5,000 demonstrators braved freezing temperatures in downtown Los Angeles last night in a candlelight walk for Soviet Jews. The demonstration was called on behalf of all Soviet Jewish political prisoners and was sponsored by the California Students for Soviet Jews and the Southern California Council for Soviet Jews. At the conclusion of the mile-long march, Congressman Alfonso Bell (R.,Calif.) addressed the crowd and called upon the United States government to pressure the Soviet Union and take any steps necessary to see to it that “any Jew who wishes to emigrate is permitted to do so.”
Bell, who will be traveling to the Soviet Union later this month as part of a congressional subcommittee on education, stated: “I hope we all live to see the day, and very soon, when all men are free to go wherever they wish. The Soviet Union should heed our cry to let the Jews go.”
Zev Yaroslavsky, chairman of CSSJ, said that “we must not be fooled by recent numbers of Soviet Jewish emigres. Let us not forget that if the present rate of emigration continues it would take 50 years or more until all the Jews who presently wish to emigrate are able to do so. We must continue to fight with greater resolve and dedication than ever before, we cannot and will not lay low at a time when our brothers need our help.” Demonstrators danced and sang songs of the Jewish underground while chants of “free Sylva Zalmanson” were heard repeatedly.
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.
