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Novemixr 7th to December 7th, 1985
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It’s still ‘wait and see
on human rights issue
by Joseph PolakofT
President Reagan will present
his concerns about human rights
within the Soviet Union at his
conference with Mikhail Gorbachev
Nov. 19-20, but the Soviet leader is
not expected to respond with “specific
statements” on that issue between
the superpowers.
This assessment was made one
week before the summit conference
in Geneva by the Reagan admini
stration’s chief official on human
rights, Richard Shifter, who is
continuing to carry that responsibility
along with his new duties as assistant
secretary of state for Latin American
affairs.
“Where we stand now, there is
no indication the Soviet Union is
prepared to have an understanding
with us,” Shifter told a news con
ference here. “They may surprise
us, but what is more likely following
Geneva, if Geneva justifies their
taking certain steps in the human
rights field, they will act in a certain
way that might be responsive to the
expression of concern that the presi
dent will express in Geneva.”
As Shifter was outlining the U.S.
view of its human rights position,
Avital Scharansky concluded a three-
day sit-in from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
outside the Soviet consulate in
New York to draw attention to the
plight of her imprisoned husband,
Anatoly. She plans to conduct a
sit-in at the Soviet Embassy in
Washington and then go to Geneva
to appeal for his freedom. The
Scharanskys have not seen each
other since Juiy 5, 1974, the day
after their marriage. Scharansky, a
member of the Helsinki Watch on
Human Rights, has been in prison
since 1978. Avital was allowed to
emigrate to Israel.
Shifter appeared to rule out a
change in the Jackson-Vanik amend
ment to U.S. trade laws affecting
the Soviet Union in return for what
a reporter called “a one-shot” Soviet
response by which “a few thousand
Jews” and “a famous dissident”
would be allowed to emigrate.
“Probably not,” Shifter replied.
Shifter said Secretary of State George
Schultz has made it “rather clear”
that this “is not the kind of thing
which we are going to get involved
in—highly specific, tit for tat nego
tiations. It’s going to be a matter of
reviewing the whole performance
by the Soviet Union and making a
decision on that basis, not in any
other way.
“If they just engage in one very
simple, limited activity without any
fundamental change,” Shifter con
tinued, “the answer under those
circumstances will not be in the
spirit of Jackson-Vanik, and therefore
will not justify such a change.”
Shifter pointed out that the
Jackson-Vanik amendment itself
provides for the president “under
certain circumstances” of “making
his findings that there has been a
response by the Soviet Union” to
the law by permitting large numbers
of Soviet citizens to emigrate. It
then could obtain most favored
nation trade status. “They’re fully
aware of that,” Shifter said of the
Soviet officials.
Shifter said that the issue of the
reunion of spouses “would be raised”
by the president. “That is indeed
one of the areas in which there
could be movement,” he said.
However, on release of “a famous
dissident,” as a reporter put it,
Shifter said, “we don’t know; we
really don’t.” The Soviets gave an
“important signal,” he said, by
granting a visa to Yelena Bonner,
wife of Andrei Sakharov, to leave
the Soviet Union for medical health
and suggesting she “may return
after treatment.”
Shifter said, “That is the only
signal we’ve had along those lines.”
—zz—iz )
fUe Southern 1
Israelite
The Weekly Newspaper For Southern Jewr
'Since 1925'
Atlanta, Georgia, Friday, November 15, 1985
C r- C
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Vol. LXI
u c. r
x
No. C
Controversy
■
Peres, Sharon butt head
from wire reports
A blast by former Defense Minister
Ariel Sharon against Prime Minister
Shimon Peres has led to a showdown
confrontation that has threatened
to destroy Israel’s 14-month-old
Labor-Likud unity coalition govern
ment.
Sharon, in a speech to Herut
colleagues in Haifa Monday night,
accused Peres of “contempt for all
democratic methods” and charged
that Peres was leading “the govern
ment by the nose on a twisted
path.” Accusing Peres of “base
craftiness” for holding what he
alleged were secret negotiations
with Jordan’s King Hussein, Sharon
said that Peres’ overtures to Jordan
have been untimely.
In a speech Tuesday, Peres said
that Sharon’s personal attacks had
“exceeded any possible standard”
of conduct.
Peres then called a Cabinet meeting
to ask for Sharon’s dismissal. Peres
gave the Cabinet a long list of
reasons for firing Sharon. An aide
to Peres, who asked not to be
identified, said the prime minister
read the letter of dismissal he had
Shimon Peres
drafted to the Cabinet and told the
members that he planned to fire
Sharon from his post as trade and
industry minister. The aide indicated
that Peres would hold firm his
decision to fire Sharon; however, a
compromise was not ruled out.
Sharon, who said that he did not
get a letter of dismissal following
the three-hour Cabinet meeting,
offered a partial apology by expres
sing regret for any personal attacks
on Peres, but added, “I stam
my positions concerning the ba
political issues.”
In a news conference with reporters,
Sharon said, “I think there is hope
of removing tensions that existed
in the government.” In the conference,
broadcast live on Israeli television,
Sharon further said, “We are facing
serious problems about growing
terror, the economy. . . A minister
must express his views.”
Sharon’s dismissal could cause
Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir,
the Likud leader, and the rest of his
ministers to leave the Cabinet.
The Peres aide said the prime
minister asked Shamir to find a
Likud replacement for Sharon, thus
preserving the balance of seats in
the 25-member Cabinet.
Shamir objected to firing Sharon,
and Peres responded that “it is my
duty to uphold the law,” the aide
said.
Sharon has long been a contro
versial figure in Israel both on the
battlefield and in politics. He has
been in the Cabinet since 1977,
when he was named agriculture
See Peres, page 23.
A GRAN proclamation
Members of the Grass Roots Action Network (GRAN) of B’nai B’rith with Gov. Joe Frank Harris and
other Jewish leaders at a recent proclamation-signing ceremony declaring Nov. 19,1985, as “Soviet Jewry
Solidarity Day” in Georgia. This is part of GRAN’s nationwide effort to alert top political officials and
the public to the injustices incurred by Soviet Jews, and to encourage a keen eye on the upcoming Geneva
summit talks. Attending the ceremony are (from left) Cathey Steinberg, Rep., Georgia General
Assembly; Noah Levine, director. Community Relations, Atlanta Jewish Federation; Bernard Kornmehl,
vice chairman, International Issues, GRAN; Beth Smith, president,Women’s Division, ORT; Irene
Berson, co-chairman, 1985 Women’s Plea for Soviet Jewry; Neil Rosen, executive vice president, B’nai
B’rith District Five; Gov. Harris; Steve Levetan, chairman, GRAN, in Georgia and District Five; Steven
Berman, chairman, Soviet Jewry, GRAN; Nancy Levine, president, National Council Jewish Women,
Atlanta Section; Max Olim, president, Georgia B’nai B’rith Association; and Connie Giniger, regional
director, B’nai B’rith Women.