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Israeli ambassador released
TEL AVIV (JTA)—Israel’s ambassador to Colombia, Eliyahu
Barak, returned home Monday after a two-month ordeal in the
Dominican Embassy in Bogota where he and a score of other
diplomats and foreign nationals were held hostage by leftist
revolutionaries. The hostages were finally released last weekend.
Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir was at Ben Gurion Airport to
welcome the returning envoy who looked thin but appeared in
good health and good spirits. “It’s good to be home," he said.
“We’re glad to have him back," Shamir told reporters.
‘...commitment to strong IsraeT
WASHINGTON (JTA)—The American Jewish Committee
has been assured that “there is a very strong commitment to a
strong Israel with secure boundaries" on the part of the official
level of the Roman Catholic Bishops in the U.S. In a talk to a recent
meeting of the AJCommittec's Interreligious Affairs Commission,
Msgr. George Higgins, secretary for special concerns of the
National Conference of Catholic Bishops, added that there was
some disagreement among the Bishops about such details of Israeli
foreign policy as West Bank settlements, but said such issues were
subject to “constructive debate."
Drop-outs cause clamp-down
NEW YORK (JTA)—Charlotte Jacobson, chairwoman of the
World Zionist Orga m/at ion-American Section, told a meeting of
its executive that “the dire prediction of a Soviet clamp-down on
R ussian-Jewish immigration as a result of a high drop-out rate, has
unfortunately become a reality." The Soviet authorities, she
reported, “are refusing to accept the letters of invitation received by
Russian Jews, on the grounds that the letter writers are not close
relatives. This has had an inhibiting ripple effect not only on the
original applicants for immigration who, unlike the former
refusnik activists, accept their denials passively, but also upon
potential applicants who do not even apply as a result."
Spice farm on the rocks
HAIFA (tCTNS)—The latest chapter in the aromatic History of
the kingdom of spices—years ago in Europe their value exceeded
the cost of precious gems—is being written on a stretch of marginal
land in Galilee. Today Israel is devoting the expertise of the
Technion Israel Institute of Technology on a piece of stony land, so
rocky that it cannot be plowed, in domesticating and improving
spice plants so the country can earn a goodly share of the world'?
billion dollar spice business. Currently the Spice Research Farm
has about 20,000 flourishing plants on this stony hillside. They
include bay leaves, sage, sweet marjoram, thyme, oregano, capers
and wild savory, lavender and lemop balm, rosemary and others.
An unusual feature of this project is that this farming is done
without irrigation as the hardy plants go through the long, hot dry
summer without water.
Israel high priority to Swedes
STOCKHOLM (ZINS)—The Christian church in Sweden,
which has traditionally opposed any plan for manufacturing
atomic reactors, recently altered its position and now favors the
plan. Sweden’s radio, which broadcast this information, notes that
the new posture of the church is a direct consequence of the fact
that the Arabs exploit their oil monopoly in their struggle against
Israel. “From the standpoint of simple morality the continued
existence of Israel must have a higher priority than the danger
which is contained in the use of an atomic reactor," according to a
spokesman for the Church.
Delegation meets in Yugoslavia
PARIS (JTA)—For the first time, Yugoslavia’s organized
Jewish community played host to a delegation of the European
Council of Jewish Community Services, comprising
representatives of countries in both Western and Eastern Europe
The occasion was a seminar of the Council s social service
commission which took place April 20-21 at the Yugoslav
Federation’s home for the aged in Zagreb. Taking part in the
discussions were representatives from Belgium, Denmark, France,
Switzerland and West Germany, as well as East Germany and
Hungary.
Open letter to Vanessa Redgrave
(Eva Hart ok. the internationally
known actress, has made
numerous /ilnis in Great Britain
The Hungarian-horn pint star
issued this open letter after
I anessa Redgrave called for a
boycott of Israel. —Editor)
On March 31, you asked the
British Actor’s Equity to institute a
veritable boycott against the State
of Israel. There were only 200
members at that meeting—I was
not one of them. But some of us—
some of the 26,300 members who
were absent must speak up We
must not be guilty of silence, for
silence is a form of assent.
And I, especially—I whom
Britain took in, sheltered and
adopted—I who prize my status as
a British subject more highly even
than if I had been born there—I
especially must speak out when I
see any attempt to suppress human
rights.
You claim that the “rights of the
Palestinian artists are inseparable
from the rights of the Palestinian
people.” Fine. Then what about
the “inseparable rights of the
British artists and people?" What
about the rights of the Israeli
artists and people? What about the
rights of everyone on this rapidly
shrinking globe? What about
human rights?
Wby were you not defending the
rights of the embattled Hungarian
youth and workers in 1956? of the
Czech youth and workers a short
time later? of the Polish youth and
workers only a few years ago? of
the Afghan youth and workers at
this very moment? Could it be
because you were never “on the
spot” when their rights were
being—bloodily—suppressed?
