Estimated 500 Jewish Youths Part of Anti-war Rally at Capitol

Several hundred Jewish youths were among the participants during the massive rally here yesterday to demand an end to U.S. involvement in Indochina. Many of those Jewish participants among the estimated 200,000 persons who arrived here were identified as members of B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundation, Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the Radical Zionist Alliance which is an umbrella group for student activist groups, and Americans for Progressive Israel Hashomer Hatzair which is a Socialist-Zionist group of adults and youths. Despite the turnout of an estimated 500 Jewish youths from some 12 cities across the country, Samuel Sislen, assistant director of the Jewish Community Council of Greater Washington, expressed disappointment at the relatively small turnout of Jewish youths. “It is very difficult to account for such a small number,” he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and added that it was difficult, in the final analysis, to ascertain who was Jewish and who was not in the vast throng that choked the city for almost 24 hours. Sislen said that many Jewish youths are expected here next weekend to participate in a number of other rallies scheduled to protest the war in Southeast Asia. A large number of Jewish youths remained in Washington today to participate in workshop sessions organized by the RZA.

Among those Jewish organizations which provided shelter, food, rest and sleeping quarters for both Jewish and non-Jewish youths were the Religious Action Center of the UAHC, B’nai B’rith, Temple Emanuel in suburban Maryland, Temple Micah and “Farbrengen,” a Jewish commune in downtown Washington. At one point during the rally, a group of Jewish youths spotted several neo-Nazis carrying placards and dressed in full regalia near the Pulaksi Monument. The youths started toward the neo-Nazis but were stopped by police. Rabbi Bernard Mehlman of Temple Micah, who led about 25 congregants in the rally, said he saw quite a few Jewish youths whom he had not seen before at antiwar rallies. One contingent represented the B’nai B’rith from Queens, N.Y. Another contingent carried a banner reading: “Americans for Progressive Israel-Hashomer For Peace.” The JTA learned that a number of Jewish participants wanted to form a contingent within the rally to demonstrate on behalf of Soviet Jews but decided not to because some felt that it would be counter-productive to the main theme of the demonstration. The Washington headquarters of B’nai B’rith provided kosher food and allotted space in its building for the RZA workshop and for a medical center staffed by the Medical Committee for Human Rights, a non-sectarian, non-partisan physicians group. The Religious Action Center of the UAHC served as a clearing house for families and congregants offered their homes to participants in the peace rally. according to Sislen.