I had met many Soviet Jews, visited some homes, befriended several "refuseniks" who were living in limbo between their desire to leave and their inability to do so, and heard -- in hushed tones, of course -- individual stories of discrimination and persecution, coupled with dreams of new lives abroad as Jews.
A lot of people coming to the UK – either for work or to flee war or persecution – could only dream of enrolling on a five-day-a-week private English course, and have to make do with learning through interaction, on the job, free Esol classes and/or by using applications and books, all while juggling the demands of work and life.
The population was split into dreamers (D) - if they could describe one or more of dreams, nightmares, travelling and persecution - and nondreamers (ND).
Until all people can walk freely without fear of persecution by others, our work remains and the dream has not come to fruition.
But Mr. Peters said the new Cuban rules raised new questions about United States immigration rules that were devised to give Cubans refuge from persecution and offered privileges that other immigrants could only dream of.
A world where fear of persecution, accident, and injustice are unfounded is a fine dream, but that's not the world we live in, nor the world we're approaching.
More recent examples include Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, written all the way back in 1942; Arthur C. Clarke's AI gone rogue in 2001: A Space Odyssey; and the persecution of androids in Philip K. Dicks' Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (better known as the movie Blade Runner).
Troubling visions of authoritarianism or chaos, of political persecution, and even civil war disturb our waking thoughts and nightly dreams.
The military coup of 1973 led to savage repression against those who had dared to dream of an alternative existence: executions, torture, imprisonment, persecution, exile, and, yes, book burnings, too.
Under the pressures of the diaspora and persecution, "home" has often been a fluid and elusive concept for Jews, a dream more than a reality.
