A New York Congressman and 13 other elected state and city officials from New York and New Jersey were arrested outside the Soviet Mission to the United Nations here Friday in a protest demonstration against the treatment of Soviet Jews.
The demonstration was the ninth in a series of peaceful actions known as Operation Redemption which is organized and sponsored by the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry (SSSJ). Friday’s episode coincided with the trial in Kharkov of Evgeny Eisenberg who is charged with “anti-Soviet slander” although his real defense was teaching Hebrew which is forbidden in the USSR.
Among the legislators taken into custody and released on their own recognance for arraignment July 19 was Rep. Major Owen (D. NY) and Alan Karcher, Speaker of the New Jersey State Assembly. The others included members of the New York State Senate and Assembly and four members of the New York City Council.
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