Speech #980166466

It is now evident that the destiny of one human individual. when resulting in international concern and commitment of action. can actively change something in the world." Today. on the anniversary of his arrest. we reaffirm our commitment to free Anatoly Shcharansky. and our concern for the more than 2 million Jews presently living in the Soviet Union who are also captive to their Governments refusal to respect basic human rights. In the 7 years since his arrest. Shcharansky has become synonymous with the Soviet Jewish emigration movement that he once described as a "movement of renaissance." When Shcharansky first applied for an exit visa in 1973. Soviet officials typically rejected his application. But rather than being intimidated. which was the desired effect of such a refusal. Shcharansky confounded the authorities by protesting not only his case but also the unjust refusals of others. As a founding member of the Moscow Helsinki Monitoring Group. Shcharansky dared to defend the rights explicit in the Helsinki accords. rights with which the Soviets once solemnly agreed to comply and later so flagrantly violated: the right of religious worship. freedom of thought and conscience. family reunification. free flow of information. the promotion of religious contacts. and the right to know and act upon ones rights. Shcharansky spoke not only for the millions of Jews who had been silenced by the Soviet Governments systematic repression of their identity. their culture and their heritage. but for the millions of nonJewish victims of Soviet repression as well. After assessing Shcharansky as a human rights activist and spokesman for the refusenik community. and perceiving him to be a potential threat to internal security. the authorities silenced him. Today we must speak for him. and for his fellow Soviet Jews. For today. the threat to the Jewish minority in the U.S.S.R. is greater than ever. While emigration rates have plummeted. Soviet antiSemitism has intensified. The official antiSemitic campaign employs a wide range of repressive measures.