Two of three Philadelphia area banks and one local manufacturing firm have indicated that they would cease any semblance of cooperation with the Arab boycott of Israel in the wake of public disclosures by the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, according to a story by David Gross in the next issue of the Jewish Exponent.
Included in a list of more than 200 U.S. corporations charged with “waging economic war against Israel in collaboration with the Arabs,” which was announced at the ADL press conference last week in New York, were Continental Bank, Provident National Bank, Philadelphia National Bank and Schutte and Koerting, a Cornwell Heights manufacturer.
The banks were accused of “processing boycott-tainted letters of credit” and “flagrant disregard of U.S. anti-boycott policy” as well as “flouting Federal Reserve Board warnings against participation in the boycott.”
LETTER OF EXPLANATION ISSUED
Responding to the accusations, the Continental Bank Board’s vice-chairman, James J. Morris, said in a letter to Exponent editor Frank F. Wundohl, “We did, in fact, handle, as agent, certain export letters of credit for our customers which contained as part of the documentation a statement that the goods were shipped on vessels which did not stop at any Israeli ports.'”
Continuing, the letter stated, “Senior bank management was not aware of the acceptance of such documents by members of our staff and, effective immediately we have instructed our personnel to refuse to accept such letters….We hope that we will be measured by our supportive performance over many years and not by isolated transactions which occurred without the knowledge or approval of the senior manager of Continental Bank.”
Another Continental vice-chairman, John T. Wagner, sent a similar letter to Samuel L. Gaber regional director of the ADL. In another letter to Gaber, Roger S. Hillas, chairman of the board of Provident National Corporation, said “…our officers are instructed not to accept letters of credit containing conditions that call for the economic boycott of Israel or any other country.”
Robert J. Coffman, treasurer of Ametek Inc,, the parent company of Shutte and Koerting, said in a letter to the New York office of ADL, “…we have advised all divisions that as a matter of corporate policy no one shall take any action, including the furnishing of information or the signing of agreements, that has the affect of furthering or supporting a restrictive trade practice fostered or imposed by foreign countries against other countries friendly to the United States. To insure that this policy is enforced…we have also named a corporate officer…as the person responsible for implementing the policy.”
CAME TO FORE LAST OCTOBER
The whole issue of the Arab boycott came to the fore locally on Oct. 20 when the board of directors of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce adopted a statement calling on companies to reject foreign investments that seek to apply religious tests to their directors, officers, employes, suppliers, customers or clients as a condition of investment.
On Dec. 23, the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Jewish Committee wrote to eight major commercial banks in the area asking them to endorse the position expressed by the Chamber of Commerce. Except for the Philadelphia National Bank, all the others responded affirmatively. On Feb. 13, the AJCommittee again wrote to the PNB. At that time there was no response. Finally, after PNB was included on the ADL list of boycott supporters, PNB affirmed its support of the Chamber of Commerce statement.
When the Jewish Exponent asked if PNB’s support of the Chamber position meant it would cease approval of letters of credit containing Arab boycott provisions, William Wolf, director of corporate public relations for PNB, said that he didn’t think the two were tied together.
“Letters of credit are strictly between the importer and the exporter,” he said. “The bank merely acts as an intermediary. It is unfair to say that we are anti-Israel.” Wolf also indicated that PNB acts in a similar fashion on behalf of Israel when it is requested to do so by Israeli firms.
Israel Consul General Emanuel Shimoni maintained that Wolf’s statement regarding Israel was misleading. “We do not have a blacklist of ships or firms.” he said. “On a specific voyage we may ask that a ship not pass through Arab ports so that goods bound for Israel will not be confiscated. However, we are not in the least interested in previous or subsequent voyages nor whom the firm deals with nor who its officers or directors may be.”
SPECIAL COMMITTEE DEALING WITH ISSUE
Esther Polen, president of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Philadelphia, said that since January a special committee convened by JCRC to deal with Arab economic warfare has been working on this issue. In addition, a JCRC committee headed by Sidney Margulies, past president of the local American Jewish Congress, is working with the leadership of the AJCommittee, AJCongress and ADL to prepare a set of recommendations related to local banks and business concerns.
Because of the complexity of the issues and the different questions posed to the banks by the AJ Committee and the ADL, Mrs. Polen said it was not immediately clear what response is warranted at this time. She said the JCRC committee in consultation with JCRC member agencies will attempt to clarify the situation and issue a public statement.
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.
