Philip M. Klutznick, president of the World Jewish Congress, said that there was no reason for Jews to go into mourning over the Senate’s approval last week of the sale of advanced warplanes to Egypt and Saudi Arabia. “There is room for regret but we should not make this into a cause for tears, “he told the WJC Board of Governors at the opening of its meeting here Thursday.
The session, chaired by Lord Fisher of Camden, chairman of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, was devoted mainly to expressions of concern over the proliferation of anti-Semitism and neo-Nazi activity in recent years. That subject was addressed by Leon Dulzin, chairman of the World Zionist Organization Executive, Dr. S. Roth, director of the Institute of Jewish Affairs in Landon, Israeli MK Gideon Hausner, and Dr.S. Levenberg of London.
Discussing the Senate vote on the aircraft package deal, Klutznick pointed out that 44 percent of the Senate had disapproved “and this figure is very significant,” he said. He also noted that immediately after the vote, president Carter and his aides made reassuring statements about their continued support for Israel. He stressed that it must be understood that in terms of American interests, the Middle East issue is a key global problem, not simply a local one.
Dulzin, who left later for a visit to the U.S., dwelt on the official nature of anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union where he noted Nazi-like articles appear regularly in popular periodicals such as “Oganyok” which portray Jews as a danger to the human race and accuse the World Zionist Organization of collaborating with the Nazis during World War II.
Roth suggested that the WJC and world Jewry demand free emigration for Soviet Jews who presently can obtain exit permits only on grounds of family re-unification. He said the Russians also must be pressured into permitting the teaching of the Hebrew language, just as any other language is studied in the Soviet Union.
Hausner said anti-Semitism was rising again in many countries that were believed to be immune after the Holocaust. He warned that the Holocaust no longer serves as the protective umbrella it was in the years after World War II. He said the most serious concern was with the flood of anti-Semitic publications, many of which attempt to blur the truth about the Holocaust. He suggested that many of them were financed by Arab sources.
Levenberg called attention to increased anti Semitic activity in the south of France, in West Germany, Great Britain, and even in the United States.
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.
