Editing Refusenik (section)

=== International pressure ===
[[File:Yuli_Edelstein.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Yuli Edelstein]], one of the Soviet Union's most prominent refuseniks, who served as [[Speaker of the Knesset]] (Israel's parliament) from 2013 to 2020]]

On 18 October 1976, 13 Jewish refuseniks came to the [[Presidium of the Supreme Soviet]] to petition for explanations of denials of their right to emigrate from the USSR, as affirmed under the Helsinki Final Act. Failing to receive any answer, they assembled in the reception room of the Presidium on the following day. After a few hours of waiting, they were seized by the [[Militsiya|police]], taken outside of the city limits and beaten. Two of them were kept in police custody.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

In the next week, following an unsuccessful meeting between the activists' leaders and the Soviet Minister of Internal Affairs, General [[Nikolay Shchelokov]], these abuses of law inspired several demonstrations in the Soviet capital. On Monday, 25 October 1976, 22 activists, including [[Mark Azbel]], [[Felix Kandel]], [[Alexander Lerner]], [[Ida Nudel]], [[Anatoly Shcharansky]], [[Vladimir Slepak]], and [[Michael Zeleny]], were arrested in Moscow on their way to the next demonstration. They were convicted of [[hooliganism]] and incarcerated in the detention center Beryozka and other penitentiaries in and around Moscow. An unrelated party, artist [[Victor Motko]], arrested in [[Dzerzhinsky Square]], was detained along with the protesters in recognition of his prior attempts to emigrate from the USSR. These events were covered by several British and American journalists including [[David K. Shipler]], [[Craig R. Whitney]], and [[Christopher S. Wren]]. The October demonstrations and arrests coincided with the end of the [[1976 United States presidential election]]. On October 25, U.S. presidential candidate [[Jimmy Carter]] expressed his support of the protesters in a telegram sent to Scharansky, and urged the Soviet authorities to release them. (See Léopold Unger, Christian Jelen, ''Le grand retour'', A. Michel 1977; Феликс Кандель, ''Зона отдыха, или Пятнадцать суток на размышление'', Типография Ольшанский Лтд, Иерусалим, 1979; Феликс Кандель, ''Врата исхода нашего: Девять страниц истории'', Effect Publications, Tel-Aviv, 1980.) On 9 November 1976, a week after Carter won the presidential election, the Soviet authorities released all but two of the previously arrested protesters. Several more were subsequently rearrested and incarcerated or exiled to Siberia.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

On 1 June 1978, ''refuseniks'' Vladimir and Maria Slepak stood on the eighth story balcony of their apartment building. By then they had been denied permission to emigrate for over 8 years. Vladimir displayed a banner that read "Let us go to our son in [[Israel]]". His wife Maria held a banner that read "Visa for my son". Fellow ''refusenik'' and Helsinki activist Ida Nudel held a similar display on the balcony of her own apartment. They were all arrested and charged with malicious hooliganism in violation of Article 206.2 of the [[Penal Code]] of the [[Soviet Union]]. The [[Moscow Helsinki Group]] protested their arrests in circulars dated 5 and 15 June of that year.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mhg.ru/history/14DB1C9 |title=Московская Хельсинкская Группа |access-date=2015-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205170006/http://www.mhg.ru/history/14DB1C9 |archive-date=2017-02-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Vladimir Slepak and Ida Nudel were convicted of all charges. They served 5 and 4 years in Siberian exile.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://eleven.co.il/jews-of-russia/history-in-ussr/15420/|title=Советский Союз. Евреи в Советском Союзе в 1967–85 гг.|first=Редакция|last=энциклопедии|date=4 October 2018|website=Электронная еврейская энциклопедия ОРТ}}</ref>

Various activist organizations constituted the [[Soviet Jewry Movement]]. Human rights organizations included the [[Cleveland Council on Soviet Anti-Semitism]] (1963), [[Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry]] (1964),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry (SSSJ)|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/student-struggle-for-soviet-jewry-sssj|access-date=2021-10-20|website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=June 2022}} [[Bay Area Council for Soviet Jews]] (1967), the [[Union of Councils for Soviet Jews]] (1970),<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ghert-Z|first=Renee|title=Once heroes of US Jewry, Soviet Refuseniks are largely forgotten. Not for long|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/once-heroes-of-us-jewry-soviet-refuseniks-are-largely-forgotten-not-for-long/|access-date=2021-10-20|website=www.timesofisrael.com|language=en-US}}</ref> and the [[National Coalition Supporting Soviet Jewry]] (1971).

Another major source of pressure in favor of the rights of refuseniks was the [[Jackson–Vanik amendment]] to the [[Trade Act of 1974|1974 Trade Act]]. Jackson–Vanik affected U.S. trade relations with countries with non-market economies (originally, countries of the Communist bloc) that restricted freedom of Jewish emigration and other human rights. As such, it was applied to the USSR. According to [[Mark E. Talisman]], those who benefited included Jewish refuseniks from the Soviet Union, as well as Hungarians, Romanians, and other citizens that sought to emigrate from their nations.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Pomeranz|first=William E.|title=The Legacy and Consequences of Jackson-Vanik: Reassessing Human Rights in 21st Century Russia|url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/the-legacy-and-consequences-jackson-vanik-reassessing-human-rights-21st-century-russia-0|access-date=2021-10-21|website=www.wilsoncenter.org|language=en}}</ref>