Britain’s Jewish community reacted today with anger and indignation to the passage of the three pro-Arab resolutions in the United Nations General Assembly yesterday, especially the resolution equating Zionism and racism, Jewish leaders here said the immediate effect of that resolution will be to enhance Jewish unity and strengthen the ties of the diaspora with Israel.
But they expressed grave concern that the resolution might restrict Zionist activities in less democratic societies and encourage anti-Semitism throughout the world.
A British Foreign Office spokesman told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that Prime Minister Harold Wilson’s government “has made its stand abundantly clear in the General Assembly” and was not considering any further statements on the issue of the anti-Zionist resolution. Britain voted against the resolution.
Speaking on behalf of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Lord Fisher of Camden described the anti-Zionist vote as “a blatant and cynical act of international libel.” He added: “The sickening hypocrisy displayed by certain states within the UN is a grim reminder that anti-Semitism did not disappear in the ruins of the Third Reich.” Lord Fisher thanked the British government and those of the other countries which took a stand against the resolution–“for their courage and steadfastness.”
WILL UNITE WORLD JEWRY
Speaking on behalf of the British Zionist Federation, Malvyn Benjamin, chairman of the ZF’s public relations committee, stressed that “this obscene act has done more to unite world Jewry with Israel than a thousand speeches.”
The ZF statement continued: “We are not prepared to stand by passively in this monstrous and crude attempt to stamp anti-Semitism with international respectability. Whatever moral authority the UN ever possessed has now disappeared, Just as nobody listens to the convicted murderer advocating the sanctity of human life, so no heed will be paid to a slanderer claiming concern for the brotherhood of man.”
A statement by the Israeli Embassy in London Issued today said the anti-Zionist resolution was part of a year-long campaign being waged at the UN by enemies both of Israel and peace. “The Zionist movement was in the vanguard of the drive to liberate oppressed peoples,” the Embassy statement said, The British press so far has reported the facts of the UN votes without any comment.
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.
