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Seaborne gang kills Israelis
TEL AVIV (J TA)—Four Israelis including two small children
were killed in a series of bloody shoot-outs with a seaborne gang of
terrorists who invaded their home on the Nahariya beachfront
before dawn Sunday. Several hours later, Israeli naval units shelled
a terrorist base near Tripoli in Lebanon. At the same time, Knesset
Speaker Yitzhak Shamir spoke out in support of the death penalty
for terrorists.
Two of the four terrorists were killed and two were captured,
one of them slightly wounded. The dead are Danny Aran, 28, his
daughters Einat, 4, and Yael, 2, and police Sgt. Eliyahu Shachar of
Maalot.
PLO head cancels U.S. speeches
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Shafik Al-Hout, the director of the
Beirut operation of the Palestine Liberation Organization, who
had received a “restricted visa” from the State Department to
speak and travel in the United States, has left the country after
cancelling meetings in Chicago. Al-Hout was to have addressed the
Chicago Council on Foreign Relations and meet the editors of the
Chicago Tribune. The Council said that he had sent word to it that
he had been called home while the Tribune said he did not explain
his cancellations of his appointment with the paper.
Flooding hits Jewish homes
NEW YORK (JTA)—About 20 to 25 Jewish families are
among the 17,000 people who have been left homeless by the
flooding that has devastated Jackson, Mississippi. Erik Hearon,
chairman of the local chapter of the Anti-Defamation League of
B'nai B'rith, told the JTA that most of Jackson's 250 Jewish
families lived in the northeast part of town, the section hardest hit
by the flooding. He said the families that were evacuated had large
amounts of water in their homes and said the damage individual
families suffered ranged from $5,000 to $100,000
About four or five businesses owned by Jews were wiped out,
Hearon said. As an example, he noted one furniture store had
water to its ceiling ruining its entire stock.
Israel welcomes ex-prisoners
JERUSALEM (JTA) Plans are under way here to officially
welcome the five Leningrad trial Prisoners of Conscience who were
personally pardoned last week by Soviet President Leonid
Brezhnev and released from prison more than a year before their
10-year terms were due to expire in June 1980. The five who were
imprisoned since June 1970 for their part in allegedly attempting to
hijack a plane in Leningrad and fly it to Sweden are Vulf
Zalmanson, 39, Hillel Butman, 45, Anatoly Altman, 36, Boris
Penson. 33. and Leib Khnokh. 35. The five were told to leave the
Soviet Union for Israel by April 30.
Soviets reason for Aliya rise
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Aliya figures for March showed a
continued upswing in relation to last year. The total was 2,992
compared to 1,988 in March, 1978, an increase of about 55 percent.
Most of the rise is attributable to the increased numbers of Jews
leaving the Soviet Union, and some 400 Iranian Jews visiting Israel
who decided in March to change their status to immigrant and
temporary resident. But “neshira" (drop-out) figures are rising,
too. The rate in March was nearly 70 percent. Of the 3,137 Jews
who left the Soviet Union last month, only 1,283 went to Israel.
U.S. $$$ hold threatens UN?
UNITED NATIONS (JTA)—Secretary General Kurt
Waldheim warned the U.S. Congress recently of the consequences
that could result from its withholding of part of the United States
contribution to the United Nations.
Congress last year put restrictions on the use of U.S. funds
to pay lor programs ot tne UN which promote the Palestinian
cause. Waldheim said that if these restrictions were allowed to
continue, “it would destroy the principle of collective financial
responsibility and with it the economic and political viability of the
entire UN system."
A reminder about Jerusalem
Editor:
Those who condemn the
reunification of Jerusalem and its
incorporation into the State of
Israel forget, or prefer to ignore,
what happened when the eastern
sector of the city was under
Jordanian rule.
Despite the 1949 Armistice
Agreement stipulating that Jews
would have free access to t heir holy
place in the Old City, the
Jordanians, who held that sector
of Jerusalem from 1948 to 1967,
barred Jews from their holiest of
places, the surviving Western Wall
of the Temple, and forbade them
to live anywhere in the Old City.
The Jordanians engaged in, and
permitted, the mass destruction
and desecration of synagogues and
other Jewish religious sites. Jewish
houses of worship were used as
stables and latrines, the Jewish
Quarter of the Old City was left in
ruins, and tens of thousands of
Jewish tombstones on the Mount
of Olives cemetery were uprooted
and used to pave roads.
Christian denominations also
suffered under Arab rule.
Christian churches were forbidden
to buy land in any part of the Old
City, and numerous other
privileges long enjoyed by
Christian religious institutions
were abolished, resulting in a
substantial drop in Jerusalem's
Christian population. Even
Muslims suffered: Arabs who lived
in Israel were barred from praying
at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third
holiest Islamic shrine after Mecca
and Medina.
