I issue a call to conscience on behalf of all Soviet Jewryacademics stripped of their titles. Soviet refuseniks imprisoned. students denied entrance to universities. workers deprived of jobs. husbands unable to join their wives abroad. and the list goes on. We in the United States are watching with alarm the startling decline in Soviet emigration. The Soviet Union has slammed the door on the emigration of Soviet Jews. Last year. emigration of Soviet Jews fell to its lowest annual level in over a decade with less than 3.000 Soviet Jews allowed to emigrate. We are also watching with alarm a fundamental qualitative change in the lives of Soviet Jews. Jewish cultural activity and religious observance are being attacked with frightening vengeance. Soviet KGB officials. armed with threats of arrest. persist in conducting sudden raids. confiscating private property and banning the teaching of Hebrew an other educational pursuits. Soviet authorities have targeted Jewish scientists and academicians for intimidation and public degradation. They continue their oppression of Soviet Jews in flagrant violation of the Helsinki Final Act in which they pledged to uphold basic huhnan rights. among them. the rights to cultural expression and emigration. What we watch with distress. we must resaond to with vigor and resolve. If the protests of our friends in the Soviet Union are forcibly silenced. we must be their voices and take up their cry.
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emigrate emigration