Speech #990096459

Dr. Yuri Tarnopolsky of Kharkow. Ukranian SSR. is an example of the Soviet Jew caught in this emigration quagmire. He is unable to leave the Soviet Union to practice religious freedom and can not stay and continue his life as an organic chemist. He was sentenced on June 30. 1983. to a 3year term on Chita labor camp for slandering the Soviet state. Since the time of his original application for an emigration visa in 1976. he has been refused work in his profession. Both he and his family have been subjected to great hardship and harassment. A new steppedup campaign to erase Jewish culture has begun. Disruption of their lives and harassment by authorities are not new to the tens of thousands of refuseniks waiting to emigrate such as my adopted refusenik. Dr. Yuri Tarnopolsky. The latest attempt to eradicate Jewish culture from Soviet society. however. is new. Hebrew teachers and the most active political activists were singled out. arrested. and Imprisoned on trumpedup charges. The leadership of the Soviet Jewish emigration movement may disappear if these Hebrew teachers and activists are eliminated. Soviet television recently aired a crude documentary on Jews in the Soviet Union mentioning their antiSoviet tendencies and association with Zionists. This film represents not only an upsurge in antiSemitism. but also a continuation of the Stalinist mentality of equating any allegiance to Judaism or Israel as an act of treason possibly punishable by death. If refusenik leaders are to weather this new Soviet storm. they will need our support and commitment to their cause. The Soviets need to realize that Soviet Jewish emigration is a priority and commitment of the United States. We should require that all future U.S. delegations make no economic agreements without first obtaining significant human rights improvements. To do this. we must institute guidelines so that our negotiations do not deteriorate into the buying and selling of human beings.