The American Jewish Congress today firmly rejected “any suggestion that extortionate fees” for the exit of Soviet Jews be paid to the USSR. A resolution adopted at a meeting of the Congress’ national Executive Committee, declared that “Blackmail has no limit, end the demands of the blackmailer can never be finally satisfied.” The resolution added: “Instead, we rededicate ourselves to support of international efforts now under way to induce the Soviet government to revoke this infamous decree.” In a similar action yesterday, Leon H. Keyserling, president of the National Committee for Labor Israel, assailed the exit tax as “blatant anti-Semitic act” and called upon “all free men and women to protest against the continuation of this policy.”
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.