The Southern Israelite. (Augusta, Ga.) 1925-1986, August 10, 1979, Image 1

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The Southern Israelite., August 10, 1979, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextFour Jews receive death in secret trial NEW YORK—The Supreme Court of the Ukraine has affirmed the death sentences of four Jews convicted last August of “economic crimes” following a year-long trial in Donetsk. The fifty other co-defendants in the secret trial received lesser sentences, according to the best information available to the NCSJ. Of the total number of defendants, 48 were Jewish. The four men are Gavriel Sepiashvili, 39, from Sukhumi, married with three children: Raphael Abziashvili, 48, from Tbilisi, married with three children; Elia Mikhalshvili, 42, from Tbilisi, married with four children; and a Baku man named Abassov. Although the prosecutor in the case had asked for sentences of 12 years for Sepiasiiv'lC 15 for Abziashvili and 10 for Mikhalshvili, all three, including Abassov, received death sentences on Aug 28, 1978. The decision of the union republic’s Supreme Court apparently leaves intervention by the Supreme Court of the USSR and, failing that, clemency by Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev, as the only remaining avenues of appeal. N.Y. Jews losing political clout? / —" ' The Southern Israelite » The Weekly Newspaper for Southern Jewry Our 55th Year Breaking poi Tension heightens as Dayan ac the U.S. of turning an Arab about- vj LL! id o jj ID - c !U H IT 'i. race From wire reports JERUSALEM — Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan lashed out at both his own government and the United States this week as tension heightened between the two countries. In interviews in Israeli newspapers, Dayan voiced objections to what he called a “change” and a “turnabout” in United States policy toward Israel in order to pacify Saudi Arabia. The U.S. wants to enter into an overall understanding with Saudi Arabia,” Dayan said, “which is making this conditional on the Palestinian issue” being handled according to Saudi wishes. Dayan’s remarks came after the Israeli Cabinet unanimously passed a tough resolution rejecting reported United States efforts to woo the Palestine Liberation Organization into the peace negotiations. The resolution was passed amidst growing concern over reports that the United States wants to change United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 Dayan -— to include references to Palestinian rights as an incentive to securing PLO acceptance to the resolution. Dayan also issued a somber public warning Tuesday that Israel is viewed abroad as “dying economically” and this image has led foreign statesmen to believe they could pressure Israel for new concessions. In newspaper interviews, Dayan blamed primarily the government coalition and the ministers responsible for the economy for this state of affairs. He expressed his own deep confidence and conviction that Israel has the strength to stand up for its vital interests and to withstand demands for changes in United Nations Security Council Resolution 242. In an appearance before the Knesset, Foreign Affairs and Security Committees, Dayan disclosed that U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance had asked Israel several days ago whether press reports of its imminent economic collapse were true, and if so whether the U.S. could extend any help. At the Cabinet meeting, the Foreign Minister characterized that body as weak and argued that Israel’s political standing abroad has been affected by the weak image of Israel on the economic front. He argued there as he did Tuesday that there was an impression, albeit wrong, in some quarters abroad, that Israel was Jewish heartland—going, going... NEW YORK (JTA)—The Jewish population in New York may be losing its political clout. At least this is the opinion of Jack Diamond, a statistician specializing in Jewish demography. Diamond feels that a loss of political influence may accompany a declining number of Jewish households and Jewish voters. In an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Diamond disagreed with the findings of Dr. Donald Feldstein, executive director of Community Services of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, and Samuel Ehrenhalt, deputy regional commissioner. Bureau of Labor Statistics, both of whom in an interview with JTA, said they believed the figure to be substantially higher than Diamond’s. Diamond is also highly critical of the methodology used for calculating the numbers of Jews in various communities reported in the American Jewish Year Book, published annually by the American Jewish Committee and the Jewish Publication Society of America. Diamond warns that misleading reportage on the Jewish community is actually at cross-purposes to the organizations that sponsor the Year Book, because losses to membership and in fundraising will not be anticipated. The New York City area traditionally contains the largest Jewish population in the world. A center of Jewish cultural and religious^ life. Diamond believes that New York’s Jewish population now hovers at only 750,000. Critics of Diamond say that he does not account for large numbers of Jews in Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester Counties, as well as those in northern New Jersey. Ehrenhalt maintains that the New York metropolitan area is still “the heartland of American Jewry” and that we are “seeing a golden age in New York City" in terms of the degree of commitment and identification with Jewish life. Feldstein also notes that a great many Israeli immigrants in the New York area are afraid to become “visible” members of the Jewish community for fear of being considered pariahs by American Zionists. Diamond feels these Israelis are “not a major factor affecting the Jewish population.” Diamond dwells a great deal on the composition of the Jewish community. He finds that as of the National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS) of 1970-71, New York’s Jews were disproportionally aged, and included far more elderly citizens in relation to other ethnic groups. Jewish youth has declined, too. For many years. Diamond notes, Jews have had a lower birth rate than other segments of the population. One reason, he says, is that higher levels of education among Jews corresponds to a greater awareness of birth control methods and the Jewish population's responsiveness to the call for “zero population growth." Jews also tend to marry later than non-Jews, and a great many households in New York City are “singles"—including widows and widowers Diamond counts the high rate of intermarriage and conversion out of Judaism as responsible for the rapid demographic changes visible throughout all American Jewry. Without adequate and up-to-date accounting of the population, the effectiveness of Jewish organizations’ outcries against assimilation will be greatly diminished. Diamond warns. Feldstein, however, observes that Federation efforts are now being aimed at the intermarriage problem. Diamond feels that his figures shbuld have an effect on the way Jewish organizations plan their programs. A smaller and more dispersed community calls for new approaches by Jewish groups, he says. Diamond adds that for the Jews who remain in the New York metropolitan area, a new “theology or a philosophy to buoy their spirits" in light of dwindling numbers of synagogues and community institutions, is needed.