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A Change in the Wind Concerning Soviet Jews?
| Article
# : |
10032 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
4 / 1986 |
3,308 Words |
| Author
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David A. Harris
David A. Harris is the deputy director of the International
Relations Department of the American Jewish Committee. |
A few hours after Natan (Anatoly) Shcharansky's arrival in the West, a journalist called me to ask if the struggle for Soviet Jewry was over. After all, he said, the main symbol of the movement now was liberated and a principal demand of the Western world--Shcharansky's freedom--was met. What more needed to be done? I responded by telling him an anecdote recounted by Jews in Moscow:
Shortly after publication of the Soviet census in
1979, General Secretary Brezhnev asked Premier Kosygin
the official Soviet Jewish population figure.
"The total is 1.8 million," replied Kosygin.
"I have an idea," said the Soviet leader.
"What if we permit the trouble makers among the
Jews to emigrate. Won't that win us some favorable
publicity overseas and, at the same time, defuse
tensions here?" "A fine idea," exclaimed Kosygin.
"How many do you think would leave, Kosygin?"
"No less than five million," he responded.
The point is, of course, that the struggle on behalf of the Jews in the Soviet Union, whose actual numbers may well be between 2-2.5 million (given serious inadequacies in the Soviet census method), is far from over. And many other Soviet citizens also seek to leave for a variety of political, religious, and family reasons. This in no way
... (1990 of 19936 Characters)
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