THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 76 Friday, December 18, 1981 Dutch Challenge Soviet Union on Emigration of Jews AMSTERDAM (JTA) — A seven-member Dutch par- liamentary delegation visit- ing Moscow challenged Soviet authorities over the severe curtailment of exit visas granted to Jews seek- ing to emigrate. They were given stock answers, obviously pre- pared in advance, in, which the authorities contended that few Jews are seeking visas and those denied them are privy to official secrets which precludes their leav- ing the country. The delegation, which in- cluded the chairmen of the three parliamentary coali- tion factions, went to the Soviet Union to discus's European arms reduction. But they raised the question of Soviet Jews with mem- bers of the Supreme Soviet and of the Communist Party Central Committee. The re- plies they received were identital. They were told that only 3,000 Jewish appli- cants are still awaiting visas; that only five per- cent of the applications are rejected because the applicants are either in- dispensable to the Soviet economy, have knowl- edge of security matters or have criminal records. The Dutch parliamenta- rians were told that many Jews occupy prominent positions where state secu- rity is involved, for exam- ple, in the Defense Ministry and that the refusal to grant them exit visas applies to all Soviet citizens in similar positions. Before leaving for the USSR, the members of the delegation signed a petition calling for the liberalization of emigration for Jews. The petition, which has a target of one million signatures, was to be presented to the Soviet Embassy in The Hague last Tuesday. It was learned that the send THE JEWISH NEWS as a gift this To: The Jewish News 1 -7515 W. 9 Mile Rd., Suite 865 Southfield, Mich. 48075 Please send a year's gift subscription to: NAME ADDRESS CITY STATE FOR: state occasion FROM $15 enclosed ZIP -- delegates got the impres- sion in their talks with Soviet officials that the crackdown on visas is linked to the fact that most Jews who apply for visas to go to Israel actually go to the United States after leaving the USSR. In view of the deteriorating East - West relations, this is re- garded with disfavor by the Russians. Last Saturday, the Dutch lawmakers visited the synagogue where they discussed the visa problem with five Jews who had applied without success. They promised that on their return to Holland they would con- tinue their efforts on be- half of Soviet Jews. In Pittsburgh, a Bnai Brith executive urged Americans — both Jews and non-Jews — to press the Soviet Union to reopen the gates of emigration to the hundreds of thousands of Jews who wish to leave and to allow those who remain the right to practice their religion. Addressing the Women's Plea for Soviet Jewry on Human Rights Day last week, Warren Eisenberg, director of the International Council of Bnai Brith, said that in recent years Jews have been held hostage to productive relations be- tween the United States and the Soviet Union. Noting that the emigra- tion of Jews from the USSR had virtually ceased, slow- ing from more than 50,000 in 1979 to less than 10,000 for 1981, Eisenberg said as bad as this was, it was made worse by flagrant persecu- tion and anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union. He pointed out that al- though Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev took a stand against anti- Semitism at the 26th Communist Party con- gress last February, he cynically opposes the most basic Jewish right to be identified with a na- tional homeland." Eisen- berg added that of the 105 identifiable cultural groups in the USSR, only Jews suffer cultural and religious deprivation, a behavior he described as "unconscionable." In Geneva, the Inter- governmental Committee for Migration reported a continued drop in emigra- tion of Jews from the Soviet Union, expected to be only about a third of the 1980 total by the end of the year, the New York Times re- ported. In a related development, problems still surround Alexey Semyonov, son of Soviet dissidents Dr. Andrei D. Sakharov and Yelena Bonner. (Semyonov's new wife by proxy has been granted permission to emi- grate to the U.S.) Semyonov's life has been harried to the point where the 25-year-old graduate student in mathematics at Brandeis University has had to give up his studies - and find substitutes to teach his classes. The couple were mar- ried last summer in a proxy ceremony in Butte, Mont. Semyonov left the Soviet Union in 1978, when he was still married to another woman. According to the New York Times, Semyonov had already formally separated from his first wife, and in- itiated divorce proceedings before he left the country, but they were not officially divorced until his ex-wife was settled in the U.S., where the couple completed the