Whitney Young Rejects Myth of Arab-black Amity; Calls for U.S. Aid to Israel

Whitney Young Jr., executive director of the National Urban League, has rejected “the myth of Arab-black friendship” in a letter reiterating his support of American military aid to Israel. “I know of no real aid oil-rich Arab countries have given the struggling new nations of black Africa, although the Israelis have a very impressive program of technical assistance of the no-strings-attached variety, even in nations that take the Arab line in the UN,” Mr. Young wrote in reply to a critic objecting to his signature on a New York Times advertisement in support of Israel last June, Until peace comes to the Middle East, the Urban League official wrote, “I would continue to favor providing Israel with the weapons she needs to defend herself against those who have sworn to destroy her.” Mr. Young’s letter, dated October 7, was released today by the American Jewish Congress, which has reprinted it for distribution among its members. Mr. Young asserted: “Arab history and culture is replete with instances of racial prejudice. Today, the Arab rulers of the Sudan are waging a merciless war against the black people of the southern region of that country, and Arabs in Chad are at war with the black government of that country.”

The Urban League director also said he was “unaware” of what his critic–who was not identified–called the “Arab Revolution.” Mr. Young wrote: “If the Arab nations had really been concerned with improving ‘the social, economic and political existences’ of their people, they would long ago have ceased threatening to push Israel into the sea and concentrated their energies on improving the lives of their people.” In his letter Mr. Young contrasted the situation in the Arab countries as well as institutional racism in America, with Israeli efforts on behalf of its growing population of Oriental Jews. “My 1969 visit to Israel impressed upon me the fact that Israelis are acutely conscious of the gap afflicting their Oriental population and are taking steps–educational and economic–to close it.” The civil rights leader observed that the Oriental Jews of Israel came to that country to flee “the most brutal kind of religious oppression and social and economic discrimination.” The advertisement signed by Mr. Young in the New York Times last June 28 was sponsored by the A. Philip Randolph Institute. It was signed by 64 Negro leaders of organizations, elected officials, educators and businessmen.

It urged “our government to take steps to help guarantee Israel’s right to exist as a nation.” In his October 7 letter explaining his stand, Mr. Young sharply rejected criticism of Israel’s occupation of former Arab territories. He noted that the Israeli occupation of the West Bank has been “the most lenient armed occupation in history. Despite the repeated acts of armed terrorism. West Bank Arabs enjoy self-government under the leaders appointed by the Jordanians, publish anti-Israeli newspapers and freely propagandize against the Israelis, an extraordinary situation.” He added that West Bank Arabs have found jobs and higher pay within Israel itself; have joined the Histadrut; and receive equal payment in employment and other benefits. Mr. Young observed that in the years preceding the Israeli occupation, Arab citizens were “brutalized and mercilessly exploited by the Jordanian ruling classes.”