Two Israeli delegates attending the International Volleyball Federation in Moscow sent a cable to Israel saying that they were unable so prevent the acceptance of a Palestinian group, Falastin, into the federation. "Our opposition was hardly heard," the cable stated. "We were happy that we were not ousted from the European group. Falastin was able to muster a strong majority." Israel, as a member of the European group, had already been invited to take part in the European volleyball championship game in Finland next year.
The two Israelis, Chaim Karpowski, of the Israel Sports Federation’s volleyball committee, and Moshe Rash, of the federation’s executive, were dispatched to Moscow last week where the 1980 Olympics was being held after a cable was received here warning that the International Volleyball Federation would discuss proposals to drop Israel from membership and coopt the Palestinian sports group.
Falastin is now a member of six international federations — volleyball, wrestling, handball, basketball, table tennis and weight lifting — and therefore qualified to apply for membership in the international Olympic Committee. A senior Palestine Liberation Organization delegate in Moscow has already announced that the PLO will apply to the committee so that the Falastin group may take part in the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984.
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.
