14 Friday, March 7, 1975

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Senator Church and ADL Warn
Arab Boycott Menaces Economy

PHILADELPHIA (JTA)
— Sen. Frank Church (D-
Idaho) said Monday that the
Arab Blacklist threatens
"deep and lasting devisive-
ness" among Americans and
_ declared that "Arab dicta-
tion as to who may or may
not participate in our busi-
ness transactions is too high
a price to pay."
The Idaho Democrat, who.
last • week released the
names'of some 1,500 Ameri-
can companies on the Arab
blacklist, t assailed what he
called the 'raw power of
Arab money." He declared
that "a political settlement
in the Middle East must be
judged, on its own terms,
and not imposed as a conse-
quence of economic pres-
sure."
Church said the interna-
tional oil companies have re-
ceived "preferential tax and
anti-trust treatment in the
name of national security.
"These arrangements hav-
. en't enhanced our security
at all. On the contrary, by
making us more dependent
on Middle East sources of
oil they have weakened our
security." Denying that if
only there were a Middle
East settlement satisfac-
tory to the Arabs, "oil prices
would come down," Church
noted that "the 500 percent,
oil price increase imposed .
by the OPEC cartel' was
ram-rodded by Iran and
Venezuela,-neither of whom
have a special interest in the
Arab-Israeli conflict. These
countries will seek to main-
tain the cartel price regard-
less of what happens to the
Arabs and Israelis."

the shipper along with the
regular routine documents
before the banks will honor
the purchaser's letter of
credit, the ADL charged.
The ADL named the Chemi-
cal Bank, First National
Bank of Chicago, First Na-
tional City Bank and the
Irving Trust Co. as cooperat-
ing in this process and de-
clared that ever bank nego
tiating Mideast credits is
reportedly involved.

Standard Oil of California
had tried to convince the
White House not to supply
Israel with arms and am-
munition during the Yom
Kippur War because they
feared their concessions in
Saudi Arabia would be
nationalized. He said for-
tunately the Administra-
tion did not give in to this
pressure.

Meanwhile, the Wall
Street Journal says the U.S.
has warned banks against
accepting Arabs' anti-Jew-
ish rules in dealings, and
against accepting large de-
posits or loans by Arab
investors that require , dis-
crimination against Jews.
According to the Journal,
Comptroller of the Currency
James E. Smith issued the
warning in a letter dated
Feb. 24.- Smith's office "will
assure adherence of na-
tional banks to a nondiscri-
minatory policy." Smith
could issue cease-and-desist
orders against bias where
it's uncovered, the Journal
said.
At the same time, the
Bnai Brith Anti-Defama-
tion League asked President
Ford to "order immediate
corrective action" by Ameri-
can banks and steamship
lines of alleged collusion
with the Arab boycott of
Israel in "daily violation" of
U.S. maritime laws and
other federal statutes. A let-
ter to President Ford from
ADL National Chairman
Seymour Graubard was ac-
companied by sample forms
on' steamship company let-
terheads attesting that 'a
vessel in which goods were
shipped to customers in
The Idaho senator also Arab countries is not on the
said that he had seen oil Arab blacklist, not of Israeli
,company internal memo- origin and will not call at Is-
randa and correspondence raeli ports.
which showed that Tex-
The boycott compliance
aco, Exxon, Mobil and fofms must be furnished by

.

.

The letter also named 14
steamship lines and agents
in the U.S. engaged in
trade with the Middle
East. Three of them, the
Waterman Steamship
Corp., Lykes Bros. Steam-
ship Co. and American
Export Lines Inc. are fed-
erally subsidized Ameri-
can-flag carriers. The
American Export Lines is
the largest American-flag
carrier of freight to and
from Israel and has main-
tained regular service to
that country since 1948.
But its ships calling at Is-
rael do not call at Arab
ports and vice versa.

Arnold Forster, associate
director and general counsel
of the ADL, said that if the
banks and shipping compa-
nies refused to accept the
Arabs' demands for a boy-
cott compliance document,
the Arabs "couldn't do a
dime's worth of business"
with the U.S.
Graubard's letter to Pres-
ident Ford noted that the
1916 Shipping Act attaches
a penalty of up to $25,000
for "refusing or threatening
to refuse space or accommo-
dations when such are avail-
able or resort to other dis-
criminating or unfair
methods" and a fine of up to
$5,000 for each instance of
"undue or unreasonable
preference or advantage

.

