Shooting into Soviet Mission Denounced by U.s., Jewish Leaders

The United States and Jewish spokesmen have condemned the firing of shots into the Soviet Mission to the United Nations last Friday as an outrage and a cowardly and criminal act. The latest incident, the third this year against a Soviet facility, was denounced by President Ford, Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, Ambassador William Scranton, the National Conference on Soviet Jewry and the American Jewish Congress. A group called the Jewish Armed Resistance claimed responsibility for the shootings. No one was injured in the attack.

Ford said he was “deeply disturbed” by the shooting and declared: “I have instructed the Department of Justice to do everything it can in cooperation with the New York authorities to bring to justice those who committed these vicious acts.”

Scranton, the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, branded the incident as an “absolute outrage” and apologized for the shooting at a meeting in New York Friday with Soviet Deputy UN representative Mikhail Kharlamov. A press statement by the U.S. Mission to the UN noted that Scranton had been assured by federal officials in Washington earlier last week that the U.S. government would take energetic action to combat what was termed an “obviously organized campaign.”

CALLS FOR APPREHENSION OF CULPRITS

Stanley Lowell, chairman of the NCSJ, expressed shock and dismay at what he termed “terrorist acts. Referring to the JAR, he said: “These misguided individuals who continue such actions must bear the responsibility for Soviet retaliation in its own borders. Many Soviet Jews presently waiting for their exit visas have expressed their personal dismay over these violent tactics.”

The AJCongress, at its biennial convention in Washington, adopted a resolution calling on the FBI and the police to give “highest priority to tracking down all-those responsible” for shooting into the Soviet Mission. The resolution adopted unanimously by the 500 delegates, added: “Those responsible for this cowardly act must be apprehended, brought to speedy trial and if convicted, sentenced to the longest prison term the law permits.”

JDL APPLAUDS INCIDENT

The Jewish Defense League, however, Issued a statement saying it “applauded” the incident. Dov Fisch, associate director of the JDL, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that it had become

The Soviet Union, in Moscow and in New York through its Mission, demanded “investigation, detention and punishment for the guilty party and action to be taken by the American side to prevent and avert similar terrorist actions in the future and to guarantee the security of the USSR Mission and its personnel.” The USSR also protested on Feb. 28 when shots were fired at the home of members of the Soviet Mission; on March 3 over a Jewish demonstration outside its Mission; and on March 12 after a bomb explosion damaged the New York, offices of Aeroflot.