Hundreds Protest Murder of Kashkosh Family, Call for World-wide Protests

Approximately 400 New Yorkers gathered last night at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza opposite the United Nations to protest the murder of five members of the Reuven Kashkosh family of Baghdad by Iraqi security forces last month, and to focus on the plight of Jews in Syria and Iraq. The rally was sponsored by the Committee for the Rescue of Syrian Jewry and endorsed by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. The New York City Council designated yesterday as “Solidarity Day for Syrian and Iraqi Jewry.” The Kashkoah family was murdered as they were preparing to leave Iraq after having received exit visas.

Jacob Stein, chairman of the Conference of Presidents, told the rally that “the world can no longer-remain silent in the face of such acts of brutality against innocent and defenseless people.” He declared that “a world-wide protest must be heard if the Jews of Iraq and Syria are to be saved.”

A proclamation by Mayor John V. Lindsay, read at the rally by Deputy Mayor Edward Morrison called on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to intervene to alleviate the suffering of the Jews of Syria and Iraq. The proclamation added: “If Iraq and Syria were to permit the Jews to emigrate they could cross the border into Israel where they would be welcomed with open arms, be restored to dignity and be taught crafts and skills and be a valuable resource to that country and to the world,”

In a message, Sen Walter S. Mondale (D.Minn) condemned “acts of brutality against the last remnants of Arab and Syrian Jewry” and urged that “the full force of world protest” be mobilized to “help bring freedom to all Jews living in those countries.” Asserting that he joined protestors in “deploring the terrible violence against Jews living in Syria and Iraq,” Mondale declared:

“Your rally pays tribute both to their courageous stand against oppression and their valorous struggle to secure freedom. The pressure of world opinion directed against Iraqi and Syrian persecution of defenseless Jewish communities must not cease.” In another message sent to the demonstration, Sen. Richard Schweiker (R.Pa) called on the United Nations “to investigate the plight of those two captive Jewish communities.”

Among the speakers addressing the rally were the four Democratic Mayoral candidates, Herman Badillo, Abraham Beame, Mario Biaggi and Albert H. Blumenthal; Dr. Heskel Haddad, chairman of the American Committee for the Rescue and Resettlement of Iraqi Jews; Jacob Kassin, Chief Rabbi of the Syrian Jewish Community in New York Chaim Dweck, former Chief Rabbi of Egypt; and Ishak Ovadiah, a Jewish refugee from Iraq who recently emigrated to Israel.