3 Jewish Leaders Arrested in Leningrad;
Possible Harbinger of Anti-Jewish Drive

NEW YORK, (JTA)—Three
leaders of the Jewish commu-
nity in Leningrad have been
arrested, and one of them was
sentenced to 12 years' im-
prisonment, after a closed trial
on charges of being "secret
agent" and carrying on "trea-
sonable" activities, the New
York Herald, Tribune reported.
The report was written by
Rowland Evans, Jr., a Washing-
ton correspondent for the New
-York Herald Tribune, who re!"
turned recently from an 8,000-
mile tour of the Soviet Union.
The arrested men are reported
to be G e d a l i a Rubinovich
Pecherski, former lay chairman
of the Leningrad Jewish Com-
munity; and Jews named Dyn-
skin and Kaganov, whose first
names could not be established

by Evans.
According to the correspond-
ent, Pechersky was put on trial
on or about Oct. 9, his trial
lasting four days. He had been
arrested„ in June, accused of-
!`crimes against the State."
Pecherski was for years "the
outspoken advocate of Jewish
religious community of Lenin-
grad in 1953, immediately after
the death of dictator Josef
Stalin. Leningrad has a Jewish
population of 250,000, but not
all of them are "practicing"
or religious Jews.
The head of the Leningrad
State Committee for Religious
Affairs approved the election
of Pechersky to the Jewish
religious leadership, the report
emphasized. However, accord-
ing to Evans, Pechersky's

,

State Dept. Plans No Action on Arab
Boycott of Eddie. Cantor, U.S. Firms

(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)

WASHINGTON — A State
Department official said Tues-
day that the Department had no
plans to act in the Arab League
boycott of Eddie Cantor and
six American business firms un-
less it was shown that the boy-
cott was based- on religious
discrimination and not on their
affiliation with Israel.
The statement was made by
John S. Hoghiand, acting As-
sistant Secretary for Congress-
ional Relations, in a letter to
Rep. Leonard Farbstein, New
York Democrat, who had asked
for State _Department comment
on the latest Arab League boy-
cott action.
The State Department offi-
cial reiterated earlier s t a t é-
ments that the United States
did not recognize nor condone
the boycott of Israel, "particu-
larly as it affects American
citizens or firms." But, he
added, the boycott, "as it his
been represented to us by the
Arab states, does not use race
or religion as a basis for re-
stricting trade with the Arab
states, but rather is applied to
individuals or firms who have
particular close relationships
with the State of Israel."
As examples of activities
which were considered
"grounds for blacklisting" by
the Arab states, the State De-
partment official listed "estab-
lishing a factory or branch
office in Israel, aiding. Israel
causes, investing capital in Is-
rael, encouraging the sale of
Israel products and providing
technical assistance to Israel."
He added that the blacklisting'
of Eddie Cantor and the six_
American firms "has been ap-
plied because the individual
and firms concerned violated
boycott principles.'
He then added that "should

evidence be presented to the
Department that in the cases
which you have cited there has
been discrimination against the
individuals or companies con-
cerned on the basis of religion,
yofi may be assured that the,
Department would take action
approi5riate to the situation and
in consonance with our national
interest,',' the State Department
official concluded.

"stubborn and public battle for
Jewish rights apparently forced
his demotion in 1956 to the
post of deputy chairman."
B et w e e n 1953 and. 1956,
Pechersky, according 4- to the
correspondent, 'had succeeded
in repairingthe, premises of
the Leningrad Synagogue, - es-
tablishing the ritual slaughter-
ing of fowl, and gaining official
approval for the baking of
Matzoth."
In 1957, the correspondent
continued, Pechersky was de-
moted still- further, being strip-
ped of his deputy chairman-
ship, but "he continued his
public pressure for reforms."
Evans reported that Pechersky
"was a prominent figure, not"
only to Leningrad Jews but
also to important foreign visi-
tors who toured the synagogue
which for years has served
as a showplace to tourists."
The correspondent reported,
further, that the Jewish com-
m unity in Leningrad was
"known for its aggressive stand
and its stubborn struggle" to
restore and preserve Jewish
traditions. , "The history of
Soviet discrimination against
Russia's Jews offers evidence
to support the view that the
Pechersky trial, , disclosed for
the first time in this report,
could be a harbinger a new
anti-Jewish campaign," the cor-
respondent stressed.

CARACAS, Venezuela, (JTA)
—Major General Yaacov Dori,
first Chief of Staff of Israel's
defense forces, now president of
Technion, Israel Institute of
Technology, at Haifa, was guest
of honor of the government and
of this country's most promi-
nent engineers at the Venezue-
lan Congress of Engineering
which closed here after sessions
lasting a week.
Gen. Dori represented the
Technion at the Congress.. Arie
Aron, Israel's Minister to Ven-
ezuela, also an engineer, repre-
sented the- Israel Engineers
Association.

Because of his military rank,
Gen. Dori was housed at the
Venezuelan Officers Club and
had been assigned an army cap-
tain as his personal adjutant
)while visiting here.

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Mapai Suffers Loss
in Union Elections

TEL AVIV, (JTA) — For the
first - time in the 40-year history
of union of the southern division
of the Israel Electric Corpora-
tion, the Mapai representation
was reduced to the status of a
tiny minority.
A record of 90 per cent of the
utility's 2,000 workers swamped
Mapai in the voting, ousting 21
of Mapai's 24 representatives on
the Workers' Council.. Even the
three Mapai representatives whO
survived the anti-Mapai tide -be-
longed to the internal opposition
within the Mapai faction.
Mapai was opposed by a united
front of members of a defunct -
Actions Committee which led
strikes against the utility earlier
this year. The heavy anti-Mapai
vote was attributed in part to the
actions of the Mapai faction in
persuading workers to call off a
24-hour strike last month.

Venezuela Fetes Gen. Yaacov Dori

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