B’nai B’rith International decided Thursday to take the first steps toward establishing its presence in the Soviet Union.
At the same time, a letter was released from President Reagan to Morris Abram, chairman of the National Conference on Soviet Jewry, pledging to “continue to press the human rights question,” which for him “will always be a front-burner issue.”
The B’nai B’rith board of governors, meeting at its headquarters here, made the decision based on the sense that a large majority of the estimated two million Soviet Jews would likely remain there because of Soviet emigration policy.
It is believed that no Jewish organization from abroad currently has an office in the Soviet Union.
The board voted that Seymour Reich, international president, “appoint a select committee to work with its European districts and its international council towards the goal of testing glasnost and establishing B’nai B’rith’s presence in Moscow.”
The board resolved to call upon the Soviet Union to live up to its international responsibilities under the United Nations human rights covenants and the Helsinki Final Act and eliminate all forms of intolerance.
It further appealed for international support of efforts to win the legitimate rights of Jews from Arab states, including compensation for property and assets and emigration.
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.
