The Jewish National Council of Palestine today decided to call a general strike and a one-day fast for next Sunday in sympathy with the more than 1,000 Jewish refugees detained at La Spezia.
Meanwhile, Chief Rabbis Herzog and Uziel today cabled to King George of Great Britain appealing for his personal intervention to secure permission for the refugees to proceed to Palestine. Similar appeals were cabled by the Chief Rabbis to President Truman and British Prime Minister Attlee.
The Histadruth, the Palestine federation of labor, cabled the British Labor Party, the American Federation of Labor and the C. I. O., the World Federation of Trade Unions in Paris and the Socialist Party in Italy asking them to assist the Jews detained on board the “Fede.”
The decision to call a general strike and a fast was taken at an extraordinary meeting of the Jewish National Council, with the participation of representatives of all loading Jewish organizations. The meeting also decided that a number of selected Jewish leaders should start on a hunger strike tomorrow, to last until the refugees at La Spezia are permitted to proceed to Palestine. (The decision was taken before the Council learned of the decision by the refugees to suspend their hunger strike until April 19.)
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.
