Jewish Group Objects to ‘Appeasement’

On behalf of the thousands of members and dozens of constituent organizations within the Jewish Federation of Greater Long Beach and West Orange County, we must register a strong objection to your choice of language in the Community Digest article “Long Beach Sister City Group Exhibits Photos From Russia, Siberia” (Times, March 8).

You stated that Long Beach City Council members “appeased most of the Jewish leaders” with regard to the city’s involvement with Sochi, U.S.S.R., in the Sister City program. The use of the word “appeased” is a gross mischaracterization of the reality of the events involved in this matter.

The City Council, in considering concerns with regard to the proposal that Long Beach establish such a program with Sochi, heard alternative views from various individuals and organizations. The Jewish Federation, through the leadership of its community relations committee, expressed a number of strong reservations to the proposal if it was implemented without any guidelines relating to the reality of human rights deprivation at the time in the Soviet Union. We were not the only organizational representatives to do so, as your article suggests.

As a result of our concerns and those of other organizations, the former city councilman who was sponsoring the proposal postponed pushing the matter further pending additional review. Subsequently, he retired from the council, delaying further action for some time.

It is false to suggest that these series of events constituted any “appeasement” of Jewish leaders. The council merely saw the merits of our concern and responded in the best traditions of democratic institutions as we exercised our rights under the First Amendment of the Constitution for “ . . . the people peacably to assemble, and to petition the Government . . . “ Your characterization is a defamation of the Jewish community.

BRIAN FINLANDER

Chairman, Community Relations Committee, Jewish Federation of Greater Long Beach and West Orange County