The Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry today sharply assailed the “harsh new restrictions the Soviet Union will put into effect on June 15 on the size and value of parcels which may be sent into the USSR.” The GNYCSJ will conduct an intensive drive to pressure the Soviets to rescind these restrictions.
“The move clearly represents a new form of harassment of Soviet Jews who rely so heavily on aid from people in the United States.” said Malcolm Hoenlein, GNYCSJ executive director. He pointed out that the new regulations will raise the assessed value of some items sent into the Soviet Union by eight or ten times their normal value. This will have the effect of raising the import duty, already at 70 percent of assessed value, in proportion to the newly assessed amount. In addition, limits will be placed on the quantity and types of goods which may be sent.
The results of these regulations, Hoenlein charged, will be to raise the cost of sending one $250 package to $600, which will have to be sent in three installments. He emphasized that packages of goods are “especially vital to those Soviet Jews who have been arbitrarily dismissed from their jobs after applying to emigrate to Israel.” Since many “refusniks” are forced to remain without any income for years, “these parcels represent a lifeline to these oppressed people.”
Hoenlein termed the new restrictions a “despicable and cruel attempt by the Soviets to tighten and ultimately to sever that lifeline, and to isolate Soviet Jews from their friends in the West.” He said the GNYCSJ has wired top U.S. government officials to urge that they press the USSR to rescind the new restrictions.
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.
