Newspaper Page Text
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Situation
Jewish legislator in Iran arrested
member ' M , i “‘T'"? Kalini Nik™*, the only Jewish
f i i u IS ’ * ran * an Parliament, has been
arrested and charged with “moral turpitude" by the Islamic
state prosecutor for alleged “illicit sexual relations” with sev-
Fn!,L°h U | S WOmen . a " d men employed in a clinic he heads, the
glish-langusjge daily Teheran Times reported Friday.
INikruz, a 40-year-old pharmacist, was elected to the Iranian
legislative assembly two-and-a-half years ago to occupy the seat
t Iranian C onstitution reserves for a representative of the
Jewish community. Despite parliamentary immunity, he is
eing detained in Teheran’s central prison, the newspaper
report said. There was no confirmation from any other source.
—Edwin Eytan
Continued from page 2
Tadio that “Jews and Christians
arc unclean and Moslems should
not associate with them,” accord
ing to Amir, who monitors Iran
ian radio. In any power struggle,
.lews could be expected to be an
early casualty.
In other words, although some
l imes facts were inaccurate or
could not be immediately veri
fied. their alarm was certainly
justified. Far greater attention
has been focused on far lesser
Jewish persecutions in Argentina.
Nicaragua, France and Austria.
Why then did Jew'ish and Israeli
leaders seek to debunk the re
ports?
The next day, the Jerusalem
Post published a bizarre front
page story headlined: “Report on
Iran Jews Said Exaggerated.”
Flip-flopping on their front page
of a day earlier: “Jews Fleeing
Iran as Terror Mounts,” the fol
low-up Post article declared that
“the report of heightened perse
cution of Jews there gives an
exaggerated and distorted picture
of the situation.”
One leader of an American
Jewish organization declared,
“There seems to be no hard evi
dence that there is a significant
deterioration now, nor for such
sweeping statements as wide
spread torture, imprisonment
and roundups.” Even Prime
Minister Yitzhak Shamir, ans
wering a question about the
Times report, also declared that
while the picture was not good,
the reports were being “exagger
ated.”
Win try to downplay the per
secution in Iran? In a word, Jew
ish and Israeli leaders are justifi
ably reluctant to speak out. “The
Khomeini regime does not toler
ate any minority,” explains Marc
Tanenbaum. international direc
tor of the American Jewish Com
mittee, reached in Jerusalem.
“ The situation is of course dark.
Jews have it bad. But the better
part of wisdom among Jewish
leadership believes that it is bet
ter not to make any wild or
sweeping charges that could pro
voke retaliation. We are dealing
with a very impetuous regime
and if we aren’t careful, we could
have an entire Jewish commun
ity being held hostage.”
Such cautions however have
understandably caused conster
nation among Jewish groups eager
to speak out in defense of their
Iranian co-religionists. But the
director of the Jerusalem office
of a leading Jewish defense or
ganization echoed Tanenbaum’s
cautious approach, adding his
dilemma: “And yet we cannot
just ’no comment’ on the situa
tion because American Jews
cannot afford to be silent.” A
third Jewish leader, equally un
willing to go on the record, asserts.
“1 know it is going to look like
Israel and Jewish leadership is
abandoning the Jews of Iran, or
trying to minimize their plight.
But that is not true.”
Indeed it is not. This reporter
Vanunu remanded into custody
on aggravated espionage charge
Mordechai Vanunu. accused
ol treason for his role in allegedly
selling w hat he apparently claimed
were Israel’s nuclear secrets to
the London Times, appeared in
public for the first time Sunday
since the new spaper account sev
eral months ago.
Vanunu showed up in Jerusa
lem District Court, bearded and
wearing blue jeans, a red t-shirt,
and tennis shoes. He was driven
to a back entrance of the court
house in a police van in order to
avoid the scores of newsmen and
photographers who were w aiting
outside the court for hours in the
hope of being permitted to attend
his scheduled remand hearing.
The court session lasted just 40
minutes. Vanunu heard a repre
sentative of the state attorney’s
office, Uzi Chasson, request that
he be remanded in custody until
the end of his trial. Judge Zvi
Cohen, however, granted the re
quest of Vanunu’s attorney,
Amnon Zichroni, that the hear
ing be put off so that he could
have more time to prepare his
case.
Meanwhile, the judge ordered
Vanunu to remain in custody.
The judge also denied Zichroni’s
request that the trial be held in
open court. The newsmen were
not permitted into Sunday’s
hearing.
Vanunu was shown the charge
sheet which says that he provided
assistance to an enemy in war
and committed “aggrax ated espi
onage," both offenses w hich carry
a sentence of life imprisonment.
— Yaacov Ben Yosef
s-Kahane policies condemned-n
NEW YORK (JTA)—The Women’s League for Conserva
tive Judaism has sharply condemned the policies of Rabbi Meir
Kahane and called for a congregational boycott of his appear
ances at synagogues or other Jewish community institutions.
A resolution adopted at the recent convention of the
200,000-member League stated that “Racism of any sort must
be opposed by Jews everywhere as being antithetical to the
teachings of Judaism. We call upon the institutions of Conser
vative Judaism and others to speak out against the policies of
Meir Kahane and other anti-democratic forces in Israel and
vigorously oppose any synagogue or organizational platform
to those (like Kahane) who espouse such destructive methods
. and goals.” J
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has been briefed in detail on
efforts to assist Iranian Jews.
Mathematics and specifics can
not and should not be discussed,
but regardless of the public pos
ture, American Jewish leaders —
and Israel in particular—are not
ignoring their historic obligations.
Under such circumstances, Jew
ish leaders must walk a fine line
between their duty to acknowl
edge the worsening plight of
Iranian Jewry, and their fear of
tripping some wire that would
shut the door of assistance.
“Those who are responsible
believe there is a greater value
than creating publicity, and that
is saving lives,” declared Harry
Wall, of the Anti-Defamation
League’s Jerusalem office. Other
sources add that this precept is
understood even by leading ele
ments of the non-Jewish press
currently covering the Iranian
persecution. “They have facts that
they are responsibly not includ
ing in their coverage,” says
an American Jewish organization
al official, “We’re talking life and
death."
Ironically, the greater fear some
Jewish leaders have is not so
much from the press, as from
fundraisers within the Jewish
community itself. “So far,” de
clares one Jewish organizational
leader here, “the fundraisers
haven’t gotten a hold of anything,
so there has been no public cam
paign. And believe me, we
wouldn't need one. There are
plenty of wealthy Iranian Jews in
Beverly Hills to do that. But we
do worry about the fundraisers."
Tanenbaum adds this warning:
“There are narcissistic Jewish
leaders who jump at the oppor
tunity to exploit such situations.
History will be very harsh with
those kinds of people. And their
behavior will ultimately become
accountable.
“For the foreseeable future.”
asserts Tanenbaum. “we w ill have
to walk on eggshells in this mat
ter." In consequence, a modicum
of public reassurance is now re
quired. But hereafter, the less
said the better.
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