Newspaper Page Text
r
News Briefs
U.S. to oppose ex-Nazi in U.N.
GENEVA (JTA)—The dean of the California-based Simon
Wiesenthal Center reported that the United States has said it will
actively oppose the appointment of Hermann Klenner of East
Germany to a top U.N. post because of allegations that he was a
member of the Nazi party.
Klenner has been accused by the Israeli delegate to the U.N.
Human Rights Conference, Ephraim Dubek, of having been an
active Nazi and the number of his card as party member was
produced. He is reported to have joined the party on April 20,
1944.
Klenner has never denied his Nazi membership and has refused
to discuss it. Last month, Isael’s United Nations Ambassador,
Binyamin Netanyahu, received access to two files in the U.N. War
Crimes Commission archives, including one marked “Klenner.”
Supreme Court rejects appeal
WASHINGTON (Polakoff))—The Supreme Court, acting
without comment, rejected the appeal May 27 of Liudas Kairys, a
Chicago dockworker, to retain his U.S. citzenship that has been
revoked by both a federal district court and the Seventh District
Court of Appeals. The U.S. government moved to revoke his
citizenship in 1980 after finding evidence he served as a guard for
the Nazis from 1942 until 1944 at the death camp in Treblinka,
Poland.
The government, seeking to deport him to the Soviet Union,
said Kairys failed to disclose his World War II service at Treblinka
when he obtained his visa and citizenship. He came to America in
1949. Contending the government had misidentified him, Kairys
said he worked on a farm in Lithuania from 1940 to 1942 when he
was captured and became a forced laborer. He says he is 61 while
the prosecution contends he is 65.
Schindler’s condition improving
TEL AVIV (JTA)—Rabbi Alexander Schindler was reported
improving at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, where he was taken
May 21 after suffering a heart attack while touring Masada.
Schindler, a leader of Reform Judaism in the U.S., is president of
the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and a former
chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American
Jewish Organizations.
Schindler, 61, spent the critical first 24 hours after his heart
attack in the intensive care unit at Soroka Hospital. His wife,
Rhea, was at his bedside. Schindler suffered a heart attack 13 years
ago.
Anatoly’s kin still in Russia
WASHINGTON (Polakoff) — May 17 was understood to have
been the date on which the Soviet Union's passport office (OV1R)
in Moscow would respond to the request that Natan (Anatoly)
Shcharansky’s mother and his brother’s family would know when
they would be allowed to emigrate to Israel but neither the State
Department nor Soviet Jewry organizations here have heard of the
Soviet decision.
A State Department official, speaking on background, said the
Soviet office was committed to let Shcharansky’s family leave but a
specific time frame was not set. The commitment was made at the
time Shcharansky was released in February. Soviet Jewry groups
here said May 17 was the committed date for Moscow’s response.
His mother, Ida Milgrom, 77; his brother, Leonid, and Leonid’s
wife and two children are awaiting documents to join Natan and
Avital in Israel.
Demjanjuk to remain in custody
TEL. AVIV (JTA) —The Supreme Court entered the Demjan
juk case for the first time May 23, ordering Ukrainian-born John
Demjanjuk, alleged Treblinka concentration camp guard, remanded
in custody for another 30 days while the state prosecutor and police
continue gathering evidence for his trial.
Demjanjuk. a former U.S. citizen who is the first suspected war
criminal extradited to Israel, has been in detention at Ayalon
prison for 90 days, the limit under the law which provides that
remands in custody must be renewed every 15 days. This had been
done up to May 23 by Jerusalem Chief Magistrate Aharon Simcha.
Attorney General Yitzhak Zamir accordingly appealed to the
Supreme Court for an order to hold the prisoner an additional 90
days.
V.
300,000 join Shcharansky at rally
Editor:
On May 1 1, we had the honor of
marching for Solidarity Sunday—
a rally for Soviet Jews—in New
York.
Outside of Israel, never before
have we seen so many Jewish peo
ple in our lives.
Outside of Jerusalem, never be
fore have we had the feeling that
we had.
We participated with 300,000
Jewish people in a march down
Fifth Avenue ending at Dag Ham-
marskjold Plaza at the United
Nations. Not spectators looking
on, but an active part of 300,000
Jews (different in many ways) all
with the same hopes and the same
dreams of freedom for our broth
ers and sisters.
The guest speaker was Natan
(Anatoly) Shcharansky. For the
past nine years he has been a sym
bol of worldwide repression. Today,
he is a symbol of freedom. He told
us, “All the resources of a super
power cannot isolate a man who
hears the voice of freedom, a voice
I heard from the very chamber of
my soul.”
Mr. Shcharansky’s dream of
“Next Year in Jerusalem” has been
fulfilled. Let us not forget the other
400,000 Jews in the Soviet Union
seeking to emigrate to Israel with
that same dream. He urges us to
continue our protests on behalf of
these remaining dissidents. The
message is clear: Agitation mat
ters. Let us heed the prisoners of
conscience and continue to cry
out—if not for ourselves, for this
giant of a man.
