Valery Panov, Ballet Star Who Fought to Leave the U.S.S.R., Dies at 87
His death was confirmed by the Israel Ballet, with whom he sometimes worked. It did not say where he died.
The struggle of Mr. Panov, who was half Jewish, to leave the Soviet Union was taken up by Western political leaders and arts celebrities, and it served to dramatize the plight of Soviet Jews and dissidents who sought free emigration in a period of Cold War tensions.
Mr. Panov's high profile as an internationally known dancer made him a prime target of the Communist authorities. Using world tours of Russia's famous ballet companies for propaganda purposes, they diligently policed the troupes against defectors whose preference for the West or Israel might humiliate the Soviet Union.
Denounced by fellow Kirov dancers for seeking to emigrate, Mr. Panov was trailed by the K.G.B. and at one point jailed for 10 days on a charge of hooliganism, for supposedly spitting on a man who had accosted him. He also engaged in a hunger strike.
Mr. Panov's desire for artistic and personal freedom — and perhaps a more lucrative career in the West — was championed by Prime Minister Harold Wilson of Britain, Senator Henry M. Jackson of Washington and a raft of American celebrities, including Carol Channing, Harold Prince and Tony Perkins, who held a rally for him in Manhattan in March 1974.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
43 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Texas can't put the Ten Commandments in certain school districts' classrooms, judge says
Texas cannot require public schools in Houston, Austin and other select districts to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom, a judge said Wednesday in a temporary ruling against the state's new requirement. Texas is the third state where courts have blocked recent laws about putting the Ten Commandments in schools. A group of families from the school districts sought a preliminary injunction against the law, which goes into effect Sept. 1. They say the requirement violates the 1st Amendment's protections for the separation of church and state and the right to free religious exercise. Texas is the largest state to attempt such a requirement, and U.S. District Judge Fred Biery's ruling from San Antonio is the latest in a widening legal fight that's expected to eventually go before the U.S. Supreme Court. 'Even though the Ten Commandments would not be affirmatively taught, the captive audience of students likely would have questions, which teachers would feel compelled to answer. That is what they do,' Biery, who was appointed by President Clinton, wrote in the ruling that begins by quoting the 1st Amendment and ends with 'Amen.' The ruling prohibits the 11 districts and their affiliates from posting the displays required under state law. The law is being challenged by a group of Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Unitarian Universalist and nonreligious families, as well as clergy, who have children in the public schools. A broader lawsuit that names three Dallas-area districts as well as the state education agency and commissioner is pending in federal court. And although the ruling marks a major win for civil liberty groups, the legal battle is probably far from over. Texas Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton said he planned to appeal the ruling, calling it 'flawed.' 'The Ten Commandments are a cornerstone of our moral and legal heritage, and their presence in classrooms serves as a reminder of the values that guide responsible citizenship,' the Republican said in a statement, echoing sentiments from religious groups and conservatives who support the law. Texas has a Ten Commandments monument on the Capitol grounds and won a 2005 Supreme Court case that upheld the monument. The families who sued were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and the Freedom from Religion Foundation. 'The court affirmed what we have long said: Public schools are for educating, not evangelizing,' Tommy Buser-Clancy, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas, said in a statement. A federal appeals court has blocked a similar law in Louisiana. A judge in Arkansas told four districts they cannot put up the posters, and other districts in the state said they're not putting them up either. In Louisiana, the first state that mandated the Ten Commandments be displayed in classrooms, a panel of three appellate judges in June ruled that the law was unconstitutional. Biery, the judge, cited both the Louisiana and Arkansas cases in his 55-page ruling. He also includes extensive historical references, quotes that range from the founding fathers to evangelist Billy Graham, and even a Rembrandt painting of Moses holding the stone tablets, alongside an image of actor Charlton Heston in the film 'The Ten Commandments.' Having the displays in classrooms, Biery wrote, would probably pressure children of the parents challenging them into adopting the state's preferred religion and suppressing their own religious beliefs. The judge said there are ways students could be taught the Ten Commandments' history without it being placed in every classroom. 'For those who disagree with the Court's decision and who would do so with threats, vulgarities and violence, Grace and Peace unto you,' he wrote. 'May humankind of all faiths, beliefs and non-beliefs be reconciled one to another.' DeMillo writes for the Associated Press.
Washington Post
44 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Huckabee blames Europe for stalled Gaza talks, highlighting a growing Western divide
JERUSALEM — U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee sought Wednesday to blame a recent breakdown in Gaza ceasefire talks on the decision by some European leaders to recognize Palestinian statehood . Talks over a lasting ceasefire have repeatedly stalled since the early months of the war sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack — and long before there was any talk of major European states recognizing Palestinian statehood.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Israel approves settlement plan to erase idea of Palestinian state
Israel approves settlement plan to erase idea of Palestinian state JERUSALEM (Reuters) -A widely condemned Israeli settlement plan that would cut across land that the Palestinians seek for a state received final approval on Wednesday, according to a statement from Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. The approval of the E1 project, which would bisect the occupied West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, was announced last week by Smotrich and received the final go-ahead from a Defence Ministry planning commission on Wednesday, he said. "With E1, we are delivering finally on what has been promised for years," Smotrich, an ultra-nationalist in the ruling right-wing coalition, said in a statement. "The Palestinian state is being erased from the table, not with slogans but with actions." Restarting the project could further isolate Israel, which has watched some Western allies frustrated by its continuation and planned escalation of the Gaza war announce they may recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September. "We condemn the decision taken today on expanding this particular settlement, which ... will drive a stake through the heart of the two-state solution," said U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric. "We call on the government of Israel to halt all settlement activity." The Palestinian Foreign Ministry also condemned the announcement, saying the E1 settlement would isolate Palestinian communities living in the area and undermine the possibility of a two-state solution. British Foreign Minister David Lammy said on X: "If implemented, it would divide a Palestinian state in two, mark a flagrant breach of international law and critically undermine the two-state solution." A German government spokesperson commenting on the announcement told reporters that settlement construction violates international law and "hinders a negotiated two-state solution and an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not commented on the E1 announcement. However on Sunday, during a visit to Ofra, another West Bank settlement established a quarter of a century ago, he made broader comments, saying: "I said 25 years ago that we will do everything to secure our grip on the Land of Israel, to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, to prevent the attempts to uproot us from here. Thank God, what I promised, we have delivered." The two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict envisages a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza, existing side by side with Israel. Western capitals and campaign groups have opposed the settlement project due to concerns that it could undermine a future peace deal with the Palestinians. The plan for E1, located adjacent to Maale Adumim and frozen in 2012 and 2020 amid objections from the U.S. and European governments, involves the construction of about 3,400 new housing units. Infrastructure work could begin within a few months, and house building in about a year, according to Israeli advocacy group Peace Now, which tracks settlement activity in the West Bank. Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law. Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the area and saying the settlements provide strategic depth and security. Solve the daily Crossword
