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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 X o c c. c r~ x u. ( C u c. 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.