Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1970-12-31

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Heed The Clarion Call
It was rewarding to ^ee at Monday night's com¬ munity (irotest rally the results of an effort to mobilize the community on short notice.- The Community Kclations Committee of the United Jewish Fund and c:ouncil, the Columbus Board of Rabbis, the Columbus .lewish Center, the Council of Organizations df the UJFC, the Teenage Council, and the Women's Division of thc UJFC, all deserve praise and commendation for the, tremendous turnout of concerned citizens of tfae Jewish and general Columbus community.
It is unfortunate at this time of Chanukah, a time of ^  festivity and joy, that it was necessary to sound the ' tilarion call of our people, to raise our voices in protest, prayer and petition to the Soviet Union for, their unjust and mhuman treatment of our people in their lands. Ironitt, too, that this latest threat to the freedom of the Jewsin the Soviet Union should come at the time of the ./^car when Jews all over the world celebrate the vic¬ tory of thc Jewish people over an earlier tyranny two thousand years ago.
Black, white, Jew and Christian joined together in prayer, their voices raised as one in the common'cause of freedom and human dignity for alll, people.
To thoseof you who were not able to attend the rally, we call for you to join your fellow citizens in letting your voices be heard. Send telegrams to Presideiilt^^^ Richard M. Nixon, llie White House, Washington, U.C.; Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin, Embassy of the U.S.S.R., 1706 -18th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009; voicing your shock and urging clemency and in¬ tervention to help prevent Soviet anti - Jewish programs.
If you need fiu-ther help in sending these wires, call ,^tbe...UJFC,   237-7686,   The  CRC,   221-5417,   or, the Chronicle, 237-4296,~ for further information.
Large Crowd Gathers to Raise Voices in Protest And Prayer
More    than    1000    neaole     Cniinr<il.snnl»>inthenam(>nr . -^
World Reaets To Soviet Death Sentence For Two
JERUSALEM (WNS)- Israeli anger reached new heights as word reached here on Thursday that two of thc Leningrad defendants- ' both of them Jews-bad been sentenced to death by firing squad. ' The other nine defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 4 to 15 years. ' They have seven days in which to ap- peiil their sentences.
At the same time, news reached here of the arrest in Odessa of Raisa Anatolievna Palatnik, 34, who had several times applied for permission to emigrate to Israel.',
The government's reaction to thc sentences were voiced by Premier Golda Meir and other protests were voiced by Chief Rabbi Isaac Nissim, Transport Minister Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Ben- Aharon, secretary-general of Histadrut.
Galial leaders called for a special session of the Knesset on Sunday and a huge demonstration was planpcd for Friday outside thc K'innish Embassy which " represents Soyiet interests in Israel
Death sentences were imposed on Mark Dymshitz, a former military pilot, convicted of leading the -allcfit'd plot to hijac(cw,;a. Soviet airliner last June,'-aff(l. Kdvard Kiilzhetzby.    'W*''
Prison terms were meted nu| as follows; ¦ Josepg ..Mendelevich "and Uri Fcderov, l.'i years;. Alexander Murzhenkhb, 14 years; Lieb Khanokh, 13 years;   Anatoly Altman, 12
years; Boris Penson and Silva Zaimanson, 10 years; Israel Zaimanson, 8 years and Mendel Bodnia, 4 years. After an emergency cabinet meeting, Mrs. Meir
(CONTINUEDON PAG^ 4)
More than 1000 people gathered Monday night at thc Agudas Achim Synagogue to join in vocal protest of the Russian action in sentencing two Jews to -death for treason (desire to leave the country). The meeting, sponsored by the Community Relations Committee of the United' Jewish Fund and Council and its affiliates, was at¬ tended by young and old, black and white, Jew and Christian.
Rabbi David Stavsky, Beth Jacob Synagogue, presented the statement of the Columbus Board of Rabbii which said in part, "...The conviction and death ¦ sen¬ tences mark another mockery of justice....The victims have been chosen by a cynical regime to be made object lessons to the over 3 million Jews of the Soviet Union of what can happen to -Jews who desire tb leave the Soviet Union and emigrate to Israel...."
Tbe Rabinnical statement stipulated that Columbus synagogues would remain open 24 hours a day for in¬ dividual prayer and meditation until such time as the unjust death sentences are, commuted and the Jews of the Soviet Union freely pennitted to exercise their rights as human beings.
Robert- Schwartz, president of the Teen Age
C^ouncil, spoke in the name of Columbus teens in asking for help for the people of Russia. James M. Friedman, Executive Counsel, delivered a statement from Governor-elect John J. Gilligan, which pointed out "....we pause from our daily activities...because we see before us the spectre of a potential "human disaster. ...Our shock and our dismay beyond the actual sen- tehcing to death of Soviet Jews who allegedly plotted tq^ obtain their freedom. It far deeper, to the tyrannical policies of the Soviet government against the Jewjsh people and to the restrictions on their freedom that led these men and women to commit desperate acts. ...All of us, whether we are young or old, black or white. Christian or Jew - feel the blow that has been struck against freedom and human dignity in the Soviiit Union..."
Rabbi David Jeremy Silver of The Temple, Cleveland, O., was the guest speaker for the evening and set the mood by stating the Soviets were reverting to anti - Zionist policies and had decided to make "Jews a scapegoat for all its failures." He called the sentences "staggering to the sensitivities of all decent people."
Sidney Blatt, chairman of
the Columbus CRC read the following statement on the Trial in Leningrad and the plight of the Soviet Jews:
"Once again a travesty of justice is being played out in thc Soviet Union. This time the  victims  marked  for
.sacrifice to totaiitariariisiQ|s voracious need '^.for scapegoats are accused'/'Of treason ^and banditry bas^ on an alleged attempted hijacking. Conviction has already meant death sen-
IC0NTINUeD0NPAGE4)
The::wiiiisii»k
ROME (WNS)-World Jewish leaders and Vatican officials ended a four day meeting with an agreement to join forces in "fighting racism, a'nti - Semitism and all forms of discrimination." In a joint statement, Jewish and Roman Catholic representatives said they had discussed "from the religious viewpoint" concrete plans to improve relations between the two com¬ munities throughout the world and to strengthen their cooperation in the fields of common concem.
DUSSELDORF  (WNS)~Franz StangI,  former, commandant of the Treblinka death camp, received a life sentence after being found guilty of participating in the death of 400,000 inmates, most of them Jews. ' ' • .    --   ~     "' "  '     f   '," .^
.'TEL-AVIV (WNS)-A Nablus" military court'has sentenced six members of an El Fatah cell to prison terms ranging from 30 months to six years after they were convicted of possessing arms and failing to act to prevent acts of sabotage of which they had advance knowledge. In Gaza City, five houses that had served as bases for terrorists were destroyed by Isradi security forces.
LONDON (WNS)-Soviet Premier Alexei N. Kosygin demanded that Israel withdraw from all occupied Arab territories "as stipulated by Security Council Resolution 242 of Nov. 22,1967." He made the demand at a luncheon in Moscow honoring a visiting Egyptian delegation.