Tass Charges NY Police with Inaction During Protest Against Moscow Orchestra

The Soviet news agency Tass charged yesterday that the New York City police failed to act vigorously against Jewish youths who staged anti-Soviet demonstrations at a concert of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra in the Brooklyn College auditorium last Saturday night. According to Tass, the police were guilty of “impotence and inaction.” “Either they have been given no instructions, or their actions have been limited intentionally where the anti-Soviet actions of the Zionists are concerned,” Tass said. The Tass charge did not refer to a demonstration by Jewish youngsters during a performance of the Moscow Philharmonic in Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 19. That demonstration was organized by a student group called the “New Washington Committee for the Prevention of Genocide.”

(Members of the same group were involved in the Brooklyn College demonstration along with youths of the Jewish Defense League, a militant organization that claims to protect Jewish life and property in racially tense neighborhoods. A Jewish eye-witness at the Brooklyn College incident told JTA that about 40-50 persons picketed the auditorium and a number of demonstrators managed to get inside. He said the JDL members “danced, sang and yelled” and tried to prevent people from entering the auditorium. He said members of the Washington group were orderly and passed out leaflets stating that they supported cultural exchanges with the Soviet Union but condemned the USSR for “committing cultural genocide” against Soviet Jews and arousing anti-Jewish feelings in Communist-bloc countries. They said their demonstration was not directed against the artistry of the Soviet musicians. According to the eye-witness, the audience “recoiled” from the demonstrators.)