You see, I was. I was both a child
-and an adolescent under the /ule of
the Nazis in Hungary. I was in my
early teens when the Russians
“liberated” that already devastated
country—I was there: I saw them
both at work. The slogans—the
flags changed, but the goals
remained the same: the crushing of
Was there ever a dictatorship
that did not suppress the very
people they purported to defend? I
am in accord with the well-known
writer/ Henry Miller, who once
said in an article, “We do not want
followers of this or that political
leader, believers in this or that
ideal, however noble. We need
individuals who can work with
their fellow men with tolerance
and understanding."
Here in the United States of
America that tolerance was
extended to you just recently when
the Screen Actors’ Guild
supported the producers who cast
you in the part of a Jewish
concentration camp survivor in
“Playing for Time” for CBS
Television. They upheld your
artistic rights Vanessa, in spite of
vehement opposition from many
sources—opposition which has
grown out of the controversy you
caused a few years ago when you
made pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli
comments upon-the acceptance of
your Academy Award. Do you
really think that there are no
supporters of Israel — both
Christians and Jews—among the
members of the Screen Actors’
Guild or the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences? Or do
you think that because they
supported your human rights that
they concur with you? 1 assure you,
they do not! But they do practice
what they preach.
It is a shame that you cannot
extend the same tolerance and
respect for human rights to the
people of the young State of Israel.
The basic “human right" is the
right to live. While people are still
having that right taken away,
violently—on both sides—neither
one of us should be supporting
their murderers.
Eva Bartok
Concerned parents
Editor:
From time to time you have
published information about the
destructive cults and the serious
dangers they pose for the
community. You are to be
commended for making your
readers aware of this problem and
for the need to remain alert, so that
these aberrant philosophies can be
exposed.
Our Concerned Parents group
has made quite a reputation for
itself in this area and has been
instrumental in involving
community leadership as part of
an overall program in battling the
26 cults that are spreading their
venom in our area.
We have found that nearly all of
them espouse a philosophy that is
diametrically opposed to the
Judeo-Christian ethic. We use this
information in our efforts to rescue
the unfortunate and innocent
young people who fall prey to their
deceptive entrapment schemes.
When we confront the Christian
and Jewish clergy with the peculiar
teachings fostered by these cults
they immediately join us in our
Tight to rid the community of their
poison.
I call this to your attention
information about anti-cull
activity is very limited. Among
your readers there may be some
who would want to have help in
some cult problem. Community
leaders may want to know how we
go about setting up our anti-cult
programs. Since there are so few *
resources that can help, we would
be ready to share our experiences
with anyone that is interested in
fighting the perils of destructive
cult recruitment and activity.
Rabbi Rubin R. Dobin.
Consultant. Concerned Parents
of Cult Children
17720 iV. Bay Road—Suite 8D
Miami Beach, Florida 33/60
305-931-0001
Thank you, TSI
the individual human being-
together with all his rights.
Vanessa, history is an endless
repetition of “new” leaders taking
power—leaders of so-called “new”
political ideas. They promise to
stop wars, feed the people—they
promise equality, prosperity and
“inseparable human and artistic
rights.” But what is the reality?
Ask Solzhenytzin about his
“human and artistic rights.” Ask
any number of muzzled Russian,
Czech, Polish, Hungarian,
Bulgarian or Rumanian artists.
For that matter, ask a Russian Jew
of today. Surely, you remember
Stalin's attitude towards them.
Surely Vanessa, you must know
that if there were no State of Israel,
their fate—even today—could
easily be a repetition of the
Holocaust. A Holocaust which, 1
must remind you, would probably
not have happened had there been
a State of Israel in 1938.
Editor:
On behalf of the more than 1800
members of the Atlanta Region
Women’s American ORT in more
than 10 chapters from Marietta to
Stone Mountain, we wish to thank
The Southern Israelite for the
excellent birthday present you
gave to ORT. Your coverage of
ORT^s 100 years of service to the
Jewish people was most
beautifully depicted.
Bunnie Taratool
President. Atlanta Region
Women's American ORT
Elaine Gruenhut
Chairman, Executive Committee
Atlanta Region. Women's
American ORT
Dutch honor Anne Frank
AMSTERDAM (JTA)—The Dutch postal authorities issued a
stamp with the portrait of Anne Frank this week to commemorate
the 35th anniversary of the liberation of Holland from German
occupation in World War II. The stamp also shows a school
exercise book of the kind the teenager used to write her diary
before she was arrested by the Nazis and deported to a death camp.
The denomination of the stamp is the equivalent of 60 cents.
PAGE 5 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE May 2, 19*0