U.N. Council Answers Zionist Group Charges

The United Nations Council struck back last night at the protesting is presentation of Rafik Asha, chief of the Syrian delegation at the U.N., in a forum on "The Arab-Israeli Dispute" at 8 p.m. tonight in Hunt Hall.

J. C. Peter Richardson '56, chairman of the U.N. Council foreign affairs conference this weekend, said that he did not believe that the three groups which have been pressuring the Council have good grounds to protest.

The Intercollegiate Zionist Federation, a graduate school Israeli group, and the Hillel Society have all charged that the Syrian speaker has received publicity from the U.N. Council in the form of posters, which has not been given to Israeli U.N. delegate Arthur Liveran. Liveran is speaking tomorrow afternoon in Sever 11.

Advantage on Friday

The three organizations also charged that Friday night's forum, coming on a week day, would probably get a higher attendance than Saturday's talk, and hence would give the Arabs as unfair advantage since the Israelis have been denied the right to have a representative question Asha directly. Richardson replied that questions will be allowed from the floor, and that the Council had done its best for the Israelis by arranging for Liveran to present their side of the Middle East dispute. In addition, Richardson observed, lest anyone charge the U.N. Council with favoritism, "an Israeli speaker had been invited before there was any protest whatsoever."

Duncan H. Cameron '56, president of the United Nations Council, said last night that the Council tries to present a program based on balance between the left and the right over a full year time period. He said that this did not necessarily mean, however, that the Council maintained this balance in its forums, taken individually.

One Side at a Time

Martin H. Brownstein '56 and Irwin M. Berg '56, president and secretary of the Hillel Society respectively, told the CRIMSON yesterday that their primary objection was the presenting of one side of the issue at a time, but indicated that they would be satisfied if the U.N. Council announced before Asha's speech that he was only presenting the question form one point of view. Richardson replied that the Council had already intended to do this, and added that this should also pacify Mishael Zedek's 1G Israeli group in the graduate schools.

The New England Zionist Federation, represented by Stanely Shapiro '55, is still adamant, however. "Shapiro sat in on an executive board meeting of the U.N. Council Wednesday night," Richardson explained, "to appeal, protest or pressure us into changing our position."