legend “AJC and ADL Believe in Freedom for All Except the Arabs. ” Spokesmen for the two Jewish groups issued statements upholding the right of the Arabs to picket but assailing the pickets’ motives and point of view.
In Washington, U.S. Government sources said today they could understand the motivation of the 12 American Jewish Congress officials arrested for picketing the Jordanian exhibit at the New York World’s Fair but thought the demonstration “unwise and counterproductive.” They predicted the real result of the picketing and arrests would be to focus more attention on the Jordanian exhibit and increase its attendance.
Government officials made clear they felt Jordan used dubious judgment in exhibiting the controversial inscription. But, after the initial appropriate protests, “the resort to picketing only had the effect of inadvertently publicizing and promoting attendance at Jordan’s pavilion.”
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.
