Neither Soviet prison nor Israeli politics have deprived Natan Sharansky of his good humor.
Speaking to a sympathetic Hillel Auditorium, Israeli Cabinet Minister Sharansky weaved personal anecdotes with political opinions to create a cogent case in support of Israel's human rights record. Sharansky gave the lecture -- which was sponsored by a slew of campus-based and Greater Philadelphia Jewish activism groups -- free of charge.
As one of the founders of the Helsinki Monitoring Group -- a watchdog organization for Russian human rights violations -- Sharansky received a Congressional Gold Medal from the United States before being imprisoned by the KGB in 1978.
Following an extensive international campaign for his release, Sharansky was liberated as part of an East-West prisoner exchange, whereupon he immediately emigrated to Israel.
In Israel, he founded the Yisrael B'Aliyah political party -- which caters to the Soviet immigrant population -- and held several ministerial posts in the government, currently serving as minister of diaspora and Jerusalem affairs.
As a right-wing minister, Sharansky eagerly defended Israel's stance for human rights and against Palestinian terrorism.
"If people can express their views freely, insist on their views and not be arrested for it, that is human rights," said Sharansky after referring to his internment in a Soviet labor camp for voicing his political dissent.
"If you take this definition and go to the Middle East, there is only one country that respects right of Arabs, women, sexual minorities, and this government is accused of violating human rights," Sharansky said, referring to Israel.
Sharansky left no ambiguity in his opinions, drawing a sharp "us versus them" distinction and speaking out against Palestinian propaganda.
"Israel has the best record in the world for fighting against terror democratically," he said, pointing to the episodes of Jenin in the West Bank, where the Israeli army sacrificed soldiers to save Palestinian civilians.
Regarding the fence that is being erected on Israel's perimeter, Sharansky stressed that it is only a provisional security measure and not a political border.
He also emphasized the importance of regime change in the Palestinian Authority in order to achieve a lasting peace.
"If you want real security, you have to encourage democracy," Sharansky said, reproaching the Western powers for supporting friendly Arab dictatorships.
Lastly, Sharansky pressed the importance of student activism.
"Never underestimate the power of students to change the world," he said. "Power that you have if you are connected to your people, to your tradition and to the history of human rights."
Sharansky's remarks clearly reverberated and stuck with the audience, who gave him resounding applause and a standing ovation.
"I love and admire how genuine he is when he speaks," said College sophomore Yael May, the event's main organizer.
"The issues he brings up, I wholeheartedly agree with," said Wharton freshman Boris Shcharansky, the diplomat's nephew and liaison at Penn. "It was really difficult [to organize] because he's my uncle and I need to talk to his publicist."
"His perspective is very interesting," College senior Ted Rosenbaum said. "He's so well-qualified to speak on [human rights] issues, being that he lived through some of the worst abuses of them."
