Jesse Jackson, Peace Activists See Gorbachev

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, here to deliver peace petitions during the U.S.-Soviet summit, had an unexpected meeting Tuesday with Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev and pressed him on Soviet human rights abuses.

In a 40-minute discussion during the lunch break from his talks with President Reagan, the seemingly irrepressible Gorbachev treated the American civil rights activist and about 50 members of various peace groups to a spirited defense of Soviet policy. And he invited Americans who doubt his country’s record on human rights to visit the Soviet Union and see for themselves.

“We are for open doors,” Gorbachev said at one point. “We welcome an opportunity for everyone, including American citizens, to get acquainted with the Soviet Union and even get married, why not?”

When Jackson and others in the room laughed, Gorbachev continued, “Whenever American and Soviet citizens meet, it is always in this easygoing and sympathetic atmosphere. Perhaps that is due to the fact that Americans and Soviets are very much alike. . . . Believe me, this is not propaganda. We respect each other.”

The exchange occurred in the midst of a news blackout imposed by both sides on the substance of the summit sessions themselves. “We’re down to business,” Gorbachev said when Jackson asked how the talks with Reagan were going.

Jackson, after his impromptu meeting with the Soviet leader, pronounced Gorbachev “quite a communicator,” adding “so is Reagan--one would expect the two of them to get along.”

As a board member of SANE, the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy, Jackson led a delegation delivering to the vestibule of the Soviet mission nine boxes of petitions containing half of the 1,250,000 signatures that have been collected. An hour earlier, they dropped the other half at the U.S. Embassy, where they were received by a mid-level official.

The petitions are “a moral appeal,” Jackson said, for a nuclear freeze and a negotiated end to the arms race.

‘Star Wars’ Reference

Gorbachev responded by warning that the superpowers could become “hostages” to technological developments, an indirect reference to Reagan’s proposed Strategic Defense Initiative, the space-based missile defense system popularly known as “Star Wars.” It is the focus of arms control discussions at the summit.

“The time has come to put an end to these developments and discuss disarmament,” Gorbachev said, adding that he has brought “a number of proposals” with him to Geneva.

Gorbachev was dressed in a style Jackson described as “Gucci Communist,” a well-tailored suit that matched the best of the West. “He was decked out in great splendor,” Jackson told a news conference. “It was certainly not something that came off the assembly line. That was not a proletariat outfit he was wearing. He is very much a part of the real world.”

Jackson did not know for certain that he would be greeted by Gorbachev until less than an hour before they met. Then he was told to expect to make a courtesy call of only 5 to 10 minutes.

As the session went on to several times that length, Gorbachev remained standing and grew more animated, gesturing with his hands and making his points forcefully.

“Only once did he go off on an ideological spout,” said Jackson, who challenged what he called Gorbachev’s “stock answer” on Jewish emigration. Gorbachev said flatly that the problem “does not exist” and that Jews in the Soviet Union “are a fine people, . . a very talented people (who have) contributed a lot to the cause of disarmament.”

Later during a news conference, Jackson said he was struck by Gorbachev’s charisma and how other Soviet officials, particularly Ambassador Anatoly F. Dobrynin, were “looking on with a sense of pride” as he fielded questions.

“The idea of this cloistered and strait-laced leader type was not evidenced today,” Jackson declared. “His personality is going to be a factor in opening up certain processes there.”

Jackson was accompanied by the co-chairs of SANE, representatives of Women for a Meaningful Summit and members of the Rainbow Coalition, which Jackson created during his 1984 presidential campaign.

Jackson commended the Soviets for undertaking a unilateral freeze on nuclear testing and urged that they extend it beyond their Dec. 1 deadline. He also proposed a freeze on the development and deployment of nuclear weapons.

Jackson said that Mexico, India, Greece, Sweden, Argentina and Tanzania are ideally situated to verify nuclear activity with seismographic equipment and that Gorbachev agreed that the leaders of those countries should be involved.

“It’s apparent to me there’s a search for another course,” Jackson said after his meeting, calling Gorbachev “a banker-businessman type who has a sense of where he must go.”

Asked if he thought he was being “used” by the Soviets in their propaganda war with the United States, Jackson hotly contested any notion that the give-and-take on human rights could be to Gorbachev’s advantage. But he praised the Soviet leader’s willingness “to take his case to a broader world,” and he said he was encouraged by his seriousness of purpose.

“I don’t get the impression he’s here for a press conference, to posture,” Jackson said. “There’s a sense of urgency that’s bringing him here, just as there is with Reagan. I hope they will succeed, and not let any of us down.”

Later, the Soviet nightly news program devoted seven minutes to the Jackson-Gorbachev meeting, compared with nine minutes on Reagan-Gorbachev. The program described Jackson’s delegation as “fighters for peace in the U.S.” and quoted Jackson as saying: “Not everyone in the U.S. supports the arms race and many are pressing for an end to SDI.”