Speech #990093934

AntiSemitism is not a new phenomenon in Russian history but. in this latest phase of oppression. the very survival of Judaism in the Soviet Union is threatened. The formal distinction once made by the Soviet Government between antiSemitism and antiZionism is now openly disregarded. Persecution of Jews is no longer restricted to those who seek permission to emigrate. but now includes any individual attempting to practice Judaism. The Soviet Government has undertaken a systematic campaign to disrupt all Jewish religous and cultural activities. Official antiSemitism has spread to include regular attacks against Jews in newspapers and television. Jews who try to emigrate customarily lose their jobs and are ostracized. Let me cite the case of one Soviet family. the Terlitskys. Mark Terlitsky had a successful career as an architect with a leading government design firm in Moscow. He worked on a number of large projects. including historic restoration of ancient buildings in the Kremlin. In 1974. because Mark was going to apply for permission to emigrate to Israel. he transferred to another job where he worked on small residential and commercial projects and where he believed his work would be viewed as less sensitive. Nonetheless. when the Terlitsky family applied to emigrate in 1976. Mark. his wife. Svetlana. their daughter and Marks elderly mother were refused exit visas on the basis of Marks alleged "possession of secret information." Mark was demoted to draftsman and. shortly thereafter. lost his job. Svetlana. an economic analyst. also lost her Job. The Terlitsky family has reapplied for visas many times over the last 8 years without success. Neither Mark nor Svetlana have been able to find permanent jobs since they applied to emigrate. On several occasions they have been detained. harassed. and beaten by the KGB. Tragically. more than 380.000 Jews remain in similar situations. waiting for visas to leave the Soviet Union. We cannot remain indifferent. We must utilize all means available to effect a real change in policy within the Soviet Government toward its Jewish population. On September 24. all 100 Senators signed a letter to the President urging him to discuss the status of Soviet Jews during the forthcoming summit with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. We hope the President will use this opportunity to press for essential reforms such as the granting of exit visas to the thousands of Jews who wish to emigrate to join their relatives abroad or be repatriated to their historic homeland. It is important to impress upon the Soviet leadership the importance to Americans of Soviet actions in this single area. Mr.