Groups of immigrants from the Soviet Union were gathering petitions today against the extradition of Joshua Gerry Zeller who was remanded in custody yesterday at the request of American authorities. Zeller, 19, a soldier in the Israeli Army, is wanted in the U.S. in connection with the fire-bombing of impressario Sol Hurok’s office in New York on Jan. 26, 1972 in which one person was killed.
The emigres plan to send their petitions to Premier Golda Meir and to members of her Cabinet. They say “the boy has risked his life for our cause and we must help him.” It was learned that Zeller was arrested four times in the U.S. for participating in demonstrations against Russian and Arab diplomats. The attack on Hurok’s office was apparently motivated by Hurok’s fame as a promotor of cultural exchanges between the U.S. and the USSR. Zeller is believed to be a member of the Jewish Defense League although the JDL claims it was not involved in the attack on Hurok’s office.
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