Rallies in South Africa Protest Oppression of Soviet Jews; Bomb Scare at One Rally

Several massive meetings, sponsored by the South African Board of Deputies and the Zionist Federation, were held today to protest oppression of Soviet Jews. Judge Israel Maisels, chairman of the South African Zionist Federation, and Israeli Consul General Itzhak Unna, addressing a rally here, described the valiant fight of Soviet Jews to secure their fundamental rights, and Israel’s efforts to mobilize world opinion to intercede with Soviet leaders. They said the commutation of death sentences imposed on two of the defendants had not changed the situation. In Durban, an anonymous phone threat placed to local police, warned that a bomb was planted in the hall where a Soviet Jewry rally was scheduled. Police searched the premises and found no trace of any explosives but the meeting was held in an adjoining area.