About 1,000 students, tourists, newly arrived immigrants and other persons attended a demonstration and protest march today at the Western Wall on behalf of Soviet Jewry. It was the second demonstration in as many days by activists in Israel. Yesterday, there was a protest march from Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem to the American Consulate in Jerusalem.
At the Consulate, the protestors called for an easing of emigration restrictions imposed on Jews in the Soviet Union, and for a dialogue leading to the release of Soviet Prisoners of Conscience held in labor camps.
Today’s rally called on President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to discuss the plight of Soviet Jews during their meetings in Geneva today and tomorrow. The demonstrators carried placards declaring, “Let My People Go,” and “Gorbachev — Free Our People.”
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.