Soviet Official’s Lecture Sparks Jewish Student Protest

When Valentin Kamenev, the press counselor for the Soviet Embassy in Washington, spoke on U.S.-Soviet affairs and relationships last Monday to a Russian history class on the University of Missouri-Kansas City campus, the UMKC Jewish college students staged a protest on behalf of Soviet Jewry, it was reported by Loring Leifer, feature writer for the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle.

A group of 30 students and members of the community attended the class and queried Kamenev during the question and answer period following his talk, which was sponsored by the International Relations Council.

Todd Dollinger, a past president of the UMKC Jewish College Students, presented him with a petition written by Rabbi Mark Levin, assistant rabbi of Temple Bnai Jehudah. The petition requested that Kamenev “use whatever influence he might have to secure the rights of personal freedom” for Evgeny Yakir and his family, Soviet refuseniks with whom the social justice committee at the temple has been in communication.

REFUSES TO ACCEPT PETITION

Seeking the emigration of the Yakir family, the petition cited the international convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination and the Helsinki agreement. According to Richard Dubinsky. a member of the Jewish College Students. Kamenev evaded the protesters questions and refused to accept Levin’s petition.

Levin explained in an interview with the Jewish Chronicle that the petition was refused on the grounds that it “interfered with internal policies of the Soviet Union.” Following the class, Kamenev explained to Levin that there are “two reasons why persons in the Soviet Union are denied exit visas.” One is that they are “convicted criminals,” and the second is that they have “privileged information.”

Kamenev explained that he could not divulge which of these reasons was preventing the emigration of the Yakir family because this type of information was not given to citizens of countries outside the Soviet Union.