Ambassador Jacob Barmore of Israel called on the Soviet Union late yesterday to release imprisoned Jews and thus take “a more positive stand towards their national aspirations,” Soviet Jews, he charged, have had their basic human rights violated and their culture and national identity threatened, and their desires and attempts to emigrate can subject them to criminal charges. If some of them, as alleged, did try to hijack a plane to Israel, it was only because they had reached the limits of endurance. Barmore spoke as an observer to the Social Committee of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which is considering a report of the Commission on Human Rights. He added that Jews were being “oppressed” in Egypt, Iraq, Syria and Libya. In Syria, he pointed out, they were being subjected to “Nazi restrictions” and threatened with extinction.
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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.
