Seventeen college students from Philadelphia chained themselves to the fence in front of the Soviet Embassy this morning to protest the Soviet refusal to allow Jewish families to emigrate to Israel. The students–most of them from the University of Pennsylvania–were all members of the Pennsylvania Committee For Human Rights Now. The university is in the middle of Soviet Jewry week. Police arrested the demonstrators, after cutting their handcuffs, and took them to the police station. The group sang “Let my people go” all during the proceedings.
This is the second group of college students that has been arrested for the same type of demonstration in front of the Soviet Embassy, just a few blocks from the White House. The last demonstration was December 1 by the New Washington Committee for Human Rights Now. That case is presently in court. The Pennsylvania students brought a petition to the Soviet Embassy signed by 300 Pennsylvania University professors, asking the Soviets to free the Jews. A woman walking past the demonstrators with a bouquet of spring flowers stopped and gave a flower to each of the girls. “I admire you because you are doing something big,” she said.
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