Latvians. Turks. and members of other ethnic groupswho want to leave the country and who have been seeking to exercise that right for years at the cost of endless difficulty and humiliation. I am informed that there are now approximately 120.000 outstanding applications for visas from Soviet Jews. and the Soviet authorities are doing everything they can to prevent this number from growing by intercepting letters of invitation sent to Soviet Jews from their relatives in Israelpresentation of such a letter of Invitation being the necessary first step in the emigration process. The point that really must be stressed today is that the situation of the Soviet Jews is not really a political issue. but a moral one. and I for one feel it would be a tragic mistake to see it in partisan political terms. Thousands of Jews in the Soviet Union are being denied the right to leave Russia. More than that. they are being heavily penalized for even making a request to emigrate. We have documented literally hundreds of cases in which men and women have lost their jobs immediately after applying for an exit visa. It happens almost automatically. as the first reprisal by the Soviet Government. Any Jew applying knows he will face loss of his job and a wait of several years. yet they continue to apply.
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