Governor Mario Cuomo and Mayor Edward Koch of New York City, the two main speakers at a press conference sponsored by the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry (GNYCSJ), called today for steppedup efforts on behalf of Soviet Jewry. They said that improved relations between Washington and Moscow should be linked to improvement in the situation of Soviet Jews.
“The freedom of Soviet Jews should be a precondition to any meaningful change in relations between our two countries,” Cuomo said in a brief statement at the press conference at the Sheraton Centre Hotel.
Charging that the Soviet authorities try to “terrorize Soviet Jewry into silence,” Cuomo said that the Jews are subject to “intimidation and repression,” their basic human rights denied, including their right to emigrate. “‘Next year in Jerusalem’ is still a whisper cry” for Soviet Jews, the Governor said. He vowed to continue the struggle for the freedom of Soviet Jewry, declaring: “We promise not to forget them. Not today, not tomorrow, never again.”
Koch said that the Soviet Union is sensitive to world public opinion and therefore the public struggle on behalf of Soviet Jews must be intensified. He declared: “In one voice we say to the Jews of the Soviet Union: ‘Do not lose hope’.” The message to the Soviet authorities, Koch continued, is “Let our people go.”
NEW INITIATIVES ANNOUNCED
The press conference today was called to announce major new initiatives to remove the barriers to Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union and to end the persecution and imprisonment of Jewish activists.
Herbert Kronish, chairman of the GNYCSJ, announced that his organization officially changed its name to the “Coalition to Free Soviet Jews.” He said the new name better reflects the organization’s “action-oriented mission and underscores its resolve to help achieve freedom for Soviet Jews.” He said that 85 organizations in the metropolitan area are represented by the Coalition.
Kronish, contending that the “crisis of Soviet Jews has reached alarming proportions,” outlined the new initiatives planned by the Coalition:
* A massive petition campaign with the goal of a half million signatures to be addressed to the Soviet leadership.
* The formation of “action teams” of Jewish and community leaders who will meet with foreign diplomats in New York and ask for their governments’ intervention on behalf of Soviet Jews.
* Stepped up activity to involve businessmen and the corporate community to use their influence on be half of Soviet Jewry.
* The 14th Annual Solidarity Sunday will be held on May 5 and will be sponsored by the Coalition. It is the largest yearly event of any kind on behalf of Soviet Jews.
“Our actions will send a clear message to Moscow that the American people are deeply concerned and distressed about the plight of Soviet Jews,” Kronish said.
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.
