Five hundred members of the faculties of two universities in this area signed a three-quarter page advertisement last Tuesday in the Toronto Globe and Mail directed as “a protest to Premier Aleksei N. Kosygin” and “an appeal to Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.” The advertisement, the first by academicians to appear in Canada, was signed by the University of Toronto and York University faculty members. It protested the transformation of Soviet Jewry “into a new class of indentured servants,” The signers, almost equally divided between Jewish and non-Jewish academicians, asked the Soviet government to “rescind this price tag on humanity,” and appealed to Trudeau and the Canadian government to “use its good offices to help secure these objectives.” The Canadian Academic Committee for Soviet Jewry sponsored the ad. Murray Freed-man of the U. of Toronto, and Irwin Cotler of York U. are chairman and co-chairman respectively. Both have travelled to the USSR.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
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.
