More than 1000 Philadelphians of all faiths rallied on behalf of Soviet Jewry’s struggle for freedom at a “mini-Brussels Conference” held here last Sunday under the sponsorship of the Soviet Jewry Council of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Philadelphia.
Albert D. Chernin, executive vice-chairman of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council, said that, like the Second World Conference on Soviet Jewry held in Brussels Feb. 17-19, the Philadelphia rally was intended to “trigger a rejuvenation of programs to aid Soviet Jews.”
The “mini-Brussels Conference” differed in one respect, however, from the larger event in Belgium in that a Jewish Defense League statement identical to the one that JDL leader Meir Kahane was prevented from delivering at Brussels II was read to the gathering here by Joseph Smukler, co-chairman of the JCRC’s Soviet Jewry Council. The statement called for an end to U.S. trade relations and cultural exchanges with the USSR and an escalation of anti-Soviet demonstrations.
Alex Einbinder, a reporter for the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent, who covered the rally, reported that Smukler prefaced the JDL statement with the explanation that “its reading in this conference is in no way an endorsement by any of the participants but merely permitting another opinion to be heard.”
John Cardinal Krol. the Archbishop of Philadelphia, headed a Roman Catholic delegation to the rally which was attended by Protestant and Greek Orthodox representatives as well as Jews. The spokesmen for all faiths joined in demanding that the Soviet Union end the persecution of its Jewish citizens. Rep. Lawrence Coughlin (R.Pa.) declared that American citizens and officials must maintain moral leadership by continuing to press for the right of Soviet Jews to emigrate.
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.
