Two representatives of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iraq, headed by Mustafa Barzani, who came to UN headquarters today to present Secretary General Kurt Waldheim with a memorandum on the Kurds, will meet on Friday morning with two Jewish leaders in New York. Interviewed by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency the two Kurds–one identified as Chalak Jewanroyee, a teacher presently living in the U.S., and the other, a dentist, who declined to be identified by name–said they are seeking through their meeting with the Jewish leaders to bring “the plight of the Kurds in Iraq to the attention of the public in this country.”
The two said that any attempt to draw the attention of the UN Commission on Human Rights to the oppression of the Kurds in Iraq has been automatically “blocked by the Arab states and their friends from the African bloc.” According to the two, the Jewish community in America and the State of Israel which is “a friend of the U.S.” can help the Kurds to bring their case to world public opinion and the United Nations,
“The Jews in Iraq received a lot of help from the Kurds.” the two contended, pointing out that Iraqi Jews were assisted in leaving Iraq. According to the two Kurd representatives, Israel and the Kurds have a lot in common. Both have the same “enemy” who tries to deprive them of independence and self-fulfillment, they said.
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