35. Post-Cold War PR Trip to Uzbekistan Boosts Fundraising for United Jewish Appeal's Operation Exodus, with Dick Grove

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In 1993, the world watched as two bitter rivals shook hands on the South Lawn of the White House, presenting the best hope for peace in the Middle East seen in centuries of bloodshed.

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization Chair Yasser Arafat’s signing of the Oslo Accords—and the handshake that followed, cajoled by U.S. President Bill Clinton—comprised an iconic snapshot in history.

In the moment, the world was awash in optimism, and Jewish Americans in particular were riveted by what was happening in the Middle East.

But in Eastern Europe, Jewish people living in former Soviet states faced a growing threat of persecution, and the problems went largely unreported.

And Operation Exodus, an effort by the United Jewish Appeal to repatriate one million Jewish refugees from failing states like Uzbekistan to Israel, would need a brilliant publicity campaign to motivate donors to support its ambitious goals.

So the UJA hired Dick Grove, the founder of Ink PR, for the job. And, together with a handpicked team of PR professionals and documentarians, he traveled into the Lion’s Den itself, documenting destitution firsthand in a failed Soviet State and building a massive fundraising publicity campaign for UJA.

In this episode, he's joined by Operation Exodus director Ron Friedman to rehash the tale of this extraordinary undertaking.

Visit our website for pictures from Dick's trip to Uzbekistan.

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