Israel appealed yesterday to the Soviet Union “for a gesture of good will, to release those imprisoned and to permit those many other Jews whose only desire, after years of waiting, is to be repatriated to their homeland and reunited with their families.”
Addressing the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which is currently debating the Report of the Commission on Human Rights, Chaim Herzog, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, said Israel’s appeal is not politically motivated but “is a purely humanitarian one.” He said that Israel is merely asking that the Soviet Union honor all international agreements on human rights to which it is committed and to adhere to the Soviet constitution which asserts freedom of conscience and religious worship.
The Israeli envoy charged that “the harassment of applicants for emigration continues unabated” in the Soviet Union. According to Herzog, “Last year 55,600 Jews had received or renewed their affidavits for reunification of families, while only 14,200 permits were granted.” Accusing the Soviet authorities of suppressing Jewish culture and religion, Herzog noted that synagogues have been closed, Hebrew books are confiscated and “not a single Jewish school exists in the entire USSR.”
As Herzog was charging the Soviet Union with mistreatment of its Jews, the Soviet delegate, Ambassador Evgeny Makeyev, demanded that Herzog not be allowed to continue his address. The Russian said Herzog’s speech was contrary to the “rules” and “not relevant” However, Ambassador Ole Algard of Norway, who was chairing the session, ruled that Herzog was speaking “to the point.” The Israeli envoy continued with his speech.
PLIGHT OF SYRIAN JEWS
Turning to the issue of Syrian Jewry, Herzog declared: “I must draw attention again to the situation of Syrian Jews, who are still not free to emigrate. Indeed, Syria remains the only country in the world that does not allow its Jews to emigrate. This is a matter of fundamental human rights, and Syria would stand to gain so much in the eyes of world public opinion by sacrificing so little.”
The major part of Herzog’s speech was a sharply worded accusation of the UN “selectiveness” in condemning violations of human rights in the world. He said that the UN Commission for Human Rights, which met in Geneva last March, spent “an entire week condemning Israel” but ignored “flagrant violations of human rights “which were occurring at the very time” elsewhere. He said that the UN “stands in flagrant violation of its own founding charter.”
Concluding, Herzog stated: “Israel does not pretend to be a perfect society. We have our faults and our problems, and we have made mistakes. Many in Israel disagree with the government’s policies and they freely express these disagreements in Parliament in open elections and in a free press. But we are making what we believe is a sincere attempt to build a society, imperfect though it may be, in which the visions of the Prophets of Israel will be realized.
“What we demand before this organization and before the world is simply that when we are judged, the same standards be applied universally, to all nations without exception, including those who sit in judgment on us.”
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.
