Speech #1020154021

Nationalism and fundamentalism in and of themselves are not evil. but we must be careful. lest they be subverted for vile intentions. Perhaps most ominous. though. is the possibility of statesponsored antiSemitism in Azerbaijan. Numerous accusations have centered on the Azerbaijani OVIR office in Baku. which controls emigration of Jews from the country. The escalation of fighting in NagornoKarabakh has led to increasing numbers of Jews trying to floe Azerbaijan for the safety of Israel or the United States. The OVIR office in Baku. however. has apparently placed barriers along the path of emigration. According to Miron Gordon. an Israeli diplomat charged with overseeing the issuance of visas at the Israeli consulate. We can do our part within several weeks. But the Baku OVIR (emigration processing office) has been intermittently closed. and the Moscow office does not seem willing to process Jews from Azerbaijan. Some claim that these new barriers are the beginning of doors closing on free emigration for Jews in Azerbaijan due to antiSemitic sentiment in the Government. Others offering a defense of the new Government claim the delays are merely a function of inadequate manpower in the OVIR office and a paper shortage for passports. If the U.S. Departments public and diplomatic warnings last September are accurate indications. however. there is some foundation for believing antiSemitism may have played a role in slowing down Jewish emigration from Azerbaijan. The State Departmont warned the former Soviet Republics not to violate the emigration law passed by the Supreme Soviet in May of 1991. the warnings signaled our Governments response to reports that Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan had reinstated restrictive emigration laws. particularly with respect to Jews. Furthermore. the State Department included a statement in its 1991 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices that read: Corruption in the passport and visaissuing officesexacerbated by a shortage of new passportsremained a major impediment to unrestricted emigration and travel abroad. especially in Azerbaijan. where it is reportedly widespread. Whatever the case. there are two points on which there is no argument. First. no one can doubt that. these delays threaten to keep Jews hostage in an acute situation that may explode at any time.