In the wake of reports of executions of Israeli war prisoners by Arabs, scores of rabbis held an emergency demonstration and prayer service near the Syrian UN Mission, on Friday. The rabbis, many in prayer shawls, were joined by Christian clerics in denouncing “inhuman” acts committed by Arab forces, and their “callous disregard” of the provisions of the Geneva Convention.
The event was coordinated by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations which also announced plans for a mass rally tomorrow in the city’s garment district to “save the Israeli POWs in Syria and Egypt,” The participants in Friday’s rally said the past record of POW treatment by Egypt and Syria can only raise fears about the fate of the hundreds of captured Israeli prisoners.
Rabbi Israel Miller, vice-chairman of the Presidents Conference and president of the American Zionist Federation, told the demonstration that the refusal of Egypt and Syria to exchange POWs with Israel “or even to answer the fear-ridden question of next of kin by turning over to the international Red Cross the names of those held captive Is a base and depraved act.” Demanding that the Arabs abide by international agreements Rabbi Miller declared: “We call upon the United Nations to give priority attention to this breach of the Geneva Convention and require its implementation. Let the Arabs start on the road to peace by acting like human beings.”
After the demonstration Rabbi Miller and Sister. Rose Thering of Seton Hall University entered the Syrian Mission and offered themselves as hostages in exchange for Israeli POWs held in Syria. A rally was held today in Washington in front of the Red Cross building.
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.
