In the meantime. over 12.000 invitations arrive each month to Soviet Jews to join families in Israel. Because of Soviet policy. they remain unanswered. And in the key Ukrainian cities of Kiev. Odessa. and Kharkov. the processing of visa applications has ceased completely. These actions are the most serious threat to Soviet Jewry since largescale emigration began in 1971. It exceeds even the dark days of 1975. when the rate of emigration was slashed 35 percent. It is doubtful that more than 20.000 Jews will be able to leave this year. These reductions coincide with a crude campaign of antiSemitism being waged in the media. the arts. and academia.
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emigration visa