An interim procedure to ease the crisis of Jews in Morocco should be possible, Philip M. Klutznick, president of B’nai B’rith, declared in a statement issued here today upon his return from a visit to Morocco.
Mr. Klutznick was in Morocco last week when the government announced it was ending mass Jewish emigration through the liquidation of Kadimah, the organization set up by the Jewish Agency to arrange for Jewish immigration into Israel from Morocco. This action, he said, left some 2,000 Jews, headed for Israel, stranded in an emigration camp near Casablanca, and placed in perilous circumstances another 5,000 to 7,000 who had sold all their belongings in the course of committing themselves to leave the country.
He suggested, as an interim procedure in these circumstances, 1; A reasonable extension of time to Kadimah to continue its operation; 2. The expeditious processing for emigration of the more than 2,000 persons in the camp; 3. The establishment of an interim procedure to expedite the processing of the estimated 5,000 to 7,000 who have liquidated their homes and meager belongings.
Mr. Klutznick also urged that after the “pressing emergency” of today has been handled, consideration should be given “for the creation of reasonable procedures to give meaning to the Moroccan Government’s declaration that it will not restrict individual emigration. This may involve another 40,000 to 50,000 Jews who are mentally committed to leave. This group constitutes, almost exclusively, an economic liability, not an asset.”
In reference to Jewish emigration from Morocco, he pointed out many Moroccan Jews are victims of poverty and illiteracy, and urged upon the Moroccan Government “a forth-right recognition of the assistance needed by these people to qualify for passports and other emigration rights.” Referring to the 40,000 to 50,000 Jews who have decided to emigrate, he recommended as another possible approach to permit this mass emigration by “a job of major surgery in one step during a relatively short period of time.” Mr. Klutznick reported that in Morocco he was told that the Sultan is “most friendly to the interests of his Jewish subjects.”
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.
