President Nixon was urged by a major Jewish leadership organization to seek “the freedom of Jewish prisoners of conscience” when he meets with Soviet leaders in Moscow next month.
The National Jewish Welfare Board at its 1972 biennial convention here, also asked Nixon to urge freedom for Soviet Jews to practice their religion and “to plead the right of Soviet Jews to emigrate to Israel and other countries of their choice, in accordance with the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the Soviet Constitution.”
In a resolution on the Middle East, the JWB delegates urged Congress to approve funds to assist in rehabilitating and resettling Soviet Jews who are permitted to leave Russia and come to Israel. In addition to calling for direct negotiations and continued economic assistance, the JWB resolution also declared that “a fair and equitable solution must be found for all displaced persons.”
In other resolutions, JWB petitioned the US Senate to ratify the Genocide Convention “without further delay,” called for “an immediate cease-fire by all armed forces in Indochina,” the establishment of a “firm and early date for withdrawal of all American armed forces” and a “firm agreement for the release of all American prisoners of war as a part of other agreements reached with the opponents.”
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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.