Has glasnost reached these innocent men? Not yet. Thousands of Soviet Jews suffer harassment. discrimination. and loss of employment merely because they applied for permission to emigrate. a right guaranteed them by the Helsinki Final Act. to which the Soviets are a signatory. Yet new emigration regulations severely restrict even those who can apply. Is this glasnost? I think not. Even if we were to recognize the new emigration regulations as a legitimate manifestation of international law. the Soviet Union does not comply. Ida Nudel has been waiting for years to join her sister in Israel. Vladimir and Maria Slepak have yearned to be reunited with their sons. And Mark Terlitsky received yet another refusal to reunite with his brother only a few short weeks after the new regulations took effect. These individuals have not seen glasnost applied to them. Emigration rates from the Soviet Union continue to be extraordinary low. Only 914 persons last year were allowed to leave. Some have made much of the fact that this month. some 450 individuals have emigrated. However. this contrasts markedly with the reportedly 400.000 who desire to reunify with family members abroad. Is this glasnost?
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