The secretary general of the Socialist International has written to United Nations Secretary General U Thant pledging the International’s full support for any initiative which may be taken by the UN regarding the plight of Soviet Jewry. Hans Janitschek also sent Mr. Thant copies of a Socialist International pamphlet containing the report of a special working committee that studied the situation of Russian Jews.
According to the pamphlet, the committee concluded that “the Jewish population of Russia experiences discrimination as a national minority group,as a religious community and as individuals, which clearly conflict with the principles of the Soviet Constitution and represents failure to honor guarantees concerning the human and civil rights of the individuals.”
The report continued, “at a time when peoples of all countries see hopeful signs of international detente, discrimination against Jews in the Soviet Union is one of the factors which provoke anxiety and which disturb the growing atmosphere of respect and good will that could lead to greater understanding and tolerance among peoples.” The committee called for equal cultural and religious rights for Jews, as accorded other Soviet citizens, and the right of Soviet Jews to re-unite with their families abroad.
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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.
