Jewish college students in the United States were urged here today to organize mass rallies on their campuses and undertake other peaceful actions, involving faculty and students alike, to protest against the Soviet Union’s policies depriving Russian Jews of their cultural and religious rights.
The proposal was made to the 300 students here, representing 125 campuses, attending the 11th national convention of the Student First Organization, by Theodore Comet, director of the American Zionist Youth Foundation He told the delegates that, until now, “quiet, behind-the-scenes” approaches have them alleviate the oppressions suffered by the 3,000,000 Jews in the USSR.
Asael Ben-David, director of the Youth Department of the Jewish Agency American section, told the convention that many American Jewish college youth, Zionist and non-Zionist alike, are “tired of talking and listening to speeches, and now want to participate for a year or more in productive work in Israel and within the American Jewish community.”
The convention is taking up the possible organization of a “Shalom Corps” or service group for American Jewish youth to spend a minimum of a year either in Israel or in the American Jewish community. Mr. Ben-David suggested that the year of service include a three-month preparatory seminar in Israel, after which the youths would go to isolated American Jewish communities to serve as youth group leaders and instructors in Hebrew and related subjects.
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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.
