President-elect John F. Kennedy was called upon here today by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America to protect the rights of American citizens against restrictions imposed by any foreign governments on the grounds of race or religion.
The resolution, adopted unanimously by the 1,000 delegates attending the Union’s 62nd anniversary biennial convention, was aimed at the Arab states practicing such discrimination against Americans, including some in the United States Armed Forces. The resolution also called upon the next President “to do all in his power to put an end to the illegal blockade against Israeli shipping through the Suez Canal, practiced by the United Arab Republic.
Another resolution “earnestly” called on the Government of the Soviet Union to give Soviet Jewish citizens “full, untrammeled freedom to exercise their right to practice their religion, teach Hebrew and Yiddish to their children, and engage in Jewish cultural activities.” The resolution called on the Soviet Government to protect the Jews “and their religion from discrimination and persecution.”
Moses I. Feurstein, president of the Union, announced that the organization, in cooperation with the Rabbinical Council of America, is sending a spiritual leader to India next month, to furnish leadership to the 21,000 Jews in India who recently formed the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of India. At the closing session, today. Mr. Feurstein, of Malden, Mass., was elected to his fourth two-year term as president.
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