More than 2500 persons attended a rally for Soviet Jews at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel here Sunday night and, afterwards, as their numbers increased by thousands more, they assembled in downtown Montreal’s Dominion Square and marched to the Soviet Consulate where the rally was continued.
The rally for freedom of emigration for Soviet Jews was organized by the Combined Jewish Appeal, marking the first anniversary of the start of the Yom Kippur War. It was addressed by Dr. William Korey, director of the United Nations Office of B’nai B’rith and by Menachem Beigin, the leader of Likud, Israel’s principal opposition party.
Beigin warned that the next 3-4 years will be decisive for Israel because “that period will be required by the free nations to develop alternative energy sources to Arab oil.” He said that until the oil threat is removed, “the whole relationship between Israel and the democratic countries would be changed radically.” Dr. Korey. reviewing the situation of Jews around the world, observed that “the whole Jewish world owes a debt of gratitude to Sen. Henry Jackson.” the author of the Jackson Amendment.
TIME FOR ACTION IS NOW
At the rally outside the Soviet Consulate. Prof. Irvin Cotrer of McGill University declared, “The time for silence has long past and the time for action is upon us.” He said that in Israel “we shall march with the Torah in one hand and the Uzi (an Israel-made submachine gun) in the other. We shall put down the Uzi when the rest of the world stands up to protect our rights and freedoms.”
Addressing the B’nai B’rith International meeting in Montreal, David Blumberg, international president of B’nai B’rith, warned that “If the United Nations recognizes the Palestine Liberation Organization as the sole representative of the Palestinians, they will be permitting murderers to bomb their way. The PLO is committed by its constitution to work for the destruction of Israel and of Jordan,”
Beigin, who is visiting Canada on behalf of the United Jewish Appeal, also spoke Friday at a leadership meeting of the Canadian Zionist Federation. He stressed that only a militarily strong Israel can withstand the threat of renewed hostilities in Israel. “There can be no reliance on international guarantees, only on a strong army and secure borders,” he said. (By Michael Solomon)
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.
