Soviet and Ethiopian Jews Planning Reciprocal Rallies

Jewish refuseniks in Moscow will test the limits of glasnost with separate and unprecedented protests planned for Nov. 23-25.

Their activities will include a three-day symposium on “security refusals” and a protest at the Ethiopian Embassy to call for the free emigration of Jews.

Meanwhile, Ethiopian Jews in Jerusalem are planning a rally in support of their Soviet counterparts, according to activist groups for Soviet and Ethiopian Jewry in Chicago and Washington.

In Moscow, three dozen prominent refuseniks, including Vladimir Kislik, Emil and Tsilya Mendzeritsky and Pavel Ilyin are convening the symposium, entitled “Exit Visa Refusals Because of State Security – Judicial and Humanitarian Aspects,” in order to examine “the 20-year period during which we have been refused emigration on ‘security grouds,'” according to an organizers’ statement issued by the National Conference on Soviet Jewry.

The first session will be held Monday evening in Kislik’s apartments and further sessions will be held in the apartments of other refuseniks. The symposium will end Wednesday evening at Kislik’s apartment, when a concluding statement will be issued.

According to NCSJ, the organizers had requested a public hall to conduct their sessions, but were turned down by the Moscow City Council. Sister symposia are being held in Brussels, London and other world capitals, according to NCSJ.

The rally at the Ethiopian Embassy in Moscow also is scheduled for Nov. 25.

In Jerusalem, Ethiopain immigrants are planning to march on behalf of Soviet Jewry at the Knesset or in front of the Finnish Embassy, which represents Soviet interests in Israel. A possible date for their protest is Dec. 6, to coincide with the “Mobilization to the Summit” rally for Soviet Jewry in Washington.