Interfaith Rally Held To Demand Release of Gross
Jewish and interfaith groups are organizing simultaneous vigils in Washington and New York calling for the release of Jewish American contractor Alan Gross from a Cuban prison.
The vigils, coordinated by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, will take place Friday at the Cuba Interests section in Washington and the Cuba mission to the United Nations in New York.
At both vigils, organizers will attempt to present Cuban officials with petitions calling for Gross’ release before Rosh Hashanah. The Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington is co-sponsoring the vigil there.
Gross, 62, a subcontractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development, has been imprisoned since 2009 and was sentenced this summer to 15 years in prison for attempting to overthrow Cuba’s government. He was hooking up the island’s small Jewish community with access to the Internet.
Gross is ailing in prison and reportedly has lost 100 pounds. His mother and one of his daughters are suffering from cancer, and his wife is recovering from an undisclosed illness.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news 2025 brings.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
