Newspaper Page Text
Week-long activities
to mark Yom Hashoa
Yom Hashoa, the official days
of remembrance of the Holocaust,
will be marked in Atlanta by a ser
ies of religious and cultural events.
The programs planned to commem
orate whose who lost their lives in
the Holocaust will take place Sun
day, May 4, through Friday,May 9.
Survivors and children of survi
vors of the Holocaust will take part
in a memorial service to the six
million who lost their lives in the
Holocaust on Sunday, May 4, at
2:30 p.m. at the “Monument to Six
Million’’ at Greenwood Cemetery.
The community is invited to parti
cipate in the ceremony which is co
sponsored by Hemshech/Organi-
zation of Survivors from Nazism
and the Atlanta Jewish Federa
tion. Benjamin Hirsch, survivor
and architect of the memorial, is
chairman of the observance.
The lessons of the Holocaust
will be taught and explored through
the new Zachor Holocaust Center
of the Atlanta Jewish Federation
opening to the public on Monday,
May 5. Visual exhibits and out
reach educational programming
will serve as a resource for the
entire community, preserving the
memory of the six million Jews
murdered in the Holocaust, and
highlighting the lessons of human
ity vital to ensure a free society.
The center is located in the lower
level of the Atlanta Jewish Com
munity Center at 1745 Peachtree
Road. It will be open 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. Monday-Thursday and 1-5
p.m. on Sundays.
The effects of the Holocaust on
American Jewish life and culture
will be explored in a public sympo
sium to be held at 7:30 p.m. Tues
day, May 6, at the Atlanta Histori
cal Society, 3101 Andrews Drive,
N.W. Dr. Daniel Jeremy Silver,
rabbi ofTheTemple in Cleveland,
Ohio, and adjunct professor of
religion. Case Western Reserve U ni-
versity, will address the topic,
“After the Holocaust: American
Jewish Identity."
The program will also include
remarks by Dr. Sidra Ezrahi, visit
ing assistant professor of Judaic
Studies and Comparative Litera
ture, Duke University and author
of “By Words Alone: The Holo
caust in Literature.” The evening is
the first in a five-part series on
“Jewish Renewal in the Post-Modern
World.” being co-sponsored by the
National Foundation for Jewish
Culture and the Atlanta Jewish
Federation.
Shoah, Claude Lanzmann’s monu
mental epic documentary of the
Holocaust, will open at the Lefont
Plaza Theatre, 1049 Ponce De
Leon Avenue, on Wednesday, May
7, and will run through May 27.
The film does not focus on horrify
ing images of the Holocaust, but
instead, documents the history of
the Holocaust through an assemb
lage of witnesses, death camp sur
vivors and Nazi functionaries. Due
to its unusual length (over 9'/ 2
hours), it will be shown in two
parts.
Gov. Joe Frank Harris will be
present at Atlanta’s Civic Obser
vance of the Holocaust at the State
Capitol Rotunda at noon, Friday,
May 9. Many state and local offi
cials will be on hand to memorial
ize and pay tribute to those who
lost their lives in the Holocaust.
Sylvia Wygoda is chairman.
For more information about any
of the Yom Hashoa observances,
contact Jane Leavey at the Atlanta
Jewish Federation, 873-1661.
The Southern
Israelite
The Weekly Newspaper For Southern Jewry
'Since 1925'
^ Vol. LXII Atlanta, Georgia, Friday, April 25, 1986 No. 17
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U.S. won’t indict Arafat
sponsors disappointeo
by Joseph Polakoff
TSI’s Washington correspondent
WASHINGTON—Yasir Arafat
will not face justice in a U.S. court
for his alleged complicity in the
murders of two American diplo
mats in Khartoum in May 1973.
The Department of Justice has
notified the Senate by letter that it
would be unconstitutional to seek
indictment of the Palestine Libera
tion Organization’s chief because
the law providing for federal crim
inal liability for the murders was
not adopted until 1976.
“We have determined, after ex
haustive research on the subject,
that retroactive application (of the
1976 law) as the basis for indicting
Arafat” for the murders “would
violate the ex post facto clause” in
the Constitution, the letter said.
The Constitution prohibits apply
ing a law to prosecute in a case that
was not criminal prior to the enact
ment of such a law.
Forty-four senators led by
Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and
Yasir Arafat
Charles Grassley (R-lowa) asked
the Justice Department in mid-
February to consider prosecution
of Arafat. “We are extremely disap
pointed with the Justice Depart
ment’s decision,” Lautenberg and
Grassley said in a statement after
receiving the letter. “A strong
argument can be made that the
department had the jurisdiction to
go after Arafat if it had the politi
cal will. The Justice Department’s
failure to make an exhaustive
search for evidence of Arafat’s
complicity in the 1973 murders is
inexcusable.
“This decision must not set a
precedent for turning our back in
the prosecution of terrorists,” the
senators added. “Terrorism is emer
ging as the scourge of the 1980s.
With Americans increasingly vic
timized by terrorism, the search for
adequate response is intensified.
No single strategy—including a
legal approach—can accomplish
this task.
“But indictments can send a
potent message to terrorists that
the U.S. intends to go after those
who murder our citizens in cold
blood, 1 ’ Lautenberg and Grassley
said. “We should make sure that
See Arafat, page 19.
Sounds of music
Mehta to conduct Israel Philharmonic at Fox Theatre
by Vida Goldgar
Atlanta’s fall cultural season will
be launched with a rare musical
opportunity when the Israel Phil
harmonic Orchestra, under the di
rection of Zubin Mehta, comes to
the Fox Theatre for one perfor
mance on Sept. 3. Appearing with
the orchestra will be world famous
pianist Claudio Arrau.
The Atlanta performance is in
cluded in the Israel Philharmonic
Orchestra’s 5()th anniversary tour
of 17 American cities, which begins
in August in Los Angeles.
By special arrangement with At
lanta Landmarks Inc., parent or
ganization of the Fox, 1,000 of the
best seats in the theater have been
reserved for a benefit organized by
Atlanta members of American
Friends of the Israel Philharmonic
Orchestra to aid the orchestra’s
endowment tund. Ramona Freed
man, Joyce Shlesinger and Judy
Zaban are heading a steering com
mittee of 52 women to coordinate
the benefit.
Tickets for the benefit’s special
seats are SI25 each and entitle
ticket holders to attend a gala post
concert reception honoring the
orchestra and its conductor in the
Egyptian Ballroom.
American Friends of the Israel
Philharmonic has established the
endowment fund to provide for the
purchase of valuable instruments
to enrich the sound of the orches
tra; for the commissioning of new
works of music; for the establish
ment of a full musical program for
Israeli youth; and to provide the
means to present special concert
programs in addition to the sub
scription concerts. According to
Mrs. Freedman, the endowment
fund’s principal remains invested
in the United States, with the inter
est going to the orchestra in Israel.
Edgar Neiss, general manager of
the Fox, called the Sept. 3 concert
“the most prestigious concert to
take place at the Fox Theatre since
it was saved.” He said, “Since this
theater was saved (from demoli
tion), we have had lots of orches
tras, but 1 don’t think we have had
a triple play with a major, world-
renowned symphony orchestra;
with a world-renowned conductor
of the magnitude of Zubin Mehta;
and a world-renowned pianist such
as Arrau.”
“The is one of the most exciting
ways Atlanta can help celebrate
the orchestra’s 50th anniversary
and at the same time enjoy an even
ing of superb entertainment,” said
Mrs. Zaban.
Fifty years ago, what is now the
Israel Philharmonic was founded
in then-Palestine by the outstand-
See Mehta, page 19.