Rabbi Miller Says While Soviet Jews Being Tried American Jews Being Tested

The American Zionist Federation today assailed the trial of the nine Soviet Jews and declared that the current attempt by the Soviet government ” to deter the Jews from requesting permission to emigrate to Israel” and from ” identifying themselves as Jews,” will have as little success this time as it did in the past. Rabbi Israel Miller, AZF president, issued a statement saluting ” the courage of the nine on trial. They are an inspiration to humanitarians and their fellow Jews in the USSR and throughout the world.” The AZF leader added that ” We wait for the voice of protest to be raised by the United States government, the leaders of the free world as well as the leaders of the Communist world not under the domination of (Leonid) Brezhnev and (Alexsei) Kosygin, and the heads of the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches.”

Continuing, Rabbi Miller declared: “Are they only to be heard when the death penalty is involved? Are innocent people to be imprisoned for conscience without even a whisper of protest from those who spoke out last Dec. when both Jews and Basques were involved in trials?” While it is the Soviet Jews that are being placed on trial in Leningrad, ” in a sense it is Jews everywhere who are on trial with them,” he stated. ” American Jewry particularly is being tested.” Rabbi Miller said that the AZF pledges to the imprisoned Jews in Russia ” that we will not remain silent. We will continue to speak out vigorously against violations of human rights of our brothers and sisters, just as Jews traditionally have spoken up for the rights of the oppressed and downtrodden of all peoples.”