The reunification of Jerusalem
in 1967 brought an end to the
religious discrimination,
restrictions and desecrations
carried out under Arab rule, and
Israeli jurisdiction has reopened
the city to freedom of movement
and freedom of worship for all.
Douglas IF. Kessler
Chairman. Foreign Affairs
Committee
The American Jewish Committee.
Atlanta Chapter
Reader challenges ‘energy’ answer
Editor:
It was more than shocking to
hear the eminent American Jewish
Committee’s Atlanta chapter
energy chairman suggest “belt
tightening" as the definitive answer
to America’s energy crisis in his
April 20 letter. Having worked in
the international oil industry and
worked in an OPEC country I try
to monitor the arena of oil affairs.
“Belt-tightening” is as much an
answer as is fighting overt anti-
Semitism by becoming Maranos.
The chock-lock on viable supplies
and realistic prices is governmental
intervention All other matters are
tangential. Yes, it would be
desirable if NATO member
Norway never joins OPEC and
yes, it would be desirable if Iran
maximizes production Debt
service on their international
financial obligations will assist in
that decision.
Still, disinterested parties can
only conclude that government
intervention is the poison
preventing the equilibrium
Chairman Daniels seeks. “Belt-
tightening" is good to a point,
otherwise the improvised
tourniquet may well become a
noose!
Robert A. Warren
Business may bond Egypt-lsrael
Editor:
The ink was hardly dry on the
peace agreements when President
Carter brought together American
business executives to discuss
investments in Egypt and Israel.
Within 24 hours after the signing
of the agreement. President Sadat
of Egypt spoke at the first joint
meeting of the Israel-U.S. Business
Council and ^ypt-U.S. Business
Council. In that meeting, he urged
us to come to Egypt, be his partner,
and help develop the country
through much needed investment.
The following day in New York,
Prime Minister Begin similarly
addressed a group of business
executives and asked that they not
only invest in Israel, but invest in
Egypt as well. He pointed out the
importance of investing in Egypt
to help remove the great amount of
poverty and unemployment that
exists in Egypt. Unless there is
economic development in Egypt,
there may well be a change in
government.
As one examines the peace
agreement between Israel and
Egypt, it is quite clear that the
economic interrelationship
between these two countries might
well be the cement that will hold
the agreement together. That is
why it is so important that we
encourage to the fullest degree
possible the investment of capital
by American companies in Israel
and Egypt as well
At this time, many American
corporate executives are seeking
answers to such questions as,
“Should wc invest in Israel? Will
our return on investment (ROl) be
consistent with the risk involved’’
Are there opportunities to develop
our company's business in Israel?"
There are sound answers as to why
Americans should invest in Israel
at this time. First, there is now a
start of a process that will bring
about political and economic
stability between Israel and Egypt
The boycott that has been imposed
by Egypt on American companies
doing business in Israel will be
removed within nine months. This
can have the effect of breaking the
back of the Arab boycott, since
Egypt has by far the largest
population in the area. Of
importance to American
companies will be the opportunity
for Israeli ships to use the Suez
Canal. This could mean delivery of
products produced in Israel to the
far corners of the world
Israel offers to American
companies the opportunity to have
their headquarters in Israel,
conduct their research and
development programs and some
production in Israel, or at the same
time they will be able to
subcontract some of the assembly
work to factories set up in Egypt.
This will be particularly attractive
to companies that are labor
intensive where Israel does not
have a sufficient source of
manpower to meet their needs.
Americans will get the advantage
of lower pay rates and a more
abundant work force in Egypt
American companies will take
advantage of the fact that Israel is
part of the European Common
Market Products shipped from
Israel can be sold in European
countries duty-free. American
companies can manufacture a part
of their products in Egypt,
complete the production in Israel
and ship to European buyers from
Israel.
Israel has gone a long way
towards rfc^ing its red tape.
There j*^Pr5 0 American
companies’operating successfully
in Israel at this time. It is
reasonable to expect that their
operations will expand substan
tially now that they can sell their
products to the 40 million
Egyptian market. Israel offers very
substantial incentives which
American companies will find
attractive.
It is certainly reasonable to
expect that more American
companies will now be taking a
serious look at Israel as a place to
invest and manufacture products,
particularly for the European
Common Market countries. With
the additional opportunities for
subcontracting in Egypt and with
the stability provided by peace,
there is every likelihood that
American companies will be
sending their executives to Israel
for an “on-the-scenc" look We in
CEG-I will continue to work with
American companies to show
them the many advantages to
operating in Israel Where the
situation is appropriate, wc will try
to point out the advantages of
partial production and research
effort in Israel and the
performance of certain assembly
work in Egypt
Timer I. Winter. Chairman
( ommittee for Economic
Growth of Israel
P.O. Box 2053
Milwaukee. Wl 53201
Page 5 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE April 27, 1979