Jewish Community of Ottawa Holds Rally to Pray for Speedy End to Mideast War

The Jewish community of Ottawa, some 800 strong, turned out on Capitol Hill at dawn today to pray for a speedy end to the Middle East war and to urge the Canadian government to speak out more effectively for a negotiated settlement. The demonstration, in front of the Canadian Parliament, was occasioned by the third anniversary of the June, 1967 Six-Day War. Spokesmen for the Ottawa Jewish Community said that Canadian Jews had no criticism of their government’s stand in the Arab-Israeli conflict. But they felt Canada could make more effective use of its prestige in the world arena by speaking out vehemently against Soviet military involvement in Egypt and in condemnation of the Arab terrorist war against Israeli children and other civilians. “The Canadian government has taken a positive approach in the Middle East but it could do more to make its position known by raising its voice more often and by placing the Mideast conflict higher on its priorities,” one Jewish spokesman said. The demonstrators, among them about 250 Ottawa Hebrew school children, prayed, chanted the burial prayer for Israeli children who died in recent terrorist attacks and sounded the Shofar. The gathering was addressed by Hyman Bessin, president of the Federated Zionist Organization of Canada, who said that the Issues of war and peace in the Mideast affected all Canadians, not only Jews.