“Solidarity Sunday,” an annual rally on behalf of Soviet Jews, will be held May 21 at Battery Park, it was announced today by Bronx Borough President Robert Abrams, chairman of the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry. Last year the rally attracted more than 200,000 people and organizers are hoping for the same turnout this year.
According to Abrams: “The rally is being held this year to underscore Jewish solidarity and unity. Whether the cause be Anatoly Shcharansky, who has been held for more than a year in a Moscow prison and faces charges of treason, or other Jews across the world who are persecuted, we will rally together to protest injustice wherever it exists and in whatever ugly form it manifests itself.”
The case of Shcharansky will be a major focal point for Solidarity Sunday. Although it was believed that Shcharansky might have been brought to trial at an earlier date, according to Margy-Ruth Davis, Executive Director, “We have reason to believe that our efforts and the efforts of others involved in the Soviet Jewry movement may have helped postpone Shcharansky’s trial as Soviet authorities consider the implications it may have in the United States.” Solidarity Sunday is sponsored by the 85-member organizations of the Greater New York Conference.
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