More than 30 Jewish youths, most of them wearing Stars of David on their clothes, defied Moscow police and remained on the premises of the central telegraph office in the Soviet capital last night where they have been conducting a hunger strike to protest delays in processing their visa applications. According to information reaching here from Moscow, the youths say they are from Soviet Georgia. They entered the telegraph offices 24 hours ago and sat on benches or stood quietly at the counter. They politely but firmly declined to move when police ordered them to do so, sources reported. A spokesman for the group reportedly told police, “We shall stay here until the end. We are not afraid of anybody because we are a threat to nobody.” Members of the group said they had telegraphed the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party asking that their case be taken up. Two weeks ago a group of Jews from Latvia and Lithuania held a similar sit-in at the Moscow telegraph office. (In Jerusalem today, the Organization of Georgian Jews in Jerusalem sent a cable of encouragement to the telegraph office sit-ins, The cables said, “World Jewry watches you with pride. Be strong, We hope to see you soon in Israel.”)
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