Congress Told of Steps Taken to Seek Investigation of Arab Link to S.n.c.c.

Rep. Joel T. Broyhill, Virginia Republican, made known in the House today that he has asked the State Department and the U.S. Attorney General to investigate the supply of anti-Jewish propaganda material to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee by Arab embassies.

Rep. Broyhill referred to a newspaper report that Ralph Featherstone, SNCC program director, “acknowledged that the source of some of SNCC’s material was Arab embassies.” He said that foreign diplomatic missions violated protocol by stirring up internal racial tensions and prejudices on the domestic American scene. The Congressman demanded that the Justice and State Departments examine Arab diplomatic links with SNCC to determine whether Arabs should be declared persona non grata and be asked to leave the United States. He noted the close collaboration of some Arab states with the Soviet Union and Communist policies.

He also made known that he is inquiring into the tax status of SNCC, to determine if it is regarded as a tax-exempt foundation, “in view of the admission that SNCC is an agency that disseminates foreign propaganda.” SNCC should be required to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act if it is acting as a propaganda medium of foreign nations, he suggested.