A call for freedom and cultural self-expression for the Jews of the Soviet Union was voiced here today at the opening session of the 50th world conference of the Hashomer Hatzair movement. The appeal was made by Evi Lurie, leader of the left-wing Socialist party and a member of the Jewish Agency executive.
Jacob Hazan, another leader of the group and one of its representatives in the Knesset, asserted that the central task of the movement remains its education for kibbutz life. He chided Western Jewries for their “illusory oblivion” to an “impending catastrophe.”
The 3,000 delegates and visitors to the parley heard messages of greetings from Dr. Nahum Goldmann, Jewish Agency president, and from Joseph Sprinzak, Speaker of Israel’s Parliament. The actual number of delegates at the three-day parley is 53, with 25 of them representing the Israeli party, and remained Hashomer Hatzair groups in 22 other countries.
Before the parley opened, a party spokesman announced that the movement was negotiating with the United States Government to have it lift its ban on visas for party representatives who desire to visit the U.S.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
