Speech #970238832

Rosh Hashanah. recently passed. and with the issue of international human rights very much a primary concern of this Nation. I feel compelled once again to draw attention to those persons suffering in the Soviet Union as a result of their desire for religious freedom. Isai Goldstein. an established physicist. formerly of the Tiblisi branch of the Mendelev Standards Institute. has been denied both employment in his field and exit visa status since his first request for emigration to Israel 11 years ago. Since that time. the Soviet Union has denied Isals emigration visa on the grounds that he had "access to State secrets." despite the fact that his work was never classified. Isais application makes him one of the thousands of socalled "refuseniks" currently struggling in the Soviet Union. These refuseniks are mostly Soviet Jews who have sought visas for emigration and have been deniedall because they sought a basic human right. the right to religious freedom. The horrifying conditions and terrible treatment of the Jewish people in the Soviet Union leaves them no alternative but to seek an exit from their homeland and attempt a new life somewhere else in the world. where they can prosper in liberty and peace. However. the trend of the Soviet Union now seems to be to lower the number of emigrants considerably. almost to a point where fewer than 3.000 will escape Soviet persecution this year. in contrast to the figure of 51.320 permitted to leave in 1979. The Soviet Unions continued harsh oppression. institutional antiSemitism. and concerted efforts to exterminate Jewish culture in Russia represent an appalling abuse of civil rights. As the number of freed Jews falls unproportionately each year. the conditions for refuseniks and other dissidents deteriorate in as unproportioned a manner.