The Board of Deputies of British Jews will meet Sunday to consider “the serious position of Soviet Jewry,” in the absence of a reply from the Soviet Embassy to a request for a meeting with Prime Minister Alexei N. Kosygin. Board spokesmen indicated they did not expect the confrontation to take place during the Russian leader’s eight-day visit here, now in its second day.
Representatives of organizations associated with the Board’s unsuccessful efforts to arrange a confrontation with Mr. Kosygin have been invited to the Sunday gathering, which will feature the reading of a special prayer for Soviet Jewry, issued by the Chief Rabbinate of Britain. The prayer will be read in synagogues throughout Britain on Saturday.
A number of British Jewish leaders today expressed sharp displeasure over the appearance on a television program of Jewish student representatives with some leaders of Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Latvian and Esthonian emigre organizations who complained about “Soviet colonialism,” thus giving the Jewish criticism of Soviet treatment of Jews an “undesirable” slant. Jewish organizations have been careful to stress they do not wish to engage in controversy over Soviet political policies, but are concerned exclusively with the position of Soviet Jewry. British student leaders, meanwhile, are planning a demonstration Sunday to demand fair treatment of Jews in Russia.
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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.
