A torchlight parade and mass rally by some 7500 high school and college students this week protesting the Soviet head tax called on President Nixon and Congress to withhold most favored nation treatment from the Soviet Union until the “ransom” is rescinded. The column of march was more than four blocks long. The demonstration was sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council’s Youth Council and the Philadelphia Union of Jewish Students.
Rabbi Sidney Greenberg. chairman of the Committee of 1000 for Soviet Jewry read telegrams of support from Sen. George McGovern (D.S.D.) Democratic Presidential nominee, and from Sen. Hugh Scott (R.Pa.) Senate Minority Leader. Rabbi Greenberg reported that the JCRC received assurances several days ago from sources close to the White House that the President is pressing for the removal of the ransom taxes in discussions with Soviet officials.
“While we are aware of the President’s fear that his public statement might back, the Soviet Union into a corner,” Rabbi Greenberg said, “we believe that the Soviet Union will only understand how deeply the US government feels about this problem when the President makes such statements for the public record.”
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.
