It does not distract us from seeing the ongoing campaign against Hebrew teachers and cultural activists like Aryeh Volvovskya campaign of persecution. brutalization and Imprisonment. It does not distract us from observing the criminalization ot dissent like in the cases of Yuli Edelshteyn who was convicted of trumped up charges of possession of drugs and Alexander Kholmyansky who was convicted of possession of firearms. and losef Berenshteyn who was charged with resisting police. It does not distract us from seeing that only 79 Soviet Jews were allowed to emigrate in January. These low emigration figures do not translate into a liberalized emigration policy. Indeed. even the gesture of exchanging Anatoly as a spy cannot be seen outside the context of the present Soviet campaign of making the right of emigration a crime. Mr. Speaker. it is important for Mr. Gorbachev to realize before his party congress and before his visit to the United States. that gestures will not suffice. Gestures will not ease the genuine concern for Soviet Jewish emigration in the West. Actions such as significantly opening the door to Jewish Soviet emigration. and serious improvements in the treatment of Soviet Jews can have a significant effect in improving United StatesSoviet relations.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration