56 November 7, 1975
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Sadat's Remarks are Milder in Congress Speech
WASHINGTON (JTA) —
Egyptian President Anwar
Sadat, speaking to a joint
session of Congress
Wednesday, appealed "in
the most emphatic terms"
to lend the Palestinian peo-
ple your understanding and
support."
He also sought to back
away from his National
Press Club comments, at
the start of his 10-day U.S.
tour, in which he attacked
Jews and Zionism.
Sadat said that he noted
"certain promising signs in
the past few weeks" with
some Senators and Repre-
sentatives who were
"demonstrating a keen in-
terest in the cause of the Pa-
lestinians and exploring
ways and means of solving
their problem and putting
an end to their predica-
ment."
Sadat did not mention the
Palestine Liberation Organ-
ization as such.
Without mentioning
Zionism or Jews, Sadat
emphasized, "We Arabs
have no problem what-
soever co-existing with
---
ANWAR SADAT
others of different ethnic
or religious back-
grounds." He referred to
che teachings of Islam and
mentioned the revelation
given to Arabs, Abraham,
Isaac, Moses and Jesus
and to "all prophets of
their Lord."
Sadat praised President
Ford as "man of vision, deep
understanding and compas-
sion" and paid homage to
American leaders including
Washington, Lincoln, Wil-
son and Kennedy.
Sadat's remarks were de-
signed to avoid any touchy
subjects, such as arms and
economic aid that he expects
to get from the United
States. He never mentioned
Israel nor the United Na-
tion's anti-Zionist resolu-
tion.
Observers said he was
trying to present to the Con-
gress what he thought
Americans wanted to hear.
The public galleries were
not completely filled and
many seats on the Congress'
floor were vacant. However,
in accord with the traditions
of Congress to welcome and
respect leaders of foreign
governments, he was ap-
pfauded warmly.
'Outside and inside the
Capitol, security was very
tight.
Sadat said, "Of Almost
all nations, the United
States remains as the sole
dissenter in the long over-
due trend of establishing
contacts with the Palesti-
nians." He said, "Con-
tacts bring understand-
ing" and "understanding
helps develop solutions."
In urging Congress to give
the "Palestinian people"
support, Sadat said the con-
tinuation of neglect and de-
fiance is but an open invita-
tion to violence, negativism
and extremism."
On the lawn facing the
Capitol, two sets of demon-
strations were conducted
simultaneously without in-
cident. One was by the
Louis D. Brandeis Zionist
District of Washington, and
the Seaboard Region of the
United Synagoguge of
America. The other was by
a group of predominantly
black sympathizers with the
Palestinians and Arabs.
Reps. Bella Abzug (D-NY)
and Abner Mikva (D-Ill.)
were among members of
Congress who refused to
attend the speech.
Rep. Sidney Yates (D-
M.), who had opposed giv-
ing Sadat an opportunity
to speak to Congress, told
his constituents in a letter
that House Speaker Carl
Albert (D-Okla.) had
"little choice except to
give his approval because
the Department of State
had already pre-empted
the matter by assuring the
Egyptian government that
the invitation to Sadat
would be forthcoming."
Yates wrote that, "It is
true that the Speaker might
still have vetoed the pro-
posal, but under the cir-
cumstances such an action
would have been a shatter-
ing rebuff to an important
foreign leader whose good
will is being nurtured by the
Israeli Reporters Charge Bias
During Sadat's U.S. Tour
WASHINGTON (JTA) —
Three accredited Israeli cor-
respondents in Washington
have accused State Depart-
ment officials of cooperat-
ing with Egyptian officials
in discriminatory practices
that hampered their cover-
age of President Anwar
Sadat's visit to Washington
and other American cities.
Dan Margalit, of Haaretz,
Nissim Kivit of Yediot Ah-
ronot and Jacob Achmier of
the Israel State radio, said
that they encountered ob-
stacles in carrying out their
assignments as professional
journalists during the Sadat
tour.
. But a fourth Israeli re-
porter, Samuel Segev of
Maariv, said he saw no evi-
dence of discrimination on
the part of U.S. officials and
said the only place where Is-
raeli reporters were barred
was at Blair House, the offi-
cial residence for visiting
heads of state, which was
occupied by Sadat and his
entourage. According to Se-
gev, that was not a depar-
ture from normal procedure
since visiting heads of state
decide whom to invite.
