More than 100 refuseniks are scheduled to participate in a day of fasting throughout the Soviet Union on December 24 as a gesture of solidarity with Jewish Prisoners of Conscience, according to the National Conference on Soviet Jewry (NCSJ). Supporters in other countries are expected to fast along with them.
The refuseniks have formed what they call The Association of Israeli Citizens Who Are Living in the USSR Temporarily Against Their Will. The refuseniks intend to send letters to Soviet authorities demanding the POCs’ release.
The informal network began two years ago in Leningrad with a handful of members who expressed the desire to be repatriated to their homeland, Israel. They all claim Israeli citizenship.
The group reportedly includes a large number of refuseniks. Their activities were described by one of the members: “As long as even one Prisoner of Conscience remains in detention or exile, the authorities’ claim of a change in climate remains just so many words. Without exception, they are innocent and forced into martyrdom by official oppression. It is our prime duty to affect their release.”
Among those participating in the fast are Inna Begun, wife of POC Iosif Begun, and their son Boris. Iosif Begun was a Moscow Hebrew teacher and Jewish activist who first applied to emigrate to Israel in April 1971. He is currently serving a 12-year term in Chistopol Prison for “anti-Soviet agitation” that consists of seven years’ imprisonment and five years’ internal exile.
Morris Abram, NCSJ chairman, said: “We salute the brave refuseniks who are denied the basic human right of freedom of emigration. In this season of spiritual observance, we call upon Jews and Christians to join in the letter writing campaign, and to let General Secretary Gorbachev and his associates know that the Prisoners of Conscience, the refuseniks and all Soviet Jews continue to be on the conscience of freedom-loving people everywhere.”
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