Orthodox Union Outraged by Murders in Kosovo

January 12, 1999 - The Orthodox Union, the largest mainstream Orthodox Jewish organization in the United States, expressed its horror at the continued acts of violence
and brutality occurring in Yugoslavia.

The report of the recent mass murders
in Kosovo and “ethnic cleansing,” an expression that evokes a dark period in
our own history of fifty years ago, affects us profoundly and we cannot be silent in the face of this horror.

We appeal to the United Nations and to NATO to intervene decisively and urgently to end the aggression and to ensure the safety of the people in Kosovo. Thousands of lives have been lost in the former Yugoslavia and the
killing must stop. The mass murder of innocents and the intractability of the Milosvic regime are unacceptable.

We cannot sit idly by as the cruelty and killings persist.

We request that our rabbis and synagogue leaders contact their representatives and write to the President and Secretary of State and to
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, imploring them to act immediately and decisively to help end human rights violations and save lives.

Letters and calls should go out to world leaders asking them to exercise a show of true leadership in helping to immediately end the
devastation and to provide aid for the victims.

Our community and all the Jewish people, remembering the brutality suffered by our people during the Nazi era, will not be still in the face of these human rights violations.

We call for responsible leadership on the part of the world bodies to help cease these acts of terror and violence.

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