The National Federation
of Israeli Journalists
lodged a formal protest
with U.S. Ambassador
Malcolm Toon in Tel Aviv,
charging that Israeli re-
porters were barred from
covering events connected
with Sadat's American
visit in violation of the
principles of freedom of
the press. They asked the
American envoy to convey
"our strongest protest to
the White House, the State
Department and the press
association in Washing-
ton."
Segev said that "at the
National Press Club" where
Sadat spoke and answered
questions, "I know of no Is-
raeli correspondent who
was denied access because
of being an Israeli."
The Jewish Telegraphic
Agency reporter, an Ameri-
can, was denied his request
to be included in the jour-
nalists' pool covering Presi-
dent Ford's state dinner for
Sadat. He was told by White
House officials that the list
was closed.
A State Department
source said that "everything
was organized by the Amer-
icans" on Sadat's tour and it
"was open to coverage for all
accredited reporters." He
said the Egyptians "ran
their own affairs." He said
buses and planes carrying
reporters had been chart-
ered by the Egyptian Em-
bassy.
Egypt Asks General Assembly
to Include PLO at Geneva
UNITED NATIONS
(JTA) — A resolution under
which the United Nations
General Assembly would
confer on the Palestine Lib-
eration Organization the
right to full participation as
an equal partner in the Ge-
neva Middle East peace con-
ference was introduced in
the Assembly Wednesday
by Egypt.
The resolution offered by
Egyptian Ambassador Es-
mat Abdel Meguid would
accord the PLO representa-
tion at the long-dormant
Geneva conference "on an
equal footing with the other
participants."
They are Egypt, Syria,
Jordan and Israel. The
United States and the Soviet
Union are co-chairmen. The
resolution would instruct
Secretary General Kurt
Waldheim to inform the
U.S. and USSR about the
resolution, if adopted, and
act to ensure that the PLO
was invited.
The current setup of the
Geneva conference gives
each participating country
veto power over the addition
of any other parties to the
conference.
Ford Administration."
Yeates said that, "when
the speaker was assured by
the Department of State
that a similar invitation to
address a joint meeting of
Congress would be extended
to the Prime Minister of Is-
rael, he gave his assent."
Israeli Premier Yitzhak
Rabin is expected to visit
Washington in January.
In Jerusalem, Rabin
said that Sadat's attacks
on Zionism during his U.S.
visit "have proved once
more that a sharp transi-
tion to a state of peace be-
tween Israel and the Ar-
sharp transition to a state of
peace between Israel and
the Arabs was not possible."
He said he believed Sadat
made a tactical error "in not
presenting himself in the
United States as a moder-
ate, peace-seeking leader."
At the same time, former
Defense Minister Moshe
Dayan said that the U.S.
had the power to make
Egypt end its state of belli-
gerency against Israel but
up to now has not used it
and, instead, pressed Israel
to relinquish important
ground without removing
the threat to its security.
abs was not possible."
Rabin said he was not
surprised by Sadat's allega-
tions that Zionism brought
"violence and hatred" to the
Middle East and that Jews
had controlled Egypt's econ-
omy since 1952 and took
orders from Zionists be-
cause they were "charac-
teristic of the Arab position
which is hostile to the state
of Israel and its existence."
He said Sadat's remarks
"are indicative of the deep
anti-Jewish feelings preva-
lent among Arab leaders
and countries and have
proved once more that a
429 Congressmen Hit UN Draft
WASHINGTON (JTA) —
The House of Representa-
tives, with near unanimity
last Friday, condemned the
United Nations Third Com-
mittee draft resolution
equating Zionism with rac-
ism and urged its rejection
by the General Assembly.
The House resolution was
signed by 429 members, in-
cluding all 16 members of
the Congressional black
caucus.
In San Francisco last
Thursday, President Ford,
during a political speech,
vowed his Administration
will fight the slander in the
General Assembly should
the committee's draft reso-
lution get there. He did not,
however, mention Egyptian
President Sadat's National
Press Club remarks attack-
ing Zionism and the Jewish
people.
In Jerusalem, Foreign
Minister Yigal Allon told
the Israel Cabinet that
several delegations in the
United Nations were
working to postpone the
vote in the General Assem-
bly plenary on the Third
Committee's anti-Zionist
draft resolution.
He said that there were
better prospects to achieve
this goal than to secure a
majority vote against the
draft.
There were reports that
Chile had withdrawn its
support of the resolution
and would change its vote
when the measure is pre-
sented to the General As-
sembly. Meanwhile, Brazil
has refused to alter its vote.
