14 Friday, July 4, 1975
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Five Universities Quit Saudi Aid Project After Jew Is Barred
BACKGAMMON
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NEW YORK — A consor-
tium of five state universi-
ties in the Midwest has sus-
pended participation in an
evaluation project for the
University of Riyadh in
Saudi Arabia following the
refusal of government au-
thorities there to grant a
visa to a Jewish professor.
The suspension marks the
first time an American uni-
versity or group of educa-
tional institutions has
halted an aid program
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abroad on grounds of anti-
Jewish discrimination, ac-
cording to the American
Jewish Congress, which
made public details of the
action.
The Midwest University
Consortium for Interna-
tional Activities, Inc. acted
at its regular monthly meet-
ing in Chicago last week.
The suspension was hailed
by Phil Baum, associate ex-
ecutive director of the
AJCongress, as "an elo-
quent demonstration that
the importation of foreign
religious prejudices to our
shores is rejected by the
American academic com-
munity."
The consortium is com-
posed of Indiana Univer-
sity, Michigan State Uni-
versity and the
Universities of Illinois,
Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Founded in 1964, it has
provided evaluation and
other services to institu-
tions of higher education
in Indonesia, Ethiopia,
Somalia, Thailand and
other countries.
Under an agreement with
the University of Riyadh,
the consortium sent a team
of 10 experts to Saudi Ara-
bia in May and June to eval-
uate the university's pro-
grams in agriculture,
education, engineering,
medicine and other sub-
jects.
Earlier, however, the fac-
ulty committee on interna-
tional programs at Michi-
gan State University had
voted not to participate in
the project without assur-
ances of non-discrimination
from the Saudis.
Dr. Clifton Wharton,
president of MSU, wrote in
March to the University of
Riyadh requesting an invi-
tation for Dr. Ralph Smu-
kler, dean of international
programs at MSU, to make
an on-site review of the
program. Dr. Smukler, who
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is Jewish and a member of
the consortium's board of
directors, applied for a visa
to Saudi Arabia in April.
Despite repeated letters
and cables, no response
was ever received from the
University of Riyadh, Dr.
Smukler told the AJCon-
gress. Earlier this month,
he said, "I was informed
that after numerous visits
to the Saudi Arabian em-
bassy, the travel service in
Washington which had
forwarded by visa applica-
tion received a letter from
the embassy stating that
the necessary 'certificate
of no objection' had not
been received from Saudi
Arabia and that the visa
officer did not think they
would ever receive one due
to the fact that I am of the
Jewish faith."
Dr. Smukler said he had
listed his religion as Jewish
on the visa application form
and had supplied a letter
from his rabbi attesting to
his religion.
In response to this re-
fusal, the consortium
adopted a resolution declar-
ing:
"The exclusion of persons
of Jewish faith from Saudi
Arabia, as demonstrated by
the failure to issue a visa to
a member of the consortium
board of directors who is
Jewish, is a governmental
policy which the consortium
cannot accept and which
prevents our consortium
from continuing participa-
tion in the project."
Dr. David B. Johnson,
Dean of Foreign Studies at
the University of Wiscon-
sin, said that if a non-dis-
crimination agreement
could be reached with the
University of Riyadh, the
project would be resumed.
"If not," he said, "the
consortium will further
act to withdraw totally."
The Michigan Region of
AJCongress commended the
action of President Wharton
and in a letter to him stated:
"Under your able direc-
tion, Michigan State Univer-
sity has taken a stand com-
mensurate with the highest
of democratic principles.
You have spoken out clearly
to the citizens of our state,
our country, and the world
at large that religious dis-
crimination cannot and will
not be tolerated. As an or-
ganization that has long
been in the vanguard of op-
position to discrimination of
any kind, whether it be
based on religion, race, sex
or ethnic background, we
commend you for the posi-
tion taken by your univer-
sity!"
The Anti-Defamation
League of Bnai Brith has
filed a formal charge
against the universities, ac-
cusing them of violating
equal job opportunity laws.
In a related develop-
ment, the Commerce De-
partment fined NCR, Inc.
and three other firms
$1,000 each for failing to
report requests that they
participate in the Arab
boycott of Israel. The
firms did not contest the
charges
Besides NCR, the compa-
nies are Continental-Emsco
of Houston, Inter-Equip-
ment Co. of New York, and
AGIP U.S.A., Inc., also of
New York. U.S. exporters
are not barred from comply-
ing with boycott requests.
However, they are required
to report such requests to
the Commerce Department.
In Detroit, that city's
Jewish Community Council
President Lewis S. Gross-
man announced that the
Council's executive commit-
tee will support the national
Conference of Presidents of
Major American Jewish
Organizations approval and
endorsement of "acts of con-
science" taken by individu-
als in response to the Gulf
Oil Corp.'s $50,000 "gift"
that will help further Arab
propaganda campaigns in
the United States.
Last month, Bob R. Dor-
sey, chairman of the Gulf
Oil Corp., testified before a
subcommittee of the Senate
Foreign Relations Commit-
tee that his company had
funneled $50,000 to a group
in Beirut, Lebanon, that
was seeking " 'a better un-
derstanding in America' " of
the Arabs' position on var-
ious issues.
Dorsey described the
gift as going toward a
"public education pro-
gram," although he ad-
mitted to the Senate sub-
committee that he was
unclear about all of the
program's details.
In Washington, it was
reported that the Arab fi-
nancial boycott of certain
American businesses has
resulted in the formulation
of Senate legislation that
would require disclosure
and authorize control of for-
eign investment in Ameri-
can companies.
The Senate Subcommit-
tee on Securities drafted the
legislation which has re-
ceived "unanimous ap-
proval" from its members,
the Subcommittee's chair-
man, Sen. Harrison A. Wil-
liams, Jr. (D.-NJ) said in a
statement last week.
According to the Wil-
liams statement "the bill
would require disclosure
of the beneficial ownership
of all publicly traded U.S.
corporations, thereby as-
suring effective monitor-
ing of foreign investment
in business. It would also
require prior notification
to the Securities and Ex-
change Commission when
any foreign investor seeks
to acquire five percent r
more of a U.S. company.
The President could prohi-
bit such a transaction if he
deemed it to be injurious to
the national interest."
In Mexico City, President
Luis Echeverria praised
Mrs. Leah Rabin for stand-
ing up to the Arab, Com-
munist and "Third World"
delegates who staged a
walk-out last week during a
session of the International
Women's Year assembly.
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