Cojo Delegates Adopt Resolutions on Mideast, Plight of Jews in Russia and Arab Lands

The nearly 100 delegates from Israel, Europe and the United States who participated in the first meeting of the World Conference of Jewish Organizations (COJO) adopted resolutions on the Middle East, Jews in the Soviet Union and in Arab countries and expressed solidarity with Israel. The COJO resolutions declared in part that the Soviet military intervention in the Middle East “adds a new and ominous dimension to the conflict and constitutes a threat both to the security of Israel and the maintenance of world peace; that “in the face of this new threat, which changes the balance of strength in the region, the Conference urges nations which are friends of Israel to make available to her the means for Israel’s defense”; that “the Conference renews its pledge, in full solidarity with Israel, to give maximum support to Israel in her effort to secure a peace which shall be just, honorable and genuine. Such a peace must be negotiated by the parties to the conflict and embodied in a settlement containing provisions which shall be contractually binding on the signatories.” The Conference resolutions also urged “all governments committed to respect for the principles of international law to condemn those Arab states which share responsibility” for the activities of Arab terrorist organizations by affording them bases and asylum.

Resolutions also urged that Jews in Arab countries be granted “full restoration of their rights as citizens and also, where necessary, the right to emigrate to lands in which they can build a new life in freedom.” The Conference expressed “admiration for the courageous and dignified affirmation of their Jewish identity by many thousands of Soviet Jews, among them large numbers of young people” and expressed its “brotherly solidarity with them.” It urged that appropriate facilities be made available to all who desire to emigrate in order to reunite with their families,” and called on the Soviet government “to halt the dangerous incitement to anti-Jewish prejudice in the Soviet press. The appointment of a committee to draw plans for strengthening the activities of COJO in coordinating the work of the major Jewish communities of the world was also voted by the COJO delegates at the final session of the three-day international meeting which concluded Friday.