The Jewish community of Greater Washington, families as well as institutions, responded today to appeals for accommodations to house Jewish students coming here this weekend to demonstrate against the war in Vietnam. An estimated 1,000 beds have been offered so far to the Jewish Student Assistance Center. About half of the accommodations are being provided by Jewish families and the others by Synagogues and other institutions.
The total number of Jewish students planning to come to Washington is not yet known. So far, however, the Jewish community has found accommodations to meet known needs. Jewish support for the demonstration was reported to be increasing because of the “tough line” of Government officials, students said. It is anticipated that thousands of Jewish students who plan to take part in non-violent and non-radical protest actions will join the many hundreds, including members of radical Jewish groups, who have already announced plans to participate. Information has been received that members of B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundations and other young people within the Jewish communal structure are coming from scores of universities and colleges.
Abbie Hoffman, a Jew who is one of the “Chicago 8” on trail in Chicago on charges of conspiring to incite rioting during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, has accepted an invitation to address an assembly of Jewish groups during the weekend. Mr. Hoffman, a leader of the radical “Yippie” movement, will deliver the Friday evening “sermon” at a Jewish worship service sponsored by the new-organized National Jewish Organizing Project (NJOP).
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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.