.

.

Meanwhile, the two larg-
est American broadcasting
networks have responded
sharply to .a threat by the
Arab boycott office in Bei-
-rut to cut off their news cov-
erage in Arab states unless
"this activity is beneficial to
the Arab cause and under
supervision of the Arabs."
Richard C. Wald, presi-
dent of NBC News, said,
"We do not allow anyone to
dictate the content of NBC
News." Richard Salant,
president of CBS News,
noted that "CBS news has
covered news in all major
Arab cities but never under
supervision, nor would CBS
News permit any govern-
ment, including the U.S.
government, to dictate the
content of our news cover-
age."

His statement made no
reference to the highly
controversial "60 Min-
utes" segment aired by
Mike Wallace three weeks
ago, in which the plight of
Syrian 'Jews was mini-
mized by a wealthy Jewish
merchant in Damascus.
Wallace prefaced the seg-
ment by stating that three
Syrian agents were pre-
sent while the segment
was being taped.

The Arab boycott confer-
ence in Cairo this week is-
sued an ultimatum to the
Volkswagen automobile
firm in Germany to stop
dealing with Israel within
three months or be placed
on the boycott list.
A Volkswagen spokesman
said the ultimatum should
have been sent to Wankel
GMBH, which has issued a
license to an Israeli firm to
build the Wankel engine.
The spokesman said Volks-
wagen has only a small in-
terest in the Wankel firm,
but that Kuwaiti interests
own 20 percent of Lonhro

Trading Ltd. of England
which recently bought a
large share of Wankel.
Government objections to
the Arab boycott have been
growing, with demands for
investigations and controls
of foreign investments in
both the U.S. and abroad.

Broomfield also proposed
a measure to create a joint
congressional committee on
foreign investment control
in the U.S.
Sen. Charles H. Percy (R-
M.) criticized as "self-de-
In Washington, Sen. Har- feating" the continued Arab
rison A. Williams, Jr. -(D- boycott against firms that
NJ) Tuesday introduced an do business with Israel.
amendment to his proposed Percy revealed that he had
law controlling foreign in- urged an end to the boycott
vestment in American com- in meetings with President
panies, which would prevent Sadat of Egypt on Jan. 16
anyone who is participating and with Jordan's King
in the Arab boycott from in- Hussein Feb. 26.
vesting in the U.S. But at
Investigations into possi-
the same time, Jack F. Ben- ble U.S. government com-
nett, under-secretary of plicity with the boycott con-
treasury for monetary Af- tinued under orders from
fairs, opposed any new reg- President Ford. It was' re-
ulations and said exisitng vealed last week that the
laws were adequate.
Army Corps of Engineers
Williams, chairman of the allowed Saudi Arabia to
Senate banking, housing screen contractors working
and urban affair's subcom- on U.S. projects in Saudi
mittee on securities, had Arabia. Actions of the gov-
earlier introduced a bill to ernment-affiliated Overseas
monitor any investment of Private Investment Corp.
five percent or more by a were , also being investi-
foreign government, com- gated.
pany or individual in a U.S.
Last week State Depart-
company. The proposed law ment sources acknowl-
would also give -the Presi- edged that the Credit Com-
dent the authority to prohi- modity Corp., a subsidiary
bit the investment if it was of the Department of Agri-
not in the national interest. culture, has shares total-
Department of Commerce ing $11 million in the Intra
officials admitted under Investment Co. in Beirut,
questioning by Williams one of a half-dozen large
that government informa- Arab concerns blacklist-
tion "is inadequate" on own- ing Western banks that
ership of American compa- deal with Israel.
nies.
According to the sources,
Rep. William S. Broom- the CCC acquired $22 mil=
field (R-Mich.), the rank- lion in shares in a private
ing Republican on the bank that had failed and
House Foreign Affairs was taken over by the Intra
Committee, has intro- Investment Co. Since then it
has reduced its holding by
half and they now amount
to about 5 1/2 percent of the
bank's capital. Last week in
Paris, the bank's chairman
ally could receive legitimacy revealed it is blacklisting
to take action it thought Jewish firms and those
worthwhile.
linked to Israel.
The State Department
A U.S. guarantee would emphasized that "the
be meaningful only as a United States did not con-
supplement to a final set- cur in the chairman's deci-
tlement and not as a sub- sion, had no say in it, and
stitute for it, the source does not endorse it." It said
said. This also is the offi-
that the U.S. is arranging to
cial American view.
dispose of its shares to the
The outpouring of U.S. Lebanese government.
Other demands for con-
arms to the Arab countries
has not yet upset the mili- gressional investigations
tary balance but the pro- and legislation have been
grammed sales of even made by Abraham Fein-
greater amounts will shat- berg, president of the Amer-
ter the balance and Israel ican Bank and Trust Co. in
then could rightly ask for New York which is on the
more American equipment, list of 1,500 firms being boy-
cotted by the Arabs; David
the source said.
Blumberg, president of Bnai
Meanwhile, observers in Brith; Dr. David Hyatt,
Jerusalem are closely president of the National
watching the current dis- Conference of Christians
pute between Egypt's Presi- and Jews; Gov. Dan Walker
dent Anwar Sadat and the of Illinois; and Rep. Edward
PLO leadership over the I. Koch (D-N.Y.), who asked
upcoming second-stage set- for a congressional investi-
tlement efforts.
gation., .

