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■awmm* >*gni i; i * ——i—■p——w——p— me News Briets A Haifa firm ignites ‘smart bomb’ TEL AVIV (JTA)—The Elbit Computer Co. in Haifa says that it has field-tested a sophisticated kit which turns an ordinary bomb into a smart bomb,” one that accurately pinpoints a target. Kit project director Avi Getzler told the Jerusalem Post that the kit uses an infrared device to guide the bomb by sensing heat. The kit costs $35,000, about one-fifth the price of a “smart bomb. In field tests held in June, the dumb bomb fitted with the kit, called Ofer, ’ scored direct hits on a tank and a simulated tank. Elbit claims the kit will allow ordinary bombs to make direct hits during battles against tanks, armored vehicles, naval craft and anti-aircraft missile sites. Getzler says that Elbit has launched an aggressive worldwide marketing drive. East meets West for Judaism NEW YORK (JTA)—The People’s Republic of China has agreed to send one of their prominent scholars on Christianity and Judaism to the United States early next year to study modern Jewish history. Rabbi Arthur Schneier, president of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, an interfaith group, who just returned from a visit to China, said that the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has accepted an invitation to send Prof. Gao Wangzhi to undertake this task. Shin Bet officials: ‘Pardon me’ JERUSALEM (JTA)—Seven more Shin Bet officials have asked President Chaim Herzog to pardon them for their involve ment in the April 1984 incident in which two Palestinian bus hijackers were beaten to death while in Israeli custody. The appeals were the first legal development since the Supreme Court last week ruled Herzog had the authority to pardon four other Shin Bet officials who never were formally charged, includ ing agency head Avraham Shalom. It was assumed here that Herzog would find it difficult not to grant the pardons, but the head of the president’s office stressed Monday that Herzog would decide each case on its own merit. Go/da Meir Square dedicated SANTIAGO (JTA)—In a formal ceremony in the city of Vina del Mar, a central plaza was dedicated as Golda Meir Square, the World Jewish Congress reported here. According to the Latin American branch of the WJC, the mayor of the city, Eugenia Garrido, and Israel’s Ambassador David Ephrati unveiled a plaque giving the name of Golda Meir to the square. The ceremony also included the participation of Jewish and Catholic clergy. The commemorative plaque describes Meir as “a woman who forged a world of peace and friendship.” IDF bombs terrorist bases again TEL AVI V (JTA)—For the second time in 24 hours, Israeli Air Force jets hit terrorist bases in south Lebanon. The sites attacked Monday were near the town of Ba’albek in the Bekaa Valley. An attack Sunday was carried out south of Sidon. Monday’s attack was the seventh since the beginning of the year. The Israel Defense Force spokesman reported that all the planes in Monday’s attack returned safely and the pilots said they had scored direct hits on the bases. The targets were described by the IDF as the headquarters of Fatah terrorists loyal to PLO Chief Yasir Arafat and of breakaway rebels backed by Syria and led by Saed Musa. The IDF said the structures served the organization as bases from which to launch strikes against Israel. Israelis welcomed in China JERUSALEM (JTA)—An Israeli delegation to an interna tional conference on Esperanto recently held in Beijing was warmly greeted by the hosts, according to delegation head Omri Vandell, Israel’s representative in the World Organization of Esperanto. Esperanto is an artificial international language. Vandell said that although the Israelis received their entrance visas only two days before the congress began, they were welcomed warmly, and encountered no difficulties. Blast hurts three Israeli soldiers JERUSALEM (JTA)—A bomb that was hidden under a pile of rocks exploded Sunday in the West Bank settlement of Efrat, sliehtlv injuring three Israeli soldiers. The soldiers were standing at a "hitchhiking post near the Jewish settlement south of Bethlehem when the device went off. J etters to the editor Reader rips ‘apologia for anti-Semitism’ Editor: In the aftermath of Kurt Wald heim’s election to the presidency of Austria, Walter H. Bunzl’s letter on the subject in your issue of Aug. 8, offers a not so subtle apologia for the wide spread anti-Semitism that besmirches the image of that country. To say that “no doubt there is anti-Semitism in Austria as there is in the United States” can only be characterized as an attempt to hide its ugly face with a thick layer of cosmetics. The fact is that anti-Semitism in Austria is endemic. It affects a very large segment of the population. I would not venture to go into per centages, but will state emphati cally that on a comparative basis its presence in the United States is negligible. I lived in Vienna from 1920 to 1921, and still remember the cam paign posters put up by one of the two largest political parties in Aus tria, the Christian Socialists, whose candidate Waldheim was in the recent election. The poster was a typical caricature of a Jew, a thick tongue protruding from a leering face, with a caption reading “Stimmt Christlichsozial” (Vote for Chris tian Socialist). All the charm of Vienna, moreover, cannot erase from memory a recollection of the vitriolic Jew hatred of Dr. Karl Lueger, its burgomaster at the turn of the century; nor the incitements to violence by the rabble rousing Leopold Kunschak to thunderous applause and shouts of “Juden hinaus” (Out with the Jews); nor the