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24-hour Hunger Strike Held for Soviet Jews Ordered to Report for Active Duty

May 12, 1972
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A 24-hour hunger strike held to protest Soviet authorities’ induction for military duty of young Moscow Jews ended this morning in front of Ottawa’s Parliament with a promise from Foreign Minister Mitchell Sharp’s secretary to forward the strikers’ memorandum to Canadian Ambassador to Moscow. Gerald Ford. for taking up with the Soviet government. The protesters went on the hunger strike Tuesday in front of Parliament bearing two huge placards: “Trudeau. Save the Moscow 13” (there are now 14 inductees) and “Hunger Strike for Soviet Jewry,”

On the threshold of Parliament, one of the protesters, Abie Ingber, coordinator of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry, met with Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, who told him: “You should be happy with what the Canadian government has done so far for the reunification of Canadian families (200 of 600 requests). You should be happy with the number of Jews going out to Israel.” Trudeau explained to the strikers that according to his information, the Canadian Jewish Congress and other Jewish organizations in Canada were pleased with what the Canadian government has so far achieved.

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