Gen. Lucius D. Clay (Ret.), who served as U.S. Military Governor in the American zone of occupied Germany after World War II, called today on the government of Syria to abide by the Geneva Convention in its treatment of Israeli POWs captured during the recent battles between Syria and Israel on the Golan Heights. He made his statement in his capacity as chairman of the Committee of Concern for Minorities in Arab Lands.
Noting that “the joint U.S.-Soviet cease-fire initiative included an understanding that there should be an immediate exchange of prisoners of war,” Clay urged the two major powers to “use their good offices to impress upon the Syrian authorities the need to alleviate this unnecessary human suffering.” Clay, reacting to recent revelations of murder and brutalities committed against Israeli POWs in Syria, said U.S. and Soviet intervention with Syria on behalf of the Israeli prisoners “could be a vital first step toward negotiation of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
