More than 60 men and women picketed the French Consulate General in zero weather here Tuesday to protest France’s release of Palestinian terrorist Abu Daoud, believed responsible for the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre. The demonstration was organized by the public affairs committee of the Jewish United Fund of Chicago and was led by Maynard I. Wishner, chairman of the committee.
They carried signs reading “Why, France, Why?” “France Frees Murderers” and “French Bow to Terrorists.” Later, seven committee members were received by the French Consul General, George Fieschi, who assured them that he would transmit their protest to his government.
The group consisted of Raymond Epstein, executive committee member of the Jewish Federation and past president of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds, who has business interests in France; Rabbi William Frankel, representing the Chicago Board of Rabbis; Lorraine Weinzimmer, a board member of the Jewish Federation; Mrs, Irving Margolis, of the Pioneer Women; Mrs. Morton A, Blitstein, of the National Council of Jewish Women; James P. Rice, executive vice-president of the Federation; and Maurice Klinger, executive secretary of the committee.
In New York, meanwhile, 25 youths representing the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry and Betar sat in at the offices of the French UN Mission for 45 minutes Tuesday to protest the release of Daoud. Unlike the Consul General in Chicago, Mission officials replied to all questions as to why Daoud was released with “no comment” and then locked themselves in an inner office.
In Montreal, the Canada-Israel Committee and the Canadian Jewish Congress each sent strongly-worded telegrams protesting Daoud’s release to Jacques Voit, the French Ambassador in Ottawa. The Board of Deputies of British Jews protested to the French Ambassador in London. The American Professors for Peace in the Middle East also sent cables protesting the French action to the French Ambassadors to Washington and the United Nations.
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.