proceedings. He and his ex-wife have joint custody of their six- year-old daughter. Semyonov's grandmother also was forced to emigrate and lives with Semyonov and his sister and her two children. Meanwhile, it was re- ported that Boris Cher- nobilsky was sentenced to a year in a labor camp for fail- ing to obey a policeman. Chernobilisky was ar- rested for allegedly cal- ling a policeman a "fa- cist" when a Jewish so- cial gathering was dis- rupted in the woods. Chernobilsky pleaded not guilty to the charge. In Washington, the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews said it was disap- pointed by the decision of HIAS to cooperate with the Jewish Agency's resettle- ment policy for Soviet Jews arriving in Vienna. Under the Jewish Agency plan, HIAS will assist Soviet Jewish emigrants only if they have "first de- gree" relatives in the U.S. or other Western countries. According to the plan, first degree relatives are spouses, parents or chil- dren. The UCSJ at its annual meeting in September adopted a resolution saying that "although we actively encourage all Soviet Jews to choose Israel as their final destination, they should be free to resettle in the coun- try of their choice." HIAS president, Edwin Shapiro, said HIAS would test the plan for a three-month period start- ing around Jan. 1 "in the hope that it will result in a heavier flow of Jews from the Soviet Union." He noted that only 1,136 Jews had left the USSR - during the past three months — "the lowest number in the last 10 HIAS agreed to try out the plan in response to a personal appeal from Pre- mier Begin. Under the trial plan, the BIAS statement noted, it is expected that Soviet Jews who do not wish to go to Is- rael will seek the help of other refugee and resettle- ment organizations, both Jewish and non-Jewish. Funds for Soviet refugee re- settlement to the U.S. are furnished largely by the U.S. government. Egyptian Editor Supports Treaty CAIRO (ZINS) — The editor of the weekly news- paper of the ruling Egyp- tian National Democratic Party has warned that Egypt has much to lose by reneging on its peace treaty with Israel. Ibrahim Sa'adeh said that those who have called on Egypt to renounce the tre- aty after Israel returns the rest of Sinai to Egypt in April do not understand that such a move would shatter Egypt's credibility with the world and cut Egypt off from U.S. arms and friendship. It works better if you plug it in. KEEPING THE DREAM ALIVE By Don McEvoy LESS PREJUDICE MORE VANDALISM ont rary to the prevailing belief of many there is documented statistical evidence that prejudice is not on rise in America. But it sure feels like it is! Three years 'age) Louis Harris and Associates conducted a comprehen- sive survey of AMerican attitudes toward Jews, Catholics, Blacks, Hispanics and women. This national poll was done at the request of the National Conference of Christians and Jews. In every category, com- pared to data developed in earlier studies, there was clear evidence that the old - stereotypes were breaking down and that America was becom- ing much more accepting 'of its minorities.. In' recent months the American Jewish Committee had the Yankelovitch firm do another study regarding anti-Semitism. The fin- dings in 1981 were a confirmation of what -Harris had discovered in 1978. The percentage of Americans harbor- ing anti-Semitic attitudes was significantly reduced. If these findings are valid, how then do\ we account for the demonstrable rise in acts of racial and anti-Semitic violence and vandalism? There is ample evidence that cross- burnings, . swastika smearings, and other similar types of anti-black and anti-Jewish activities have multiplied dramatically in the past year or two. Well, it is possible that the polls are in error, but I don't think so. A more reasonable. explanation to Inc is that the hard-core bigots, though they are few in number, have become much more active. That, and the sense that the earlier sanctions against such behavior have been relaxed and it is OK again to be a hater in America. It is my feeling that those of the KKK and/or nco Nazi mentality believe they have friends in Washington for the first time in a quarter of a century who will silently applaud their actions. They view the dismantling of the social programs designed to help the poor, the at- tempts to cut back on legal services, to change signals on school desegregation, to case enforcement of affirmative action programs, to wal 7 - fle on voting rights, and to upset delicate balance of power in the Mid- dle East as signs that it is all right to openly hate again. The President had better speak strongly to the contrary if he doesn't want this perception to fester and grow. - (Don McEvoy is Senior Vice President of the National Conference of Christians and Jews. The opinions rxpri %red are his own.)