Woi A Champion Of Freedom Gerald Ford's presidency was short, but pivotal in liberating Soviet Jewry. have theDetroit Jewish News delivered to your door every Thursday for about a dollar a week 248.351.5171, visit www.JNonline.us call Jewish leader Max Fisher, President Gerald Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the Oval Office, 1975. (click the subscribe link) or fill out and mail the form below 111 year@$56 ❑ 2 years @$88 exp date signature(required) name phone# street address state city zip email address ❑ I would like to be contacted about special offers and/or sending a gift subscription mail to: Detroit Jewish News • PO Box 2267 • Southfield MI 48034-2267 Please allow 2-3 weeks to begin delivery. In-state subscriptions only. DETROIT Out of state price $75 for 1 year, $132 for 2 years. JEWISH NEWS 24 January 4 • 2007 Jewish Telegraphic Agency Washington ❑ bill me ❑ payment enclosed charge my ❑ Visal I MasterCard card # Ben Harris H is presidency lasted less than 1,000 days, but it was enough time to support an international accord that provided a significant boost to the Soviet Jewry movement and marked a key moment in the history of the Cold War. Gerald R. Ford, who died Dec. 26, 2006, at age 93, signed the Helsinki Declaration in August 1975 along with the leaders of the Soviet Union, Canada and 32 European nations. The agreement required the Soviet Union to respect human rights, including fundamental freedoms of religion, thought and conscience, and contributed to mounting global pres- sure to free persecuted Soviet Jews. "His administration's signing of the Helsinki accords, which established a clear link between international rela- tions and human rights, was the most important step in the struggle to win the Cold War — even though, when they were signing it, both sides didn't necessarily realize this:' said Natan Sharansky, an icon of the Soviet Jewry movement. Sharansky was a founder of the Moscow Helsinki Group, an organiza- tion started to monitor Soviet compli- ance with the accord. "The West thought that making a connection to human rights was important in and of itself, even if there was a chance that it turned out to be mere lip service,' said Sharansky, a former Israeli Cabinet minister who now is head of strategic studies at the Shalem Center, an academic research institution in Jerusalem. "As it happened, it ended up being the most decisive move to help dissi- dents in the USSR." Ford already had distinguished himself as a vocal supporter of Soviet Jews. In January 1975, he signed into law the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, which denied most-favored nation trading status to countries with restrictive emigration policies — an attempt to pressure the Kremlin into approving more exit visas for Soviet Jews.