A group of Brazilian Jews
were to meet with govern-
ment officials this week to
protest against Foreign
Minister Azeredo da Sil-
veira's recent attack on the
Brazilian Jewish commu-
nity for allegedly support-
ing Israel over Brazil.
Da Silveira attacked
Brazilian Jews for their
vigorous condemnation of
the UN resolution. The
Foreign Minister said the
Jewish reaction was
"anti-patriotic" and that
"Brazil cannot accept that
some Brazilians feel more
tied to their racial origin
than to Brazil proper."
Brazil's stance was criti-
cized by Bnai Brith Presi-
dent David Blumberg at the
annual convention of the
Bnai Brith Brazilian district
in Brasilia.
In Mexico City, Dr.
George Wise, former presi-
dent of Tel Aviv University,
accepted Mexico's highest
award for a foreign citizen,
the Aztec Eagle, bestowed
upon him by President Luis
Echeverria.
Only last week, Tel Aviv
University students de-
manded that Echeverria re-
turn the honorary doctorate
awarded him by the univer-
sity on his recent visit to Is-
rael because of Mexico's
support.
Histadrut Secretary Gen-
eral Yeruham Meshel, who
was attending a conference
of the Free Trade Unions
Confederation, denounced
the anti-Zionist resolution
at a Mexico City press con-
ference as a pretext for de-
faming Israel and the Jew-
ish people.
.
The UN resolution was
criticized in many coun-
tries. Protests were held in
Montreal, as well as in the
U.S., and a delegation of
23 American labor leaders
met Tuesday for 40 min-
utes with Daniel Moyni-
han, the U.S. Ambassador
to the UN, to denounce the
adoption of the anti-Zion-
ist draft.
Their words were echoed
by AFL-CIO President
George Meany, amidst a
report that the U.S. this
week would notify the Inter-
national Labor Organiza-
tion in Geneva that it was
withdrawing from that UN
body.
The AFL-CIO withdrew
from the American delega-
tion in June after the ILO
gave the Palestine Libera-
tion Organization observer
status.
At the same time, 62 rep-
resentatives and observers
of Non-Governmental Or-
ganizations accredited to
UNESCO have approved a
statement denouncing the
resolution on Zionism.
The resolution was also
denounced by Dr. Frank-
lin H. Littell, president of
Christians Concerned for
Israel; the American Fed-
eration of Jewish Fight-
ers, Camp Inmates and
Nazi Victims; Catholic
Archbishop Thomas Don-
nellan of Atlanta and the
National Conference of
Christians and Jews.
Dr. David Hyatt, NCCJ
president, called the act of
equating Zionism with rac-
ism "racist discrimination,"
and called it a tragedy "that
anti-Semitism plays so
strong a role in the hallowed
halls of the U.N."
The Amsterdam News in
New York, meanwhile, the
nation's largest Black
newspaper, assailed New
York Mayor Abraham
Beame for his "racist ac-
tion" last week in not
greeting Sadat before his
UN speech. The paper also
attacked Moynihan for his
criticism of Uganda's Idi
Amin.
In Detroit, Dr. Allen Pol-
lack, a member of the na-
tional executive committee
of the Labor Zionist Alli-
ance challenged the annual
LZA Seminar to fight the
linkage of Zionism with rac-
ism. Sunday, the seminar's
plenary voted to work with
the Detroit Zionist Federa-
tion to organize a press con-
ference in Detroit Tuesday.
The Detroit Jewish Com-
munity Council also urged
individuals and organiza-
tions to commend President
Ford, Moynihan and UN
representative Leonard
Garment for their state-
ments defending Zionism.
Egypt Will Get
Nuclear Reactors
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.,
(JTA) — Secretary of State
Henry A. Kissinger said
Sunday that the United
States would provide Egypt
with two nuclear reactors
"under the most stringent
safeguards in existence for
any country." He said the
agreement, which is now
being worked out, would bar
the use of the reactors for
even a peaceful nuclear ex-
plosion.
He said a similar offer
with the same stringent
controls would be made to
Israel when Premier Yit-
zhak Rabin comes to the
United States, probably in
January.
Kissinger said the nuclear
reactors will be paid for out
of new economic aid funds
for Egypt. Ford's foreign
aid request submitted to
Congress last week asked
for $750 million in economic
aid for Egypt. Egyptian of-
ficials have said the nuclear
reactors would be used for
water desalinization to cul-
tivate the desert.