fact that the great composer- conductor Gustav Mahler had to embrace Catholicism before he could become music director of the Vienna State Opera. Revisiting Vienna in 1933 I was shocked to see uniformed Brown Shirts marching in the streets and students sporting swastikas on the lapels of their jackets. This was five years before the takeover by Adolf Hitler, a native son of Austria. And when that day came, who can forget the thousands of frenzied, flag-waving Viennese lining the Ringstrasse to get a glimpse of the Fuehrer; nor the nauseous specta cle of Jews forced to scrub side walks under the watchful eyes of mocking, taunting Nazi bullies? Yet, here comes Walter Bunzl and assures us that 54 percent of Austrian voters chose Waldheim because he was “the best man” in their opinion. Mr. Bunzl knows as well as anybody that in Austria, as elsewhere in European parliamen tary systems, voting is done on ideological party lines and not for individuals. To be sure, the Chris tian Socialist party is not officially anti-Semitic, but bourgeois, and not every adherent is an avowed anti-Semite. But any voter afflicted with the disease knows the score and knows for what party and what candidate to cast his ballot on election day. Mr. Bunzl spoke to a great number of Jews and non-Jews on his recent trip. He does not enlight en us on what any of them said. One can only guess. He was also fortunate in not encountering any anti-Semitism. Lucky man! Re minds me of a cartoon in a recent edition of the Paris newspaper “le Monde” (the World), showing Sig mund Freud sitting beside his couch, complaining that there were no patients, just a lot of amnesics. Or could it be that Mr. Bunzl wrote his letter with tongue in cheek and considered it his duty, as consul of Austria in Atlanta, to discharge an obligation to its government? Adalbert Freedman Writer seeks proof on ‘Ivan the Terrible’ Editor: I am currently preparing a book on the life and experiences of John Demjanjuk, a former American citizen of Ukrainian birth, who has been extradited to Israel by the United States Office of Interna tional Affairs (OIA) and is now awaiting trial. This writer would be most appre ciative in hearing, in English, Yid dish or in Polish, from any survi vors of the Nazi death camps lo cated in Sobibor, Treblinka, Chelmno or Belzec in the Lublin district of Poland. John Demjanjuk is accused of being “Ivan the Terrible” and from my investigation of the records recently made available to me (I was a trained army strategic intel ligence specialist), some revision ist evidence has been “uncovered” to make it appear that Demjanjuk is not the man. This may be the reason why the state of Israel has kept him imprisoned for almost five months without charging him with any crime. Lengthy confine ment for a man his age—he is 66— and with his mentality—he is a functional illiterate with a fourth grade education—certainly consti tutes cruel and unusual punish ment and is something that I feel creates a bad impression about Israeli justice. 1 am not unmindful of the horri ble relationship between the Jew ish people and their Ukrainian neighbors over the centuries and of the pogroms that took place there and 1 claim to be one of the few living World War II army veterans who knows what a Yellow Pass port was and what it was used for. For this reason for Israel to be seen as prosecuting an innocent man may be just as terrifying as the Holocaust itself. All communications that I receive Continued from page 4. religious format for the newly re stored Jewish homeland seek to impose their will by acts of vio lence and vandalism. Some who disagree choose to retaliate in kind. Either way, the order of the day is partisan politics, a deep and danger ous rift, characterized by Sin’at Hinam, the gratuitous hatred of the Talmudic passage. In the weeks following Tisha B’Av, we chant seven Haftarot from the closing chapters of Isaiah which offer consolation for the devastation of Jerusalem and prom ise its restoration. These prophes ies, fulfilled in the sixth century B.C.E. in the days of the Persian Emperor Cyrus have stood for nearly 2,000 years as a message of hope to all who mourn Jerusalem and await its redemption in Messi anic times. Today we are privileged to witness the flourishing of the state of Israel and the ingathering of millions of Jews from all over the world. These miracles, like so many miracles of ancient times have come to pass because of the initiative of the Jewish people. While many debated the advisabil ity and the practicality of the Zion ist program, a few idealists sacri ficed everything to help carry it out. The result was the miracle of will be treated in the strictest con fidence. Harvey M. Berg 441 Franklin Street Buffalo, New York 14202 the state of Israel. The miracle of Messianic peace in Israel is no different. We can continue to conduct business as usual in Israel and the Jewish world, or we can take it upon ourselves to bring about the further redemp tion of the Jewish people by creat ing an Israel at peace with itself. Partisan politics, religious squabbling, Sin’at Hinam carry within them the seeds of more tragedy. Harmony, pluralism and toleration will make Israel stronger and add to the momen tum of our redemption. Israel at peace with itself is a stronger Israel, an Israel that will have a better chance for peace with its neigh bors, an Israel that fulfills our ideals of redemption and our hopes for the Messianic age. PERFECT! A GIFT SUBSCRIPTION TO THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE IS A GREAT IDEA! 876-8248 Message PAGE 5 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE August 15, 1986