Carol C. Kaplan, President
Southeastern Region, Hadassah
Norman Kaplan, President
Macon and Middle Georgia
Federation of Jewish Charities
Macon, Georgia
On preserving Israel’s Jewish identity
Editor:
There is a way to preserve Israel’s
Jewish identity without resorting
to the truely inhumane measures
proposed by Meir Kahane and that
is not to annex the West Bank and
the Gaza Strip with their 1.3 mil
lion Arabs. Should Israel seek to
absorb these territories then it will
have to rule by force and might
well become like South Africa.
Moreover, by reserving these terri
tories for a Palestinian homeland
Israel will be leaving the door open
for a peace settlement with its Arab
neighbors; I recognize, of course,
that first the Arabs must end their
terrorist attacks and recognize the
state of Israel.
Some persons say that Israel
should not be held to a higher
standard than other nations. They
would countenance the subjuga
tion and even the expulsion of the
Arabs on the grounds that other
nations have done the same to their
minorities. I would argue that Israel
should seek to do what is right and
just, for is this not what our reli
gion demands of us?
I trust that all future corres
pondents to TSI will refrain from
making personal attacks and instead
address themselves to the issues. I
also hope that no Jew would ap
prove of policies that treat individ
uals in a manner in which they
would not like to be treated.
Stuart Galishoff
Kahane’s solution seen as suicide
Editor:
It is only because 1 know and
admire the writers of the letter that
appeared in The Southern Israelite
on April 23, a letter that addressed
itself to an Atlanta couple, that I
take the liberty of injecting myself.
David and Frieda Macarov made
aliyah in 1946. David fought in the
War of Independence when Israel
became a state in 1948. His career
has been that of professor of soci
ology. Frieda is a registered nurse.
Gentler, more intelligent, more
knowledgeable individuals are rare.
Yes, they are “ethical, liberal
people, who are outraged at the
merest hint of a Jew treating an
other human being less than an
equal.” Though they have lived in
Israel for 40 years, I do not believe
they have ever considered Arabs as
an “underclass.”
It would be foolhardy to assume
they arc not aware of the problems
that beset Israel. They are highly
cognizant of the enemies both
within and without the state; far
more intimate with the hazards
that confront them than is an
Atlanta couple 6,000 miles removed.
To them, as well as to myself,
Meir Kahane poses a problem to
the security of the state almost
equal to that of its Arab would-be
destroyers. Indeed, “Kahane’s
answer is a sad and painful one.”
It is also an inhumane, immoral
and thoughtless one. If attempted,
Israel’s security will be jeopardized
as never before.
I do not profess to be “wiser”
than our Atlanta Kahane sympa
thizers. The viable alternatives they
request and which I might suggest
would not strike a receptive chord.
I can, however, unequivocally state
that any attempt to make Israel
Arab-rein, as Kahane suggests.
Giving credit
where it’s due
Editor:
Thanks for mentioning that my
anthology, “The Ethnic American
Woman: Problems, Protests, Life
styles,” is in a third edition. How
ever, without the creative skills and
artistic talents of the following
Atlanta Jewish women, the book
would not have won the best non
fiction award by the Dixie Council
of Authors and Journalists.
1 would like to pay tribute to
them here: Avril Sutin, Eve Silver,
Esta Seaton, Janet Rechtman,
Arlene G. Peck, Enid Mescon, and
Harriett Warshaw.
Edith Blicksilver
A time and place for everything
Editor:
Vida Goldgar wrote about the
American Jewish Committee cele
brating its 80th Anniversary in
gala fashion in the stunningly dec
orated ballroom of the Westin
Peachtree Plaza Hotel as reported
in the May 16 issue of The South
ern Israelite.
We all respect the American
Jewish Committee and its activi
ties for Jews and for Israel. As an
Israeli shaliach, I felt that it was
inappropriate to have such an event
on the night of Yom Hazikiron
(Israel Memorial Day).
On the same evening, over 220
people came to the AJCC Peach
tree building to memorialize the
Israeli soldiers who sacrificed their
lives for the survival of the State of
Israel. I feel that as an act of sym
pathy and solidarity within the
community, we should avoid such
conflicting events in the future.
This letter is being written to
Continued from page 4.
imagination, which is shunted aside
by the authorities precisely because
it seeks to break away from the
bankrupt methods of the estab
lishment, points to the real tragedy
of the situation. It is not just that
express my leelings and in the hope
that in the coming years, there will
be better coordination among our
organizations.
Afterall, we are “K’lal Yisrael!”
Itzhak Sordo
AJCC Israeli Shaliach
aliyah to Israel continues to drop,
but that the Jewish people, the
Zionist movement and the gov
ernment of Israel are not suffi
ciently shocked by this fact to
make necessary revolutionary
changes in the program for promo
tion of aliyah.
Galuts
PAGE 5 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE May 30, 1986