An American Zionist leader claimed today that “a sudden awareness of black anti-Semitism” was causing increasing numbers of American Jews to think of settling in Israel. Jacques Torczyner, president of the Zionist Organization of America, spoke at a ZOA aliya (immigration) conference here attended by some 500 persons. The gathering was also addressed by Gen. Uri Narkiss, director of the Jewish Agency’s immigration and absorption department in Jerusalem, who said American immigration to Israel was expected to double this year.
According to Mr. Torczyner, many Jews have become aware of black anti-Semitism as a result of “the aggressive and active attempts of black militants to eliminate or take over businesses from Jewish merchants and the recent teachers’ strike in New York City with its anti-Semitic features.” Mr. Torczyner cautioned, however, that anti-Semitism should not be the sole motivation of aliya. “It has to be motivated by the desire to live a full and total Jewish life,” he said. Gen. Narkiss, who commanded the paratroop brigade that captured East Jerusalem from the Jordanians in June, 1967, said that 1968 aliya from the U.S. was about 4,300 and predicted that it would be about 7,000 this year.
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.
