Three leading Soviet Jewish activists have sent High Holy Day messages to the West beseeching the Jewish communities and government leaders to do all that is possible to open the gates of the Soviet Union for Jewish emigration.
The three activists are Isai and Grigory Goldstein of Tbilisi, each refused emigration to Israel for 14 years, and Ida Nudel, exiled to Bendery. Grigory Goldstein and Nudel are both former Prisoners of Conscience. Their messages were obtained by the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry.
In one of the messages, the three sent their “greetings to the State of Israel and the Jewish people all over the world for a new year of peace, health and prosperity. Please continue to demand from Soviet authorities to end the harassment of Jews in the USSR and to let them emigrate to Israel. Be reassured of our own determination to continue in our just struggle for freedom on behalf of Soviet Jews.”
In a message to President Reagan, Secretary of State George Shultz and President Francois Mitterrand of France, the three stated: “We Soviet Jews, look forward to your talks with high USSR officials, including Mikhail Gorbachev. We urge you to do whatever is possible to open the Soviet Union’s gates once again for Jewish emigration. We appeal to you to make this issue of emigration a high priority during your talks.”
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