WJC Decision to Cancel Meeting
in Hague Draws Praise, Criticism

AMSTERDAM (JTA)—The
decision by the World Jewish
Corigress to postpone the
meeting of its plenary assem-
bly, originally scheduled to
be held in The Hague from
April 28 to May 6, has been
termed "a wise decision" by
a leading daily but attacked
as a capitulation to Arab ter-
rorism by a Jewish weekly.
Dr. Nahum Goldmann,
WJC president, informed the
Dutch government several
days ago that the assembly

Druze to Form
Own Social
Service Agency

JERUSALEM — Israel's
Druze community will short-
ly establish a "Druze Coun-
cil of Israel" along the lines
of the Jewish Agency, Druze
Knesset Member Sheikh Ja'
aber Mu'adi, deputy minis-
ter of communications, has
announced.
The council's 35 members,
to be elected by the 35,000-
strong community, will deal
with all facets of life within
the community and represent
the Druze vis-a-vis the gov-
ernment.
Telling his audience that
he would urge the establish-
ment of a ministry for Arab
affairs in the new govern-
ment, Sheikh Mu'adi noted
that Israel's Arab population
had already reached the 500,-
000 mark. The traditional
system of "Arab affairs ad-
visers" and Arab depart-
ments in various ministries
had proved a failure, he de-
clared.
Sheikh Mu'adi also 'ap-
pealed' to the defense minis-
try to give special considera-
tion to the problems of young
Druze servicemen, especial-
ly to help more of them to
study at university.
He called for the "priority
release" of Druze university.
students from reserve duty,
and for the poStponement of
military service for Druze
high school graduates, not-
ing that while there were
thousands of Jewish 'univer-
sity students, his community
had only some 200, and
urgently needed educated
young men to help it pro-
gress.

,

Price Rises Highest
in Past 2 Decades .

TEL AVIV (ZINS)—Febru-
ary prices rose 8 per cent,
the largest single monthly
inflationary hike in Israel's
history. '
Financial circles are pre-
dicting even more drastic in-
creases in the three months
ahead. Hardest hit, accord-
ing to the government's sta-
tistical bureau, are low-
income families. Those earn-
ing IL 800 ($200) a month
were paying IL 120 ($30)
more for food in February
than they paid in December.
Families with monthly s in-
comes of IL 2,000 ($500) had
food bills averaging IL 230
($57) higher than two months
ago.
Higher price levels are in
store for telephone and
postal services, as well as
for water and taxes.

was postponed because the
gathering of some 600 dele-
gates from all over the
world created serious practi-
cal problems, including prob-
lems of security.
In a statement issued in
London, Dr. Gerhart M.
Riegner, secretary-general of
the World Jewish Congress,
described as "complete mis-
representations" reports
which have appeared in some
Jewish publications in Europe
regarding the circumstances
surrounding the cancellation
of the assembly.
D r . Riegner emphasized
that "Both the Dutch and the
Israel security authorities,
who were fully consulted, ad-
vised that in the present
tense political atmosphere,
an assembly of such magni-
tude was from a security
point of view unmanageable
and beyond protection."
There was some feeling
among top WJC officials that
the Dutch government was
not in a position to guarantee
the safety of all those who
were expected to attend es-
pecially in view of the fact
that the delegates would have
filled the hotels in the Hague
and would have required ad-
ditional housing in hotels in
Rotterdam.
After apprising Dutch Pre-
mier Joop den Uyl of the
WJC's decision, Dr. Gold-
mann announced that the 50-
member governing council of
the WJC would meet in Swit-
zerland at the end of April
and would discuss a number
of matters including further
arrangements in connection
with the postponed assembly.
Although there had been
some rumor that the assem-
bly would meet in Miami, Dr.
Goldmann's announcement
indicated that no new site
had been officially an-
nounced.
The daily newspaper, "Al-
gemeen Dagblad," said in an
editorial that the postpone-
ment of the assembly was
"a wise decision" and "in
the interest of all those con-
cerned."
The editorial stated that it
would not serve Dutch-Arab
relations if the Netherlands
extended hospitality to the
WJC at this time. The Neth-
erlands is the only European
nation currently suffering a
total Arab oil boycott for
what the Arabs claim was a
pro-Israel stand during the
Yam Kippur War.
However, "The Dutch Jew-
ish Weekly" accused the
WJC of "bowing to Arab ter-
rorism" for what it termed
the "11th hour" decision to
cancel the assembly. In a
lengthy editorial, the periodi-
cal declared that the cancel-
lation gives the WJC "an un-
sympathetic and cowardly"
image much to the delight of
many Arab terrorist groups.
According to the weekly,
the Dutch authorities would
have "been glad to accept
the risks involved and take
the necessary security mea-
sures" to meet them.
(Meanwhile, in Jerusalem,
informed sources reported
that Leon Dulzin, acting
chairman of the Jewish Ag-
ency, has informed Dr. Gold-
mann that if the assembly
does take place in Miami he
will do all he can to assure
that the assembly will be

boycotted by Israel.)
Jacques Torczyner, chair-
man of the WJC-American
Section, expressed the hope
that no one would make the
question of the site of the
postponed assembly a test of
personal loyalty to Israel.
Those who argued for hold-
ing the assembly in the
United States, he noted,
"were not one-iota less com-
mitted to support for Israel
— financial, economic a n d
political — than those who
insisted that it be held in
Israel."

Black Market Sees
Fall in Dollar Value

TEL AVIV (ZINS) — The
U. S. dollar, which had pre-
viously traded on Israel's
"black market" at IL 5.20,
fell last week to 5.10, but
demand continued to be high.
Most buyers were Arabs
anxious to convert local cur-
rency into dollars as a hedge
against the expected dev.alu-
ation of the Israel pound.
Other currencies traded on
Lillienblum St. were: Ger-
man mark, IL 1.80; Swiss
franc, IL 1..S0; French franc,
IL 0.97; and Dutch guilder,
IL 1.60. Gold was selling at
IL 25,000 and silver at IL
8,500 per kilogram.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, March 29, 1974-11

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