Soviet Jews
For a few days it seemed as though we had cause to be optimistic. However, announcements of a shift in Jewish emigration policy, which could have meant freedom for as many as 12,000 Soviet Jews, have now been denied by Moscow through Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennady I. Gerasimov.
In the article, (April 3), “Moscow Denies Shift on Jews or Israel Policy,” Gerasimov is quoted as comparing the Soviet Jews who have obtained freedom to spiders who “scatter around to the United States and throughout Europe.”
Comments like this are a reflection of the low esteem in which human life is held in this communist, totalitarian regime. Whether Jews who leave the Soviet Union go to Israel, the United States, Europe, Canada or elsewhere is irrelevant. What is relevant is the opportunity for freedom for all Jews, and the right of all people everywhere for self determination.
CHARLES S. CASASSA SJ
Los Angeles
Father Casassa, chancellor emeritus of Loyola Marymount University, is chairman of the Interreligious Coalition on Soviet Jewry.
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