The West German gov-
ernment announced Sun-
day that it would take all
necessary measures to
protect German banks
from the effects of the
Arab boycott. •

Crucial M.E. Tests Mark New Kissinger Peace Trip

WASHINGTON (JTA) —
As Secretary of State Henry
A. Kissinger leaves for his
11th trip to the Middle East
seeking a solution to the Ar-
ab-Israeli cinflict, a diplo-
matic source here interprets
his assessment of chances
on this visit for another Is-
raeli-Egyptian agreement
as being 50-50 in this way:
The optimistic 50 is that
Israel will cede the oil fields
and passes in the Sinai for
an agreement with Egypt
that will include non-belli-
gerency by Egypt. The nega-
tive 50 is that nobody knows
what the Egyptian govern-
ment is willing to do.
The high expectations
prevailing in the Egyptian
media of Egypt regaining
the Sinai passeg and oil is
based on the calculation of
Cairo propagandists that if
a settlement does not take
place on Egyptian terms,
Israel can then be charged
with intransigence.

Israel is insisting, the
sources said, that the
Egyptian government pub-
licly and directly inform
its people that if Israel
gives up the passes and oil
fields, it is not an act of
surrender of what Egyp-
tians may think is right-
fully theirs but a step in
the direction of peace for
which Egypt must provide
some elements of non-bel-
ligerency.

The next Isiaeli-Egyptian
agreement must contain
"visible parts" of a contract
between two nations that
are mutually obligated and
jointly signed, the source
observed. _Non-belligerency
includes such factors as an
end to war and blockade and
economic warfare. But not
all these factors need be
"visible" in the public con-
tract.
Three elements are in-
volved in Israel's position, it
was noted. One is that Israel

requires a political guaran-
tee for oil to compensate for
what it is now getting in the
Sinai if Iran in time of war
or crisis should limit or stop
its supply. The cost of oil to
replace the Sinai supply at
current prices is between
$250 million and $300 mil-
lion annually.
A second element is that
when the parties finally
reach Geneva for a lasting
settlement, Egypt cannot be
in a position to renegotiate
any agreement it now may
make with Israel.

_ A third is that Israel, as-
suming that the area it
evacuates in the Sinai will
be demilitarized, wants
the United Nations force
that will occupy the area
be from nations with the
means and willingness to
remain there indefinitely.

Furthermore, only the
UN Security Council should
have power to withdraw the
UN force rather than have

the authority, as at present,
to extend it if both parties
are willing. This will mean
that the United States, if it
wishes, could veto any move
in the Council to have the
force withdrawn, which
would clear the way for hos-
tilities. Withdrawal of UN
forces in 1967 at Egyptian
behest was a factor in the
origins of the Six-Day War.
Israel would agree to
American units in the form
of observers in the occupy-
ing UN force but not Soviet
military in any capacity.
Israel opposes a U.S.-Soviet
guarantee of a settlement.
In the Israeli view, the
source said, such a dual ar-
rangement is unworkable.
With their basically op-
posing strategic interests,
the superpowers will be
unable to agree on incidents
that will occur. If each su-
perpower would have au-
thority to make sole deci-
sions on incidents, a Soviet

duced legislation to estab-
lish a National Foreign
Investment Control Corn-
mission to prohibit or re-
strict foreign management
or ownership control of
U.S. businesses deemed
vital to national defense or
economic security.

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