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> JL.JL, Super Sunday182 Jf your phone rings on Sunday, Jan. 17, between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m., you may be among the nearly 10,000 Jewish Atlantans who will be called during the Atlanta Jewish Federation’s second “Super Sunday” telethon. Last year’s “Super Sunday” raised nearly $300,000 for the annual campaign as almost 300 volunteers made more than 5,000 phone calls. If you are called, please say “yes” to the volunteer’s request for you to make the most generous commitment you can, to preserve Jewish life in Atlanta, in Israel and throughout the world. The Southern Zsraelite The Weekly Newspaper For Southern Jewry Our 57th Year H n 2) 2. ~ 1 r; O Vol. LVIII Atlanta, Georgia, Friday, January 15, 1982 No. 3 Haig says no Statement on Golan withdrawn by Joseph Polakoff TSr« Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON—At Secretary of State Alexander Haig's instructions, the State Department Anti-Semitic incidents double in ’81; 14 in Georgia The number of reported incidents of anti-Semitic vandalism during 1981, nationally, was more than double the figure for 1980, according to the Anti- Defamation League of B'nai B’rith. In the state of Georgia, the number of such incidents increased from one to 14. The ADL audit, which was prepared by its National Civil Rights Division in cooperation with the league's 27 regional offices throughout the country, include incidents of arson or firebombings, swastika daubings, cross-burnings on Jewish-owned property, anti- Semitic graffiti and similar acts. According to Stuart Lewengrub, director of the ADL’s Southeastern regional office, the League recorded 974 anti-Semitic episodes nationally which would be classified as vandalism. In addition, 350 incidents involving bodily assaults of an anti-Semitic nature or anti-Semitic harassment such as threats by mail or phone directed at Jewish individuals or institutions were reported to the ADL. Fourteen cases of this type of anti-Semitic activity were also reported to ADL in Georgia in 1981. Lewengrub said, “ADL began to systematically audit specific episodes of anti-Semitism three years ago. Nationally, the numbers have more than doubled each succeeding year. Not every incident of this kind is reported to us. If there were a combined total of 28 incidents of which we were informed during the past year, I would surmise that there were surely additional ones which went unreported either tp us or to any law enforcement agency.” The ADL director added, “The numbers themselves are disturbing. What they do not reveal is the profound trauma that a family which has its home painted with anti-Semitic signs or slogans or receives anonymous hate calls undergoes. It can be a very frightening experience." According to Lewengrub, the two most important steps that must be taken to reverse this rise in anti-Semitic expression are (a) to enact legislation that will provide for sterner punishment for perpetrators of these incidents and (b) to do a better job in the schools and churches in terms of teaching about prejudice and difference, Lewengrub added, “It is unfortunate but at times we find that such acts of anti-Semitic vandalism are treated as mischievous pranks rather than as serious acts against people and property. Several states have recently enacted laws which impose stiffer penalties on persons convicted of racial or religious vandalism. The ADL has drafted a ’model’ statute which we hope to have introduced and enacted during the next year in Georgia. “Many of the perpetrators are teenagers and young adults. Where are they learning their prejudices? Why are they acting them out? We have to examine these questions both in terms of education and law enforcement." The ADL reported that its model legislation would cover not only incidents of anti-Semitic vandalism but also attacks on other religious or racial groups, including Christian churches, lewengrub observed, “Here in Georgia we have seen several destructive acts against many houses of worship. We cannot tolerate them and ignoringthem or simply slapping the perpetrators on the wrist only Encourages additional, often more vicious, acts.” The ADL director noted that “the causes of anti-Semitic incidents in particular are often complex. They are linked to what people read, hear, believe, and find acceptable There still are too many A mericans who all too readily accept anti- Semitic stereotypes. There has been a recent growth in the organized hate movement in America. The injection of anti- Semitism into foreign policy issues and the concerted anti-Semitic propaganda efforts of the”S6viet Union and certain Arab regimes all contributed to an atmosphere that makes anti-Jewish acts appear to be acceptable. “The markEd increase in incidents against Jews is just one manifestation of a more serious and deep-seated prejudice which seems to be resurfacing. It is up to the law, the schools and the churches to convey the message that bigotry is wrong and eviL If there is one thing that Jews have learned it is that prejudice is like cancer. You allow a few malignant cells to grow and they can infect the rest of the body.” has withdrawn a two-page statement that had been prepared by Middle East specialists to explain former President Gerald Ford’s commitment to Israel six years ago that the U.S. supports Israel’s position regarding the Golan Heights. The department refused to make the Ford letter public. In place of the statement, the department, in response to The Southern Israelite's inquiry, offered reporters a 21-word comment which said: “Nothing in any message from President Ford justifies Israel’s action in extending Israeli law, jurisdiction and administration to the Golan Heights.” The following day, a department spokesman, Alan Romberg, pointed out that the U.S. joined in a United Nations Security Council resolution on Dec. 17 denouncing Israel's decision and that “Israeli action is null and void and without international legal effect.” Romberg then added that “the final status of the Golan can only be determined by negotiation among the concerned parties" in accordance with U.N. Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. Privately, State Department sources told The Southern Israelite that Ford’s letter to Israel’s then- Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said that the U.S. “would support Israel's negotiating position” when su bjected t o U. N. Secu ri ty Cou nci 1 discussion under those resolutions. When asked to make the letter public, the department declined. The original two-page statement was understood to detail the Reagan administration’s position opposing Israel's decision that introduced Israeli civil law into the Golan but affirming that the Golan was subject to lsraeli-Syrian negotiation. In saying “among" the parties, Romberg implied that more than Syria and Israel were involved. Israeli sources have said that Ford wrote Rabin that he understood Israel’s requirements for control of the Golan for security reasons and that the U.S. would not apply pressure for Israelis to leave the Golan except for cosmetic border changes to mollify Damascus. Haig's elimination of the two- page statement was seen as another U.S. move in the direction of placating Syria which is demanding U.N. sanctions against See Haig, page 21. They make the rules Israel’s Chief Rabbis Shlomo Goren, Ashkenazi, left, and Ovadia Yosef, Sephardic, during a recent meeting in Jerusalem. Last September, in a move that met with strong opposition from secular groups, the ibbh combined to issue a controversial ruling which held that religious law is the law of Israel.