Speech #990005096

Speaker. I rise today in support of freedom for Soviet Jews. At this critical point in United StatesSoviet relations it is important for this body to affirm its commitment to uphold the fundamental rights of Soviet Jews to emigrate as well as exercise their right to exist as Jews. Despite its commitments under the Helsinki Final Act. the Soviet Union has continued to deny exit permission to thousands of its citizens who wish to join relatives living abroad. The rate of Jewish emigration reached a nadir. for the 1984 total of 896 was the lowest recorded in a single year since 1970. The Soviet authorities continue maintaining. despite abundant evidence to the contrary. that the vast majority of Jews who wanted to leave the country have already left. and the rate of emigration is declining naturally as fewer and fewer families remain to be united. More accurately. the reduction in the number of Jews granted exit visas left an estimated 20.000 refuseniks (Jews who have been refused when they apply to emigrate) stranded. This figure is a conservative estimate. since it accounts only for those Jews who submitted formal applications to leave for Israel and received official refusals. The figure does not include those who have been arbitrarily denied even the right to apply for exit permits. those who have applied but received no official answer from the authorities. or those who choose not to publicize their plight for fear of reprisals. Finally. available statistics indicate that more than 350.000 Jews have begun the emigration process. Lately Soviet Jews have been subject to increased levels of antiSemitic rhetoric thinly veiled as antiZionism. Soviet propaganda maintains that Israeli and Western intelligence encourages emigration in order to obtain state secrets from Soviet citizens. It further alleges that Zionists collaborated with Facists during World War II to send many innocent Jews to their death. Individual Jewish refuseniks have responded in various ways to official intransigence on emigration. Some have reacted with despair and. for the time being. have stopped applying to leave. while others apply as frequently as possibleonce every 6 months. 1984 was a bleak year dominated by harassment. and a new wave of arrests. and persecution. At the same time. the movement for a renewed Jewish religious and cultural life grew. indicating that Soviet Jews are continung to draw strength and hope from their Jewish heritage. despite tremendous adversity. Mr. Speaker. I want to pay special tribute to the indomitable spirit and unwavering defiance in the face of persecution of Soviet Jews seeking emigration and Justice at home.*