Some 200 American Jews staged a counter-dance festival last night at the City Center opening here of the Beryozka Dance Company of the Soviet Union to “remind” company members and patrons entering the theater that “other Russian artists and intellectuals are being oppressed and harassed” because they are Jews desiring to emigrate to Israel. The protest was coordinated by the American Jewish Congress on behalf of the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry.
In a statement distributed to patrons entering the theater and passers-by, Theodore J. Kolish, chairman of the AJCongress’ New York Metropolitan Council, declared: “Our purpose is not to boycott the Beryozka Dance Company nor to prevent New Yorkers from attending the performances of these talented dancers. We ask the members of the Beryozka Dance Company, we ask those going in to enjoy their performance to join with us in denouncing” the recent Soviet actions to “isolate, intimidate, harass and oppress the Jews of the Soviet Union.”
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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.
