Newspaper Page Text
Timerman will receive
UJA Ben-Gurion award
“It is very important to be a Jew.
After that, we can discuss all the
other points.”
These are the words of Jacobo
Timerman, the Argentinian Jewish
editor recently released from house
arrest after years of worldwide
protest. These words were spoken
at United Jewish Appeal national
headquarters during the only
interview Timerman has granted
since arriving in the United States.
Timerman is slated to receive the
UJA 1979 David Ben-Gurion
Award during the upcoming
national conference, at a public
assembly in Avery Fisher Hall,
Lincoln Center, on Friday, Dec. 7.
The assembly which will see
Timerman presented with the Ben-
Gurion award will also include a
tribute to recently released Soviet
Jewish Prisoner of Conscience
Boris Penson, a dramatic reading
by multiple-award winning actor
Eli Wallach, and a concert by the
Soviet Jewish Emigre Orchestra,
under the direction of Lazar
Guzman.
Timerman will receive the Ben-
Gurion Award for his “struggle
against oppression and for the
right to live a Jewish life." The
1978 award went to Soviet Jewish
Prisoners of Conscience.
During the course of an
exclusive radio interview
Timerman, who now lives in Israel,
made the following observations:
"Freedom as a human being and
freedom as a Jew—they are very
different. 1 am used to the idea of
being free. I suppose it is not
difficult to live like a free human
being. But what is really different is
to live as a free Jew. This is
something I never imagined, it was
an experience 1 never had. I have
been a free man, but I never was a
free Jew.”
Regarding his arrest and
imprisonment, Timerman said,
“Why was 1 arrested? 1 was editor
of the only outspoken daily about
human rights in Argentina. It was
the only daily that pointed out
anti-Semitic incidents in Argentine
life. I was hated because I was
always outspoken politically and
because I was always a very good
Jew...
“I was in prison for two and one
half years. The first three months
kidnapped, disappeared, in
clandestine jails. Then nine
months in legal jail and one and
one half years in home arrest, with
eight policemen living with me in
the apartment for 24 hours a day. 1
was released because of
international pressure, but
especially the Jewish institutional
pressure...
“One day, when I was feeling in a
very bad situation because of much
torture, 1 thought I needed
something to help me survive.
Thoughts of my wife and children
were not enough. I needed
something to be alive. So I
spontaneously banged on the steel
door, to ask the guard which way
was East, so that 1 might pray to
Jerusalem, Ffe told me that for
security reasons, he couldn't tell
me which way was East. But I was
happy I had asked. I don't know to
pray, i don’t know Hebrew, I don’t
attend synagogue, I am not an
observant Jew. But something
came out of me that 1 needed to
touch Jewishness to survive...
“1 am a journalist. Journalists
cannot live without the language.
We work with words. All my life I
was a journalist, and I needed to
work now in Israel. I don’t know
Hebrew. I thought I might learn
how to be a carpenter in a kibbutz,
or perhaps open a small bookshop
with my wife.
“When I was arriving in Israel I
thought about my life and the
future as a mutilated life, because
not to be a journalist for me is very
very sad.
‘1 felt very mutilated. But the
moment 1 arrived at the airport in
Tel Aviv 1 had an offer from
Maariv. I spoke with the editor. 1
said to him, ‘I don’t write Hebrew.
1 don’t read Hebrew. How can 1
work in a paper 1 don’t readT He
said, ’It doesn’t matter. You will
write in Spanish and we will
translate. We will read the paper to
you. We have another case, a
Russian Jew. He writes in Russian
and we translate it in Hebrew.’
“So imagine the situation. It is
really a miracle. Tou come to
Israel and you are never mutilated.
It doesn’t matter what you know or
what you do. You can be creative. I
am a journalist writing Spanish in
a Hebrew paper and I belong to
journalism in Israel. Tht#*is the
miracle of Israel...
“The future for me? The future is
to be happy, to have many
grandsons, and to live in Israel."
CAMP
BARNEY MEDINTZ
of the
Atlanta Jewish
Community Center
"GENERAL REGISTRATION OPENS"
(over 325 children already registered during “Early Bird" registration)
80 miles north of ATLANTA
amid the Appalachian Mountains
Over 50 years of camping service
to the Southeastern United States!
For Children Grades 2—10
CAMP FEE INCLUDES ALL ACTIVITIES:
• Hebrew
• Arts & Crafts
• Cook-outs
• Sleep-outs
• Swimming lessons
• Ecology Study
• land Sports
• Folk Dancing
• Ceramics
• Photography
• Horseback Riding
• Nature Study
• Water Skiing
• Camp Crafts
• Tennis
• Sailing
• Canoeing
• Drama
• Bar Mitzvah Instructions
• leather Crafts
DIETARY LAWS OBSERVED
DATES: First Session • June 15 - July 11
Second Session • July 13 - Aug. 8
Full Season • June 15 - Aug. 11
For a descriptive brochure or other information call or write:
CAMP BARNEY MEDINTZ
Larry Melnick, Director c/o The Attanta Jewish Community Center
1745 Peactree Road, N.E.; Atlanta, Georgia 30309
(404)875-7881
ACCREDITED BY THE ACA
Special "Get-Together” for parents and friends interested in finding
out more about Camp Barney Medintz directly from Larry Melnick—
Thursday. Jan. 3 - 7:30 p.m.. AJCC Zaban Branch—See slides of Camp.
Refreshments Served
C B.M. REUNION • Dec. 23 11:30 a.m.-l:00 p.m.
AJCC-Zaban Branch Lunch Served
Award winning photographers for Atlanta’s Jewish
family Simchas since 1947
jCzz, ^iuclLo
1164 N. Highland Avenue, N.E.
876-3716
COME VISIT! TRY THE BEST.
A NEW Chinese Mandarin
Style Restaurant has opened
in the Dunwoody Village Shopping Center
£y<t fiku QJuea
fit 4L ®
S490 Ctumble* Dunwoody Kd.. Dunwoody Villa**
Atlanta, (.a. mi* J9.VM74/J9J-M78
HOARS
Tucs.-Fri. II VM. 5-10
Sal noon-11 p.m
Sun. noon-10 p.m.
Closed Monday
• WEEKEND
• LUNCHEON BUFFET:
l Sat. ft Sun. 12-2:30 p.m.
dOOOOOBO^OO
L-R: Bob Kauffman. Ken Kauffman. Chef Jacques Gelv. Pierre Glardon
ACCENT IN
2575 Peachtree Rd., N.E.
in The Plaza Towers
Valet Parking
"The restaurant has been under new management since March of this year and surpasses its previous standards of
excellence... Jacques, known for his past culinary experiences with Capital City Cluband the Coromandel Restaurant,
surpasses himself with his present painstaking preparation and the menu he has to offer....The mood is amiably set
when you arrive at the restaurant by Pierre Glardon. your Host. .Take the time to meetthe owners, they are convivial
people who are genuinely exciled by what they have to offer their guests ” (Bmkhrad Ailama. August 2. 1979)
Inquire about Tango’s new A CCENT ROOM for your special holiday parties
P«g« 9 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE November 30. 1979