Most of the speakers at the assembly talked about the need to increase the role of Russian Jews in the political life of their countries.
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Russian Jews Meet in Jerusalem
The World Congress of Russian Jewry held its general assembly in Jerusalem yesterday. It was attended by more than 3000 people from 35 countries. The assembly was timed to coincide with celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Israel’s statehood. Speaker of the Russian Federation Council Sergey Mironov and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sent messages to the assembly (in which they urged their listeners to resist efforts to rewrite the history of the Great Patriotic War – i.e., World War II in the Soviet Union, the holocaust, the origins of Nazism and other topics). More than ten Russian regional leaders and two presidential representatives sent greetings as well, as did American presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Most of the speakers at the assembly talked about the need to increase the role of Russian Jews in the political life of their countries. Knesset member Sofa Landver expressed the wish that the Knesset have 120 Russian-speaking members. (There are 120 places in the Knesset.) World Congress of Russian Jewry head Boris Shpigel, who is also a member of the Federation Council, said that Russian Jews must cultivate a special relationship with Russia, “the center of our language and the cradle of particular mentality and culture.” He also set goals for the organization: uniting emigrants from the former USSR in support of Israel and protecting the interests of Russian-speaking Jews around the world.
On the second day of the assembly, it passed a resolution that, among other things, condemned “the strengthening tendency in recent years in a number of states of the former USSR sharply to decrease the number of Russian-language cultural programs.” It also urged U.S. President George W. Bush, and the U.S. Congress to repeal the Jackson-Vanik amendment.
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All the Article in Russian as of May 23, 2008
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