The word refusenik entered English language as a part of the Cold Warlexicon to refer to those who were refused certain human rights, notably forbidden to emigrate. Later, its usage was appropriated to apply to those who refuse to participate in compulsory activities, such as army service, see conscientious objector. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... Look up lexicon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ... A memorial statue in Hanko, Finland, commemorating the thousands of emigrants who left the country to start a new life in the United States Emigration is the act of nolan muir the phenomenon of leaving ones native country to settle abroad. ... John T. Neufeld was a WWI conscientious objector sentenced to 15 years hard labour in the military prison at Leavenworth. ...
Etymologically, it is a portmanteau of the English language word "refuse" and the Russian suffix "-nik" (-ник), typifying person's activity. Not to be confused with Entomology, the study of insects. ... Look up portmanteau word in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up Suffix in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
The term refusenik has also been adopted by a controversial Muslim writer, Irshad Manji, who describes herself as a Muslim refusenik who opposes fundamentalist Islam.
The term computer refusenik can also be used to refer to anyone who refuses to use computers.
This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.
Refusenik (Hebrew: מסורב, transliterated: mesorav; or: אסיר ציון, transliterated: asir tzion, literally means: Prisoner of Zion) or Otkaznik (Russian: отказник, from "отказ", English equivalent: refusal, rejection) was an unofficial term for individuals, typically but not exclusively Soviet Jews, who were denied permission to emigrate abroad by the authorities of the former Soviet Union.
A leading proponent and spokesman of the refusenik movement during the 1970s was Natan Sharansky.
Refuseniks included Jews who were desiring to emigrate on religious grounds and Jews seeking to emigrate to Israel for national/Zionist aspirations and relatively secular Jews desired to escape an undercurrent of the state-sponsored anti-Semitism.
The word refusenik entered English language as a part of the Cold War lexicon to refer to those who were refused certain human rights, notably forbidden to emigrate.
Refusenik (Soviet Union): Jewish citizens of the former Soviet Union who were refused permission to emigrate.
Refusenik (Israel): Israelis who refuse to serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) under certain conditions.
Feeds |
Contact