About 250 clergymen and laymen representing Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches all over the world gathered today in Beirut for the first World Conference of Christians for Palestine. The 4-day conference is described as the first organized international stand by Christians on behalf of the Palestinian Arabs. It will be attended by some 300 non-Christian observers, including Moslems and Jews. The conference will “study the Palestine problem in all its aspects and reaffirm the solidarity of the participants with the Palestinian cause,” according to the conference’s statement of purpose. The statement listed among the conferences other purposes to “denounce erroneous interpretations of the Bible tending to serve a partisan policy.” It was recalled here that the central committee of the World Council of Churches, meeting at Canterbury in August, 1969, warned against “misuse of the Bible in support of partisan political views.” The reference apparently was to Israel’s citation of Old Testament texts in support of its territorial claims.
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.
