The Soviet Union is the nation with the third largest Jewish community. It has. with historical continuity. violated the rights of those Jews. and others as well. It is a state that refuses to allow Jews to live in their owner country with dignity and with the freedom to be Jews. and yet denies them the right to emigrate to fulfill these rights. As you know. despite international human rights agreementsmost notably the Helsinki accordswhich guarantee an individuals rights to freedom of religion. cultural practices and emigration. the situation in the Soviet Union has worsened. The closing of synagogues. banning of Hebrew language instruction. the pervasive discrimination in education. employment and social life. and the confiscation of prayer books are all a part of a sinister state policy to destroy Jewish culture. Yet. as the Kremlin denies antiSemitism. it continues its harsh policy of keeping its exit gates shut and keeping these Jews caged within their own country. In 1984. fewer than 1.000 Soviet Jews were allowed to emigrate. This is the lowest level in over a decade. With emigration in its abyss and with the Soviet authorities accelerating their harassment of Jewish activists. this Congressional Call to Conscience is extremely essential to the morale and cultural survival of the Jewish minority trapped within the Soviet Union. We must emphasize to the Soviets at every opportunity that we consider the issue of human rights. including the emigration of Soviet Jews and others. of great importance in evaluating our overall relations with them. It is critical that each of us in our own way let the citizens of the Soviet Union know that we care and that we have not abandoned and will never abandon their cause. We must continuously denounce the forced surrender of basic human rights to the arbitrary will of a repressive government.
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emigrate emigration