Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Jan. 15, 1996, edition 1 / Page 4
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MLK and the Soviet Jewry Movement I. % "? ? ? -1 v. ? * . - l? ?% ?, yo. v< * y^vr t ^ .f As record numbers of Soviet Jews continue to pour into Israel, Jews in particular have reason to join in the celebrations of Martin Luther King 'r day. For it should be recalled that Dr. King, the supreme voice of the civil rights movement in the United States, was also an early and influential supporter of the Soviet Jewry movement, the effort to achieve human rights, including the right of emigrur tion, for the more than two mil lion Jews living in the USSR. We are confident that the climactic successes of this movement - me move to Israel of 200.000 Soviet Jews in 1990 and the. 6ven greater number antici pated in 1991 - would have brought consid erable gratifica tion to * Dr. King. So. too, would the fact that for the first time in three generations, Jews in the Soviet union are being allowed to teach Hebrew to their chil dren, create their own art forms, develop their own cul ture and estab lish Jewish communal bod ies. From virtu ally the very beginning of the movement to free Soviet Jews in the 1960s. Martin Luther King Jr. was a major advocate on their behalf Many years ago this month, he publicly sought sup port for the reestablishment of the "religious and cultural free dom" of the Soviet Jewish com munity. We went on to "urge that the Soviet government end all the discriminatory measures against the Jewish community." The next year Dr. King addressed, by telephone hook up, doztrns of Soviet Jewry Human Rights Rallies across the United States. In his compelling remarks, he indicated that the Soviet government deprived Jewish communal life ot ele 1 mentary needs required to sus tain even a modest existence. He admonished his fellow Americans not to "sit compla cently by the wayside" while Ttreir Jcwistr brothers Tmdsmer* in the Soviet Union faced the possible dissolution of their spir itual and cultural life. By remarks such as these. Dr. King helped play a signifi cant role in legitimating the effort to alleviate the plight of Soviet Jews - in moving it liom the fringes of our society's con cerns to the center. He thus made it acceptable for many people with diverse backgrounds to support this movement at time when general endorsements by American society was either > lack*ing*u uncertain. ? _ In retrospect. Dr. King's adoption of tne cause oi S o viet Jewry is not surprising given his belief that the freedom ?f blacks was inextri cably tied to the uni versal right of all groups to be free from dis-. crimination and oppres sion. This belief, exemplified b> Dr. King's extraordi nary leader ship, was instru men tal in the shaping of the close relationship nciwecn ntacKs and Jews that developed during the King years, a closeness that included co-operation in campaigns to end discrimination in employ ment and hocnrnrg arret to improve educational opportuni ties. In fact. Dr. King was the embodiment of this cooperation. Ten years before his 1968 death, he enunciated the basis of the (natural) relationship between black and Jewish communities. Blacks and Jews, he said, shared an "indescribably important des tiny to complete a process of democratization ... which is our most powerful weapon for world emulation." Surely, as we ponder tiie message of Martin ? Luther King's life and work, we must come to realize that it is gain time for both groups to return to the effort. "For it should he recalled that Dr. King, the supreme voice of the civil rights movement the United States, was also an early and influential sup porter of the Soviet Jewry?mo v ement, the effort t achieve human rights, including the right of .emigration, for the more than million Jews living in the U.S.S.R." "Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is-both impractical and immoral. It is; impractical because it is a descending spiral endin^iu_dcstruction for all....It is immoral: because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love." Luther King, Jr. NORTHSIDE M ?s SHOPPING CENTER Featuring ^ mtn't specialty qtottiw One Price $7 (clothing store") r rvfr (imi'i'i? in MAXWW erasstTiiAliS.v Bz&???ir-r. KAY Tnxifd Xii.'r l?lu Pkhftoy Shoes <Z> "Say that I was a drum major The merchants of for justice, say that I was a Northside Shopping Center drum major for peace." proudly honor the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr., humanitarian and Dr. Martin Luther King, jr.? Nobel Peace Prize recipient. \ .mi. X- v- - ?.*<? - ?* ? ".3v bl. S L| ?*v .?- iv-v- ?: ri? WSfifcfc'S!**' -""V' . ? ' : :M.- ? ^ ^fl . ' - '- . v; , MU ' 'v-anSS t? "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and conve nience, hut where he stands at times of challenge and controversy MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., 192^ K'68 Building a future in partnership with the community. ANHEUSER- BUSOH COMPANIES Anheuver Buvt h f omparws Inr is th#- parent < ompany <>t Anhr?**#>? Bust h ln< brewprs cjt Rudwp?s"-? V\j< hrfr>bt Mk hp lob* I igh! Budwpispr? light Natural light Host h? I A.. Mirhek>b( ta^sn I)a'? brers and King ( nbM i'rrmium Malt \ <tjunr? X vlT* . ' .<? &: <>& ih ? US'
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Jan. 15, 1996, edition 1
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