Worldwide Expressions of Solidarity with Soviet Jews Observed This Weekend

The first of a series of worldwide expressions of solidarity with Soviet Jewry was observed here today as cars drove with headlights on, street lamps were lighted, and Mayor Teddy Kollek unveiled a plaque renaming Zion Square “Soviet Jewry Square” for the day. The location was chosen, Kollek explained, because it is in the heart of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem is the heart of Israel. The blowing of a shofar ended the observance. (In Geneva, Stockholm and Vienna, Jewish students held protest demonstrations this weekend against the treatment of Soviet Jews. In Stockholm, the students picketed the Soviet Embassy and then marched in a torchlight parade. Telegrams were sent by the students to Swedish and foreign political and intellectual leaders explaining the nature of their protests. In Geneva, Jewish students sent a telegram to the Soviet ambassador asking for the release of Jacob Flashvili. In Vienna, the students sent a telegram to the Soviet ambassador asking for the release of Wulf Gordin.)

(The Synagogue Council of America accused the Soviet Union of waging “a cruel campaign to compel Soviet Jews to deny their spiritual links with the land and people of Israel.” Rabbi Solomon J. Sharfman, president of the coordinating agency for the Conservative. Orthodox and Reform branches of American Judaism, cited a statement by several rabbis in the Soviet Union in which they attacked Israel and Zionism. He said that the statement was reminiscent of confessions extracted in the show trials of the Stalin era. “Nothing that has happened in the Soviet Union in recent years confirms more poignantly the tragic plight of its Jewish citizens than the crude and unconscionable manner in which Soviet authorities are abusing the several remaining rabbis in the Soviet Union in their anti-Israel and anti-Zionist campaign,” Rabbi Sharfman declared.)

(Christian Science Monitor correspondent Charlotte Saikowski reported Saturday from Moscow that the Kremlin may have gotten more than it bargained for in its anti-Zionist campaign but the drive continues unabated. Despite the campaign, she reported, Israel’s Radio Jerusalem is heard in Moscow without jamming. The radio “carries news in Russian about the Middle East and programs about Jews in the Soviet Union and their right to emigrate.”)